Referral or not in Maui

[alexnewbie]

This is my first post. My wife and I are in the middle of our open water certification course (SSI).

We will be going to Maui in May and it looks like the water in Connecticut will not be warm enough before we leave to pass our open water test and be certified.

It looks like we will only have enought time to spend one morning and one afternoon diving while on Maui.

Should we:
1) Do a referral certification on Maui and "waste" our two diving sessions. (I'm worried that we will spend too much time being tested and not enough fish watching)

or

2) Go as uncertified divers and either take "introductory" tyoe dives, or find a personal guide who will take us.

or

3) Is it worth the time and money to take a weekend trip to somewhere warm to get certified in April.

I'd appreciate any comments, as well as recommendations for the best dive guides. (We're staying in Kapalua, so the Lahina area would be nice, but we'd be able to drive south if needs be.

Thanks,

Alex

 

[scuberd]

I got my cert on Maui and even though I was going through skills, there were plenty of fish to watch. Don't bother with the into dives as it will just waste your time and money. I think I would take the referral there. Good Luck =-)

 

[alexnewbie]

Thanks for the reply. Who did you go with/who would you recommend?

(I've read the thread on Dive operators on Maui in the Asia/pacific section, but I'm interested in anyone else's opinion too.)

 

[Pappy]

I have been renting equipment and doing trips with Maui Dive Shop for several years.
They are an SSI shop and have several shops around the island.
As with any store, we occasionally run into an employee who, although technically competent, has an ego and mouth several times his size but for the most part they have been very professional.

 

[rjens]

Last summer my 5 kids (ages 12-20) certified with Maui Diving, and I highly recommend them. Here is their website.

Maui Diving

It is a small shop located in downtown Lahaina. they do their open water dives at airport beach which has a coral, fish, eels, turtles, surgeon fish and tons of other cool stuff in 20-40'.

Specifically ask for Mike Wakashige, he was our instructor, and I highly recommend him.

 

[ppo2_diver]

I would also do your referral dives in Maui. My fiance and I will be in Maui in May as well. We are diving with Ed Robinson's. She will be doing her referral dives there as well since she doesn't like the cold water here in Chicago. Hopefully we'll see you there.

Duane

 

[bwerb]

I too will recommend Maui Diving.

I was certified by them and found that their instruction was totally "back-loaded". You realize how much they taught you at a later date. My instructor was Larry Bell (AKA "Dan"). Great instructor. Our entire class was trimmed-out and taught bouyancy correctly from the start (in surge and waves).

I would recommend you steer away from Maui Dive Shop (a large chain operation). I heard some very questionable practices while I was in Maui and have read quite a few reports on this board (use the search feature) confirming that others have had poor experiences with them as well.

Book a dive to Molokini...it is a MUST DO.

Have fun.

 

[Brandon]

I spent two weeks in Hawaii diving in 2002. Like other posters have mentioned, it would be nearly impossible to waste two dives.. there is all sorts of stuff to see, even if you are being required to complete skills during the dive.

Depending on where you're staying, I'd recommend one of two places. If you're in the Lahaina area, Lahaina Divers runs a pretty good operation, and they depart right from the city pier. I had mixed experiences with them over the course of my 10 days of diving with them, but I would still recommend them. You have the benefit of travelling with your buddy, which would have solved many of my disappointments.

If you're down by Kihei, I would recommend Maui Dive Shop. They were great with me, and suggested many shore dives that were out of this world.

I just reread your post, and you're in Kapalua, so very close to Lahaina. You've got a few options...

If you want to stay in the Lahaina / Kapalua / Kanapali area, you can dive with Lahaina Divers, Maui Diving, or Extended Horizons. (There may be others.. this isn't exhaustive). Of these three, Extended Horizons and Maui Diving come highly recommended. Both offer boat dives out of Lahaina, and don't usually take a whole bunch of divers. Lahaina Divers has a reputation for being a cattle boat operation, but I didn't find it to be too terrible, not as bad as people made it sound.

If you don't mind going down to Kihei, you have a few other options, including Maui Dive Shop and Ed Robinson's outfit. Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures is a great operation, I only did a 2-tank dive with them, but really enjoyed it.

Here's what I would suggest... being that you only have a morning / afternoon to do your diving.

If possible, modify your schedule to give you an afternoon, and then a morning. Most of the dive operators out of Lahaina go out to Molokini or Lanai first thing in the morning, before the winds make the water offshore choppy.

(Using Lahaina Divers as an example because I'm most familiar with their schedule..)

Do your referral dive on an afternoon.. they'll most likely take you out to turtle town. The scenery won't be as beautiful as Molokini or Lanai, and the vis won't be as good as it will at Molokini, but you'll be working on skills anyway. There's still a lot to see.. turtles, eels, manta rays, and a bunch of coral, so it will still be a fun dive.

The next morning, hop on a 2-tank dive out to Molokini or Lanai. You'll have completed your refferral and should be able to focus on the diving. Both Molokini and Lanai are beautiful.

Lahaina Divers typically offers 2 boat trips a day. The first trip usually goes to Molokini or Lanai (weather permitting). The second almost always goes to Turtle Town. If you can switch your schedule around, this would probally be your best bet.

There may be other options, this is just my $.02. You can find almost all of the dive charter operators on the internet, and they will all be more then happy to answer questions for you over the phone.


-B.

 

[Pappy]

I am curious to know if your statement about avoiding Maui Dive Shop is based on experience or the great Scuba Source rumor mill.
If it is based on actual experience, I am interested to know what problems you have encountered.

While I have no experience with any of their instruction methods, I have done about an equal number of trips with Maui Diving, Lahaina Divers. Mike Severns, Ed Robinson and Maui Dive shop.
As with all divers, dive shops, and charter operations, they all have their own way of doing things but I have found all their charters to be very professional and enjoyable.

 

[ScubaSista]

Aloha,

I'm sure you'll find a great shop to take you diving in Maui, but I just wanted to say, YES!! Do complete your certification class in Maui. By doing your confined water and academic sessions at home before you come, you will have completed the major portions of your class already! The four open water dives will include skills, but you'll be touring, seeing turtles, fish, eels and more while you learn. This is like getting two activities for the price of one!

Have a great trip!