Maui AOW Certification Question (May 2015)

[BigBillJohnson]

Hello everyone.

Visiting Maui in May...staying in Kaanapali. Want to get my AOW certification while there. Was hoping someone with more experience than I would point me in the right direction. A few specific questions I have are:

1) I've looked at (and like) a few operators around Kihei (B&B, Ed, Maui Dreams), but am a little concerned about the extra time it would take to drive down from Kaanapali. Anyone have experience with this and found it to be ok/not ok? Perhaps would suggest stick to someone up in Lahaina (where to seems to be quite a bit more expensive)?

2) Also, some operators seem to have an AOW manual I must purchase, while others make zero mention of anything other than the dives themselves. Which is it....do I need a manual or not?

Thanks for any suggestions and advice. It is much appreciated.

BigBill

 

[NorCalDM]

Kaanapali to Kihei is not that long of a drive so if you have somebody in Kihei you want to use I wouldn't hesitate. They may not mention it because it is included in the price but whether you do the course work online or through a paper manual you have to do some home work. There is also Lahaina Divers in Lahaia that I've dove with in the past and had a great time with also Shaka Dave and he will come to you. I would call some of the dive ops and see what you are specifically getting for your money or do the course work online and then just complete the dives when you get to Maui but work out what elective dives you are going to do with the op you choose.

 

[ErikNYC]

Do the online course before you leave. Don't wait until u get there.

 

[BigBillJohnson]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[exposure]

For a PADI AOW, the manual is mandatory but you can also use the eLearning instead prior to the course. You'll basically have to read 5 chapters (one for each dive) with two compulsory. They are the Navigation and the Deep. Once you've read the chapters, you have to answer to knowledge review in the Manual or print the eLearning knowledge review. Sometime, dive center let you to choose the 3 other dives and sometime they may impose them depending on their dive sites. Could be nice to check that before and specialy if you need a particular one.

If you don't have time to do the knowledge review prior to your course, don't worry, th ereading is not very long.

 

[diversteve]

I don't know when the Kihei operators teach AOW but due to the tradewinds, all the boats try to leave as close as possible to 6AM and at that time of morning you're likely to hit resort employee traffic on the one road so factor that into your decision. I believe at least some of your AOW will require boat dives and all the Kihei boats like to be done by noon or earlier if possible. Reliably to get to the Kihei Ramp at 6AM, I'd leave Ka'anapali a little after 5AM.

For Maui Dreams Dive Co. this is slightly less off a factor as their boat is Maui Diamond II in Ma'alea Harbor. We're talking 10mins. drive time difference though. Everybody else leaves from the Kihei Boat ramp.

Shaka Doug can't work above Kihei, he doesn't have the permit for it. But you could drive down and meet him somewhere convenient.

Options around Ka'anapali are Lahaina Divers, Extended Horizons or Hawaiian Rafting Adventures. For the Deep Dive, they have the boats so can likely get you out far enough to make it worthwhile. 60' from shore in West Maui is a bigger challenge, a lot of the sites are pretty shallow. Be nice to fall off a boat off Lana'i instead - and a better dive since you can easily find 100' or more there at many of the west Lana'i sites.

The Maui Dive Shops in the area feed divers to their boat in Ma'alea also. With them the advantage is probably price. Although they're "primarily" an SSI shop so IDK if they teach PADI AOW. I'm SSI so never bothered to check their PADI course.

I guess you could also do AOW from shore. Tiny Bubbles or Scuba Mike are options afaik. One nice thing about Tiny Bubbles is they're located at the Ka'anapali Beach Club resort. I really don't know how they accomplish deep except maybe to get you on one of the Lahaina boats as needed. Tim Rollo has a good reputation. They have scooters also which could be a fun specialty.

I agree with the others, sign up and do the e-learning now if you can. Save a lot of Hawaii time for diving instead of sitting in class.

 

[Sn1per9000]

I know it's not Hawaii but we learned after we started our scuba class that online only was a option. After you take the online class you go take a test and start Your checkout dives. This would have saved us hours. I would see if it's a option.

I know here in NC it is for AOW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

The question is what are you looking to get out of AOW?

The book is not mandatory for all shops - I was able to borrow a copy of the book and complete the 5 homework sections without buying the book. We also did our dives first and then watched the video (video was for Nitrox) and took the test - we got one question wrong. If you want to "buy" the AOW rating you certainly can (as some folks call it) - if you want the full 9 yards you can spend the extra $60 for the book - but I doubt you will ever refer back to it. AOW is not an Advanced Course - it is OW 2 - I chose to save my money.
YMMV

 

[grantwiscour]

I would recommend against doing training on vacation. Spend your vacation doing fun and interesting dives. The time is too precious to be used on training.

 

[exposure]

Buying the manual is mandatory according to PADI Standards Basking Ridge Diver