Maui in October.....

[DMJulie]

Aloha Maui divers!

I am a divemaster on Kauai and will be coming to Maui in October. I will probably only get one day of diving so I want to make good choices on where to dive and who to dive with. Love to do a guided shore or boat dive.

Not sure where I am staying yet so would love to know where different dives are located, which are your favorites and why, and what part of the island they are located.


Thanks for any info. I can't wait to come dive Maui!!!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Aloha Julie,

As I'm sure you are aware, South Maui and West Maui are the diving sides of the Island.

South Maui is Kihei, Wailea, Makena. West Maui is Lahaina, Ka'anapali, Kapalua. The first town in each string is really a town. The other two are really resort areas. There is not much diving in Lahaina and none in Kihei.

There are more shore dive sites in Wailea/Makena than Ka'anapali/Kapalua, but which is better is dependant on the individual and the conditions.

The Kihei small boat ramp is where most of the Molokini charters put in. Typically they do one dive at Molokini and then a dive somewhere along the South Maui coast (no turtles at Molokini).

Lahaina has a harbor and a small boat ramp (Mala) that mostly service West Maui and Lanai. There are some trips from there to Molokini but it is a long boat ride. Possible up side is 2 dives at Molokini.

There are also a few dive boats going out of Ma'alaea Harbor, which is in between Kihei and Lahaina. These are mostly bigger boats and go to various boat locations mentioned above.

If you are just diving one day I recommend two possibilities. Doing one of the early Molokini boats out of Kihei will get you back to the ramp before 11 AM, then you could shore dive Ulua &/or Makena Landing after lunch. Doing a Lanai charter from Mala puts you back at the ramp by noon'ish then you could do Mala Wharf &/or a Black Rock night dive. In either of those senarios, staying on the same side as your diving makes it easier.

Hopefully others will chime in now; I forgot my password for a while or I would have answered sooner

 

[DMJulie]

Wow, great info.

I can't wait to find out where on the island we will be staying so i can't get my dives booked.