Cherry
Contributor
Maui Trip Report
We went to Maui on our first warm water dive after finishing our Ow in the frigid waters of a Rocky Mountain Lake in September. With wife and 4 teenage daughters we packed up a semi trailers worth of dive gear and Teenage girls stuff in our wee van and like the Beverly Hillbillies away we went. Of course you will have to take into account that the following is with very little experience in dive trips for all intenets I have just popped my cherry so to speak.
A note on the experience of Air travel post 9-11. I had the joy of flying to Dayton Ohio on business Mid October after 9-11 and it was a security shambles. Major waits and a very poor job done ( I could have smuggled a rocket launcher on board at that time) this trip however was different. A big well done to the powers that be for creating a system that appears to be a good balance between security and service. done with a smile too I like that part.
Prior to leaving I placed the manditory post on the Scuba board looking for help and Ladycute came to my rescue with a recomendation of Maui Dreams Dive Co. 808-874-5332 http://www.mauidreamsdiveco.com/index.html so we set up a couple of shore dives with them and all did our AOW too. First dive was at Ulua beach. Pretty simple basic stuff but ohhhh so warm 78 deg when we are used to a 7mm and 56 deg. Saw a few turtles will try to post some pics ( be kind first time under with a camera and he was the only thing holding still long enough for me to find the buttons) Oly 4040 and a Pt10 ...2nd days diving was at five Graves / Makena landing and was a hoot we saw a few 5-6 foot White tip Reef sharks, many turtles and eels, a few Manta rays, Went into a few caves and got flushed out the toilet bowl. Great diving with very paitent folks.
the AOW was a good experience doing a bouyancy dive first (we all needed it too) UW Nav, Deep, Wreck and Night dive. all were great with the exception of the night dive. Strange I know but there was a very heavy surge and it stirred up the water quite a bit. I didnt find it a big problem but a couple of the girls struggled especially one who developed a ear problem in a bubble cave and had to abort the dive. We did however see an octopus, lobsters, were enveloped by many many turtles and assisted a couple of eels to find their supper in our lights. I thought it was great and enjoyed the challange.
Now I can't say enough good things about Rachel and Don at Maui Dreams they made our stay in Maui an absolute pleasure and I can understand Lady cute's ( Liz ) attachment to them, shes doing her divemaster with them. Our trip to Molokini with B&B Scuba was a good one. Early start ( perhaps a bit too early for the best light) but well organized and great food. You could dive Molokini for a lifetime and never get bored. Next time that back wall has my name on it.
A few comments about Maui
-Its expensive with milk at up to 7 bucks a gallon ( Hit costco for a stockup and get a discount card at Foodland to save dinero)
- Drive to hell er Hana is a full day especially with 5 women in the car and me outnumbered but the cheapest thing we did kinda fun too
- buy the guidebook "Maui revealed" and "Snorkle Maui and Lanai" will save you time money and hassle
- Get used to bumper to bumper traffic and driving at 20 mph ( oh yeah even if you are the Preimer of BC ya cant drink and drive) He got busted there last week. Cops are very good and I suspect you have to be blatant about the infraction to get popped
-Last night there save your $$$ and spend it on a last supper at the Humu's at the Grand Wailea resort. It'll be pricey but do it once. food in Maui is expensive so you might as well spent 25% more and get great food to finish it off. (have the crab and lobster cakes and coconut shrimp) Damn I wonderif they deliver to southern BC
- make sure you check out the Maui Cultural Centers schedule before you go we caught Wayne Brady from "whats my line anyway" and had a great time.
All in all it was a great trip we have been so lucky in our choice of Instructors with Ota Hally for our OW and Don and Rachel for our AOW. They have not only become mentors but good friends too. Oh yeah last day there turning in some gear we got to meet Mr and Mrs Lady cute. Great folks and if you can swing it good people to go on a trip to Maui with next one leaving in feb. I think. thanks Liz for the advice. Three weeks in Paradise is way to short. Now wheres that book on Moving to Hawaii....
Cherry
We went to Maui on our first warm water dive after finishing our Ow in the frigid waters of a Rocky Mountain Lake in September. With wife and 4 teenage daughters we packed up a semi trailers worth of dive gear and Teenage girls stuff in our wee van and like the Beverly Hillbillies away we went. Of course you will have to take into account that the following is with very little experience in dive trips for all intenets I have just popped my cherry so to speak.
A note on the experience of Air travel post 9-11. I had the joy of flying to Dayton Ohio on business Mid October after 9-11 and it was a security shambles. Major waits and a very poor job done ( I could have smuggled a rocket launcher on board at that time) this trip however was different. A big well done to the powers that be for creating a system that appears to be a good balance between security and service. done with a smile too I like that part.
Prior to leaving I placed the manditory post on the Scuba board looking for help and Ladycute came to my rescue with a recomendation of Maui Dreams Dive Co. 808-874-5332 http://www.mauidreamsdiveco.com/index.html so we set up a couple of shore dives with them and all did our AOW too. First dive was at Ulua beach. Pretty simple basic stuff but ohhhh so warm 78 deg when we are used to a 7mm and 56 deg. Saw a few turtles will try to post some pics ( be kind first time under with a camera and he was the only thing holding still long enough for me to find the buttons) Oly 4040 and a Pt10 ...2nd days diving was at five Graves / Makena landing and was a hoot we saw a few 5-6 foot White tip Reef sharks, many turtles and eels, a few Manta rays, Went into a few caves and got flushed out the toilet bowl. Great diving with very paitent folks.
the AOW was a good experience doing a bouyancy dive first (we all needed it too) UW Nav, Deep, Wreck and Night dive. all were great with the exception of the night dive. Strange I know but there was a very heavy surge and it stirred up the water quite a bit. I didnt find it a big problem but a couple of the girls struggled especially one who developed a ear problem in a bubble cave and had to abort the dive. We did however see an octopus, lobsters, were enveloped by many many turtles and assisted a couple of eels to find their supper in our lights. I thought it was great and enjoyed the challange.
Now I can't say enough good things about Rachel and Don at Maui Dreams they made our stay in Maui an absolute pleasure and I can understand Lady cute's ( Liz ) attachment to them, shes doing her divemaster with them. Our trip to Molokini with B&B Scuba was a good one. Early start ( perhaps a bit too early for the best light) but well organized and great food. You could dive Molokini for a lifetime and never get bored. Next time that back wall has my name on it.
A few comments about Maui
-Its expensive with milk at up to 7 bucks a gallon ( Hit costco for a stockup and get a discount card at Foodland to save dinero)
- Drive to hell er Hana is a full day especially with 5 women in the car and me outnumbered but the cheapest thing we did kinda fun too
- buy the guidebook "Maui revealed" and "Snorkle Maui and Lanai" will save you time money and hassle
- Get used to bumper to bumper traffic and driving at 20 mph ( oh yeah even if you are the Preimer of BC ya cant drink and drive) He got busted there last week. Cops are very good and I suspect you have to be blatant about the infraction to get popped
-Last night there save your $$$ and spend it on a last supper at the Humu's at the Grand Wailea resort. It'll be pricey but do it once. food in Maui is expensive so you might as well spent 25% more and get great food to finish it off. (have the crab and lobster cakes and coconut shrimp) Damn I wonderif they deliver to southern BC
- make sure you check out the Maui Cultural Centers schedule before you go we caught Wayne Brady from "whats my line anyway" and had a great time.
All in all it was a great trip we have been so lucky in our choice of Instructors with Ota Hally for our OW and Don and Rachel for our AOW. They have not only become mentors but good friends too. Oh yeah last day there turning in some gear we got to meet Mr and Mrs Lady cute. Great folks and if you can swing it good people to go on a trip to Maui with next one leaving in feb. I think. thanks Liz for the advice. Three weeks in Paradise is way to short. Now wheres that book on Moving to Hawaii....
Cherry
