Boat Diving Maui (my experiences)

Just wanted to post about my dive experiences on Maui the past week. 1st I went with B&Bscuba on Sunday and had a very great time. Bill, Bill, and Chuck were really nice and very helpful people. Went to Molokini 1st near the shark condos (but only to 100 feet) then off to Redhill to play with Octopi and turtles. Had a really great time and got back really early (10:30am). Very fun dive I would dive with them again.

2nd boat dive was with http://www.mikesevernsdiving.com/ which was amazing. The crew gave us a great briefing on what we were going to see, and then we went down and saw it all. We dove at EN'E NU'E and saw so many fish. We saw white tipped reef sharks, Crevalle, huge jack fish that scared all the other fish (which swarmed to our dive party) plus tons more. At a more shallow depth we observed the nesting practices of the White spotte Damsels. Pauline told us to put our hands over the Damsel fish's eggs and watch it try to move us away. 2 times the fish bit me plus tried to push me off by backing into my hand. Another diver heard it bark at her hand. (she said it sounded like that). Our 2nd dive was at the St. Anthony wreck. We all got a chance to put the cleaner shrimp into our mouth and get a cleaning. It was quite fun. We all had a good laugh about it. I was amazed Pauline was able to deliver on these requests. Turtles were all over this wreck. Many butterfly fish and a few hungry trumpet fish. We were all watching the fish eating the alge off a rock when this trumpet came up and ate a Sergeant Major fish right in front of us. It was quite a site. Pauline, Bo, Andy, and Tara were all so nice and helpful I definitly will be diving with them when I return to Maui.

If your looking for some certifications check out http://www.mauidiveschool.com/ Bill was a DM on the BBscuba boat. He is a great diver and a really nice and patient person. Very funny too. Another person I hope to see next time.

Just sharing my experiences. My 1st time diving wasn't as great. Be sure to book your boat dives though since they fill up fast (most let you cancel 48 hours in advance no charge)

I'll follow up with my Ed Robinson dive and hopefully some pictures. Check out my gallery for my B&B dive pictures.

Sean

Did 2 tanks with Ed Robinson's crew today. Went out at EN'E NU'E again but this time did a drift dive around to the backside of Molokini. The 1st group went deeper and saw several sharks. I saw a white tip when we decended. It was a nice dive and the DM with our group, Dave, did a nice job. He was very attentive to our individual needs and made sure we all returned to the boat safely. The 2nd dive we did Reef's End. We saw many things. I will upload my dive puctures when I return this weekend.

When we arrived at the boat the crew took our gear and got everything set up and made sure we had everything we needed. Each and everytime the DM would help us on with the gear and made sure we had to do no work at all. Dave tried to get everyone a chance to see the critters he saw. I was most impressed with Ed's gear setup and helping us on with the gear. Definitly 1st class job there. They also did a nice breifing each dive for what to expect on the dive.

I would say you can't go wrong with any of these operators. I had a great time on every boat. My next trip back to Maui I will definitly be seeing all 3 again. My only regrets would be not doing enough boat dives. Now back to the cold waters of Southern California!!! I hope it'll be a fun sumer of diving!

Sean

Sounds like a great trip. I'm heading there in Jan, so this is timely info. Thanks

Sean,

I agree with you 100% that you can not go wrong in Maui. However you forgot to mention the two things that B&B has over the competion. They leave earlier so they are the first ones on Molokini, more important to me they get back earlier and since I travel with a non diving spouse that helps. And number TWO is they serve these amazing little sandwiches.

Jonas

Those sandwiches are worth the trip in themselves!!! We have dove with B&B all three times to Maui and can't enough good about them.

I added a 2nd album from my Ed Robinson dive. Saw some cool critters. Was fun shooting them.

When you people did your boat dives what spots did you do?

It was cool to have done a drift dive with Ed Robinson. Not as much fish around but lots of small critters in the corals, etc.

We dove with B&B Scuba several times our last trip and loved it. Yep those little samwiches made on hawaiian bread are the best. We can't find that same bread here on the mainland either

There are a couple shops to avoid on Maui... but I don't have first hand experience so I shouldn't say who they are.

One thing to ask when you're booking with someone other than those mentioned (I have not heard anything bad about B&B, Severns or ERDA)... "how many people are on the boat, customers and staff?" -- there are a few "cattle-boats" that go out to Molokini with *way* too many people to get the personalized service that you do from these others.

Also, watch out for "deals" that you have to sit through a 1-2hr timeshare presentation to get.

KrisB:

Also, watch out for "deals" that you have to sit through a 1-2hr timeshare presentation to get.

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I love those timeshares. On our last trip there we were paid 100 dollars to sit in on a timeshare presentation. I am very good about cutting these short. I tell them that I'm there for the money and I have no plans to purchase a single thing, then I head for the buffet bar. So far they've always paid. One guy was upset with me and left us sitting alone for an hour but we had a lovely conversation with another couple who were doing the exact same thing. The food was pretty good.

Being Canadian, they apparently don't like us to do that. In fact, you have to front some cash to show you're interested (and you get the deals once you commit).

Apparently too many of my countrymen have shown they're too smart for most of the timeshare deals that are presented!