Need Advice For Wailea Area Dive Charters

[LLKZ16]

I will be staying in the Wailea area in mid June and I am looking for a dive operator that caters towards photographers and or advanced divers.

This is my first time diving Hawaii (very excited!!) and I want to make sure that everything turns out perfect.

Also, does anyone know the normal water temps in mid June?

Looking forward to seeing what you all have to say.

Thanks,
Lee

 

[DiveMaven]

Check out Ed Robinson's 3-tank and Adventure charters (Sun, Tues, Wed, Fri). They are geared specifically for the more independent and advanced divers and you should get quite a bit of latitude as a photographer as well.

The other most often recommended operators are B&B and Mike Severns. All depart from the Kihei boat ramp, which is near Wailea.

Keep in mind that dives in Hawaii are DM led, thus you won't have unlimited amounts of time to photograph subjects. You'll also likely have other folks wanting to photograph your subject, so will need to be aware of that as well.

 

[StuartT]

Ditto to Divemaven's suggestions. Water temps likely to be mid-high 70's by mid June. Was 78-80 this past Sept and 77 one a couple of years ago Mid May. There is also great stuff to see and photograph shore diving in the Wailea area. 5 graves, Wailea point, Ulua beach, Ahihi Bay, to name a few. Easy to navigate and we saw more shore diving last trip than on the boats plus most dives were 90 min + on al80's due to the 20-50 ft depths. Lots of eel species, frogfish, nudi's,turtles, white tip sharks, feef fish, eagle and manta rays, barracuda etc. There are a few pics from that trip on my photos on my profile if you want to have a look. Have a great time. Maui dreams or b&b for tank, flag and weight rentals. Pro diver is also good for boat diving they take 6 max.

 

[Charlie99]

My last "Adventure X" trip with ERDA was a couple years ago. We dove the coast far south of La Perouse. There was no divemaster, just a general plan of "mosey along the wall towards the north. You don't need to keep anybody else in sight, but do try to be in the same general area for pickup in 50 minutes to an hour".
Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures - Adventure-X dive trip

Mike Severns is another dive op well suited for photogs. They are really into marine life, take their time underwater, and don't freak out when someone lags well behind the group.

 

[DiveMaven]

I forgot to mention that you could probably do a private booking with Shaka Doug to shore dive in the Wailea area as well. Then you could go as slow as you want and take as much time as you need for your photographs.

Charlie99, on the Adventure trips with ERDA they now ask that you follow the "bubble rule" and keep someone's bubbles in sight so everyone doesn't get too separated and make it more difficult for the boat to do pick ups.

 

[TSandM]

I would second the recommendation for the Mike Severns boat. When we have dived with them, it has appeared that they attract a more experienced clientele and a lot of photographers. They are focused on unusual endemic species, and have critter ID books on board for your surface interval perusal.

I would not write off shore diving, either. If the surf isn't up, you see many of the same species from shore that you do from the boats.

 

[LLKZ16]

Thanks for all of the info so far!

Any idea on what type of wetsuit is needed in mid June? I dive chilly SoCal and do not get cold easily and I was hoping that a my 1mm Tilos full suit would do the trick.

 

[DiveMaven]

If you figure the water temperatures being about 77-78 degrees, that'll help you decide how much exposure protection you'll need based on your cold tolerance.

I dive in a 5mm full suit all year in Maui, but I've seen everything from a dive skin in mid-winter to a 7mm full suit in summer (and everything in between), so you really have to decide for yourself.

 

[Charlie59]

Agree with Ed Robinson's and Severn's. Other dive shops sometimes do check out dives and can have too many new divers on board. ERDA tries to seperate divers by experience.