Maui DIve Shop reviews?

[iflexsol]

Can you post your(anyone you know) experience with Maui Dive shop? I booked a 1 tank back wall dive with them. I would like to dive just back wall in Maui as I've a non diving wife. So want to go early and come back by 10. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
KK

 

[michaelaz]

Can you post your(anyone you know) experience with Maui Dive shop? I booked a 1 tank back wall dive with them. I would like to dive just back wall in Maui as I've a non diving wife. So want to go early and come back by 10. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
KK

When is your dive ? I have dove the back wall with them and it was a good time, I dont see much posted about them but Ive never had a bad dive with out of the last 3 years 2-3 dives each year.

 

[Charlie99]

I haven't done the 1 tank dive with them, but have been out a couple times on their bigger boat out of Maalea. It was OK. Not great, but ok.

Maui Dive Shop and Lahaina Divers are the two large, multiple boat operators on Maui. Your experience will vary according to the particular group of crewmembers that day. Their customer base tends more towards the infrequent diver than what I've seen at other dive operators.

The other dive ops on Maui are smaller operations where the owner is much more involved in day to day operations.

 

[Wildcard]

What he said. It's hard to get 'personal" service from MDS as they have a bunch of rookies in the store all the time. The dive pros will treat you right though.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I don't like them and didn't enjoy the dives I've done with them. Too slick, too commerical and they aren't about the dive, they're about the tip. Too bad they don't earn it instead of trying to talk you out of it.

B&B Scuba does two dives and are always back by 10am. You'll do the backwall and you will do another quality site. In fact usually they're back by 9:30.

 

[DiveMaven]

I have to agree with the above...your experience with them will likely depend on who is on the boat that day. We dove with MDS once and will never go back. Thought their DM was an idiot and didn't care at all about safety.

However, we do dive with Lahaina Divers quite a bit (since we're based in Kaanapali) and although they run large boat, they are well laid out and we've never felt crowded. We've also always gotten a lot of personal attention and find their staff to be a lot of fun. Perhaps because we're repeaters we are treated differently, not sure....

 

[bobmaggi]

On all of our trips to Maui(2001,'03,'05), we have done most all of our boat dives with MDS. We have been very pleased with them, and will go back to them again. We have gotten to know the people at the shop and the DMs and instructors there, and have always had a good experience with them. And they have remembered us from prev. trips. When we were in the shop picking up tanks for shore dives, and say where we were planning on going, they gave us helpful tips, as well. In 2003, I wasn't certified yet ( was in the process of, before our trip and didn't get finished) and did many intro dives with them, with my husband tagging along. Its all about attitude and personalities, too! My husband also tech dives and has a bp and wing, and insists on setting up his own gear, and he has had no problems. We are just happy and grateful to be there, and have lots of fun. On our trip in Feb., we did 9 boat trips with them and had great times. Like I said, it's all about attitudes and personalities. I know some people on this board won't like this post, but these are our experiences with them, and we plan on going again with them in 2007! Already have the condo reservations! Take care, Maggi

 

[Charlie99]

On all of our trips to Maui(2001,'03,'05), we have done most all of our boat dives with MDS. We have been very pleased with them, and will go back to them again.

Have you done many trips with other operators? If so, how did they compare?

What is the best dive op for one diver isn't necessarily the best for someone else. One of the many nice things about Maui is that there's lots of variety.

Here and here are some opinions I've previously posted about Maui dive boats.

 

[ctmax]

I just came back from Maui and dove with Lahaina divers and was quite impressed. My wife is a non diver as well and she went along for the ride and did some snorkeling. She absolutely loved the trip, she was a little worried at first but didn't want to come back in. I also did several dives with Kapalua Dive shop and can't say enough about them. Their dives were right from the beach so my wife sat and read her book while I was diving. They bent over backwards to provide several dives I will be hard pressed to beat. They even talked the boss into snorkeling while I was out.

 

[bobmaggi]

We have also taken trips with extended horizons. We have been very pleased with them, also. My husband has dived with Mike Severns, too, and liked his dive operation, also. These have just been our experiences. The divemasters practically fought over which group my husband would be with, as his air consumption kept up with them, and after dropping all the rest of us off at the boat, they could go on with him for another half hour/45 min. Take care, Maggi

ps. you are right, Charlie99, there is so much variety in Maui, and so many options. What is great for us, isn't for someone else. We also got a lot of shore dives in on this 3 week trip, also. We love Maui, and wish we could afford to go every year.