Maui or Oahu? Anywhere else in Hawaii?

[divebrasil]

Hi scubafriends,

I just got a new job and jave a few weeks to take vacation.
I am planning to go to hawaii with my non-diver girlfriend.
She has already been to Oahu, and I have been to the Big Island.
I do want to do many dives on the trip, if possible including a cool wreck dive and a night dive.

She is not a diver yet, but wants to try it.

I wanted to go to oahu because there are so many wrecks. But as I said she had been to oahu.

Then we thought about Maui, how is it there for diving? Other activities?

We also thought about doing both places, but by flying in the middle of the trip I get less days of diving.

Any sugestions?

Please, I appreciate your advice.

Thanks,

Yan

 

[Charlie99]

I wanted to go to oahu because there are so many wrecks. But as I said she had been to oahu.

Then we thought about Maui, how is it there for diving? Other activities?

We also thought about doing both places, but by flying in the middle of the trip I get less days of diving.

Any sugestions?

The character and diving of each island is different.

Oahu is the most populated. Has the most nightlife. Has the best wrecks.

The Big Island is relatively quiet. It has active eruptions. Best place for night Manta dive. It's the youngest island, with the most bare and hard lava look to it.

Kauai is the most tranquil. Very quiet topside. As the oldest major island, it has awesome eroded canyons.

Maui is in between the Big Island and Oahu in overall level of population and activity. You can find nightlife, or you can find quiet. It has a couple wrecks, but they aren't spectacular (St. Anthony's fishing boat artificial wreck, and also some Landing Craft). Has a 10,000' volcano, but not active hot lava eruptions like on the Big Island. Lots of topside activities like biking down the volcano, hiking, helocopter rides, windsurfing, etc.

In Kauai the lava is more eroded, smoother, and has more algae. It's also the furthest north and coolest, so the fish life is slightly different (or at least the relative numbers of different species differs significantly). Big Island is newest and the furthest south. Tends to have the most colorful coral. Again, Maui is kind of in between. Maui boats run to Lanai which looks much like the Big Island underwater, and to Molokini which has that hard, rugged, colorful look. 2nd dives after Molokini are often in the more sandy look of S. Maui.

Everywhere in Hawaii is rather bare and harsh as it doesn't have the large sponges, sea fans, and gorgonians so common in the Caribbean and Florida. Some divers are shocked and call it barren. I prefer "rugged beauty".

I've always preferred Maui, since you have the options of either partying on Front Street in Lahaina, going to a quiet out of the way beach, or both.

 

[divebrasil]

I loved the big island, but I would like to go somewhere new.
Sounds like Maui is a good call? Any beach dives there? So, the wreck is not so good?

Are the wrecks in Oahu spetacular? Then I would go to oahu and maui.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[diversteve]

I loved the big island, but I would like to go somewhere new.
Sounds like Maui is a good call? Any beach dives there? So, the wreck is not so good?

Are the wrecks in Oahu spetacular? Then I would go to oahu and maui.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

My buddy just came back from a week in Maui diving with Ed Robinson's. They dove the St. Anthony, he said while it's just an average wreck, it's really cool since turtles have recently taken to sleeping there. He has some great shots of turtles from about 3' away and said they didn't move, just watched him. Except for a young one who swam over to play.

They also did a combo dusk/night dive with Ed Robinson himself out to Molokini. Right before sunset 3 12' Manta's flew over and played in their bubble streams. Somehow Ed thought they would be there. Another good dive was the backside of Maui at Shark Condos. Lots of sharks in 120'

You should also dive the Cathedrals at Lanai from Lahaina. I'd recommend it as a different sort of Maui dive experience to be done once. Some diveops do both Cathedrals in one trip or Sharkfin is a good second stop.

Last time we were there, we shoredove several places. Waimea Beach and Airport Beach were ok but not exceptional - easy beach entries though. A different dive is to rent scooters from Pacific Dive in Lahaina and do Airport Beach.

Two dive ops specialize in shorediving there, Shaka Divers - ShakaDoug posts here and Maui Dreams Dive co. A lot of people dive Black Rock by the Sheraton, but it's crowded during the day with snorkelers, better at night. Shorediving.com lists all the Maui shore sites.

If you stay near Lahaina, plan most of your dives with an operator near Lahaina, it's a 45 min drive to Kihei and vice-versa. IMHO the best operator in the Lahaina area is Extended Horizons, followed by Lahaina Divers, in Kihei it's Ed Robinson's, Mike Severn's or B&BScuba equally. All the boats leave early to beat the afternoon tradewinds, some as early as 6:30am.

Surface wise I liked Maui the best, Kauai and the Big Island are too quiet for my taste, and Oahu was overcrowded, especially Waikiki. And there's lots of non-dive activities on Maui to keep things interesting. Although everytime we go there, the traffic seems to be worse around Lahaina/Kaanapali. Last time we stayed down in Kihei, it's much quieter.

 

[kidspot]

Never been to the St. Anthony yet, but if you catch it on a clear day Mala Warf is a really nice "wreck" dive imo - lots of fallen beams and good coral growth on the structure. A couple of white tips hang out in the area and lots of Turtles.

For what it's worth Maui has the highest rate of return visitors of any of the islands. So a lot of folks would say it's the best (not just those of us who are biased and live here )

Aloha, Tim

 

[bluemagoo]

From what I've been told, Hawaii wrecks are not in the same league as wrecks in the Florida Keys (e.g. Speigel Grove) and in the South Pacific (e.g. Truk). But that's ok; what counts is what you make of whatever's right in front of you. I've been to the Mahi and Beech twin off of Waianae maybe a dozen times each but not recently; been to only one south shore wreck, I think it was the YO. Sometimes the most interesting stuff is around the wreck rather than the wreck itself -- saw my first fairy basslet in the wall next to the Beech plane. One guy got a whale shark at the Mahi, the lucky puke....

 

[Charlie99]

ISounds like Maui is a good call? Any beach dives there? So, the wreck is not so good?

Here's a photo by Gilligan of St. Anthony's. It's small. Alongside it is an artificial reef of tires and concrete that is absolutely teeming with life. Dive ops do kind of groan, though, when they say the next dive is St. Anthony's and I exclaim, "Oh goodie! Tires and concrete!" One can swim through the pilothouse and around inside a bit, even though the boat isn't very big. The real attraction is the sealife, particularly the turtles.

Lots of beach diving, both in South Maui (Kihei, Wailea) and West Maui (Lahaina, Kahana, Kapalua). Mostly 20-45' deep reefs that come right up next to shore. The visibility on Molokini and Lanai boat dives is rarely less than 100'. OTOH, the shore dive sites are more prone to lower viz, particularly after a big swell. Figure 50' typical shore dive viz, but it varies widely.

 

[bluemagoo]

......

Although everytime we go there, the traffic seems to be worse around Lahaina/Kaanapali. Last time we stayed down in Kihei, it's much quieter.

Visiting a few years ago, Kihei kind of reminded me of SoCal's Venice/MuscleBeach scene with lots of "beautiful people" with their headphones and sweatbands, jogging and roller-blading all over the place. Not my style; just a crusty warthog I guess. I remember when that place was just all keawe trees and bushes. Quiet is upcountry at Kula Lodge -- until about 0430-0500 when all the #(%!@* tour buses start grinding their way up to sunrise on Haleakala -- but it's still my favorite. Hana Hotel ranks high on quiet ....high on price too....

 

[kidspot]

Visiting a few years ago, Kihei kind of reminded me of SoCal's Venice/MuscleBeach scene with lots of "beautiful people" with their headphones and sweatbands, jogging and roller-blading all over the place. Not my style; just a crusty warthog I guess. I remember when that place was just all keawe trees and bushes. Quiet is upcountry at Kula Lodge -- until about 0430-0500 when all the #(%!@* tour buses start grinding their way up to sunrise on Haleakala -- but it's still my favorite. Hana Hotel ranks high on quiet ....high on price too....

Try Hotel Lanai very quiet up there...

Personally I love camping above Kula in the redwood forest - very quiet and cool temps. Lots of eucalyptus trees add a wonderful scent to the surroundings too.

Tim

 

[Mantasscareme]

I did an intro shore dive on Maui a few years back. I remember that shore diving in the Kaanapali area is spectacular. If the Big Island seemed barren, I would say that Maui felt more tropical and "alive" (don't get me wrong, I loved the Big Island, manta rays were spectacular). I've never been to Oahu, but I've had friends tell me that sunbathing on the beach there felt like being in the middle of Los Angeles, skyscrapers, concrete, traffic, smog, and everything. Maui has really nice scenery on the surface, most notably IMHO, the Hana Highway (or the "fabled road to Hana" as the travel guides call it), voted the most scenic highway in the US. It's a twelve hour round trip from Kaanapali, but you get black sand beaches and waterfall plunge pools that you get to swim in. I recommend taking a guided tour instead of trying to drive it yourself, some of the turns seemed kind of treacherous. I've only been to Maui once, but it's one of those destinations that leaves and impression.