Maui Dive op help

[Qtpie54346]

My husband and I will be on our honeymoon in a couple weeks on the NCL Pride of Hawaii. We are having trouble booking a Maui dive op. We will be there on Wed. Nov. 29 and our boat arrives at 8:00am. We were planning on renting a car and driving over to Lahaina Divers and then going to the Old Lahaina Luau that night.

I tried to book the dive but then got an email the next day that they have a contract with NCL and we would have to book with them directly. We can't do this though because we would then miss the luau having to go with the NCL transportation back to the boat.

Is there a dive shop that anyone recommends that we can do a dive in the later part of the morning or early afternoon. (Probably any time after 10).

Thanks for the help!

Kim

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Early afternoon dives off a boat aren't all that great. Wind comes up, things get blown out. A shore dive is a better option in my opinion.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Send me a PM. I might be able to help steer you in the right direction.

 

[DiveMaven]

You can actually book with the ship if you want and provide your own transportation to the dive shop. You would need to speak with someone at Guest Relations on the ship to make sure they understand you're driving yourself, but it's very doable. If it were me, I'd also call Lahaina Divers and tell them what I'm doing as well, just to cover both bases.

Nice thing for you would be to not have to worry about driving too far after your dive for the luau. The Old Lahaina Luau is fabulous...you couldn't have picked any better IMO. We've done the afternoon charter with Lahaina Divers quite a few times and they always pick sites based on the conditions. You'll get some really yummy warm cookies on the boat too.

Diving with Shaka-Doug is a great choice too, so you really can't go wrong no matter what you do!

 

[Qtpie54346]

Lahaina Divers hasnt gotten back to me... at this point, we'll probably look into the shore diving.

I've heard Maui Dreams is good- any other suggestions which are better?

 

[diversteve]

Although the Lahaina Divers boat probably will stay near Maui due to the tradewinds, I've seen it go out with just a few divers in the afternoon. And it's a big boat which makes for a better dive platform when the trades are up.

Maui Dreams is in South Kihei. A good 30-45 min. drive each way from Lahaina depending on traffic. As your schedule seems tight, that's probably an issue. And if you drive from Kihei back to the ship in Kahului to clean up pre-luau, it could easily be an hour back to Lahaina.

Pacific Dive is in Lahaina, just around the corner from Lahaina Divers. So if you're now planning to shoredive in that area, you could dive Mala Wharf, Airport Beach or other nearby sites through/with them also.

There's also the Sheraton Black Rock dive nearby in Kaanapali, but there'll be a lot of other divers/snorkelers in the water there.

 

[Tattoome]

I just dove Mala Ramp last week, it is a fantastic dive although not very deep. The old pier makes for interesting exploring. Ran into a 3' black tip hanging around. Airport beach is good too. Bathrooms and showers onsite make for easy cleanup after your dive.

 

[KrisB]

Steve: NCL docks in Kahului, so Kihei is sort of "on-the-way" to Lahaina. At least, it's not too far out of the way.

And it would be far quicker to run back to the boat from Kihei, than it would be to run back from Lahaina.

Kim: If you're wanting to get some shore dives in, I'd totally reccommend Maui Dreams. They'll certainly treat you right! And every site they'll take you to has showers and a bathroom (well, one site is just a porta-pottie), too.

 

[diversteve]

Steve: NCL docks in Kahului, so Kihei is sort of "on-the-way" to Lahaina. At least, it's not too far out of the way.

I knew that. Quoting myself:

And if you drive from Kihei back to the ship in Kahului to clean up pre-luau...

I meant that they might want to stay in the Lahaina area for the luau since they're planning to dive that afternoon.

I didn't word that well.