Maui vacay, didn't even scuba

[Bagster]

Funny, one big impetus for daughter and me to get certified was to scuba on our 8-day Christmas trip to Maui. Ended up snorkeling to our hearts content with the two non-certified members of the nuclear family, practicing our free diving. Just didn't seem necessary to pay for gear and deal with the hassle, with good visibility and easy access to healthy reefs.

Honolua Bay was a highlight. At one point, 3 turtles at once, plus several large opilu within petting range.

Not knocking on scuba here--scuba has opened up a whole world for us here in the Pac NW, that would be difficult if not impossible to explore without the gear-- but it seems like on shallow, tropical reefs in clear water, there is less to be gained with the complication.

 

[Doc]

For thousands of years, cavemen have sucked air through hollow reeds while submerged. You might wish to contact the Pre-Historical Diving Society (or at least claim that web domain)

 

[rx7diver]

Funny, one big impetus for daughter and me to get certified was to scuba on our 8-day Christmas trip to Maui. Ended up snorkeling to our hearts content with the two non-certified members of the nuclear family, practicing our free diving. Just didn't seem necessary to pay for gear and deal with the hassle, with good visibility and easy access to healthy reefs.

Honolua Bay was a highlight. At one point, 3 turtles at once, plus several large opilu within petting range.

Not knocking on scuba here--scuba has opened up a whole world for us here in the Pac NW, that would be difficult if not impossible to explore without the gear-- but it seems like on shallow, tropical reefs in clear water, there is less to be gained with the complication.

This is one of the scenarios when the old-school approach to scuba really appeals: Dress like you're going for a snorkel dive—except take a steel 72 (or Al 80 or Al 63) and plastic backpack with nylon harness (and no BC), simple regulator, dive flag and dive float. Weight yourself for 30 fsw (or whatever is your target snorkeling depth). Walk in from the beach, surface swim out to the reef (use your snorkel), descend (use an efficient surface dive to get down), enjoy, and either navigate back to shore underwater or surface swim back. Minimal hassle. Simple. And you and your buddy get to both remain at depth simultaneously!

EDIT: A SS Freedom Plate and Al 80 (or Al 63) would probably work just as well.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[Pullnglide]

I despise snorkels lol but some of the best rec dives I have ever done were in water no deeper than 40'.

 

[HJeffreyM]

I got my OW cert in Maui on my second trip there. On the first trip, the wife and I did what you did and had a great time. After diving in Molokini Crater and the Cathedrals off Lanai (as well as a dozen other places around Maui) on the second trip, I have to tell you...you don't know what you're missing...because you don't know what you're missing. I have found diving to be a lot like that. You don't know what you don't know...until you know...then you know. You know?

I snorkeled in many locations both tropical and not for many years before I ever considered SCUBA. They are two separate sports connected by a similar mouthpiece. You will see things in a tropical or sub-tropical location on SCUBA that you would never see snorkeling. You would never have time on one breath hold to see fish behaving normally or see what's under this or that coral head at 60fsw.

Next time you are in Hawaii, please reconsider and dive.

 

[Bagster]

I'm sure you're right, HJefferyM.

If the first few days of our stay hadn't been blown out weather wise, I imagine we would have gotten in that scuba trip to Molokini.

 

[TMHeimer]

I snorkeled for maybe 35 years, northern to tropical waters before I was scuba certified. Think I've snorkeled once or twice in the last 10 years since. No comparison other than hassling with equipment. Plus the advantage of not having to surface for a shell collector is obvious. If the shells were reported to be good somewhere in 5-10 feet of water I'm wearing a tank.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I love diving Maui, and I snorkel there alot as well. I agree with Bagster that you can see a lot snorkeling, but it is nothing compared to what you can access on scuba, for shore or boats. Maui has some wonderful sites (5 caves, Olawalu, Mala Pier, Molikini, front and back, and a quick boat ride over to Molokai will take you to hammerhead sharks. A boat over to Lanai will take you to the beautiful cathedrals. None of those can be appreciated from the surface nearly as much as by diving. To each his own. If I pay to get to Maui, I am doing some diving for sure.
DivemasterDennis

 

[TSandM]

Since my in-laws lived there for 20 years, I have done a ton of snorkeling and scuba on Maui. The snorkeling is fun, but I always got frustrated if the fish swam deeper, or I couldn't quite see something.

Scuba in Maui's shallows is close to the perfect dive experience, a lot of the time. You are warm, the water is clear, you don't have to worry about decompression, and your gas lasts nearly forever. It's like snorkeling without getting tossed around! In addition, you can spot the shy morays in the holes ink the reef, and the nudibranchs you will never see from the surface, and the well-camouflaged octopuses. You can sit and watch a cleaning station for ten minutes or more, and not worry about having to surface.

I have cut back, over the years, on the boat diving. But I would never go back to snorkeling. Being on scuba is being part of what's happening underwater.

 

[freewillie]

I have one diver in the family and three non-divers in the family. Looking back to my last vacation in Maui there are two highlights. The first is the three days diving spent with my oldest daughter. One afternoon boat dive, one morning dive to Lanai and First Cathedrals, and a night dive. The other is my son doing his first Snuba.

For the first time ever my younger two kids actually tried snorkeling. They have a great reef just off Ka'anapali where we stayed with some of the best snorkeling I've experienced. It was fun, but part of the fun for me was watching my kids and their reactions. My son in particular was excited to find a few eels tucked away in the reef. My middle daughter was scared of the eels. And while overall it was fun to snorkel with them I don't think the experience competes with the dives.

It is not as much about what you see, but how you experience the feeling of a dive. There is something about feeling weightless, floating along that just not the same as snorkeling. You also have the opportunity to get closer to the marine life and have an opportunity to see more varieties of marine life. One of the more unusual fish I saw diving was a Titan rock fish. I would have missed it but the guide pointed it out. Looked like a rock. I did see a few frog fish which also was very neat to see. But just the calm quiet nature of being underwater and the almost zen like nature of calm that you get makes it a very different experience. It's more than just the fish.

But I still liked snorkeling with the kids.