What Area of Maui for Diving Access

[bennyscuba]

Hey All,

We'll be in Maui for a long weekend in October (Sat - Tues). We are open to any part of the island. We wanted to be able to dive on the two morning we are there and just leave the rest of the day open for R&R. What area is best to stay in to have the quickest access to a dive op? Lanai?

Also, it will be a while since my wife's OW cert class - this is a kind of a tune-up for a longer trip we are doing over x-mas. Is any shop recommended for someone still going through the learning process...

Finally, can you dive before taking an inter-island flight? How high do they go?

Thanks as always...

bg

 

[KrisB]

We'll be in Maui for a long weekend in October (Sat - Tues). We are open to any part of the island. We wanted to be able to dive on the two morning we are there and just leave the rest of the day open for R&R. What area is best to stay in to have the quickest access to a dive op? Lanai?

Either Kihei or Lahaina -- they'll both provide pretty much equal access to dive ops and locations. DO NOT stay in Wailuku / Kahului -- that would mean a half-hour to an hour drive to get to the dive ops in either Kihei or Lahaina.

Also, it will be a while since my wife's OW cert class - this is a kind of a tune-up for a longer trip we are doing over x-mas. Is any shop recommended for someone still going through the learning process...

Totally. Check out Maui Dreams Dive Co. ( Maui Dreams Dive Co ) or Shaka Doug.

Finally, can you dive before taking an inter-island flight? How high do they go?

I feel like being a smarta$$ here and saying "yes, you can dive... but you can't fly for 12-24 hours depending on your agency's recommendations" but I shouldn't.

Taking an inter-island flight is the same as any other commercial flight. You will exceed 10,000' and your cabin will likely be pressurized to the standard 8,000' of elevation. YOU MUST ALLOW FOR YOUR NO-FLY TIME TO BE COMPLETE BEFORE DOING AN INTER-ISLAND FLIGHT.

 

[bennyscuba]

Thanks for the detailed answers. No worries I understand the smarta$$ impulse! my understanding is any flight less than 5,000 ft is safe, correct?

 

[TSandM]

Benny, I'd recommend staying in the Kihei area (which has a lot of things to do other than diving, but very easy access to the Molokini boats) and diving with B&B Scuba. They do an EXCELLENT job with new divers (I know, because I did the 10th dive of my life off a B&B boat). They are also very good people.

Flying after diving is a somewhat controversial topic. How safe it is depends on the amount of nitrogen you have absorbed during your diving, how long your surface interval has been, and how high the plane is going. There is no way to say that flights below "x" altitude are ALWAYS safe. The PADI and DAN recommendations are very conservative, however, if you actually look at the models used for decompression theory.

 

[KrisB]

It's recommended that any ascent to an altitude greater than 1,000' above your dive site be preceded by the "time-to-fly" recommendations, unless you've been trained in alternative procedures.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

It's recommended that any ascent to an altitude greater than 1,000' above your dive site be preceded by the "time-to-fly" recommendations, unless you've been trained in alternative procedures.

Is this a new recommendation? I have repeatedly linked Dan statements that use 2000' as the number in their version.

I did find a study that broke it down by number of dives and how stressful they were (from a nitrogen load standpoint). Going to 2000', this study recommended no delay necessary for a single low stress dive, 2hr delay after multiple low stress dives and 8hr delay after high stress /deco dives.

 

[KrisB]

Is this a new recommendation? I have repeatedly linked Dan statements that use 2000' as the number in their version.

I did find a study that broke it down by number of dives and how stressful they were (from a nitrogen load standpoint). Going to 2000', this study recommended no delay necessary for a single low stress dive, 2hr delay after multiple low stress dives and 8hr delay after high stress /deco dives.

Short answer: I was going on the "special considerations for greater than 1,000'" (i.e. altitude diving) rule.

Long answer: NOAA time-to-altitude tables start at 1,000'. See http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/AscentToAltitudeTable.pdf for ascent table, or the full list of NOAA tables here: Dive Planning forms, tables & formulas

DISCLAIMERS (for those that don't realize this): 1. the pressure groups on the NOAA tables are DIFFERENT than the PADI pressure groups. 2. the NOAA tables were formulated based on experience with healthy, "young" (enlisted military-aged) men, and do not take into account the wide spectrum of the recreational diving population. 3. THESE LINKS ARE PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, and I make NO WARRANTY as to their safety or accuracy.