Maui Instructor reference

[Myer's]

I will be In Maui looking to finish my open water certification. I see several shops that catch my eye, but being new to the sport I would like some input from folks that have been there and done that.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,
I just had my whole family complete their NAUI certification course over Spring break with SCUBA MAUI INC and boy were we impressed. I had done the PADI class with Maui Dive Shop last year and paid twice as much for a class with an instructor who was quite aloof and had no humor at all!

I actually found these guys by accident while searching for dive shops on the island and certainly glad I did. They allowed me to shadowed my wife & 3 kids during their two day Scuba class intentively for just a bit of review. I can tell you that it was a lot more comprehensive, informative and genial than the precarious one I took a year ago with Maui Dive Shop.

Apart from initially being 25 mins late on the first day "due to a flat tire" our instructor Vic, ran a outstanding class. His eloquence and affable manner helped make this "especially for my kids" a lifetime experience. I must confess though at first I was quite skeptical, however, I did find out that they do most of their advertising only online and by word of mouth. It was my understanding this is how they keep their prices so low with the minimum overhead.

We all have already have signed up for the next level and can't wait to do our Advance diver class with them this November. Escaping east coast cold does have something to do with it!

By the way they only charged us $179 each www.scubaonmaui.com not $250 for the complete Scuba certification. I wasn't aware they offered a boat dive option so we did everything from the shore. We did do a boat dive with them two days after the certification which was $109 per person and again we all had a blast. I would have done the boat option and saved even more money had we knew.

All in all, they appear to run a first class operation and we look forward to doing a lot more business with them, especially now we own a condo there.

If you do go there say "HI" to Shannon from us. She was extremely accommodating and omniscient.

Good luck!

Bill Myer's

 

[ctmax]

Bill thanks for the post. That’s one of the shops that I was looking at. Unfortunately I will be with out transportation for the first few days of the trip so it would be difficult to get there. A friend of mine was on Maui a few years ago and recommended a shop that is in walking distance from the hotel. I hope to get my OW certification so the rest of my time can be spent in the water.

Doug thanks for the PM. It was nice to hear the other side of the story. Sounds like you spent some time in my neck of the woods. I spend most of my time in Long Island sound.

Thanks to everyone who responded to the post. I never thought that I would get this much help. Sounds like someone would be hard pressed to find a bad shop (looks like there are a few but they are in the minority). I will update the post when I get back and let everyone know how I made out.

Thanks again.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Aloha CTMax,

You're welcome. In my opinion, go with who ever seems on the up and up and is convenient to you. You should definitely plan the dives for the first part of your stay and since you won't have wheels, stay close to your resort. Later, if you still want more dives, check out the boats and shore dives. The main thing is that weather has to be factored in, especially for the check outs. If Mother Maui decides to bring in some heavy seas and weather, you could get delayed and that would have a huge impact on your dive plans for the rest of the stay.

The conditions over here on the south shore have been extremely nice for about a week now. Consistant 80-100 ft vis, no waves, temps in the upper 70's. Very divable but subject to change at a moments notice. When did you plan on being here?

Good Luck to you, Dive Safe ~ Dive Shaka!