Maui Dive Operator and Dive Site recommendations

[leadweight]

Vale, I would have died in a 3mm. You are a warm blooded dude.

 

[baystr]

low 70's in a 3mm? I would have been cold my second day...........

 

[Charlie99]

The various buoys in the area have the temps more like 76 and 77F.
My computer, which generally seems to read 1 degree high has been 77 and 78F lately.

Nice privately maintained dive condition forecast page:
http://www.hawaiiweathertoday.com/dive-and-snorkel/
That report has water temps at 76 and 77F.

To check whether his reported water temps make sense, I sometimes look at buoy reports.

NDBC - Observations - Radial Search gives reports from many buoys. The "dist" and "hdg" columns are distance from a point in Maalea bay a couple miles off of Kihei. The ones 12 miles to the north are around Kahului. They are 76.3F now.

30 miles to the west of Kihei is another buoy, which is 76.6F.

 

[TSandM]

If you are interested in marine life, I would highly recommend going out with Mike Severns. The owner, Pauline, is co-author of a guide to Hawaiian marine life, and the focus of the dives is on unusual endemic creatures -- they keep track of where very cool stuff is to be found! They also have critter ID books on board, so you can look up the interesting things you have seen. They also tend to attract a somewhat more experienced group of divers, which also makes things fun.

There is quite a bit of decent shore diving that is pretty easy to do by yourself, if you are accustomed to such things. (It depends on surf conditions -- when the surf is up, the near shore viz is pretty poor and the surge is strong, and the entries and exits get a little more challenging.) Check out Home Page for information on some of the sites. There is also a Maui Shore Dives book which is very useful, although it's apparently difficult to come by.

For other activities, I'd also highly recommend a helicopter tour, if your budget stretches that far. It's an AMAZING way to see parts of the island you simply won't be able to access otherwise.

I've also done the horseback tour down into Haleakala twice, and that's a very cool way to spend a day. It's like riding through a multicolored moonscape.

I'd also recommend dinner at the SeaWatch restaurant (now run by the folks who own the Haile Maile place -- fantastic food!) and at Cafe o'Lei in Kihei -- and lunch at Maui Tacos is pretty darned good, too!

 

[DiveMaven]

B&B posts temperatures on their daily dive reports, and they're consistently reporting 73 degrees. When we were there at the end of December, we had 74 degrees with the occassional 73 thrown in.

Not arguing with what the buoys are reporting, just saying what different computers are reading during dives.

 

[cwan]

Whatever you do, don't go with Scuba Shack in Kihei. They are terrible. I'm an experienced diver and I live here- they are the rudest, unaccommodating dive shop you will find. (below is a full review from Yelp). Go with B&B scuba- amazing crew. Diving is always good in Maui- it's the crew you go with and the atmosphere they create that will make the difference. I took the time to drive around most of the Kihei shops when I first moved here, and dove with a majority of them. B&B Scuba, and Maui Dreams are most accommodating, and prices are comparable.

Kihei Scuba Shack on South Kihei Road- don't give them business
Yelp Review:
Do not go diving with this dive shop. The captain and owner are so rude. I went because the price is comparable, and it was the only boat with open spots (which probably should have been a sign). The boat and equipment were fine. It was the service that wasn't, and the unfriendly attitude that the crew gave off. To be frank, the captain was a total bit*h and the owner catered to her.

The dive trip was conducted the way THEY wanted to, without any flexibility to accommodate the guests. I'm not talking about the technical parts of diving. I'm talking about when hanging out on the boat, during which the customers were made to feel like unwanted guests. Their tone was like that used towards unruly children

examples:
I have hip problems. I made the owner, whom was my dive guide, aware I'd be slower swimming- nothing drastic, just need to stop and look at stuff every 5, 10 minutes instead of straight swimming. His reply: "then you better remember where the boat is. I can't cater to you. Better yet, you should just go with the other group"

several customers were chatting at the end of the trip, and the captain began to talk about how we can go online and write a review. She interrupted the divers, told them to be quiet: "maybe YOU think you've heard this before, but you haven't, and I can't concentrate with people buzzing around", and goes on to rattle about the 2 dollar discount they could get at the store. when finished, she says; "ok, you may talk now."

When I took off my wetsuit between dives, I was asked "why"- I had to explain i like to dry off during surface intervals. The captain's reply: "well usually we let people take wetsuits off down to their waists- but if you want to try and get back into a cold clammy wetsuit, then suit yourself and by all means!" She then proceeded to hand the wetsuit to me as I was still eating during the break to put it back on

Another example: fellow diver was about to get a breakfast portion. Captain decides she wants to take photos of the divers and tells him to pose. He says he'd like to get a bagel, her reply: "well ok then, suit yourself"

Don't give them any business. It's ridiculous the divers had to pay and put up with this.

 

[chokolad]

Whatever you do, don't go with Scuba Shack in Kihei. They are terrible. I'm an experienced diver and I live here- they are the rudest, unaccommodating dive shop you will find. (below is a full review from Yelp). Go with B&B scuba- amazing crew. Diving is always good in Maui- it's the crew you go with and the atmosphere they create that will make the difference. I took the time to drive around most of the Kihei shops when I first moved here, and dove with a majority of them. B&B Scuba, and Maui Dreams are most accommodating, and prices are comparable.

Kihei Scuba Shack on South Kihei Road- don't give them business
Yelp Review:
Do not go diving with this dive shop. The captain and owner are so rude. I went because the price is comparable, and it was the only boat with open spots (which probably should have been a sign). The boat and equipment were fine. It was the service that wasn't, and the unfriendly attitude that the crew gave off. To be frank, the captain was a total bit*h and the owner catered to her.

The dive trip was conducted the way THEY wanted to, without any flexibility to accommodate the guests. I'm not talking about the technical parts of diving. I'm talking about when hanging out on the boat, during which the customers were made to feel like unwanted guests. Their tone was like that used towards unruly children

examples:
I have hip problems. I made the owner, whom was my dive guide, aware I'd be slower swimming- nothing drastic, just need to stop and look at stuff every 5, 10 minutes instead of straight swimming. His reply: "then you better remember where the boat is. I can't cater to you. Better yet, you should just go with the other group"

several customers were chatting at the end of the trip, and the captain began to talk about how we can go online and write a review. She interrupted the divers, told them to be quiet: "maybe YOU think you've heard this before, but you haven't, and I can't concentrate with people buzzing around", and goes on to rattle about the 2 dollar discount they could get at the store. when finished, she says; "ok, you may talk now."

When I took off my wetsuit between dives, I was asked "why"- I had to explain i like to dry off during surface intervals. The captain's reply: "well usually we let people take wetsuits off down to their waists- but if you want to try and get back into a cold clammy wetsuit, then suit yourself and by all means!" She then proceeded to hand the wetsuit to me as I was still eating during the break to put it back on

Another example: fellow diver was about to get a breakfast portion. Captain decides she wants to take photos of the divers and tells him to pose. He says he'd like to get a bagel, her reply: "well ok then, suit yourself"

Don't give them any business. It's ridiculous the divers had to pay and put up with this.

Come on, it's ridiculous how thin skinned some people are. Scuba shack guys are great and Captain Valerie is really nice if a bit stern. Also they have one of the faster boats around there so your trip to Molokini is really short.