Kihei Maui

[Thomas777]

Hey,
I'm returning to dive Maui and was wondering if anyone can recommend dive spots other than St Anthony, Turtle Town, Molakini inside outside. Maybe the local dive seceret?
Any other suggestions, restaurants etc.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[ScubaThor]

What about Lana'i? Cathedrals are amazing!

 

[Thomas777]

Thanks Thor, if we're lucky enough we're on a first stand by wed for Lana'i.
Tom

 

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

Ulua beach is a nice beach dive. Also you can call Maui Dreams there in Kihei, they do more shore dives than the other shops, they can probably give you plenty of places to go.

 

[diversteve]

Shorediving:

Makena Landing
5 Caves
Wailea Beach - I like it, but it's not the best site. Best out by the point to the south.

Other options:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/Maui/index.htm

 

[pupdiver]

I was in Maui a month ago. I only had one day for diving and went with ProDiver from the Kihei boat ramp. If you dive Molokini Crater, they are normally the first boat to get there (they leave at 6AM). The second dive was 5 caves, which was a very nice site.

For restaurants, it's hard to say without knowing your budget but if you want an excellent special occasion place, we really enjoyed Mama's Fish House in Paia. It's not near Kihei, but if you are spending the night near the airport before you leave it was a great place. Fabulous view, great food, extensive wine list. It's very expensive, but if you want to splurge it is one of our favorite restaurants anywhere. We also liked Pacific'O in Lahaina and Joe's at the Wailea Tennis Courts.

 

[Charlie99]

Wailea Beach - I like it, but it's not the best site. Best out by the point to the south.

Although not that many divers go there, the south side of that point (Wailea Point) is one of my favorites. Access is from the north end of Polo beach. Lots of vibrant colored coral in 10-20' of water. 5 to 10' miniwalls and heads separated by 10' vertical x 2 to 5' wide channels. A couple small arches/swimthroughs. Continue more or less westerly keeping reef to the right, sand to the left. If you find yourself going north, then backtrack a bit going SW as much as possible, then do a 75' jump NW across some sand. The reef deteriorates a bit, but go due west for a couple of minutes through rock, rubble, and scattered reef and it become a series of nice sections of reef in 30-45' of water.
A big catamaran snorkel boat frequently moors on the NW side of the reef, and there is more than the usual amount of overhead boat traffic. Dive boats come to this reef once in a while, but not very often. Only a couple of times have I seen other divers on this site. Both times I think it was someone from the dive shack at the Fairmont or Polo Beach Club taking guests on a tour.

 

[Charlie99]

Hey,
I'm returning to dive Maui and was wondering if anyone can recommend dive spots other than St Anthony, Turtle Town, Molakini inside outside. Maybe the local dive seceret?

Molokini is overall the best dive spot for boats from Kihei. If people want to see turtles, then St. Anthony's is a good spot. I'm not much of a fan of the various turtletowns, but do like the nearby Marty's Reef.

If for some reason you want some deeper dives, 85' Pinnacles (Mike Severn's name) or Hawaiian Reef (Ed Robinson's name for the same reef); Apartments; and 110' Battleship (a rock, not a reef) are some deeper spots more or less NW of Red Hill.

If you are going to be spending lots of time in Kihei, and doing lots of diving, then Mike Severns is the dive op to go with. The Captain and mate usually go for an exploratory dive while the customers are on the SI between 1st and 2nd dives. Because of this, Mike Severns has many sites that only they dive -- for example Spinning Plates, or the huge coral hummocks (one of which has the skeleton of a turtle trapped in the collapse of a mini-cave) off of Kamaole 2.

A semi-secret spot that several operators don't often go to is the manta ray cleaning dive near Ukumehame Beach Park/MM12. To avoid driving off the mantas, dive ops limit their visits. Here's a couple photos from my trip there about a year ago.