Maui Budget Diving Holiday

[FishDiver]

I am considering flying to Maui, renting a cheap car, staying in hostels and doing lots of shore dives. I will probably do a few boat dives as well, but the plan is to buy a Franko's map and dive the shore.

Is this a practical plan? Any local hints or tips?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I will probably do a few boat dives as well, but the plan is to buy a Franko's map and dive the shore.

If you really do this I beg of you for two favors;

1. Do the boat dives first, with very experienced Maui guides.

2. Don't write a negative review of all the "nothing" you saw on your shore dives without experienced Maui guides.

With the change in time zones, boat diving is easiest on your internal clock the first few days. Having experienced Maui guides show you some cool Maui diving stuff will temper your feelings of not seeing much in your non guided Maui diving.

There are many unique and unusual things to see and do in Maui waters, but it is not common that divers who have seen the Worlds top dive destinations find that without a guide.

 

[diversteve]

Most (all?) of the hostels are in the Wailuku area (east side). All of the shorediving (that I'm aware of) is across the island in West or South Maui. So factor that into your plans. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands And parking can be a problem at some sites later in the day.

 

[DiveMaven]

I agree 100% if you haven't done much diving in Maui, hire a guide whether you're shore diving or boat diving. Hawaii has so many amazing creatures, including some great endemic marine life you can't see anywhere else in the world. But if you don't know what you're looking for, you're likely to swim right by and see nothing by hard coral and lava rock.

When I hear someone complain there's nothing to see diving Maui, I always ask if they've been diving in Maui before and if they had a guide.

For shore diving, go out with Shaka Doug a few times. Keep in mind that boat diving is expensive, so plan on $120-$200 for a 2/tank dive (depending on whether you're doing a regular or specialty charter). Also, the boats leave EARLY on Maui, with check-in at the Kihei boat ramp being 5:45 to 6:30am. The boats out of Lahaina leave a bit later, with check-in at like 7am.

 

[KrisB]

FWIW, experienced local buddies can be as effective as a paid guide. At least a few shops maintain buddy books -- I think Maui Dreams still has one.

It's worth going a couple times with a paid guide, but that will cut into the "budget" side of your question -- most shore guides charge almost as much as the boat operators!

 

[FishDiver]

Thanks for the responses so far. Will a reef species guide like frankosmaps: Maui Reef Creatures Guide (fish card) do the trick or is a DM essential to appreciate critters?

I had planned for some boat dives, sounds like I want to do those first thing on the trip. From the map and my dim memory of my last (non-diving) visit, the towns are about an hour from the SW side of the island.

P.S. Why are the dive boats so expensive? Is it a long way to the offshore site or just island prices?

Do many diving visitors follow a plan similar to mine or am I attempting to do something foolish?

 

[diversteve]

We spent several mornings shore diving. Wailea Beach to the south and Old Airport Beach near Lahaina. Also another site mid-island I can't recall. All fine but a bit of a drive. Diving was good. There's been Tigers spotted at Olawalu so you might not want to do that one solo. This might be of some use - pictures/descriptions of most of the more popular dive sites:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/Maui/

the towns are about an hour from the SW side of the island.

That seems about right. Wailuku to Lahaina was. Kahului to Kihei maybe a little less. And it's 45mins. to an hour between south Kihei (Wailea) to Lahaina. Drove that a bunch of times. One of the locals warned us not to leave anything expensive in the car near Kaanapali due to regular break-ins.

 

[KrisB]

Drive times:
Kahului to Kihei: 30 min
Wailuku to Kihei: 40-50 min (depending on traffic)
Kihei to Lahaina: 40-45 min (or up to several hours if you get stuck behind a car accident)
Lahaina to Kaanapali: 10-20 min (again, traffic)
Kahului or Wailuku to Lahaina: 40-45 min

The shark warning for Olowalu has LONG since been diminished. You might find a white tip, but I haven't heard of a spotting of a Tiger there in the last several years. It is still worth remembering that it is a big ocean and while you're in Hawaii, you'll be swimming with sharks, whales, vacationers in Mexico and even Japanese in Japan. You just won't be able to see them all.

As for boat prices, two reasons of two words each: 1. insurance premiums; 2. government permits.

I wouldn't count on those fish id cards helping much. They're cute and they can help jog your memory, but for the most part, you'll need an experienced local diver or professional to tell you if something is really worth seeing -- i.e. rare or endemic.

 

[StuartT]

I am considering flying to Maui, renting a cheap car, staying in hostels and doing lots of shore dives. I will probably do a few boat dives as well, but the plan is to buy a Franko's map and dive the shore.

Is this a practical plan? Any local hints or tips?

Shore diving on Maui is one of the only things I've found there to be very inexpensive. If you get a 10 tank card rental at Maui Dreams in Kehei it's only $40. Weights and flag rental(required for shore diving) also very cheap. There are some great sites for shore diving in South Maui. Wailea beach, 5 graves, White Rock beach(Haloa point), to name a few. The Mala Wharf in Lahaina is also a great shore dive. 3 of us dove those sites among others and saw all kinds of stuff though we go very slow and look in all the nooks and crannies. Lots of various eels, frogfish, nudibranchs, turtles, white tips, lobsters, octopus(harder to find than our giant pacific here), manta, eagle rays, and lots of variety of reef fish. We also did 2 boat charters but actually saw a lot more on our own. 3 tank with Ed robinsons ($220 with tax and nitrox) and a 2 tank with Mike severns ($145 with tax). If you have never done it the Molokini dives are great due to the reliably good viz (100+ ft) most days. If you are solo Maui Dreams has a buddy book or try to hook up with some of the sb's here. Most shore dives max out at 40 feet so expect lots of bottom time. We averaged 80 min on al 80's with a couple of 100+ min dives too. There are some pictures on my profile if you want to see some shots from Sept this year.

 

[FishDiver]

If you really do this I beg of you for two favors;

1. Do the boat dives first, with very experienced Maui guides.

2. Don't write a negative review of all the "nothing" you saw on your shore dives without experienced Maui guides.

There are many unique and unusual things to see and do in Maui waters, but it is not common that divers who have seen the Worlds top dive destinations find that without a guide.

I spent a week on the Kona Aggressor last Christmas. Is the marine life similar in Maui?