Recommendations for a dive shop in Maui?

[kbabineau]

Hello. Planning a trip to Maui in late September. First time visit - would love to spend much of my time in the water. Anyone have a recommendation on a good dive shop / boat?

 

[socaldiver]

and welcome to the board. Which dive shop/boat you use is going to depend deeply on where you will be staying.

As has been discussed in this forum many of times, in Lahaina you have a couple of shops - Pacific Dive and Lahaina Divers. Both are on Dickenson in Lahaina town. Maui Dive Shop also has a couple of shops in the area, but I believe the general consensus is most people avoid them.

Lahaina Divers has their boats that go out of Lahaina Harbor. There are also other dive operators who will use Mala Ramp in Lahaina, I believe Extended Horizons is one of those.

In South Maui, B&B Scuba in Kihei I believe is the one you hear the most recommendations. Pacific Dreams has a nice shop in South Kihei. Again Maui Dive Shop is in Kihei but the same is said about them as in the Lahaina area. I have no personal dealings with Scuba Shack but I have only heard and read negative comments about them.

There are many shore dive locations, especially in the south. I highly recommend you contact either Shaka Doug or Kris B and I am sure if they are available they can show you the sights.

 

[KrisB]

Just a quick correction -- the Kihei shop isn't "Pacific Dreams" (though it was originally supposed to be -- something about a trademark issue)... it's "Maui Dreams". There's a Pacific Dive Shop in Lahaina that is good, too.

B&B is hit-or-miss. They've missed hard for me and many that I talk to. Same goes for Lahaina Divers. Oddly enough, in this day when most businesses are doing everything they can to earn your business, Lahaina Divers is doing everything they can to drive people away. Personally, I'd also avoid Ed Robinson's... there's notes on that elsewhere.

So who's good?

Lanai trips from Lahaina: Hawaiian Rafting Adventures (first choice, by far); Extended Horizons (they do a good job, but I like the ride on the HRA RIB... much smoother).

Molokini trips from Kihei: Makena Coast Dive Charters; Mike Severns Diving.

Unfortunately, I won't be on-island, though I'd show you around if I was! Consider Shaka Doug or Maui Dreams for guided shore dives.

 

[DiveMaven]

Quite a few of the operators on the island don't have physical dive shops, instead they work off their boats. The real trick to finding which operator you want to go with is simply finding the one that matches your needs and experience.

My personal favorite for S. Maui and Molokini is Ed Robinson's Dive Adventures and for Lanai I choose to go with Lahaina Divers. ERDA isn't an operation I'd recommend for the beginning diver. IMO they are geared toward the adult, independent diver who enjoys (or doesn't mind) having a guide but not a babysitter. We've been diving with ERDA for 3 years and already have our charters booked for our annual winter break trip!

Lahaina Divers is more opposite, catering to the beginning or occasional diver, and their level of supervision reflects that. The reason I like them for Lanai is simply their big 46' Newton dive boats are the most comfortable for the often rough crossing IMO. I've done the crossing in a 32' Munson and it isn't something I ever want to repeat (which is why we don't go with Extended Horizons). The strange thing about Lahaina Divers is that their shop staff really stinks IMO, but their boat crews are typically great.

For boat diving the most often recommended operators are: B&B, Mike Severns, and Ed Robinson's in Kihei. In Lahaina, folks usually go with Extended Horizons to Lanai. Shore Diving gives the nod to Shaka Doug, though Maui Dreams seems to come in a strong second.

Keep in mind that boat diving is extremely expensive on Maui and the boats leave VERY early. The trade winds pick up around noon everyday making the water very choppy, and sometimes dangerous. Depending on who you go with, plan on meeting the boat as early as 6am and being back by 10:30-11:00am. If you're staying in Kaanapali and want to dive out of Kihei (which is what we do for the first week of our trips), plan on a 45 minute drive down and close to an hour on the way back (because of traffic).

 

[KrisB]

The reason I like them for Lanai is simply their big 46' Newton dive boats are the most comfortable for the often rough crossing IMO. I've done the crossing in a 32' Munson and it isn't something I ever want to repeat (which is why we don't go with Extended Horizons).

I agree, the aluminium boats don't lend themselves to very pleasant crossings. However, having ridden the larger boats on this crossing as well, I can tell you that the most pleasant option is the RIBs that Hawaiian Rafting uses. They cruise nicely over the waves and the pontoon "catches" the impact, cushioning it nicely.

The strange thing about Lahaina Divers is that their shop staff really stinks IMO, but their boat crews are typically great.

Recent reviews from divers who've used them have said the opposite. The shop staff was excellent, but from the moment they got on the boat, customer service and general ability went WAY downhill.

Of course, add to which the fact that they give you 72 cu ft tanks (10% smaller than the local industry standard of 80 cu ft), and are pretty regimented about dive times... makes for an operator difficult to recommend even without having dove with them.

 

[TSandM]

If you really want to spend as much time as possible in the water, buy a copy of the Maui Shore Dives book and rent tanks. There is a ton of diving up and down the west shore of Maui, most of it shallow and uncomplicated, and you will see most of the same things you'll see off the boats (although the viz may not be as good, particularly if the surf is up). We rent our tanks from B&B Scuba in Kihei, but where you rent will be in part dependent on where you are staying.

The boat trips are fun, because they aren't sandy )) but the cost adds up if you are diving for several days.

 

[DiveMaven]

Recent reviews from divers who've used them have said the opposite. The shop staff was excellent, but from the moment they got on the boat, customer service and general ability went WAY downhill.

Of course, add to which the fact that they give you 72 cu ft tanks (10% smaller than the local industry standard of 80 cu ft), and are pretty regimented about dive times... makes for an operator difficult to recommend even without having dove with them.

I can only speak from my personal experiences from many years of diving with Lahaina Divers, as recently as winter break last year. I did recently read about a bad experience with a "French" DM, but he's clearly new since January since he wasn't there in late December when we were.

I don't disagree about the AL72 tanks being a pain, but we've always managed to get 50 minutes (at least) out of them, and simply plan on being the last back on the boat. The short SI (45 minutes) limits our dive times more than our tanks, but we have seen how the smaller tanks have limited others with higher SAC rates.

Our typical dives with them (to Lanai) is that they do a "tour" for approximately 30 minutes when diving the Cathedrals, for instance, then they ask what your remaining psi is in your tank and either direct you to your 3 min safety stop (if you're around 700psi) or tell you to look around under the boat. If you're diving a computer they give you more latitude than those with guages, and when they see you're a competent diver, they pretty much ignore you (at least that's our experience). At sites that are pinnacles, we've always been told to go dive and be back on the boat by a certain time, which is usually an hour later.

 

[kbabineau]

Thank you everyone for the information! It has been very helpful. We are staying in Kaanapali - for what it's worth. I am hoping to do a combination of boat and shore dives. This info will help me figure out where to start

 

[nescubasteve]

Kbabineau, for boat dives, B&B is a terrific operation and I have absolutely no doubts that you would have a great time diving with them.

For shore dives, ShakaDoug is wonderful as well and really makes diving fun.

Both of those operations are out of Kihei in South Maui, but my family has dived with both numerous times and we have always had great dives. And we stay in the same area as you and don't mind the short drive.

If you want more info, there are tons of threads on Scubaboard about the different dive operations:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/289524-maui-dive-trip-tips.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/292955-first-time-maui-diving.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/98902-maui-shore-dive-company.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/270643-going-maui-need-advice.html

Now at the risk of starting a flame war (or diverting from the OP's request for info)...

Regarding this:

B&B is hit-or-miss. They've missed hard for me and many that I talk to.

Kris, we get it (and have for the last few years). You don't like B&B. But you are in the distinct minority - a simple search here on Scubaboard would show that. And I am confident a survey of non-Scubaboard divers would indicate the same thing.

Yet you continue to voice your negative opinion based on very little or no first hand experience - I think back to this thread from over a year and a half ago: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/217700-maui-dive-shops.html

Have you received any other first hand experience with B&B since then?

Have you still not even dived with them?

If not, then why do you feel the need to perpetuate your anti-B&B bias? Why can't you simply contain your comments to the shops/boats you like (and ostensibly HAVE dived with) and simply not comment on the rest.

 

[KrisB]

Kris, we get it (and have for the last few years). You don't like B&B. But you are in the distinct minority - a simple search here on Scubaboard would show that. And I am confident a survey of non-Scubaboard divers would indicate the same thing.

You'd find yourself amazed. First off, at how un-vocal most dissatisfied customers seem to be, second, at how few non-scubaboarders seem to like B&B -- I think I've met two local non-dive professionals that frequent their operation.

The number of people I've heard say *unpleasant* things about B&B, with 95% of them UNSOLICITED -- e.g. run into divers at the showers at Ulua and ask how their vacation has been and they say "we went out with B&B and that was a huge mistake." -- GREATLY exceeds the number of people that have said *good* things about them, even including the Scubaboarders.

Have you still not even dived with them?

When an operation shows blatant disregard for both boating safety and diving safety, not to mention industry-recognized training standards, I have no desire to bother experiencing that first-hand.

I
a) don't want to see people injured (hence my vocal opposition),
b) don't want to be the one injured,
c) don't want to be filling out paperwork describing an incident when I can be sipping a mai tai on the beach
d) nor do I want to be named in a lawsuit because I was around when a preventable incident occurred.

There are much better operations (e.g. Mike Severns and Makena Coast) that respect both the laws and the generally accepted industry best-practices that I see no need to either promote, nor dive with an operation such as B&B.

And this is completely disregarding any customer-service issues I've had with them.

Now, this is a "since you brought it up" -- I didn't feel the need to re-articulate this... I feel it's enough to say "you can do better" -- while you might not be able to do *cheaper*.