Recommended dive ops in or around Hana, Maui?

[Token]

My wife has her heart set on vacationing in Hana on Maui, probably in Feb/march of '13. When I Google 'scuba Hana Hawaii' _nothing_ shows up in the area...

Are there any decent dive ops in the area? Is it reasonable to drive to the west side of the island for a day's diving? [I'd be open to that, if it's feasible]. Maui doesn't look very big on the map...

 

[scubahawk27]

Aloha Token,

You are not on the right track for a good diving vacation. Hana is more of a very secluded place with very little accommodations. You can not feasibly drive to west Maui for day diving. The winter on the North (Hana) side is not a good time to get near the ocean unless you can surf Jaws (40' + ) waves. Your best bet is to look at something on the Far South side or West Maui depensing on what kind of accommodations you are looking for. If you are looking for somthing very secluded that has an amazing shore diving, I would recommend Lanai. It takes a bit getting to but there are two resorts, both Four Seasons. the one on the beach has a dive op. Let me know if you want to try scooter diving. Its a blast.

 

[Midge907]

Why in the world does she want to stay in Hana for an entire Maui vacation??? Not much on that side of the island that would entertain most tourist for very many days. Just my .02. I dont think ive heard of any dive ops on that side, but now im interested to know.

 

[Token]

Why in the world does she want to stay in Hana for an entire Maui vacation??? Not much on that side of the island that would entertain most tourist for very many days.

Apparently there is a whole lot of quiet and natural beauty... However we have discovered that getting the kind of accommodation we want anywhere in Hawaii at this late date is difficult and/or expensive, so we are going to make other plans...we're thinking Puerto Rico. We'll try making reservations in Hawaii for 2014 probably early next spring.

Thanks to you and ScubaHawk for your advice.

 

[lonebrave]

What kind of accommodations are you looking for and in what price range? I've managed to make reservations two weeks out, but my preferences may be different from yours.

 

[diversteve]

How it looks on the map is very deceiving. The road to Hana is one of the twistiest on Maui - maybe in the world. It's several hours drive from Kahului (the airport you'd likely land at) - even though it doesn't look that far on the map.

The dive boats in south Maui typically leave at 6AM to beat the tradewinds coming back from Molokini. Some also do afternoon dives locally offshore.

Drive times:

Kahului (airport) to Hana: 2 hours and 40 minutes
Kihei (south Maui) to Hana: 2 hours and 55 minutes (seems too short to me)
Lahaina (west Maui) to Hana: 3 hours and 20 minutes

http://www.paradise-found-in-maui.com/maui-rental-car.html

There is no dive op nearby.

 

[lonebrave]

Maui | Hawaii Revealed lists the driving time from Kihei to Hana as 2 hours 25 minutes. That's probably not far off if you are starting at the north end of Kihei and not stopping along the road to Hana (and not stuck in road-to-hana traffic). So for the OP, since you would be going to from Hana to Kihei for an AM charter, and the Kihei boat ramp is not at the north end of Kihei, you would probably need to leave at least 3 hours ahead of the meet time, so 3AM at the latest for a morning charter from Kihei.

Other drive times, according to Maui | Hawaii Revealed Lahaina-Hana (2 hours 50 minutes), Kahului-Hana (2 hours 10 minutes). Given road-to-hana traffic, I'd be more inclined to go with the estimates that diversteve posted above.

 

[Token]

My wife as a travel director has been sacked...

Looks now like we'll find a rental condo in Keihi...two weeks in January, I hope. Diving and snorkeling will be done. I may even exert myself to get PADI Advanced OW. We may look into a night or two in Hana to see the sights [short term 'fill in' rentals are pretty easy to find, apparently].

Thanks for your advice, everyone.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Hey Token! I think you are making a wise decision. Maui has plenty of seclusion without the need to stay in Hana the whole time. Do an two night overnighter there and you will be stoked.

There's a little lee way on boat times from Kihei. B&B SCUBA goes out first at 6 am, Dive and Sea Maui goes out last at 7:30am. (Everyone else is pretty much in between that.) Both have super nice dive boats if you ask me.

If you are really still looking for a place I should tell you that I know of a divers condo right across the street from a cool beach park in N. Kihei. It should be ready for occupancy in Sept. The new owner is doing a complete remodel and it's gonna be awesome. She's hoping to keep it under 100 bones a night! She has super high class taste in accomodations so I am excited to see what she does with this place. I know she's gonna have it totally decked out! It's small, studio but will have the king size bed, A/C and all kinds of cool extras like a LED lighted showerhead that shines down a rainbow of multicolored lights as you bathe and a sweet ocean view. Next to a pool and jacuzzi and a hop skip and jump from the beach!! I'm gonna want to stay there myself! There's a thread in the threads above (the trips and marketplace one, I forget what it's called). She has advanced bookings already but I know some time is open during winter still. It's only 15 minutes to boat dives, 20 minutes to shore dives!

You're gonna like Maui! Are your friends jealous yet? They will be!!

Here's a fun pic from todays shore dive:

 

[diversteve]

Looks now like we'll find a rental condo in Keihi...two weeks in January, I hope.

We've stayed here: Maui's Wailea Ekahi Village Beach Condos | Maui Condo Owner Luxury Vacation Rentals | South Maui Accommodations | 3300 Wailea Alanui, Wailea, HI 96753 It's not the smallest complex but they do have a greenbelt between the units so your neighbors are pretty far away - except for the other condos in your building. I didn't rent from this website but can't find the one we used - same complex though.

Not the cheapest - in the $300/nt. range but reasonably upscale and quiet at night. Especially if you get one of the properties on the south side of the complex. Although my unit bordered on Okulani road there's still a good 100' of frontage plus parking lot between you and the street - it's not a very busy street either. And the units are all situated so that the patios face the greenbelt or the ocean. From my patio I could pretty clearly see Molokini.

It's just a few minutes drive north to the Kihei Boat Ramp - all the Kihei based boat operators leave from there. Both Ulua and Wailea Beach (shore dives) are a few minutes drive south. Makena Landing/5 Caves is also. One other nice thing is they're on Keawakapu beach and you can walk right onto it from the property. There's also a pool right off the beach - 1 of 4 on the property.

Many of the Kihei condo complexes farther north are across the street from the water. Many are quite a bit more compressed also to fit more units in.