Reservation needed?

[drfsol]

Hi Everyone,

Little question,

We are leaving for Maui the 11 august and I'm not sure if I should do my reservation before departure or do that on the island...

Can I get a better deal if I do my reservation just the day or couple day before?



My problem right now I don't know when I want to dive. We are on the Island for 14 days and we don't want too planning too much in advanced.

We want to do 2-3 day dive + 1 night dive :

- 1 day (2dive) @ B&B Scuba - Molokini
- 1 day (2dive) @ Extended Horizons - Cathedral or the channel between Maui and Molokai (I ear they do that on blue moon and then the channel become navigable for dive boat..)
- 1 @ ? maybe shore? never try...
- 1 @ night dive ? recommendation?

We are novice diver and just get certified in 2006.. (I do my refresh next week)

Thanks you all...
-Cristian

 

[Damselfish]

High season in Hawaii is winter, because people are escaping the cold. And summer, when kids are out of school and many people take vacation. I personally would reserve boat dives ahead as they could get booked up, especially for special dives that they only run certain days or times. If you get there and just want to get on a regular boat a couple days over 2 weeks it may not be a problem, may just not be the days you would prefer. But I have had a problem with last minute stuff in June when an op on Maui messed up and cancelled our reservation on us. And I doubt you will save money by waiting until the last minute though.

You might also want to try and do everything with one operator, so you get used to their boats and routine and they get used to you. And you may get a better deal that way. I wouldn't do your first shore dives ever there and unguided, but there are guided shore dives. I'd also recommend diving more than that in 14 days.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

According to BB Scuba the summer is a very busy season for them. I'd definitely book in advance. They don't offer any discounts for late booking and charge your card the day of the boat trip...

Sean

 

[friscuba]

High scuba season is now through the last week of August. Since you are booking with well known and established operators, I'd nail down at least a couple days in the next couple of weeks, if not earlier, just to make sure you get some diving in with them. If you are very flexible and you are more or less by yourself you may be able to squeeze in on short notice, but I can't say for certain that's really the case. Good luck on discounts... I live in-state and am in the business and pay full price with most places in Maui.

 

[KrisB]

friscuba is right -- things are busier now than most of the rest of the year.

Maui sees a few peak times -- summer (kids on mainland are out of school); Christmas (a couple weeks on each side); and "March Madness" (and I don't mean the basketball) due to spring breaks.

I'd strongly recommend booking it now if you really want to do it.

If you're not worries, some operators (not sure about B&B nor XH) will give you a "space available" rate if you call at 8pm the night before, or just show up at the boat.

For your night dive, consider Maui Dreams Dive Co. for a shore-based excursion... heck consider them for your planned shore dive, too, if you want a paid guide. Otherwise send me a PM and we'll see if we can arrange a fun dive.

Since you are novice divers, I wouldn't expect to do any of the really cool Molokai stuff... the operator on Molokai won't even take you unless you do a check out dive with him first!

 

[drfsol]

Wow thanks guy's, I really appreciate your time to answer me...

KrisB> I take your info in note, if we want to do more dive I will check with you, maybe we can do some shore with you. I think you are an Instructor? so I think we don't have any problem to dive with you since my and my wife are only novice and we can't dive alone (not legal with our certification, and I'm not crazy enough to take that risk) ;-)

I will PM you

-Cris

 

[KrisB]

Cris -- yes, I am an instructor.

So, by "novice" you mean that you're not Open Water certified? Make sure you communicate this to the dive ops -- XH won't generally take people to the Cathedrals unless you are at least the equivalent of PADI Open Water (called different things in different agencies) and can dive independently to at least 60'.

 

[Damselfish]

your profile says:
Certification Agencies: Werner Koster (www.karibikdiver.com)
Certification History: 2006 Open Water Certification (PADI)
Certification Level: Niv 1.

Just to clarify, your certification Agency is PADI, not Werner Koster (that's just the dive shop where you did it)

You certification level appears to be OW. I'm not sure what "Niv 1" is? If you have PADI OW you are indeed certified to dive with your buddy, without an instructor. (Whether you are ready to dive alone in any particular circumstance is a separate question.) There is no "illegal" or not involved in this, at least in the US - there are simply rules and guidelines most everyone follow.

 

[KrisB]

your profile says:
Certification Agencies: Werner Koster (www.karibikdiver.com)
Certification History: 2006 Open Water Certification (PADI)
Certification Level: Niv 1.

Just to clarify, your certification Agency is PADI, not Werner Koster (that's just the dive shop where you did it)

You certification level appears to be OW. I'm not sure what "Niv 1" is? If you have PADI OW you are indeed certified to dive with your buddy, without an instructor. (Whether you are ready to dive alone in any particular circumstance is a separate question.) There is no "illegal" or not involved in this, at least in the US - there are simply rules and guidelines most everyone follow.

The profile page is ambiguous on that, and I can see the confusion. It reads:

Certification Agencies
Who have you been trained by?

It's easy to mistake that for the actual agency, unfortunately.

"Niv." would likely be shorthand for "niveau" or "level" in French...

There are laws respecting this in Quebec where the OP is from: http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/regu/s-3.1r.3.1.1/20070614/whole.html

As a "Class A" diver-equivalent, he's limited to 60', daytime, and easily navigable sites (well, sites with markers, but I would say there are "natural" markers, too.

Cris... this has no bearing on diving in Hawaii -- as a PADI Open Water Diver, you're qualified to dive with a buddy to a depth of 60' (18m) without professional supervision.

 

[Cacia]

I like freedom,

so I like to book a *minimum* for a default position, and fill in from there.

Also, I notice paying day by day helps you renegotiate everything you want, nicely.

I don't like losing the leverage and the freedom of pre-booking too much stuff.

Waking up in the morning or deciding when you go to bed feels so nice.....