Hello all,
I just thought I would post a few thoughts here that others might find helpful as I did a good bit of reading here before heading to Hawaii. And thank you much for all the info, by the way!
My wife and I are newbie divers and got our referral OW dives through MDS. The dive shop on south kihei road was very informative and friendly. The guys there told us quite a bit about the diving possibilities on Maui, in addition to various social spots worth checking out. Quite helpful.
4 OW referral dives
The dive instructor for those 4 dives was Mark Squires. He was very professional and knowledgeable and friendly. However, I do have to comment that he said a number of inappropriate things whilst in our presence. He was likely having a bad couple of days, but he said things to the other folks at the shop and to a few dive guides on site that rankled us. Sure talk **** about your job, but not in front of the customers. Basically, there were a few times when his attitude said "I don't want to be here."
rating: (scale of 1-10 with 10 best): 7. Would have been 8.5 if not for his occassional comments. We dove Ulua both days and saw quite a few turtles at the cleaning stations. Extremely beautiful!
4 Molokini dives
Booked them at the Maalena dive shop and left from there also. Dive instructor was Trent. This guy is amazing. He was genuinely friendly, interested, motivated, and hilarious. He found octopi, sharks, and more. My wife was somewhat timid about the shark possibility and he ended up getting her jazzed about the idea. Later, when we spotted a few white tips, black tips, and grays, he grabbed her hand and furiously kicked towards them. She loved it. The groups were 5 or 6 per instructor. The boat was nice. The sandwiches, fruit, and drinks were tasty. The captain and other dive instructors were friendly and informative. All crew were helpful with getting you in gear and getting you out of it afterwards. I breathe super-slow and he let myself and the women stick around for as long as the air held out. If you get a chance, dive with Trent. He makes an already amazing experience that much better.
rating: 10
Next, to the big island.
sbtao
I just thought I would post a few thoughts here that others might find helpful as I did a good bit of reading here before heading to Hawaii. And thank you much for all the info, by the way!
My wife and I are newbie divers and got our referral OW dives through MDS. The dive shop on south kihei road was very informative and friendly. The guys there told us quite a bit about the diving possibilities on Maui, in addition to various social spots worth checking out. Quite helpful.
4 OW referral dives
The dive instructor for those 4 dives was Mark Squires. He was very professional and knowledgeable and friendly. However, I do have to comment that he said a number of inappropriate things whilst in our presence. He was likely having a bad couple of days, but he said things to the other folks at the shop and to a few dive guides on site that rankled us. Sure talk **** about your job, but not in front of the customers. Basically, there were a few times when his attitude said "I don't want to be here."
rating: (scale of 1-10 with 10 best): 7. Would have been 8.5 if not for his occassional comments. We dove Ulua both days and saw quite a few turtles at the cleaning stations. Extremely beautiful!
4 Molokini dives
Booked them at the Maalena dive shop and left from there also. Dive instructor was Trent. This guy is amazing. He was genuinely friendly, interested, motivated, and hilarious. He found octopi, sharks, and more. My wife was somewhat timid about the shark possibility and he ended up getting her jazzed about the idea. Later, when we spotted a few white tips, black tips, and grays, he grabbed her hand and furiously kicked towards them. She loved it. The groups were 5 or 6 per instructor. The boat was nice. The sandwiches, fruit, and drinks were tasty. The captain and other dive instructors were friendly and informative. All crew were helpful with getting you in gear and getting you out of it afterwards. I breathe super-slow and he let myself and the women stick around for as long as the air held out. If you get a chance, dive with Trent. He makes an already amazing experience that much better.
rating: 10
Next, to the big island.
sbtao
