Maui Dive Experience!!

[chepar]

AquaTec once bubbled...
Hobbit land - the very best site there is anywhere. is north of Kapalua, and can only be dived when the waves are down. you jump in off a cliff about 8 feet high and dive the most amazing formations, tubes, arches, cathedrials you will ever experience.
getting out is a little tricky as you need to climb back up the same wall you jumped off of.

YIKES!!!

Ok, maybe I could imagine that I would jump off the cliff into water 8 feet below (I'll have to imagine real hard) - but climb back up the 8 feet once the dive is over? Oh no no no - that's not going to happen in this lifetime. I have trouble enough on shore dives trudging on flat sand across the beach! Call me wimp.

I guess the byline of this dive site has to be "no pain, no gain"

 

[AquaTec]

you know what they say.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

 

[chepar]

AquaTec once bubbled...
you know what they say. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Unfortunately for me, that is too true. The cost (in body aches the next day) is just too high. I am finding some of the best dive sites are kind of a PITA for a muscle-challenged weakling like me.

I guess I need to start working out with weights more - or find a dive sherpa for hire.

 

[angus166us]

aquatec how long has it been since you were there. Im going in October and wonder who you used to work with to maybe try and befriend someone to show us the good spots

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'm on Maui right now. We've been here since May 1st and we're closing in on 100 dives since we got here. Today we did the back wall of Molokini for the 3rd time. We have found that if you befriend just about any diver they'll be more than happy to share their favorite spots. We have made friends with the folks from B&B scuba in Kihei and they have been great.

We did the #1 Cathedrals off Lanai and really enjoyed that dive but so far the back wall is our favorite. Right now the shore diving is good up at the west end. They had some huge swells a couple of weeks ago and that messsed up the south end. The vis at places like 5 caves, ulua, makena and such are from 20-40 feet. The Vis up at the west end at places like Slaughterhouse, Honolua and even Airport have been 50-80. The vis at the backwall is forever. Amazing.

The rays are showing up. We saw them last night at Ulua and today at the wreck St. Vincent. The whales leave, the rays show up. Fun stuff.

Oh and while cruising the back wall I knew I was behind all the divers, but a spooked white tip shark came blasting up the wall less than 3 feet from me. We also saw a huge gray, the dive leader estimated it to be 500 pounds.

The trades have died down to half of what they were 3 days ago. The swells are way down and the visibility is only to get better and better. We'll dive the caves in the morning and see if it's getting better.

 

[caymaniac]

Al Mialkovsky once bubbled...
I'm on Maui right now. but so far the back wall is our favorite. The vis at the backwall is forever. Amazing.
The rays are showing up. We saw them last night at Ulua and today at the wreck St. Vincent. The whales leave, the rays show up. Fun stuff.
The swells are way down and the visibility is only to get better and better. We'll dive the caves in the morning and see if it's getting better.

keep that great vis coming, we'll be there in a few weeks!

Caymaniac

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

We again went out with B&B and did reefs end on molokini. Our first dive was a bounce down to 192 on air. Then we cruised the outside of the reef, played with an octopus and introduced ourselves to a ton of sharks. Again the vis was way up there. The sandy fingers inside are covered with garden eels. Looks like a lawn.

Instead of doing a second dive closer to shore we remained at molokini as a new south swell showed up last night. The south end is wiped out. We decided the two boat dives weren't enough so we grabbed a tank and headed up to honolua. Vis was probably at least 75 feet up there. Tons of friendly turtles and a ray came cruising into the bay.

I'm going to hate leaving here in a few days. Oregon just isn't going to feel the same.

 

[Merlock]

Wow! You are seriously whetting my appetite!

My wife and I are heading to Maui in September to visit my dad. My wife doesn't dive, but my dad does. I'm hoping to get out several times with him while I'm there...

Looks like I'm going to push for a trip to the backside of the crater.

Oh, and I'm coming from Portland...

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Well Merlock since you're from Oregon then I know you'll appreciate the diving on Maui as much as I do.

The vacationis over and I'm going to dust off all the cold water gear and go back to my reality.

We did a total of 10 tanks on Molokini while there. While I still enjoy the back wall the best we did dive the crater itself and saw tons of garden eels and even a couple of rays. But I found myself enjoying a drift dive at reefs end on Molokini as much as the traditional back wall dives.

Reefs end is at the right side of Molokini looking at the open end. You start at a mooring and drop down to about 100-120 feet. From there you'll drift along the wall to the part of the wall that is visable from the surface and continue on til air runs low or you've run out of time. We started out at 120 and gradually rose monitoring our computers and air supply. Since little physical effort is required we managed to get 50 minutes on the tank.

But I'll admit on a couple of backwall dives I had just 31 and 32 minutes on a tank. There is lots to see deep on Molokini.

Oh and while cruising the wall don't forget to glance out into the deep blue. You never know what's cruising by just behind you.

 

[Charlie99]

Al Mialkovsky once bubbled...
Reefs end is at the right side of Molokini looking at the open end. You start at a mooring and drop down to about 100-120 feet. From there you'll drift along the wall to the part of the wall that is visable from the surface and continue on til air runs low or you've run out of time.

Oh and while cruising the wall don't forget to glance out into the deep blue. You never know what's cruising by just behind you.

Don't shy away from Reef's End because you don't want to go deep. There is a small overhang/mini-cave, usually with 3 or 4 whitetips, and a lot of other stuff around 70 or 80', which is where a lot of operators dive this site.