Night dive at Airport Beach - Maui

[adjuster-jd]

Hello,
Since Airport beach is such an easy daytime dive, we were thinking of night diving there. Is this beach accessible at night? Drove by around 9:15 PM and the gates were closed.

Any other suggestions for night dive locations in West Maui - preferably easy entry? We've done a couple dives at Mala but that was a little harder to get in an out of the water at night and a longer swim out than we prefer.

Thanks.

 

[howard4113]

Black Rock is by far the most popular night dive site on west Maui. I usually park in the Sheraton garage. Used to be free to divers - but it's $14 now. :shocked2: Whalers Village has free parking if you get your ticket validated - maybe an afterdive Mai Tai? Longer walk... Drop you gear on the golf course -- just past the roundabout - have your buddy watch it while you park. Usual fare is to enter on the north side - on the beach north of the canal, and exit on the south side. When you exit you can walk back thru the Sheraton complex to the road. Should be a 1/2 hour dive at a leisurely pace - easy on an 80. If you're like me and take video you can stretch it to an hour or more. Usual suspects include turtles, slipper lobsters, spiney lobsters, lots of conger eels and yellowhead morays out hunting, squid, anemone crabs, and various fish. I've seen eagle rays and less common aquafauna as well. Always a treat. Be sure to turn off all lights at some point. Let your eyes adapt to the dark and wave your arms or fins to see the photoluminescent plankton.

M

 

[KrisB]

I'm with Mark.

Thought I'd add that you can park just outside the locking gate -- there are a couple public spots there, then walk a little further at Airport. Just another option.

Pretty sure with the variable currents I've experienced at Airport that I'd rather do Black Rock, though... more predictable and less worry about a long hike back along the beach -- you know what you're in for!

 

[adjuster-jd]

Thanks all. Did a dive at black rock last night - about an hour - leisurely trip around the wall. Saw an eagle ray right when I got in but from a distance and not close enough for pics. Lots and lots of eels!

 

[kidspot]

I've only done one night dive at airport, and it is in my top 10 worst dives ever :S - the sights were "ok" but current was downright "weird" and parking is not simple - you can park across the highway I believe by the train station - when we were there the guards did not want us to park outside the locked gates.

Aloha, Tim