First trip to Maui. Dive help desperately needed.

[Highliner]

Hi everyone,


My name is Dan . I am a Firefighter/Paramedic in Seattle, Washington. I am a diver at the Seattle Aquarium and am finishing up my PADI DM certification here in the cold green water of the Puget Sound. I have read, enjoyed and greatly appreciated many of your posts.

I have over 250 logged dives, all in cold water from Dutch Harbor in Alaska to the southern Oregon coast. I am going to be on Maui at Lahaina the second week of November of '08. This is my first time to Hawaii and am planning my diving. I would like to dive Molokini Back wall, The Carthaginian and a mabey manta night dive.

I am a bit behind and need to book my dives. Can anyone recomend a dive center or charter. I trust your opinion and am looking to book several trips and would really like to enjoy the warm water and not be rushed or treated like a noob. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance. I would really appreciate some expert advise. If you are ever in the Bering Sea I could give you tips on gathering 25lb King Crab or spearing 200lb a halibut...LOL

Thanks in advance,

Dan

 

[TSandM]

I've made a lot of trips to Maui, and here's my take on it. First off, don't discount shore diving. There's a lot of good shore diving access there, and you can see many of the same animals from shore that you do off the boats, and save quite a bit of money. Of course, this depends on whether you have a buddy or not, but Shaka Doug (a SB member) also runs shore diving tours (and I believe even has some scooters).

Second, it's worth driving to Kihei to take a boat to Molokini, unless you really like riding on boats. Kihei is MUCH closer to the crater. There are three main dive ops running out of Kihei to Molokini: B&B, Ed Robinson, and Mike Severns. I've been on all three, and I have no complaints about any of them. B&B leaves earliest in the morning, so they get to the crater when there's nobody else there (sometimes before full light!) If you're driving down from Lahaina, that means a very early morning.

Of the three, Mike Severns is my favorite. They have a heavy emphasis on marine life, have ID books on the boat, and the owner is the co-author of a book on marine life of the islands. The times I've been out with them, they have also seemed to attract a slightly more experienced group of divers, although that could easily be the luck of the draw.

I've done the trip to Lanai with Lahaina Divers, to dive the pinnacles and the Cathedrals. That was also a very fun trip. We saw a whale off one of the pinnacles, which was an exciting rarity.

I've only done the Carthaginian from shore on scooters. That was a great dive!

At any rate, the one thing I would say is to get on line and make reservations for your boat diving early. The good operators fill up quickly; Mike Severns in particular.

 

[Oside Jimc]

I have dove with Mike Severns and found them to be very professional and informative. After my trip next week I can give input on Ed Robinsons and the Maui Diamond II.

 

[Paco II]

Don't leave out Lana'i for diving locations. Lahaina Divers and Extended Horizons (also out of Lahaina) are both great and both go to Lana'i. As far booking early, that's kind of interesting. I leave Friday to Maui and called about a month ago to book some trips. LD happily took my reservation, XH told me to call back when it was two weeks before I wanted to go diving. Doesn't hurt to call early, just don't be surprised if they have you call back.

 

[bobmaggi]

Online researching is fine, but some of the dive ops are small, and the owners/mgrs are out on the boats. We sent emails for our last trip, but didn't get replies, as they were busy keeping other customers happy. So it is best to check out info online ( like scubaboard!) then Call the shop/ dive op for more info and reservations. Hope this helps! Maggi


ps. our favorite dive ops are B & B and Extended Horizons

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

You wouldn't be dissapointed with B&B. I love diving with them. They leave out of the kihei ramp which makes it a nice short ride to Molokini and they get there before most of the other boats, usually first or second out.

 

[k ellis]

When I went to Maui and dove I really had a hard time finding someone who actually had nitrox dives. Just an FYI if you are a nitrox diver so you dont get in to the same mess I did when I got there

 

[TSandM]

B&B definitely have Nitrox, if you arrange it ahead of time; and you can rent Nitrox tanks, if you are shore diving.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Any decent operator on Maui can provide you with nitrox, given a 24 hour notice. If you wait until 7 PM the night before the morning boat ride to let them know, you might have a harder time.

 

[k ellis]

Exactly where is B & B located at? I tried all the advertised locations or all the ones I could find. I was not impressed with the Maui dive shop who gave me the run around about liability and the "Hardly anyone is Hawaii uses Nitrox" I can not recall the name of the shop but there was one not far from Wailea that had Nitrox and they were awesome with the service.

Had some great dives in Maui though and loved the Molokini dive. If anything made the trip worth all the while it was the visibity being WAY better then 100+ feet. I just wish I could of made the Carthagenian. I did see it from a sub a few years ago and now I want to dive to it. Maybe this winter when I go back