Just returned from a family vacation to Maui and Honolulu where I was able to get in a couple of days diving with Lahaina Divers.
I brought all my own gear, but after seeing what Lahaina Divers was issuing as rental gear, I might just bring my mask (prescription), computer, fins and wetsuit next time. The rental bcds on the boats I was on looked brand new (Aqualung) and the regs looked to be in great shape. Also, for those who are leery of large boats, we had 12 people on board on the Lanai trip and 14 on board for Molokini. There were two dive guides so the group was split into groups of 6 and 7 respectively and the guides moved off in different directions on all dives so there wasn't a huge number of people in the same place at the same time. Nicely done.
We dived on Lanai for one day and Molokini Crater the second day. Surface conditions were a bit rough as the wind was high the whole 10 days we were in Hawaii. I heard that a couple of days the week before were cancelled due to adverse weather. Once underwater though, everything was peachy with about 70-80 feet of vis. Water temps on both dives averaged 75-78 degrees. Air temps were in the high 70s-low 80s at dive times in the mornings with overcast on one day and partly sunny on the next.
Due to the weather, we were unable to dive on Cathedrals on Lanai, unfortunately. I have previously dived on Cathedrals I and II and both dives were great. This trip, we went to an area called Shark Fin. A bit of surge due to the weather, but as long as you know what you are doing, not too bad. California divers (I don't know about other places with surge in the US, so don't take offense if I didn't mention your favorite area) would have had no problems at all. Flora was a bit sparse due to the colder conditions than one will find in the tropic, but nice hard corals. Fauna is were Hawaii shines. Lots of fish with too many to name, but pretty butterfly and trigger fish. A fair number of parrotfish and some nice sized treveley cruising through our dive group.
On Molokini the next day, we had a bit worse surface conditions, but no surge underwater due to the crater. Very nice dive, same type of underwater sights as Lanai, but with the added feature of finding a white tip reef shark resting in a coral crevice and some garden eels in a sandy area. The hard corals on the Molokini dives were very nice, the area is an underwater preserve. Again lots of fish. A lot of the sea life is quite used to divers on Molokini so they are not so skittish and fairly easy to photograph, garden eels aside!
One last thing about Lahaina Divers. The boat crew was very attentive to the divers both above and below the surface. They will try to make the best dive they can for you. On our first dive at Molokini, one of the divers was have a weight problem. Instead of just throwing a whole bunch of weight at the person, the dive guide took the time to get it right for the diver. That made us all wait on the surface for about 5 minutes and pissed off one guy, but I liked the fact that the dive guide (Anthony) took the time to help out one person so she would get the best experience she could have. Also, on Lanai, when one diver blew her safety stop, she got a stern talking to from her dive guide.
All-in-all a good, fun and safe trip.
I brought all my own gear, but after seeing what Lahaina Divers was issuing as rental gear, I might just bring my mask (prescription), computer, fins and wetsuit next time. The rental bcds on the boats I was on looked brand new (Aqualung) and the regs looked to be in great shape. Also, for those who are leery of large boats, we had 12 people on board on the Lanai trip and 14 on board for Molokini. There were two dive guides so the group was split into groups of 6 and 7 respectively and the guides moved off in different directions on all dives so there wasn't a huge number of people in the same place at the same time. Nicely done.
We dived on Lanai for one day and Molokini Crater the second day. Surface conditions were a bit rough as the wind was high the whole 10 days we were in Hawaii. I heard that a couple of days the week before were cancelled due to adverse weather. Once underwater though, everything was peachy with about 70-80 feet of vis. Water temps on both dives averaged 75-78 degrees. Air temps were in the high 70s-low 80s at dive times in the mornings with overcast on one day and partly sunny on the next.
Due to the weather, we were unable to dive on Cathedrals on Lanai, unfortunately. I have previously dived on Cathedrals I and II and both dives were great. This trip, we went to an area called Shark Fin. A bit of surge due to the weather, but as long as you know what you are doing, not too bad. California divers (I don't know about other places with surge in the US, so don't take offense if I didn't mention your favorite area) would have had no problems at all. Flora was a bit sparse due to the colder conditions than one will find in the tropic, but nice hard corals. Fauna is were Hawaii shines. Lots of fish with too many to name, but pretty butterfly and trigger fish. A fair number of parrotfish and some nice sized treveley cruising through our dive group.
On Molokini the next day, we had a bit worse surface conditions, but no surge underwater due to the crater. Very nice dive, same type of underwater sights as Lanai, but with the added feature of finding a white tip reef shark resting in a coral crevice and some garden eels in a sandy area. The hard corals on the Molokini dives were very nice, the area is an underwater preserve. Again lots of fish. A lot of the sea life is quite used to divers on Molokini so they are not so skittish and fairly easy to photograph, garden eels aside!
One last thing about Lahaina Divers. The boat crew was very attentive to the divers both above and below the surface. They will try to make the best dive they can for you. On our first dive at Molokini, one of the divers was have a weight problem. Instead of just throwing a whole bunch of weight at the person, the dive guide took the time to get it right for the diver. That made us all wait on the surface for about 5 minutes and pissed off one guy, but I liked the fact that the dive guide (Anthony) took the time to help out one person so she would get the best experience she could have. Also, on Lanai, when one diver blew her safety stop, she got a stern talking to from her dive guide.
All-in-all a good, fun and safe trip.