Diversteve, you confirmed a lot of things I was wondering about these dives. I will save those until I have a lot more experience and scratch thinking about AOW until a couple more years. In terms of easy dives, are Molokini and Lanai (Cathedrals) pretty much for any level?
As Brewski said, Molokini is an easy dive for all levels. Some diveops will sort you by skill level anyway depending on the site they're diving that morning.
We had a good dive there once just in less than 60' of water, saw a couple of scorpionfish, a turtle and a resting white tip shark in about 10mins. And you're mobbed by the fish just about anywhere thanks to the snorkelers that feed them. Acres of coral to fly over. Otoh, Shark Condos off the end is 130' and much more difficult. Don't do that one this trip...
When we dove Cathedrals I, there was a couple on our boat who'd been certified earlier that week. They managed fine. It's about a 60' entrance and overhead obstructed in some areas - meaning that you can't get to air or the surface if needed. So maybe that would be something to do at least later in your trip. I'd really ask whoever you go out there with first.
It can be a little pitchy at Cathedrals occasionally. We watched another diveop with a zodiac drop divers there, they had a heck of a time recovering them later.
There's mixed diving options off Lanai, we did a dive called SharkFin, the DM and the group went in towards shore and found octopus in shallow water along a cliff, my insta-buddy and I went out and about killed ourselves when the current picked up around the pinnacle. The fish make it look so easy...lol.
There will always be DM in the water with you off Maui - I think it's the law. Some of the operators will have two in the water - Maui Dive Shop and (I think) Lahaina Divers does this. There will typically be less experienced divers on their boats also. One nice thing about Lahaina Divers is they have nice big 46' Newton diveboats, they're better for the ride over and easier to get on/off. Sometimes more crowded but I've also been on their boat once with 7 others.
Maui Dive Shop owns a bigger boat that runs out of Maalea also - it's north of Kihei. They also have dive locations up and down the coast so determine what boat it is if you book with them - boats that leave out of the Kihei Boat Ramp are smaller because they're trailered in/out. For a beginner they might be a good option, later you'd probably pick someone else.
Probably where you're staying determines to a certain extent who/where you dive - it's about 45mins. driving between Kihei and Lahaina. Not always - but typically West Maui boats go to Lanai, South Maui boats go to Molokini and leave around 6AM to beat the tradewinds when coming back from Molokini. Most afternoon boats stay near Maui for that reason.
