Just completed 2 weeks of intensive diving in Maui on the west side with Keith Saddler who might be one of the best instructors on Maui. During my 2 week stay I was able to complete my 5th PADI specialty to qualify me as a Master Diver. I choose to do a fish ID Specialty with Keith and he not only taught me to identify the family but also the sub species of each family group. I can honestly say now that I can tell you what kind of fish it is and also what stage of its growth it is in. It was a little extra work but Keith took the time to show me how to use reference books to help identify the fish I was looking at and it has made a world of difference and I feel makes me enjoy my dives even more. Keith specializes in shore dives and has an extensive knowlege base of the reefs up and down the coast. He also pointed out that Extended Horizions in Maui was participating in the Sep 19th World Clean Up day and asked if I wanted to participate which I of course said yes as I think helping to keep our oceans clean is important.
Needless to say I knew coming over to Maui that I was going to be taking the Divemaster course as well and had started my studies several weeks before arriving on the island. It was a good thing as it left me free at night to rest and get ready for the next day. I was very glad about comming to Maui to dive with Keith and be put through the ringer. Keith taught me a lot and offered me an opprotunity to dive and and learn in beuatiful place. I can say now that going pro and taking the PADI Divemaster course was the most challenging diving experience I have had to date and Keiths encouragement throughout the whole period helped keep me going.
Another kudo goes out to Extended Horizons who IMHO may be one of the finest dive boat operations on the island. They are very well organized and professional group of individuals that work extremely well as a team. The other added bonus of the whole deal is they only work with small groups. I personally prefer this as I have seen and heard to many horor stories about the so called cattle call boats that are packing on 20 plus divers. The boat dives offered by Extended are 2 tank dives and I had over 45 minutes of dive time on both dives. I would dive again with them on my next trip to Maui anytime.
I could list out all the fish I seen but the list is endless however I did see and photograph turtles, spotted eagle rays, lionfish, frogfish, butterflies, grouper, 100's of wrasses, nudi's, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, etc, etc... Vis was never less than 40 feet. Water temps where in the mid to high 70's and the weather well let's just say it's Maui weather.
If you are heading off to Maui and looking for an excellent guide or Dive Boat Charter I would highly recommend you contact Keith Saddler at knightdiver007@gmail.com for shoredives and any PADI training courses you may want to do or Extended Horizions www.extendedhorizions.com f0r dive boat charter.
Aloha,
Needless to say I knew coming over to Maui that I was going to be taking the Divemaster course as well and had started my studies several weeks before arriving on the island. It was a good thing as it left me free at night to rest and get ready for the next day. I was very glad about comming to Maui to dive with Keith and be put through the ringer. Keith taught me a lot and offered me an opprotunity to dive and and learn in beuatiful place. I can say now that going pro and taking the PADI Divemaster course was the most challenging diving experience I have had to date and Keiths encouragement throughout the whole period helped keep me going.
Another kudo goes out to Extended Horizons who IMHO may be one of the finest dive boat operations on the island. They are very well organized and professional group of individuals that work extremely well as a team. The other added bonus of the whole deal is they only work with small groups. I personally prefer this as I have seen and heard to many horor stories about the so called cattle call boats that are packing on 20 plus divers. The boat dives offered by Extended are 2 tank dives and I had over 45 minutes of dive time on both dives. I would dive again with them on my next trip to Maui anytime.
I could list out all the fish I seen but the list is endless however I did see and photograph turtles, spotted eagle rays, lionfish, frogfish, butterflies, grouper, 100's of wrasses, nudi's, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, etc, etc... Vis was never less than 40 feet. Water temps where in the mid to high 70's and the weather well let's just say it's Maui weather.
If you are heading off to Maui and looking for an excellent guide or Dive Boat Charter I would highly recommend you contact Keith Saddler at knightdiver007@gmail.com for shoredives and any PADI training courses you may want to do or Extended Horizions www.extendedhorizions.com f0r dive boat charter.
Aloha,
