Hawaii travel advice for scuba newbie

[tracy9386]

This message contains questions for experienced Hawaii divers.

I am a new (and very enthusiastic!) diver, certified approx 1.25 yrs ago, having done ~20 dives in Cozumel. I am open to adventure and very comfortable in the water. I loved the 3 night dives I did in Cozumel. I wouldn't mind seeing shark species other than the docile nurse sharks one sees in Cozumel; however, I am not seeking dangerous/risky dives. I fully admit that at this stage of experience, I'd want to avoid encounters with sharks or other creatures that have an aggressive/unpredictable/dangerous reputation overall. Also, I am comfortable with 80 ft dives, and wouldn’t mind going a bit deeper to see something worthwhile; however, but I am not looking for extreme dives solely for the sake of pushing limits. My primary interest is in seeing a wide variety of beautiful marine life up close.

A dear friend recently bought a home in Maui and has invited me to stay at her home.

I can afford to take off 2 weeks from work (maybe a little more). I could stay all or part of that time with my friend. I intend stay at least a week with my friend, but beyond that I could stay with her or visit other locations.

If you are an experienced Hawaii traveler I would like your opinion on what you would do if you were in my situation, given my interests and level of diving experience. Is there enough variety in underwater marvels (adventurous but not too dangerous) in Maui to keep a scuba newbie occupied for 2 weeks, or might it be good to try other nearby locations (and if so which ones)?

If you advise locations other than Maui, please suggest hotel accommodations and any other relevant particulars (e.g., dive shops, restaurants, other attractions besides scuba). I am very interested in ecology and geology, so would enjoy visiting volcano sites, rainforests, beautiful nature sanctuaries, etc... (during surface intervals, of course ;-). I have zero interest in shopping, though, so would prefer to avoid tourist areas that cater to shopping crowds.

 

[bwerb]

Go dive Molokini Crater. (Suggest B&B for boat diving)

You're almost guaranteed to see sharks...reef sharks are really cool.

 

[KrisB]

I have been to Oahu and Maui (though Oahu was quite a while ago).

Maui has more than enough to keep a person busy (or not!) for several weeks. There are enough dive sites that you could dive a different one each day, and still not run out in two weeks. You could also dive one site every day and see different and cool stuff on each and every dive.

Whereabouts is your friend's house? Is it near Lahaina, Kahului or Kihei?

There are a bunch of things topside, if the conditions are an issue or you get bored, to keep you occupied as much as you want to be, as well.

Do you have a dive buddy while you're here?

When are you planning on being here? If I'm around, I love to go diving with new people and would enjoy showing you a dive site or two... private message me and we can talk details, if you'd rather not post them publicly.

If you really want to see some varied terrain, the Big Island seems to be highly recommended for diving, has some features like the "Black Water" dive and the Manta dive... and also has a very active volcano.

Hope that helps,

 

[RonDawg]

Another vote for Molokini. You'll be confined to the inside of the crater though; the back wall is for more advanced divers.

Don't worry, the dive ops will make it clear which one they are going to, and some will not go to the back wall if they have inexperienced divers on board.

B&B are a good outfit, and I have recommended them many times. However, location is an issue, and if you are in Lahaina or northward you may want to consider using a dive op that leaves out of Lahaina Harbor, otherwise you'll be up at o'dark thirty trying to get to Kihei for the B&B trip (they leave the earliest).

The Lahaina boats tend me more of the "cattle boat" size but when I used Lahaina Divers they weren't very full and actually had more room than when I used B&B who used a much smaller boat.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Aloha Tracy9386,

The Hawaii Ohana is an extended family (def. ohana). We are fairly open with each other and it is a lively give and take. We can not force you to be honest and open with us but it would be nice if you at least played the game. Submit a profile; this is not craigslist personals where anonimity and androgeny are the norm.

New friends get the best answers and the best offers.

 

[redrover]

I’m on the Big Island, not dived the others nor a visitor so sharing just local knowledge. There are several frequent posters that dive Maui frequently who will probably pipe up with it’s pleasures. Oahu is well represented here as well.

Being the largest island there is more driving to be done I guess but you can drive around it in less than a day. I enjoyed my first visit whirlwind driving tour to scope out places to return for more detailed visits, there is a lot of diversity. I cannot remember if it is all or all but one of the climate zones can be seen on the same day but actual snow is not guaranteed. There are dry things to do like check out lava caves (good place to use diving lights), jump in the ocean from a lava tube, hike from lush rainforest down into steaming cauldron in about 40 minutes, learn about volcanoes and stars and what it looks like to be on top of a big rock out in the middle of a whole lotta ocean among other stuff.
And there is the water too, beaches, boogie boarding, lying around with a cooler of beer and people watching, snorkeling, watching spinners from shore or in the water, windsurfing and surfing as well as diving in and seeing the sights below. Kona and vicinity are diving destinations. Probably few places (only can speak of those I know and I’m not all that experienced) that you will be comfortable shore diving alone but 5 are on the Leeward side.
The boat diving is good, directed to visiting divers and a number of operations to choose from. A general option is to follow a DM around and look at the nifty things he knows where to look for so, nice for buddyless folk. Those with buddies may look where they like. Jack’s doesn’t follow strict rules on dive time, 60 minutes is near to 60 minutes. Also gives a good briefing of what/where the DM will follow and the various potentials available unique to the site. Captains choose sites by experience with environment, who else is at site (#’s) and what’s been happening the last several days. Jack’s post’s a list outdoors of the notable sightings for each trip back a week or so – as much room is available. Operators tend to travel to sites near their base, or a North base op will be at less common sites than say Kona based op’s. As far as I know all do the Manta Night Dive and is truly a dive to remember. Wildcard highly recommends the Black Water Dive I missed out on when he did it. Tanks are provided and included in fee.
Several shops on the leeward side and I’ve never felt pressured to buy or what they stock is the only option a smart man would choose. No problem finding rental gear if a general American human size, the furthest ends of the spectrum may be more of a challenge.

 

[kidspot]

Since your friend live on Maui I'd say it's a good spot for you to visit - however redrover offers some good advice for Big Isle diving - So consider both and maybe do both as both are beautiful islands. You'll find Oahu to be geared more toward the "shopping tourist" though there is a lot of history etc there too. Maui and the Big island are geared more for the "active tourist" with hiking, camping, diving, and driving being plentiful.

On Maui Molokini crater is the diving highlight - and if you do several trips out there with the same op they will most likely get you to the backwall on one of them (I'd recommend B&B also) There is also lots of shore diving - Take KrisB up on his offer - he is an excellent dive guide and an all around good dive buddy.

When you know your travel dates post them here and you'll be sure to get several offers from locals who will be happy to show you their favorite spots.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Naw the heck with Hawaii. Vacation in Oregon and dive with me

regon:

 

[sharky60]

Ahh Hawaii, so many options, so little time

fortunatly for you, you have 2 weeks! How awsome is that! with 2 weeks island hopping is definatly an option.

I've never dove Big Island, but everyone I know that has, has come back with amazing stories, from the manta ray-night dives to chance encounters with small whales that turned into brief snorkeling swims with them.

I have dove Maui and give another vote for Molokini, the amount of sealife can be stunning there. "Turtle town" is another fun dive, it actually has another name but that's the "tourist" version, if you want to see turtles, this is the place. Very shallow so lots of bottom time and oodles of turtles!

After 20 dirft dives on Coz, you should be very comfortable diving in Hawaii, it's not drift diving, it's more like... drop down, swim arround, find stuff go back to the drop line or anchor line and assend. A lot of times even doing your safety stop holding onto the "drop line" rather than just floating in space.

Maui offers at LEAST 2 weeks diving without getting bored, if that's possible diving. The shore dives alone could keep you going for months, black rock, Honolua bay, Old airport beach...

Now the shark issue, you can't really control seeing sharks, if they show up your blessed, if not, it's still a great day diving. There are dive site that one is more likely to see them on, but it is still no guarantee.

Of course there are controlled shark feeding dives like they do in the Bahamas, sure, you get to see a bunch of sharks, but it just not the same as seeing your first pare of grey reefs or white tips coming out of the blue and crusing past you, now that's a shark dive!

 

[sloyota]

While I wish you the best of luck in the water, may I recommend MAMA'S FISH HOUSE and MARCO'S for either lunch and/ or dinner. That is all.

I love food.