recommendation for Maui SCUBA

[QQQ99999]

My wife and I returned from a vacation in Kihei a couple of weeks ago. I will repeat what several other SBers have mentioned: I would not drive to Lahaina (from Kihei) for a dive boat unless you are diving Lanai. Also, as others have mentioned, many of the S. Maui boat dive sites could be reached from shore (with a decent swim). And finally, I have heard virtually nothing but outstanding reviews of Mike Severns, Ed Robinson's (excluding KrisB's experience), and B&B Scuba. While on Maui, I didn't do any shore diving (my wife refuses) and I wish I would have had a chance to do a couple dives with Shaka Doug (very positive feedback) but Shaka Divers just didn't fit into our schedule on this trip. I am far from an dive expert on Maui (as this was my first scuba diving trip to maui), I can only offer information regarding my recent experience.

To quote an earlier post of mine:

"My wife and I just returned from a week in Kihei and thought I would offer my two cents (for what little its worth). Our first day of diving was with Extended Horizons (chosen because of the rave reviews from scubaboard and that the fact that they have a smaller boat and allow fewer divers) from Lahaina to dive Lanai. On our boat there were 10-11 divers with 2 divemasters and a boat captain. I can't say enough about the the captain. The captain was great, he was very friendly and helpful. One of the two divemasters seemed fine (I didnt dive with him) but the other divemaster (the one we dove with) seemed simply incompetent and rude. The dives simply were not executed as planned and had poor dive profiles. And while it may be the only bad divemaster (or simply a single bad day for the DM) at Extended Horizons (EH), I don't plan to dive with EH anytime soon (there were a couple of other small issues w/ EH as well). I think we will give Lahaina Divers our business for our next trip to Lanai.

At this point in our trip, I had only booked two days of diving for my wife (one trip to Lanai and one to Molokini) and she told me that she had no interest in diving any more than that given our EH experience.

The next day we dove with B&B (chosen because of the rave scubaboard reviews, small boat and early departure), hitting Reef's End @ Molokini and the St. Anthony's wreck. From the time we arrived at the Kihei boat ramp, our experience with B&B was absolutely exceptional. The captain was great and entire crew was very friendly, providing outstanding service and a variety of food. B&B lived up to their reputation for being the first boat to Molokini and we were usually back to shore around 9:30am. We had a wonderful time with B&B and my wife enjoyed it so much that she told me to book her for 2 more days of diving (which is quite a feat for her) with B&B. We dove 2 more days with B&B later in the week and the experience was exactly the same, absolutely outstanding. During our 3 days of diving with B&B, we had between 8-12 divers on the boat with 3-4 DMs/instructors. More than once my wife and I had a DM to ourselves and were told that we could just dive our computers (rather than restricting our dive times) on the second dive (this may be common on Maui, though it didn't happen with EH, and it hasn't been my experience -- limited as is is-- with several other dive operators in popular vacation destinations). The entire B&B crew went above and beyond our expectations, Brad and Blesi were quite the hosts and the crew treated everyone like old friends/family. B&B scuba will be getting my biz on all my return trips to Maui."

 

[kyleterry]

Thanks for all the great responces.

My parents live there part time and ussually use SCUBA Shack.

I think we will definatly do the shore dives. We plan on doing Molokini. I do not know if we will make the cathedrals.

Is there good night diving from shore?

 

[KrisB]

Thanks for all the great responces.

My parents live there part time and ussually use SCUBA Shack.

I think we will definatly do the shore dives. We plan on doing Molokini. I do not know if we will make the cathedrals.

Is there good night diving from shore?

Kyle,

I haven't heard great things about Scuba Shack... but that could just be a tainted experience. YMMV.

There is some good night diving from shore -- both Ulua Beach and Makena Landing are popular places for night dives in South Maui.

 

[Charlie99]

I haven't heard great things about Scuba Shack... but that could just be a tainted experience. YMMV.

The experience on boats run by big corporate operations like Maui Dive Shop and Lahaina Divers vary from trip to trip depending upon the specific crew. Smaller operations where the owner is frequently onboard (Mike Severns, B&B, Prodiver) or where long term Captains are always onboard (Ed Robinson) tend to reflect the personality of the owners. Their love of diving shows through.

Scuba Shack is a unique case where the owner is frequently onboard, but where the imprint of his personality and attitude hurts rather than helps. While I could cite some examples such as how a DM pulled a small whitetip shark out of its hiding hole by the tail, that isn't the real unlying reason I tend to avoid Scuba Shack. It's simply a case of vague "bad vibes".

 

[KrisB]

While I could cite some examples such as how a DM pulled a small whitetip shark

Or turned one upside down to put it to sleep... (sorry, different diveop)

 

[Brandon]

By the way, if you & your group like to eat, I highly recommend Sarento's (in Kihei) which was my favorite restaurant.

Ickky, I didn't like it at all. Possible that my wife and I just ordered the wrong combination of things, but I think I almost OD'd on balsamic vinegar that night! Pretty sure this is just a personal thing... the food was great, just way too sweet for my tastes.

Maui has LOTS of excellent restaurants.

Mama's Fishhouse up by Pa'ia is our favorite restaurant. Three trips to Maui so far, and we always make it back there for lunch or dinner a couple times each trip.

One of my best friends was the executive chef at Reilley's in Kahana... also great food. The restaurant next door, Roy's Kahana Bar and Grill is even better.

I'm also a big fan of the Cheeseburger in Paradise and Bubba Gump in Lahaina. There's another Cheeseburger in Paradise at the shops at Wailea, but it doesn't have the spectacular view that the Lahaina location does.

Colleen's in Haiku is one of our favorites too. Good burgers and pizza.

We usually stay on the north shore (Pa'ia / Haiku area).... not so great for diving, but my wife hates the hotel strips in Kihei / Wailea / Kaanapali.

Maui is a great place to relax and unwind... have fun!

-Brandon.

 

[kidspot]

A great place for a first night dive (though far from Wailea) is Black Rock in Kaanapali - very frequently used as an introductory night dive site for divers. That said, it's got a lot of night life in the water and makes a good repeat night dive spot too.

Aloha, Tim

 

[DPJ]

I was in Maui in April and had great experiences with both B and B and Shaka Doug.

 

[KrisB]

A great place for a first night dive (though far from Wailea) is Black Rock in Kaanapali - very frequently used as an introductory night dive site for divers. That said, it's got a lot of night life in the water and makes a good repeat night dive spot too.

Aloha, Tim

I've heard it's quite the distance to schlep the gear, too... are there some tricks to that, Tim?

 

[Brandon]

I've heard it's quite the distance to schlep the gear, too... are there some tricks to that, Tim?

There's a parking lot on the east side of the Sheraton... when you start wrapping around the Sheraton, you'll see the golf course in front of you, the water, the edge of black rock, and a gate just ahead. There's also a creek type thing there that drains to the ocean and a public beach access spot. This is the closest you can get to Black Rock without going through the resorts.

The lot makes a good place to drop off the gear, then have someone go back to the parking garage and drop the car off.

If you use that lot as a drop off point, it's a quick 1 minute walk to the east side of Black Rock.

I've geared up and walked through the resort area before... it's a pain in the butt, but you can do it.

One time a friend dropped me off at the Airport Beach park / beach area, and I hopped in the water there and drifted down to Black Rock, snorkelling along the way. Took a while, but it wasn't walking =)

Kidspot likely has some great tricks too.

-Brandon.