DiveMaven
Contributor
We spent 5 short nights on Maui last week and had a wonderful trip. We stayed at the Westin on Kaanapali Beach and did 2 charters with Ed Robinson's and 2 charters with Lahaina Divers (to Lanai). We had a killer deal to stay at the Westin, and I'm glad we did, but I don't see us staying there again anytime in the future. We dove every morning, and did some outstanding dives.
Sunday: 3-tank Adventure charter with Ed Robinson's.
We arrived at about 6:15 at the Kihei boat ramp ready to dive. We completed our paperwork quickly, the crew introduced themselves, and they took our gear bags to set up our gear for us. We enjoyed juice and mini-bagels and chatted with the other folks on our boat. Our first dive was to a site called "The Apartments" where our max depth was 110'. Before splashing in, the crew talked about all the critters we might see, showing pictures, and giving quite an extensive marine talk. Highlight of the dive was definitely the 2 frog fishes, one red and one white. This was the only site where the boat anchored, all of our subsequent dives were live boat dives. During our first SI, we had muffins and coffee and the boat moved to the backwall of Molokini. The crew gave us another extensive marine talk/dive briefing. We've dove the backwall before and have always encountered some kind of wave action, but due to the trades being gone, the backwall was amazingly calm with nearly no wave action, no surge, and no current. Our backwall dive was to no more than 80' and we saw many sharks and eels, an octopus, as well as the usual critters. During our second SI we moved to the inner crater where the water was flat and enjoyed sandwiches and sodas for lunch. After lunch, we moved just a little ways to enjoy diving at Ene Nui. Max depth was about 60', and we saw crab, eels, octopus, lobster, sharks, and again the usual marine fishes, etc. Snacks were put out for the boat ride back to Kihei. We heard whale song on all of our dives, with the loudest being on the backwall.
Monday: 2 tank dive with Lahaina Divers to Lanai
We weren't sure if we would get to Lanai since we were told that Lahaina Divers hadn't been out there in nearly 3 weeks, so we were pleasantly surprised when heard the boat was heading out there. We've dove with Lahaina Divers everytime we've been on Maui, and really like their boats and crew, but definitely understand that their operation is geared toward occassional and beginner divers. Since many of the crew know us, they give us quite a bit of freedom and latitude on their charters, which makes diving with them doable. That fact, their 46' Newton dive boats, and a 10% discount on all their charters, are the main reasons we choose them for our Lanai dives.
Our first dive with them was to 2nd Cathedral. Viz was pretty poor with a lot of silt in the water and on the coral. Actually, viz was so bad that you couldn't see the black coral hanging in second Cathedral without risking touching it by getting too close. Although it wasn't our best dive ever at Lanai, it was still better than going to Molokini again and we did enjoy ourselves. Max depth was 65 feet. Our second dive was to Monolith, which is basically a huge lava formation sticking up from the depths. Viz here was much better and the whale song was so loud that we continually scanned the blue water hoping for a glimpse, but no such luck. Max depth was 60 feet and we were pretty much left to do our own thing, only being required to come back up to the boat when our tanks were down to 500psi or we hit our NDL. We burned our tanks down to 400psi and surfaced.
Tuesday: 3-tank Adventure Charter with Ed Robinson's.
Meeting the boat was the same as previous, as were SI's, dive briefings, and the amount of food we were offered. Again, all of our dives were live boat dives. First dive was to Shark Condo on Molokini, with max depth being 130 feet. We saw 5 or 6 white tip reef sharks and a couple of grey sharks, both lounging in the sand and cruising. After going to depth, we saw lots of the usual Molokini critters as we slowly ascended and enjoyed quite a long dive considering our initial depth. The crew checked out the conditions on the backwall for our 2nd dive, but the trades were coming back to Maui and the waves and current were simply too big to safely dive. Instead we did Reef's End, which turned out to be a very long and relaxing drift dive. Max depth was about 80', with one of our divers having to stay about 30' for most of the dive as her computer wouldn't let her go deeper. We saw an incredible number of eels, a few sharks, lots of cowries, lobsters, crabs, anemonies, nudibranchs, and the other regular critters. The crew had asked us where we wanted to go for our third dive and I suggested the St. Anthony's. Everyone agreed, so we headed back to S. Maui for lunch and our 3rd tank. Part of our dive was spent snooping around the tires, which were lots of fun. We watched the Milletseed Butterfly fish have a feeding frenzy on the Sgt. Major eggs, while the Trumpetfish laid in wait hoping to eat a Sgt. Major. Then we dove the wreck and during the swim thru the DM pointed out a Redstriped Pipefish, which is apparently very rare. Unfortunately, my husband had the camera so we didn't get a picture of it. There was a frogfish on the console and he was really cool, as well as 4 turtles lounging on the wreck. When the DM signaled that his computer was telling him to surface, my husband and I realized that we were the last 3 divers in the water, so we ascended with him, surfacing in 5' swells. Gee, guess the trades were back!
Wednesday: 2-tank Charter with Lahaina Divers to Lanai
Our second charter to Lanai was MUCH better than the first, with viz almost back to normal at Second Cathedral, though the coral was still covered in silt. We could see where the ocean was starting to scrub the coral clean again, so we knew it was only a matter of time before everything was clean again. On this dive we enjoyed seeing another rare fish, a firedart fish, but mostly just saw the regular marine life. Our second dive was at No Name, and 10 minutes into this dive one of our group was down to 500psi and had to be taken back to the boat. This was both good and bad as although we didn't get to cruise around the reef much, we did get to burn our tanks down on a long dive hanging out on the reef under the boat. Suffice it to say we were first off the boat and just about last back on. We saw quite a few small eels, a free swimming turtle, as well as the regular marine life. It was a relaxing and fun dive since we were left alone to do our own thing and snoop at our own pace.
Unfortunately we had to leave on Thursday, but felt so satisfied with our dives that we weren't devistated to leave. We'll be back in December and will definitely be booking more charters with Ed Robinsons (after completing our Rescue class), and as always can't wait to return to Maui.
Sunday: 3-tank Adventure charter with Ed Robinson's.
We arrived at about 6:15 at the Kihei boat ramp ready to dive. We completed our paperwork quickly, the crew introduced themselves, and they took our gear bags to set up our gear for us. We enjoyed juice and mini-bagels and chatted with the other folks on our boat. Our first dive was to a site called "The Apartments" where our max depth was 110'. Before splashing in, the crew talked about all the critters we might see, showing pictures, and giving quite an extensive marine talk. Highlight of the dive was definitely the 2 frog fishes, one red and one white. This was the only site where the boat anchored, all of our subsequent dives were live boat dives. During our first SI, we had muffins and coffee and the boat moved to the backwall of Molokini. The crew gave us another extensive marine talk/dive briefing. We've dove the backwall before and have always encountered some kind of wave action, but due to the trades being gone, the backwall was amazingly calm with nearly no wave action, no surge, and no current. Our backwall dive was to no more than 80' and we saw many sharks and eels, an octopus, as well as the usual critters. During our second SI we moved to the inner crater where the water was flat and enjoyed sandwiches and sodas for lunch. After lunch, we moved just a little ways to enjoy diving at Ene Nui. Max depth was about 60', and we saw crab, eels, octopus, lobster, sharks, and again the usual marine fishes, etc. Snacks were put out for the boat ride back to Kihei. We heard whale song on all of our dives, with the loudest being on the backwall.
Monday: 2 tank dive with Lahaina Divers to Lanai
We weren't sure if we would get to Lanai since we were told that Lahaina Divers hadn't been out there in nearly 3 weeks, so we were pleasantly surprised when heard the boat was heading out there. We've dove with Lahaina Divers everytime we've been on Maui, and really like their boats and crew, but definitely understand that their operation is geared toward occassional and beginner divers. Since many of the crew know us, they give us quite a bit of freedom and latitude on their charters, which makes diving with them doable. That fact, their 46' Newton dive boats, and a 10% discount on all their charters, are the main reasons we choose them for our Lanai dives.
Our first dive with them was to 2nd Cathedral. Viz was pretty poor with a lot of silt in the water and on the coral. Actually, viz was so bad that you couldn't see the black coral hanging in second Cathedral without risking touching it by getting too close. Although it wasn't our best dive ever at Lanai, it was still better than going to Molokini again and we did enjoy ourselves. Max depth was 65 feet. Our second dive was to Monolith, which is basically a huge lava formation sticking up from the depths. Viz here was much better and the whale song was so loud that we continually scanned the blue water hoping for a glimpse, but no such luck. Max depth was 60 feet and we were pretty much left to do our own thing, only being required to come back up to the boat when our tanks were down to 500psi or we hit our NDL. We burned our tanks down to 400psi and surfaced.
Tuesday: 3-tank Adventure Charter with Ed Robinson's.
Meeting the boat was the same as previous, as were SI's, dive briefings, and the amount of food we were offered. Again, all of our dives were live boat dives. First dive was to Shark Condo on Molokini, with max depth being 130 feet. We saw 5 or 6 white tip reef sharks and a couple of grey sharks, both lounging in the sand and cruising. After going to depth, we saw lots of the usual Molokini critters as we slowly ascended and enjoyed quite a long dive considering our initial depth. The crew checked out the conditions on the backwall for our 2nd dive, but the trades were coming back to Maui and the waves and current were simply too big to safely dive. Instead we did Reef's End, which turned out to be a very long and relaxing drift dive. Max depth was about 80', with one of our divers having to stay about 30' for most of the dive as her computer wouldn't let her go deeper. We saw an incredible number of eels, a few sharks, lots of cowries, lobsters, crabs, anemonies, nudibranchs, and the other regular critters. The crew had asked us where we wanted to go for our third dive and I suggested the St. Anthony's. Everyone agreed, so we headed back to S. Maui for lunch and our 3rd tank. Part of our dive was spent snooping around the tires, which were lots of fun. We watched the Milletseed Butterfly fish have a feeding frenzy on the Sgt. Major eggs, while the Trumpetfish laid in wait hoping to eat a Sgt. Major. Then we dove the wreck and during the swim thru the DM pointed out a Redstriped Pipefish, which is apparently very rare. Unfortunately, my husband had the camera so we didn't get a picture of it. There was a frogfish on the console and he was really cool, as well as 4 turtles lounging on the wreck. When the DM signaled that his computer was telling him to surface, my husband and I realized that we were the last 3 divers in the water, so we ascended with him, surfacing in 5' swells. Gee, guess the trades were back!
Wednesday: 2-tank Charter with Lahaina Divers to Lanai
Our second charter to Lanai was MUCH better than the first, with viz almost back to normal at Second Cathedral, though the coral was still covered in silt. We could see where the ocean was starting to scrub the coral clean again, so we knew it was only a matter of time before everything was clean again. On this dive we enjoyed seeing another rare fish, a firedart fish, but mostly just saw the regular marine life. Our second dive was at No Name, and 10 minutes into this dive one of our group was down to 500psi and had to be taken back to the boat. This was both good and bad as although we didn't get to cruise around the reef much, we did get to burn our tanks down on a long dive hanging out on the reef under the boat. Suffice it to say we were first off the boat and just about last back on.
We saw quite a few small eels, a free swimming turtle, as well as the regular marine life. It was a relaxing and fun dive since we were left alone to do our own thing and snoop at our own pace.Unfortunately we had to leave on Thursday, but felt so satisfied with our dives that we weren't devistated to leave. We'll be back in December and will definitely be booking more charters with Ed Robinsons (after completing our Rescue class), and as always can't wait to return to Maui.
