Need to book dives in Maui for next week...HELP!

[Highliner]

Aloha. I am very excited to be celebrating the big 50th birthday im Maui. :shocked2:
We (all 18 of us) will be arriving the 8th of November. There are 3 divers in our party. We would like to do Molokini Back Wall, Lanai (cathedrals) and The Carthaginian. We are also interested in a night dive and mabey an "adventure dive" of some kind. I would also like to shoot some video/pics . We are experienced (rescue/DM level) with 150+ dives each. I am thinking of using a combination of Ed Robinson'a, Mike Severn's, Maui Dreams and Maui Dive Shop. Also a possibility of purchasing Lahaina Divers 5 Star package..5 2 tank boat dives+unlimited tanks for shore dives. Can anyone help? Watcha think Kris? Many "tanks" in advance!

 

[Muggsy]

Another suggestion is Shaka Doug. He is a great ScubaBoarder and a great person do dive with. You can PM him through ScubaBoard. Or his website is Welcome to SHAKA DIVERS Web Site!
Have a great trip, and Happy Birthday

 

[DiveMaven]

The only operator I know of that does the backwall, Lanai, and Carthaginian is Lahaina Divers...and if you book all 3 you'll get 10% off. LD tends to cater more to the beginner, but this time of year the boat won't be close to booked full and a quick talk with the DMs about your needs/experience should take care of that.

Extended Horizons also goes to Lanai and the Carthaginian, so that's an option for those two charters. They're reputed to be better for the more experienced diver than LD, though I've never gone with them since I prefer to cross to Lanai on LD's big Newton dive boats.

Ed Robinsons and Mike Severns will definitely be able to help you out with Molokini and adventure type dives in S. Maui geared more toward the experienced diver. Maui Dreams or Shaka Doug for sure can help you out with shore diving at night, video/photography dive, and likely an adventure type dive as well.

If you don't mind a rough crossing, your best bet might be to go with EH for Lanai and the Carthaginian, then ERDA or MS for Molokini and perhaps Adventure dives, then hook up with SD or MD for night shore diving and a video/photography dive.

 

[Charlie99]

The only operator that runs specifically to the backwall is a 1 tank dive trip by Maui Dive Shop.

Ed Robinson and Mike Severns frequently go the backwall, but also often dive the two points of the crater. I wouldn't get too hung up on specifically doing the backwall. And I definitely recommend a standard 2 tank trip with ERDA or Severns over doing the 1 tank backwall with Maui Dive shop either by itself or combined with the following 2 tank dive trip.

Mike Severns and Ed Robinson are my two favorite dive ops. Either would be a great choice. Mike Severns is more critter and marine biology oriented.

 

[Bappelt]

The only operator that runs specifically to the backwall is a 1 tank dive trip by Maui Dive Shop.

Lahaina Divers also does scheduled backwall dives. I went with them last month and we did a two tank backwall trip.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I wouldn't get too hung up on specifically doing the backwall.

A hearty second on NOT getting "too hung up on specifically doing the backwall!"

As a former Molokini guide, I consider the various "backwall" drifts as tied for the 4th best dive at Molokini (or 5th, 6th, 7th, etc).

Reef's End drift, Shark Ledges/Condos drift, Reef's End mooring, Enenue mooring (tied with "backwall); that is how I would place my favorite Molokini dive sites. Having said that, Reef's End from a sand channel mooring is the dive done most and I am happy to do it every time. Starting with the big Cleaning Station, we head just around the corner of reef's End to look for sharks (nearing 100'), then garden eels at 70-80' in the sand channel, more possible small sharks along the edge of Middle Reef, crossing the sand channel again for the deep part of Tako Flats and back past the Cleaning Station as air permits.

Most charters to Molokini are just one dive at Molokini, and then a dive along the South Maui coast. If the swell/surf is up, the second dive is likely the St. Anthony wreck which I like least.

Extended Horizon's Carthaginian trip is Thursday's second trip (show up at 12:45 PM). This is a slower than normal slow season, so I advise advance booking only for the Carthaginian trip, so the operator has 3 divers to work with over the next 2 weeks. Last minute booking for the other trips will not be much of a problem and lets you better judge the proper charter for the conditions, although you would also have to be more flexible with your days.

The current economic situation is such that you may need to be more flexible no matter how you plan/book any activity.

 

[DiveMaven]

A hearty second on NOT getting "too hung up on specifically doing the backwall!"

As a former Molokini guide, I consider the various "backwall" drifts as tied for the 4th best dive at Molokini (or 5th, 6th, 7th, etc).

Reef's End drift, Shark Ledges/Condos drift, Reef's End mooring, Enenue mooring (tied with "backwall); that is how I would place my favorite Molokini dive sites. Having said that, Reef's End from a sand channel mooring is the dive done most and I am happy to do it every time. Starting with the big Cleaning Station, we head just around the corner of reef's End to look for sharks (nearing 100'), then garden eels at 70-80' in the sand channel, more possible small sharks along the edge of Middle Reef, crossing the sand channel again for the deep part of Tako Flats and back past the Cleaning Station as air permits.

I'd have to agree 100% with everything you said. I don't put the backwall high on my list of favorite dives at Molokini, and definitely love all the ones you've put ahead of it. Last December we were treated to watching a shark hunting/feeding frenzy on one of our Reef's End dives. We must have spent a good 15 minutes watching about 6 sharks dig into the reef hunting. Very cool!!

Ed Robinson's is also our preferred operator on Maui. We've never had a bad dive in well over 50 dives in over 3 years with them.

 

[Charlie99]

My favorite Molokini dive, by a large margin, is a drift along Reef's End. It doesn't much matter whether it is a live drop or starts from a mooring in the sand channel with a live boat pickup at the end. (Drift diving. Valet pickups. Perfect for the lazy, navigationally challenged diver. )

Reef's End seems to have the widest variety of both marine life and topography. A typical Reef's End dive will take you from a sand channel, to a shallow reef protuberence with thousands of small fish (the Orange Grove area), over a sloping point to an area with eels and usually a couple of whitetips. As you continue to drift there is a variety of stuff along a 45 degree slope with the possibility of big stuff either off in the blue or cruising by one or two hundred feet below you. Towards the end of the drift you'll hit some long sections of near vertical wall.

Dive operators like doing Reef's End from the moorings because that puts a hard bottom beneath the unknown divers jumping into the water.

 

[KrisB]

I'd strongly recommend give the Maui Diamond a call to ask about their next "adventure" day -- they'll often book one day every 2-4 weeks to check out some sites not frequented, but typically awesome. Sometimes there's a Carthaginian dive involved, or a Manta cleaning station dive.

Personally, I'm very much not fond of Maui Dive Shop, from having dove with them once or twice and feeling as though my existence as a paying customer was infringing on their lives.

I really like the guys at Makena Coast Dive Charters, and they'll often work to accommodate the desires of the group. For just going out and having fun, they're tied with Mike Severns.

Lahaina Divers would mean a *long* boat ride down from Lahaina -- I'm not sure where you're staying, but if it's Kihei, diving with them would mean a 50-minute drive up to Lahaina, to have an extra hour or more spent boating down to Molokini. Repeat on the return trip.

Don't pass up Lanai, either! I'd sooner dive Lanai than the Molokini Backwall -- both Hawaiian Rafting Adventures (Dive Maui) and Extended Horizons do a great job of that area.

If you do end up booking with Lahaina Divers, consider asking for the larger tanks when you book -- they default to a below-industry-standard AL72... also not nice for those of us whose tank cam bands have developed a permanent détente where the AL80 and AL63 sit.