Maui Diving boat vs shore

[sus9nr]

We are heading to Maui in August and have been trying to figure out what kind of trips to book. We are experienced divers and were wondering if shores dives or boat dives is the best way to go. According to shorediving.com there are a lot of sites to choose from but I am unsure of how difficult the entries are for most of them. Do any of the dive shops rent carts to be able to carry equipment to the entries especially the ones that say it is a quarter mile to the entry.

IT seems a lot of the boat dives are very close to shore or is that really a lack of scale on the maps? We are staying at the Kahana Beach Vacation Club in Lahaina, HI. IT seems from reading the reviews of the dive shops close to that location tend to cater to the newly certified and it would be quite a drive at 5 am to make it down to the shops that cater to the more advanced divers.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Susan

 

[TSandM]

sus9nr, my husband and I have made quite a few trips to Maui (my in-laws live there). We have almost completely stopped going out on the boats -- maybe once a trip, or less. The reason for this is that the second dive off the boat is often the seaward side of a reef you can dive from shore, and you see very much the same things. Visibility in Molokini can be much better than the viz when shore diving, if the surf is up, though.

Most of the entries are pretty easy, and very few sites have that long a walk. We like Ulua Beach and Polo Beach (both south of you) but have also enjoyed diving Old Airport. My favorite shore dive on Maui is the Mala Pier, but it does have an annoying entry, where you have to pick your way between coral heads until you get to water deep enough to dive. Honolua Bay is the only dive I've done with a really long walk, and no, there is no way to get your gear down there other than to walk it, unless you buy a cart (that will fit in your rental car!)

If you do boat dive, you might think about going over to Lanai. Leaving from Lahaina makes that a shorter boat trip than from the south, and the pinnacles off Lanai (and the Cathedrals) are nice dives.

 

[rottiesrule]

the best diving on maui is on lani!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are heading to Maui in August and have been trying to figure out what kind of trips to book. We are experienced divers and were wondering if shores dives or boat dives is the best way to go. According to shorediving.com there are a lot of sites to choose from but I am unsure of how difficult the entries are for most of them. Do any of the dive shops rent carts to be able to carry equipment to the entries especially the ones that say it is a quarter mile to the entry.

IT seems a lot of the boat dives are very close to shore or is that really a lack of scale on the maps? We are staying at the Kahana Beach Vacation Club in Lahaina, HI. IT seems from reading the reviews of the dive shops close to that location tend to cater to the newly certified and it would be quite a drive at 5 am to make it down to the shops that cater to the more advanced divers.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Susan

 

[Rescue Diver68]

the best diving on maui is on lani!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rotties do rule!

Yeah, you can't swim to Lanai. Good diving there, Cathedrals I & II, Monolith is a great site.

 

[Shaka Doug]

The folks I dive with repeatedly tell me they saw more diving from shore than they did off the boats. You should do a bit of both since both have certain advantages. There are no rental carts that I am aware of. Some shore sites are quite easy, others more difficult. It comes down to sea conditions too. An easy entry could end up with a big swell and then you're still out of luck. I'd recommend contacting a guide to make it the easiest on yourselves.

Remember this, diving is supposed to be fun!! I hope you have fun here!

 

[Spg01]

Last time I was in Maui I did a boat with 2 dives, one at the cathedrals and one somewhere close to it. And the next day I did 2 shore dives with Shaka Doug because I am the only diver in my family.

I would lean towards saying the shore dives were a little better. The cathedrals were cool, just make sure you are the 1st to get into them. Otherwise when the heard shows up everything gets kicked up and viz goes down.

 

[bperc]

I just got back from Maui and I did both shore and boat dives. I did 3 dives with Tiny Bubbles Scuba at Kaanapali Beach Club. We did a shore dive, a scooter dive, and a night dive. All three were good dives. The scooters are a blast.
I also did 3 boat dives with Lahaina Divers. They were all advanced drift dives. The first dive was at Lanai. We dove at Barge Harbor and then at Arm Chair. These were good dives. The second dive was at Molokai. We got to see hammerhead sharks on both dives there. As you descend, there are lots of fish from top to the bottom. It looks like it is raining fish. It was a GREAT dive trip. The third dive was on the backwall of Molokini. It was an awesome dive too. Looking down the wall into the deep blue was very cool. The End of the World was the better of the two dive sites there.

 

[sus9nr]

Thanks everyone for the information I guess we should probably do both. Maybe schedule one boat dive out to Lanai and plan on shore diving for the rest. If you use a guide for shore dives do you have to make reservations ahead of time? How much in advance do you need to reserve for boat dives in August?

Thanks

Susan

 

[oldnotdead]

We just returned from Maui and businesses seemed slow for the most part. It is unfortunate for the businesses, but nice to be able to walk downtown Lahaina without being shoulder to shoulder. I only called Lahaina divers, but most dive boats from other companies we saw were not packed, and we had plenty of room on the boats we used. I contacted them before the trip and they did not have concerns about availability. We also did a dive last Thursday to Molokini with 2 days notice. There was not a problem booking and this is a popular dive spot. The boat was not full. Have fun. OND

 

[sus9nr]

I know this is not good for the Island but it will probably allow me to do more diving when I have to make advance reservations I tend to limit my diving so I have time to see and do a few other things. Thanks for the information.

Susan