1 Day in Maui - Who does 4-tanks on a Sunday?

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fuggler

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Location
Daly City, CA
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This July will be my first time diving in Maui. Unfortunately we'll only have one day so I want to see as much as I can. Are there any dive ops that do 4-tank trips? If not, which shore dives can we do after a 2-tank trip? We will be there on a Sunday. Also, which dive ops do the Molokini crater or back wall dives for sure? Lastly, for the Molokini sites, should I put on a macro or wide angle lens? Thanks in advance for your help. :)
 
Lahaina Divers does a 4-tank package. Sunday would be a morning 2-tank trip to Lanai with an afternoon charter to a West Maui site.

Nobody will guarantee you that you will go to the Backwall on any given day. If conditions are bad, they simply will go inside of the crater instead. If you want a better chance of a Backwall dive, Ed Robinson's runs an Adventure charter for more advanced divers on Sundays and usually goes to the Backwall for a first dive.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to predict whether you'll want a wide angle or macro lens....sometimes there are amazing things out in the blue water to photograph and other times you'll find many tiny things on the wall. Personally, I think you're more likely to need the macro lens than wide angle, but of course that'll be the day that 2 Mantas come swimming by and stick around for 5 minutes.

If you go with Ed Robinson's, you'll only be doing a 2-tank morning charter out of Kihei with no afternoon possibilities. However, you could book an afternoon charter with Maui Dive Shop for their 2-tank Manta trip at 1:00. They depart out of Maalaea Harbor, a 15 minute drive from the Kihei Boat Ramp. A friend of mine works for Maui Dive Shop and says they see Mantas pretty regularly on this charter, so it might be a good option for you.
 
Wow, thank you so much for the advice! We will most likely do that 2-tank afternoon manta trip. I just can't decide which dive op to go with for the morning trip to Molokini. In terms of marine life, what are the differences between the back wall and inside the crater?
 
How much marine life depends on the day and what you want to see. We've been on the backwall (side really) and treated to a Manta hanging around us for over 5 minutes. We've also been on the backwall when a whale and her baby decided to spend 15 minutes inside the crater. And I won't mention the encounter a friend had with a Great White Shark at Reef's End, which is technically inside....but counter that another friend had with a 20 minute encounter with a Humpback on the backwall.
 
Personally, I think you are more assured to see a variety of fish species inside the crater. Admittedly, I have only done the back wall once, but we saw no pelagics and there were fewer fish on the wall, until we got to the corner with the pennant butterfly fish.
 
Are you on a cruise? Where/When does the ship dock?

From Kahului, the Robinson's/B&B Scuba/Mike Severns two tank morning dive might not be doable - they leave between 6-6:30AM from the Kihei boat ramp. Figure at least 30-45min. driving time - plus either getting a cab or rental car.

If your ship docks off Lahaina, I'd reverse the order - dive with Lahaina Divers or Extended Horizons - then drive down to Ma'alea for the Maui Dive Shop afternoon trip. EH doesn't go to Molokini ever, Lahaina Divers doesn't either on Sunday - Reservations | Scuba Dive Molokini, Maui, Lanai, and Hammerhead Shark Diving 7AM check-in but their boat(s) are right there in the harbor.

It's also 30-45mins. drive from Lahaina to Kihei so that's likely not doable either. Besides the distance, there's often traffic on the only road between them. It's 20-30 mins. from Lahaina to Ma'alea Harbor also. Besides Maui Dive Shop, Maui Diamond II is another boat there. They may actually leave a little later in the morning also. And could go to Molokini from there easily.
 
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How much marine life depends on the day and what you want to see. We've been on the backwall (side really) and treated to a Manta hanging around us for over 5 minutes. We've also been on the backwall when a whale and her baby decided to spend 15 minutes inside the crater. And I won't mention the encounter a friend had with a Great White Shark at Reef's End, which is technically inside....but counter that another friend had with a 20 minute encounter with a Humpback on the backwall.

That's what is so cool about diving here, you never know what going to happen. We just saw a deep ocean jelly fish in 20' of water while scooter diving this weekend. I do remember the great white last March. A friend of mine on Ed's boat got to encounter it.


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We won't be on a cruise. We'll have a rental car and we're staying in Kihei.

DiveMaven, that's crazy!!! Hope we get lucky too.
 
Maui Dive Shop has a morning and afternoon charter on Sundays. They go to Molo in the morning and then two dives in the afternoon off the Pali. :)
 

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