Ed Robinsons, B&B, or Mike Severns

[sbaggs]

I've read tons of posts and have narrowed it down to using one of these three shops. I just have a couple of questions that maybe some of you out there can help with. Our last dive trip in November was to Cozumel and we got totally spoiled with the dive op taking and rinsing our gear each day and setting it up for us the next day. Do any of these ops do that? Also, will they store our gear if we're not diving consecutive days? We like to move slowly underwater and look at the little stuff, have little stuff pointed out to us, and not feel rushed. Is one of these ops better than the others for that?
Thanks for your input.

 

[TSandM]

As far as I know, none of them sets up or washes your gear for you. B&B does not allow you to keep your gear on the boat overnight. I've never asked either of the others.

All three are good operators, but if you're really into critters, I like Mike Severns the best. They have ID books on the boat, and Pauline co-authored a marine life guide to the Hawaiian Islands. They seem to attract a lot of very critter-oriented (and sometimes very savvy) divers, too.

 

[j_spot]

I cant speak for B&B or Ed Robinsons, but what you describe there is exactly what Mike Severens does. If you are doing consecutive multiday dives with them you can leave your gear (owned or rented) on the boat with them - they set up your tanks from start to finish - however they dont rinse for you, but do have a freshwater hose on board for a quick rinsing and stop at a rinse station when coming ashore.

They go slow and point out amazing stuff both large and small. I was with them Jan 24, 25, 28 and we saw some really cool stuff - different kind of nudibranchs (Blue Dragon, Gold Lace, and I dont know the other names) Harlequin Shrimp, tonnes of eels (snowflake, yellow margin, white mouthed, garden and 2 others whose name I dont remember) Leaf scorpionfish, frogfish, lionfish, sponge crabs, octopus - they point it all out.

Most exciting thing we saw is a Triton snail who is tending eggs....thousands upon thousands of eggs under a ledge with this giant snail taking care of them.

We dove with 3 different DM (Pauline, Dan and Michelle) all are amazing and fun to be on the boat with

I cant say enough good things about them.

 

[DiveMaven]

If you dive consecutive days with Ed Robinson's they will keep your gear, rinse it, and set it up for the next day for you. I doubt you'll find anyone who will store it for you when you're not diving though.

We've always had great DMs who find cool stuff for us, similar to what J spot described about his Mike Severns experience. However, ERDA is our preferred op when we dive Maui (annually).

 

[AnotherNWdiver]

Of the three I only dove with Ed Robinson and was treated very well. While I never asked them to store my gear, they were willing to keep it if I wanted them to. They did set it up for me every morning, however, and break it down as we returned to the dock. During the dives they did not rush us at all and their aim was always to find all the creatures, big and small. I especially remeber the night dive I did with them. We probably didn't move more than 30 yards the whole night. But we certainly saw quite a show.

One big reason why I chose to go with Ed Robinson was they were the only operator to leave from Kihei to dive off of Lana'i. There are some fantastic dives here, including the Cathederals. These have exciting underwater structure that the dives off of Maui and Molokini don't have. While it can be a somewhat rough trip over to Lana'i, the dives were definitely worth it.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of the three, but I'd look for things that set them apart and then decide which is for you.

JB

 

[DiveMaven]

One big reason why I chose to go with Ed Robinson was they were the only operator to leave from Kihei to dive off of Lana'i. There are some fantastic dives here, including the Cathederals. These have exciting underwater structure that the dives off of Maui and Molokini don't have. While it can be a somewhat rough trip over to Lana'i, the dives were definitely worth it.

They no longer do the trip to Lanai, instead they do what they call an "Adventure X" charter on Wednesdays. They strive to go to rarely dove sights and the diving is geared toward photographers.

We did the Lanai charter with them over Christmas and from now on will be going with Lahaina Divers to Lanai. The difference between a big 46' Newton and a 32' Munson for that crossing is astronomical IMO.

 

[KrisB]

Having dove with both ERDA and Mike Severn's, and heard bits about B&B, it sounds like Mike Severns is your best bet.

One big reason why I chose to go with Ed Robinson was they were the only operator to leave from Kihei to dive off of Lana'i. There are some fantastic dives here, including the Cathederals. These have exciting underwater structure that the dives off of Maui and Molokini don't have. While it can be a somewhat rough trip over to Lana'i, the dives were definitely worth it.

Lanai has some awesome dives, but leaving from Kihei or even Maalaea is one of the worst ideas anyone ever came up with. It's an exceptionally long boat ride in an extremely rough channel. Most operators hand out rain jackets on the way back -- ERDA was handing them out on the way THERE in the early morning before the wind had started.

The only way I'd head to Lanai from Kihei is if there was no other way. There are too many better options up in Lahaina -- both Extended Horizons and Hawaiian Rafting Adventures / Dive Maui are better. HRA/Dive Maui runs a 31' RIB which provides an EXCEPTIONALLY smooth ride... you hardly even know that this is some of the roughest protected water in the state!

 

[KrisB]

They no longer do the trip to Lanai, instead they do what they call an "Adventure X" charter on Wednesdays. They strive to go to rarely dove sights and the diving is geared toward photographers.

We did the Lanai charter with them over Christmas and from now on will be going with Lahaina Divers to Lanai. The difference between a big 46' Newton and a 32' Munson for that crossing is astronomical IMO.

Hilary: you should try Hawaiian Rafting Adventures. It seems counter-intuitive, but their 31' RIB out of Mala is the smoothest ride I've had to Lanai, despite being a relatively late (8am) check-in. I've used Maui Dive Shop (the Maka Koa out of Maalaea), Extended Horizons (the same type of boat as ERDA), ERDA and Hawaiian Rafting, and BY FAR the smoothest ride was with HRA.

 

[DiveMaven]

We've looked at Hawaiian Rafting Adventures but they don't have a head on their boats...and I am simply incapable of peeing in my wetsuit! If I ever learn how to do that, we'll definitely check them out one of these trips. Thanks for the info about HRA.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

We've looked at Hawaiian Rafting Adventures but they don't have a head on their boats...and I am simply incapable of peeing in my wetsuit! If I ever learn how to do that, we'll definitely check them out one of these trips. Thanks for the info about HRA.

I've been diving since 65 and I honestly can't pee in my wetsuit, I've wanted to, begged and prayed to be able to but I just can't. My mom must have really screwed me up.