Lanai versus Maui Diving?

[MauiScubaSteve]

I am curious about the stepping over dead coral part.

Even at low tide with a back inflate I am able to mostly float out on my belly, just left (south) of the wharf. Admittedly there are places where I wait for the swell to pick me up before I make headway. I regularly take divers there with full foot fins so we are starting the surface float/pull in mostly sand.

 

[kidspot]

My belly is a big larger than Halemano's ... so I can only swim out at high tide, otherwise you just walk carefully - there is not much live coral in the shallows and what is there, is easily seen (at extreme low tide the water leaves this area high and dry - killing most of the coral in this area.) By the time you get most of the live coral you are in water deep enough to swim. This past Friday night I did Mala as a night dive, and it was low tide - only about 6" of water for a long ways, then we got nearly a foot of water about halfway out along the standing structure. Water was calm, so flashlights easily revealed the bright green live coral heads along the walk out.

Halemano - I've seen divers do that entry barefoot, and always wondered how they managed - thanks for answering my unasked question

Aloha, Tim

 

[Shaka Doug]

Hey Terri,

If you have the time and the money, do both. You won't see dives like these anywhere else in the world. If you're short on time or money, stick to the Maui sites and have fun. You can always come back!

 

[discdogs]

My preference is always Lanai. If you haven't been to Molokini Crater...then this is a must at least once in your life. I've done some shore diving on Maui and it's always been great. Mala Wharf is a real easy dive. We had some great photos looking thru the concrete blocks.

Tim/Helemano-thought I read that you can't enter Mala thru the boat channel. Do you go in on the left of the breakwater then? Last time (2 yrs or 3 yrs ago) no one was around and we just walked down the boat ramp and went around the breakwater and started our dive. It must have been the middle of the week...no one was around when we got out too.

 

[KrisB]

Tim/Helemano-thought I read that you can't enter Mala thru the boat channel. Do you go in on the left of the breakwater then? Last time (2 yrs or 3 yrs ago) no one was around and we just walked down the boat ramp and went around the breakwater and started our dive. It must have been the middle of the week...no one was around when we got out too.

The DLNR has been at Mala every time I've been there to dive it recently -- either when we're going in, when we're coming out, or both. And they've got the ticket books handy for divers who don't have a flag, or who swam through the boat channel.

There are two legal entries -- one a long slog across dead coral in 2-3' of water (enter on the left/south side of the old pier), the other, an interesting boulder hop on the breakwater until the end of it, where you climb down and slip into 4' of water.

 

[ScubaDuba723]

 

[DiveWestOahu]

there is no answer to that ?, every island and every side of each island is totally different, what do you like, is it the same as what i like? what's best to me might not be best to you,
it's like asking what's the best car made or who makes the best burger, another thing to concider is depending on conditions you may not be able to get to lanai if your starting from maui due to wind or waves