Oside Jimc
Contributor
Well I can't believe it's over, 6 months of saving, dreaming and planning and poof, it’s over. But like every trip we’ve had to Maui it was a GREAT time. My wife, my close friend Tom, and I stayed at the Grand Champions this time so we could stay longer then our usual trip to the Grand Wialea, good choice. We booked a condo through Kanako at Makena Wailea Vacation Rentals - Featuring Luxury Accommodations on Maui , a very good move; we had a spacious 2 bedroom, just blocks from Ulua beach for a very reasonable rate.
My plans for this trip included taking time to work with KrisB to get my AOW and Nitrox completed, I figured after 36 years of diving it was time to get up to date, I also wanted to do the 3 tank trip through Ed Robinsons. As a bonus Tom had been snorkeling with me for years and decided enough is enough, it was time to get certified!!
After arriving and taking a day to get on “island time” we went for our first dive on Saturday morning. Tom had done his eLearning at home but wanted to do a DSD before committing to the full cert so we went to Maui Dreams for gear then off to Ulua for the big dive! Kris took his time with Tom and after a comprehensive briefing we hit the water. Tom flew though his skills and off we went. Boy it felt good to be back in Maui, no 7mm suit, no 50 degree water, vis wasn’t the best (30’, I’ve had better at Catalina) but the coral and fish were great. Tom came out of the water just ecstatic, this man wanted to DIVE.
The next morning Tom was back for full fledged confined water skills with Kris as well as his 2nd OW dive. The man came home exhausted but just thrilled.
Monday was my day for Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy, I gotta say my BP/W made the PPB a snap, nothing like the great balance and trim it provides, and swimming through the hula hoops proved it, a lot of fun even if I was starting to feel like a circus poodle. But the reward after each training session was a tour of the reefs. The only bummer was on the 2nd dive my computer died from a dead battery so after the dives I was off to Maui Dreams for a batteryectomy, but when they did not have the correct battery they sent me to B&B to get a replacement since my 3 tank with Ed Robinsons was the next day (nice to see competitors work together to make sure I had a good vacation).
Tuesday morning early I was at the Kihei boat ramp and in no time we were off to Molokini, first dive: The back wall!! This really excited me, after diving Cozumel earlier this year I was eager to compare the dives. So down we go, about 10 minutes into the dive I look at my computer just in time to see it flash “BAT” and die, HOLY C**P! OK what now? Well I made a bad decision and stuck with the dive, my narced brain rationalized that I could just stay 10’-20’ above the group to stay “safe” dumb, dumb, dumb. But fortunately the ocean didn’t need fresh meat that morning so I’m still here to tell you about it. On the boat we discovered that my computer was flooded, not a happy boy, but we ran our profile through the wheel and the boat lent me a computer to use as a bottom timer / depth gauge and I was diving tables for the next 2 dives. The back wall was as spectacular as I had hoped, but fretting over the computer fiasco really did detract from the dive (and my air consumption!).
Next dive was at “Reefs End”, normally a drift dive, this was a swim dive due to the complete absence of current, again a spectacular dive, amazing coral, critters, and fish. It is amazing to see a 100#+ Ulua make a slow swim by, just too bad my 20 year old camera is such a PITA to change settings that I missed that one.
After we worked our way up the reef we had an amazing safety stop on the reef at 15’, a small crevice had 5 baby white tip sharks hiding inside, just fantastic, the most amazing safety stop EVER.
Our last dive of the day was at the sunken Tank/Landing Craft off of Makena Landing, a fun dive with interesting critters, 3 very nice, huge helmet shells, all in all a good dive, but I’d have been happy spending the rest of the week at Molokini. After the dives it was back to B&B where Brad was QUITE chagrined that the computer had flooded, but his service was top notch and he opened it up (Thank-god the battery compartment is sealed from the electronics!!) and cleaned it up and installed another battery.
While I was on the boat Tom was back at Ulua finishing his OW, that night it was off to Mama’s Fish House for an amazing dinner to celebrate a new OW diver.
Wednesday the 3 of us went on the Maui Diamond II to dive. Tom wanted to get his AOW since he had been working on the academics after he finished his eLEarning for OW. Our first dive was inside Molokini across the reef from Reefs end (I can’t remember the site name). First we went down to 90’ for our deep dive skill test then a fun cruise of the reef, garden eels and seemingly endless coral and fish made this yet another outstanding dive, high light was watching a school of damsel fish up out of the coral when a nice Blue Fin Trevally came swooping in for a quick Damselsnack, poor little guy never knew what hit him, but the Jack seemed happy. Downside, computer is flooded, again! Argh!
Our 2nd dive was back near 5 graves at “Turtle Valley”. I lived up to it’s name, 14 turtles close enough to walk over, but personally I’ve seen enough turtles to last a lifetime so Jim was not impressed (Tom was thrilled though). Again an OK dive, but forgettable, at least it worked for our AOW “Boat dive”.
Back to B&B yet again and again Brad’s customer service was top notch, offering a free loaner for the duration of out trip and removing the computer from the housing before this battery change to make sure the cover and ‘O’ ring was properly seated.
Thursday evening was my last dive of the trip, a night dive at Ulua. Very nice!!
Octopus, and morays feeding, LOTs of shrimp and other interesting night critter made this an interesting new way to see an old friend, 60 minutes @ 30’, very nice!
Tom’s last dives were Friday morning for his Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy so by lunch time he was AOW, good job buddy!
I got to spend the rest of my vacation lounging on the beach with the woman I love so I did not even snorkel again until Sunday morning. Since we didn’t have to check out till noon it made sense to get to the beach for an early morning swim/snorkel so back to good old Ulua, grabbed my mask/fins and headed to the water with my expectations set on low (and my camera packed in the condo). I jealously followed a group of divers out to the 2nd reef but decided the depth and viz were not going to make for a good time so I started heading back to the first reef, then there it was, a 7’-8’ Manta Ray slowly cruising along about 5’ under the surface, and headed straight for me, HOW TOTALLY COOL! After it passed just under me (within 3’
I followed a bit, but a turtle coming up from below spooked it and it was over, just surreal, a total high point of my trip when it was least expected (Note to self: Take the camera, even on snorkel trips!!!!!). Since nothing even close to this could happen now I headed back to my wife, as the official “chicken of the sea” she refused to snorkel in water over 5’-6’ or too far from shore. So we’re hanging out and what’s this? A big fat octopus on top of the reef hunting for breakfast! So we got to float there for at least 20 minutes watching it go from coral head to coral head shopping for a snack, my wife was thrilled, she had never seen anything like it in her life.
So in the end a great trip. As usual KrisB is a fantastic instructor, patient, knowledgeable, articulate and flexible. To quote Tom “this was the best learning experience of my life, the one on one instruction with someone so knowledgeable made learning SCUBA the most enjoyable learning experience, ever”. In my book KrisB is a highly recommended professional, as an independent instructor he is capable, attentive, and flexible. If you feel that you need a shop then I would recommend Maui Dreams, Teri and her crew are all superb professionals.
For boats I did prefer Ed Robinsons just based on the travel distance from Kihei boat ramp compared to the long (wet) ride from Ma’alaea but both have plusses and minuses. The Ed Robinsons boats was well equipped with a knowledgeable, professional crew, my only real complaint was our divemaster (Tom) was a little too “touchy feely” with the wildlife for my preference.
MD II was a nice boat, larger and more stable for those of you prone to seasickness, also a great crew of professionals, but the larger diver load did mean more time getting teams in and out of the water but it was a relaxed, fun trip,
If you are interested in Maui things are slow right now, a lot of the hotels are just closing down sections so they are not super keen on wheel’n and deal’n, but I’d suggest Kanako or a site like vrbo.com, since vacancies rates are high (Grand Champions was around 50% vacant, just dead) you could well find an owner willing to cut a deal since some income is better than no income at all, then you can go dive with Kris!
Well gotta go now, have to get packed for Kauai on Monday….
My plans for this trip included taking time to work with KrisB to get my AOW and Nitrox completed, I figured after 36 years of diving it was time to get up to date, I also wanted to do the 3 tank trip through Ed Robinsons. As a bonus Tom had been snorkeling with me for years and decided enough is enough, it was time to get certified!!
After arriving and taking a day to get on “island time” we went for our first dive on Saturday morning. Tom had done his eLearning at home but wanted to do a DSD before committing to the full cert so we went to Maui Dreams for gear then off to Ulua for the big dive! Kris took his time with Tom and after a comprehensive briefing we hit the water. Tom flew though his skills and off we went. Boy it felt good to be back in Maui, no 7mm suit, no 50 degree water, vis wasn’t the best (30’, I’ve had better at Catalina) but the coral and fish were great. Tom came out of the water just ecstatic, this man wanted to DIVE.
The next morning Tom was back for full fledged confined water skills with Kris as well as his 2nd OW dive. The man came home exhausted but just thrilled.
Monday was my day for Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy, I gotta say my BP/W made the PPB a snap, nothing like the great balance and trim it provides, and swimming through the hula hoops proved it, a lot of fun even if I was starting to feel like a circus poodle. But the reward after each training session was a tour of the reefs. The only bummer was on the 2nd dive my computer died from a dead battery so after the dives I was off to Maui Dreams for a batteryectomy, but when they did not have the correct battery they sent me to B&B to get a replacement since my 3 tank with Ed Robinsons was the next day (nice to see competitors work together to make sure I had a good vacation).
Tuesday morning early I was at the Kihei boat ramp and in no time we were off to Molokini, first dive: The back wall!! This really excited me, after diving Cozumel earlier this year I was eager to compare the dives. So down we go, about 10 minutes into the dive I look at my computer just in time to see it flash “BAT” and die, HOLY C**P! OK what now? Well I made a bad decision and stuck with the dive, my narced brain rationalized that I could just stay 10’-20’ above the group to stay “safe” dumb, dumb, dumb. But fortunately the ocean didn’t need fresh meat that morning so I’m still here to tell you about it. On the boat we discovered that my computer was flooded, not a happy boy, but we ran our profile through the wheel and the boat lent me a computer to use as a bottom timer / depth gauge and I was diving tables for the next 2 dives. The back wall was as spectacular as I had hoped, but fretting over the computer fiasco really did detract from the dive (and my air consumption!).
Next dive was at “Reefs End”, normally a drift dive, this was a swim dive due to the complete absence of current, again a spectacular dive, amazing coral, critters, and fish. It is amazing to see a 100#+ Ulua make a slow swim by, just too bad my 20 year old camera is such a PITA to change settings that I missed that one.
After we worked our way up the reef we had an amazing safety stop on the reef at 15’, a small crevice had 5 baby white tip sharks hiding inside, just fantastic, the most amazing safety stop EVER.
Our last dive of the day was at the sunken Tank/Landing Craft off of Makena Landing, a fun dive with interesting critters, 3 very nice, huge helmet shells, all in all a good dive, but I’d have been happy spending the rest of the week at Molokini. After the dives it was back to B&B where Brad was QUITE chagrined that the computer had flooded, but his service was top notch and he opened it up (Thank-god the battery compartment is sealed from the electronics!!) and cleaned it up and installed another battery.
While I was on the boat Tom was back at Ulua finishing his OW, that night it was off to Mama’s Fish House for an amazing dinner to celebrate a new OW diver.
Wednesday the 3 of us went on the Maui Diamond II to dive. Tom wanted to get his AOW since he had been working on the academics after he finished his eLEarning for OW. Our first dive was inside Molokini across the reef from Reefs end (I can’t remember the site name). First we went down to 90’ for our deep dive skill test then a fun cruise of the reef, garden eels and seemingly endless coral and fish made this yet another outstanding dive, high light was watching a school of damsel fish up out of the coral when a nice Blue Fin Trevally came swooping in for a quick Damselsnack, poor little guy never knew what hit him, but the Jack seemed happy. Downside, computer is flooded, again! Argh!
Our 2nd dive was back near 5 graves at “Turtle Valley”. I lived up to it’s name, 14 turtles close enough to walk over, but personally I’ve seen enough turtles to last a lifetime so Jim was not impressed (Tom was thrilled though). Again an OK dive, but forgettable, at least it worked for our AOW “Boat dive”.
Back to B&B yet again and again Brad’s customer service was top notch, offering a free loaner for the duration of out trip and removing the computer from the housing before this battery change to make sure the cover and ‘O’ ring was properly seated.
Thursday evening was my last dive of the trip, a night dive at Ulua. Very nice!!
Octopus, and morays feeding, LOTs of shrimp and other interesting night critter made this an interesting new way to see an old friend, 60 minutes @ 30’, very nice!
Tom’s last dives were Friday morning for his Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy so by lunch time he was AOW, good job buddy!
I got to spend the rest of my vacation lounging on the beach with the woman I love so I did not even snorkel again until Sunday morning. Since we didn’t have to check out till noon it made sense to get to the beach for an early morning swim/snorkel so back to good old Ulua, grabbed my mask/fins and headed to the water with my expectations set on low (and my camera packed in the condo). I jealously followed a group of divers out to the 2nd reef but decided the depth and viz were not going to make for a good time so I started heading back to the first reef, then there it was, a 7’-8’ Manta Ray slowly cruising along about 5’ under the surface, and headed straight for me, HOW TOTALLY COOL! After it passed just under me (within 3’
I followed a bit, but a turtle coming up from below spooked it and it was over, just surreal, a total high point of my trip when it was least expected (Note to self: Take the camera, even on snorkel trips!!!!!). Since nothing even close to this could happen now I headed back to my wife, as the official “chicken of the sea” she refused to snorkel in water over 5’-6’ or too far from shore. So we’re hanging out and what’s this? A big fat octopus on top of the reef hunting for breakfast! So we got to float there for at least 20 minutes watching it go from coral head to coral head shopping for a snack, my wife was thrilled, she had never seen anything like it in her life.So in the end a great trip. As usual KrisB is a fantastic instructor, patient, knowledgeable, articulate and flexible. To quote Tom “this was the best learning experience of my life, the one on one instruction with someone so knowledgeable made learning SCUBA the most enjoyable learning experience, ever”. In my book KrisB is a highly recommended professional, as an independent instructor he is capable, attentive, and flexible. If you feel that you need a shop then I would recommend Maui Dreams, Teri and her crew are all superb professionals.
For boats I did prefer Ed Robinsons just based on the travel distance from Kihei boat ramp compared to the long (wet) ride from Ma’alaea but both have plusses and minuses. The Ed Robinsons boats was well equipped with a knowledgeable, professional crew, my only real complaint was our divemaster (Tom) was a little too “touchy feely” with the wildlife for my preference.
MD II was a nice boat, larger and more stable for those of you prone to seasickness, also a great crew of professionals, but the larger diver load did mean more time getting teams in and out of the water but it was a relaxed, fun trip,
If you are interested in Maui things are slow right now, a lot of the hotels are just closing down sections so they are not super keen on wheel’n and deal’n, but I’d suggest Kanako or a site like vrbo.com, since vacancies rates are high (Grand Champions was around 50% vacant, just dead) you could well find an owner willing to cut a deal since some income is better than no income at all, then you can go dive with Kris!
Well gotta go now, have to get packed for Kauai on Monday….
