Maui and Kauai Dive Op Recommendations

[leo8877]

Hello all!

My wife and I are going to be heading to Maui and Kauai later this year and are looking for some recommendations on dive operators to use while there.

We are both recently certified divers, with less than one year experience and about 10 dives each under our belts. It seems most of the threads here are geared towards really advanced divers, so I wanted to start this one with the new diver in mind.

In Maui, we will be staying in the Lahaina area and are looking for a dive operator from there, as opposed to Kihei. We would like to get to Lanai for some dives and some of the other West Maui spots.

In Kauai, we will be staying in the Poipu area and are hoping there is a good operator that is actually in Poipu, but something close by works too. No Nihau for us, just hoping to check out some of Kauai's dive spots.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Teamcasa]

I have never been to Maui, However:

Kauai has two really good shops that new divers will benefit from and both post here on ScubaBoard.
I have dived with both operations and do not hesitate to recommend them both. The only issue for me is figuring out how to get back and dive Kauai Again.
Scuba Dive Kauai Dive Kauai Scuba Hawaii Vacation Activity
KSC Inc., Successor of Kauai Acquatics Scuba - Scuba Dive Kauai Vacation Resort Activity

 

[fisheater]

For Kauai, I recommend Fathom Five for boat dives and Juli Bohmer (Scuba Jules, LLC - Home)
for shore dives. I've dove with both and had excellent service.


Posted via Mobile Device

 

[adjuster-jd]

For diving to Lanai from Lahaina - I recommend Extended Horizons MAUI SCUBA DIVE SHOP EXTENDED HORIZONS LANAI AND LAHAINA DIVE AND SCUBA TOURS Extended Horizens. They have a smaller boat - holds 12 divers I think - they leave from Mala boat ramp. I've been out with them both as a brand new diver, as a divemaster and as an instructor. Each time I was treated very well and allowed to dive according to my experience. If you have a computer, they will let you dive your own profile and they typically group computer divers separate from non-computer divers. If Eric (one of the owners) is driving the boat, he knows Lanai very well and was involved in setting many of the permanent moorings on Lanai. Other folks like Lahaina divers - they drive a bigger boat what has some advantages in terms of ride, but they may have larger groups - so it depends on your preference as to group size, etc. I do not have personal experience with them, but wanted to pass this on. There are many threads on Maui dive ops so do some additional reading.
Don't forget that Maui has some excellent shore diving and that is a whole lot cheaper than boat diving. I did 10 shore dives for less than the price of 2 boat dives.
Try Airport Beach for an easily accessible dive - or even Mala (little more difficult entry, but not too bad) - Also Honolua Bay is a marine preserve - a bit of a haul to walk in with gear but a nice dive - depends on time of year though.
Enjoy!

 

[DiveMaven]

We prefer to go to Lanai with Lahaina Divers out of Lahaina. They do run big boats, but the 46' Newton dive boats provide a much better ride to Lanai than the v-hull aluminum boats that Extended Horizons runs IMO (I have motion sickness issues). Lahaina Divers is well known for being a good operator for the inexperienced and/or occassional diver and the crew is very safety conscious. They divide you into dive groups of 4-8, trying to group folks by experience, and give a lot of latitude to experienced divers (at least they do with us). One down side for many is that they use AL72 tanks instead of the standard AL80, but if you have decent air consumption, you'll likely be more limited by the short SI (45 min) than your air. If you're a bit of a heavy breather, you can request an AL100 tank. Our dives with them are usually about 50 minutes (give or take a minute or two).

Depending on the time of year you go, Lahaina Divers could have as few as 10 divers or as many as 24 on their boat. However, except for their afternoon charters which have their Discover Scuba folks, we've never felt crowded on their boats. The boats have 3 main areas to hang out, the huge dive deck area, upstairs, and on the bow. The boats are handicapped accessible, thus have to have those big open areas, including an accessible head which is nice and roomy.

Lahaina Divers has a charter schedule that includes Lanai, Molokini, backwall of Molokini, Molokai, and "turtle town". I would say that the backwall of Molokini and Molokai are a bit too advanced of a dive for you at this time (requires good air consumption and the ability to do live boat dives, often in pretty heavy seas).

 

[leo8877]

Thank you all for your replies, I do appreciate it. Please keep 'em coming if anyone has other operators that they enjoy.

 

[adjuster-jd]

If you decide you want to go to Molokini (highly recommended) I would suggest going out of Kihei boat ramp. It's a much shorter ride from Kihei than from Lahaina. That being said, you will have to get up early and drive down to Kihei - the boats usually leave around 6-6:30 AM. In that case, take a look at Ed Robinsons or Mike Severns. Again, there are lots of threads on the topic so you can find the various comments. Often it comes down to your preferences - do you have any sea sickness issues, etc. The ride to molokini may not be too bad but depending on when you are coming back it could get a little bumpy.

 

[DiveMaven]

Although I agree 100% with Adjuster about driving down to Kihei for S. Maui and Molokini charters, I will mention that if you've never been to Maui and are going during whale season, the trip down to Molokini with Lahaina Divers is a gorgeous ride. The views of Maui and Lanai from the water is gorgeous and whale watching is spectacular.

We did it a few times since we stay in Kaanapali (for the first week we're on Maui), but it was enough and now we drive down to the Kihei boat ramp. Ed Robinson's is our preferred dive operator, but Mike Severns and B&B seem to get nods here too. And as an aside, I personally prefer the S. Maui sites to W. Maui ones, and in some cases even to Molokini.

 

[leo8877]

We actually have been diving at Molokini, it was the reason we ended up getting certified. On a previous Maui vacation we did a discover scuba diving thing at a hotel and ended up going out to a boat dive there at Molokini and absolutely loved it. I had done shore excursion dives on a cruise before, but once we hit that water in Molokini I knew this was a whole new world and loved it.

Since we're staying up at Kaanapali beach this time, I just don't want to make the drive all the way out to Kihei that early in the morning. I figure from Lahaina we can go to Lanai easier and it's also a chance to see some new things at the West Maui spots.

I know we'll be back on the Kihei side again sometime and I'll for sure be back to Molokini then

 

[divezonescuba]

On Kauai, you should consider Seasports at SEASPORT DIVERS #1 on Kauai and Niihau - Scuba dive on Kauai and Niihau, Shore Dives, Boat Dives, and Nitrox.

They have locations in Poipu and Kaapa. The tank and weight rentals are quite reasonable if you want to do some shore diving. Even if you don't go with them, you should pick up a copy of their brochure which has a nice map on it. You could also go to ShoreDiving.com - Your Shore Diving and Snorkeling Web Community! to read some more.

I would pass on Fathom Five who also has a location in Poipu. One of their instructors/divemasters who was permanently suspended for misconduct is now back working for them. I won't dive with an operation like that.

You are wise to skip the Nihau trip if you feel at all uncomfortable about the demanding trip there and back or the deep dives that you would be making. Most shops require you to do one dive trip with them before you go to Nihau so that they can assess your diving skills.

We were scheduled for one, but opted out after we learned more details. The shop was not happy that we cancelled, but I think that it was the best thing to do.