Maui County Delivers Final Blow

[MauiScubaSteve]

Life's a Beach & Kahale's

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

OK, a real answer; the resort operators can still lead night dives off the resort beaches. Hopefully there will eventually be a Wailea Westin so Ulua night dives can return.

 

[fppf]

Doug, never said I did not like the bus, just saying what I heard non divers comment. Yes they also commented on the hippy guy in a VW camper too.

Please don't start attacking my diving. My wife and I are very good, very experienced divers. We highly value our natural resources that took so long to develop. We take only pictures and leave only bubbles. We always talk to local shops about dives and dive conditions, local laws, ect. We are extremely careful to wild life and about leaving any foot print. I'm just telling you what my wife and I saw in our last trip to Maui. And yes, we could not believe the speed of shore line development between our two visits.

We also saw private divers behaving poorly, which if keeps happening will just cause even more regulations. It was really bad seeing a solo diver wearing thick leather gloves so he could just mindlessly hold onto any coral while video taping. That made me so made I swam over to him and ask what the hell he was doing.

I'll make this my last post so I don't offend anyone.
But it would be wise to get external opinions. It maybe true that this is just one persons political agenda, but I doubt it.

Why don't you climb in a dry suit and see what historical wrecks are all about. Lets go diving.

 

[ScubaSista]

Additional night diver answer: Commercial operators who have a permit to a beach that's open until 8 will probably be able to conduct guided and/or training night dives in Jan and Feb when it gets dark earlier. And when the water's at it's coldest (at least by our way of thinking)!

And to the East Coast poster: I too used to wonder what our impact was on the reef - were/are divers damaging it? Anyone who goes into the ocean has some impact. However, when I saw what a 10-15 foot winter swell did to Ulua Beach in a matter of days several years ago, I came to realize yet again that Mother Nature can play a much larger (and faster) role in devastating our reefs than divers ever could. When you dive at Makena Landing and Ulua Beach in South Maui and see smooth, bald rock, that's where MN sheared off decades-old coral...and took it away without a trace.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The county had an environmental impact study done. The thing cost a fortune - over $100,000. We've never heard about it again because it basically determined that we weren't having an impact! (Someone on this thread, post the link from the Maui County page, will ya?)

Though there will always be clumsy or uneducated divers in all parts of the world, I know that the professionals in Maui really do CARE about our reefs and agree with the earlier poster that said reef-crashers are typically kept at the edge of the reef, made to swim over sand so as to protect the environment from diver impact. CORA operators also care about their impact on other user groups within the general public. Remember, as residents of Maui, CORA folks are part of the general public too!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Please don't start attacking my diving....

....I'm just telling you what my wife and I saw in our last trip to Maui.

AFAICS, no one commented on your diving, just on your posting style.

Are you saying you saw student divers on training dives here who were crashing all over the place?

 

[KissMyCORA]

'fppf' sorry bro. This is really a serious matter and I guess I got a bit defensive. Peace and safe diving.

 

[fppf]

AFAICS, no one commented on your diving, just on your posting style.

Are you saying you saw student divers on training dives here who were crashing all over the place?

Unfortunately, yes, crashing, kicking, SPG dragging, your typical new OW diver stuff. We have all been there, we all need to learn some how.
Yes, Maui is not any different than anywhere else, sadly enough. Yes, we have seen DM not following good diving practice.

I have tagged along with many classes while deciding if I wanted to go pro. In the end we chose not to go pro. We have the luxury of having quarries to train divers in, where there really is not anything to damage but mud and zebra muscles.

I can understand your frustrations, we have similar issues up here with people stealing artifacts off wrecks. And having big brother step in really sucks, and I don't agree with more gov.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The question I'm asking is directed at your training dives comment; not the typical new OW diver stuff. I ask again, did you see Maui training dives where students were crashing all over the reef? Did you notice who the operator was? Did you think to make a difference and contact the shop owner/manager?

There are many of us here who are working at keeping Maui different than anywhere else in the world, and that is part of the mindset of some of the proponents of CORA regulation. Unfortunately a lot of scuba diving is between the ears and under the surface, so those on the outside looking at diving can not comprehend the value of instructors and instruction.

 

[fppf]

The question I'm asking is directed at your training dives comment; not the typical new OW diver stuff. I ask again, did you see Maui training dives where students were crashing all over the reef? Did you notice who the operator was? Did you think to make a difference and contact the shop owner/manager?

There are many of us here who are working at keeping Maui different than anywhere else in the world, and that is part of the mindset of some of the proponents of CORA regulation. Unfortunately a lot of scuba diving is between the ears and under the surface, so those on the outside looking at diving can not comprehend the value of instructors and instruction.

Yep
Yep, talked to them
Tried

I do believe that the very vast majority of instructors and DM try there hardest to operate safe and non damaging dives.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Considering this post in another thread today, seems like you are back kicking here???

My wife an I both shoot.
I understand what your saying, we see many people with cheap camera's that will never in there dreams get anything worth while. And its not because of the camera, its all about skills.

That said, we see way more really bad divers than we see half way decent divers, yet alone good divers. We have even seen "dive masters" if that's what you want to call them standing on coral.

If you end up on a boat with us you will most likely only see us on the line and getting in. After we hit the water we stay far away from groups. There will always be a few divers in every group that kick up sand/silt, scary the tiny stuff into hiding, and wave at the camera all the time.