StacyT
Guest
I had originally tried to line up diving with Shaka Doug. The timing didn't work out because he had planned to attend DEMA, so instead I hooked up with KrisB & Howard4113.
For diving I had decided to go ahead and upgrade my cert from OW to adventure diver through Howard4113. I had a small group and some of us were a bit rusty and they both worked with us and were very patient. We had some initial gear issues etc. I also ended up aborting my last dive do to a dive computer malfunction and we were a bit pressed for time so I told the group to go without me. I ended up not completing my adventure dive as I needed to complete 2 more skills, but the other 2 in my group did.
KrisB worked with my wife to get her comfortable with a new mask. Her mask strap broke and I had to give her a backup mask. It didn't have the built in purge and she was nervous about using it. KrisB helped her with that and they practiced some mask clearing before our intial dives.
The vis wasn't as good as it had been on prvious dives. It varied anywhere from 15-30 feet. Water temp seemed a bit cooler than usual as well. I didn't take any pics as I only had my regular underwater housing for my digital with no external strobe so pics didn't come out all that great. I know howard4113 took some and I am sure he'll post them later.
We dove 3 different sites old airport, mile marker 14, and the last site was a beach down in the Kihei area, I dont remember the name right now.
We saw several turtles, and lots of other reef fish. I was a bit disappointed that it seemed to have less fish than previous years. Not to many yellow tangs, I suspect this is from over collecting for the aquarium trade. I did see some other fish that I had never seen before though, so that is always cool.
There definatly was a lot of surge as well, maybe why the vis wasn't as good? Overall a good trip, and I am already starting to plan my return trip early next year.
I could also tell that the economy is taking a hit in Maui on tourism. For those that go there are good deals to be found. Our group of 4 did 4 dives, luau, Ulalena show and spent a total of about $3400 on this trip including air fair, rental SUV, meals, gas, and airport parking.
Edit: Also forgot to add that we used Pacific Dive for some rental gear. Great guys and will definatly be using them in the future. Helpfull in getting my fin straps repaired, I knew they were bad when I left but forgot to get them replaced. Both straps broke the 1st day I was there doing some snorkeling. Also worked with our schedule as we had one day in between diving that I was going to return the rental. They told me to sit on it and not worry about the extra day.
For diving I had decided to go ahead and upgrade my cert from OW to adventure diver through Howard4113. I had a small group and some of us were a bit rusty and they both worked with us and were very patient. We had some initial gear issues etc. I also ended up aborting my last dive do to a dive computer malfunction and we were a bit pressed for time so I told the group to go without me. I ended up not completing my adventure dive as I needed to complete 2 more skills, but the other 2 in my group did.
KrisB worked with my wife to get her comfortable with a new mask. Her mask strap broke and I had to give her a backup mask. It didn't have the built in purge and she was nervous about using it. KrisB helped her with that and they practiced some mask clearing before our intial dives.
The vis wasn't as good as it had been on prvious dives. It varied anywhere from 15-30 feet. Water temp seemed a bit cooler than usual as well. I didn't take any pics as I only had my regular underwater housing for my digital with no external strobe so pics didn't come out all that great. I know howard4113 took some and I am sure he'll post them later.
We dove 3 different sites old airport, mile marker 14, and the last site was a beach down in the Kihei area, I dont remember the name right now.
We saw several turtles, and lots of other reef fish. I was a bit disappointed that it seemed to have less fish than previous years. Not to many yellow tangs, I suspect this is from over collecting for the aquarium trade. I did see some other fish that I had never seen before though, so that is always cool.
There definatly was a lot of surge as well, maybe why the vis wasn't as good? Overall a good trip, and I am already starting to plan my return trip early next year.
I could also tell that the economy is taking a hit in Maui on tourism. For those that go there are good deals to be found. Our group of 4 did 4 dives, luau, Ulalena show and spent a total of about $3400 on this trip including air fair, rental SUV, meals, gas, and airport parking.
Edit: Also forgot to add that we used Pacific Dive for some rental gear. Great guys and will definatly be using them in the future. Helpfull in getting my fin straps repaired, I knew they were bad when I left but forgot to get them replaced. Both straps broke the 1st day I was there doing some snorkeling. Also worked with our schedule as we had one day in between diving that I was going to return the rental. They told me to sit on it and not worry about the extra day.
Maybe next time I need to take a photo class.
