Maui for the first time ever in October. Where and who should I dive with.

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ScubaERDoc

Contributor
Messages
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Location
San Francisco, California, United States
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi divers,

My girlfriend and I will be in Maui for the first time ever in mid-October and need suggestions on who we should dive with. Also we are completely unfamiliar with diving in Maui so any recommendations would be very helpful.

I have 60+ dives and own my own gear. She has 20+ dives and rents her reg and bcd.

These are some shops that seem to have a lot of reviews. Any info on any of them?

Scuba Shack
B&B Scuba
Maui Dreams Dive Co
Ed Robinson’s Diving Adventures (seems like they cater more towards experienced divers)
Scuba Luv Maui

Thanks!!
 
Well, some of what you do may depend on where you are going to stay, or how willing you are to drive.

B&B, Ed Robinson, and my favorite, Mike Severns, run boats out of the Kihei boat ramp to Molokini and the Kihei-area offshore reefs. All three do a good job, but tend to cater to a slightly different population. B&B is excellent with beginners. Ed Robinson does a 3 tank dive at least once a week, that's for more advanced folks, and Mike Severns tends to attract an advanced and critter-oriented bunch.

Shaka Doug, here on SB, leads guided shore dives, and virtually everybody who has written about diving with him has really enjoyed it. There is very good shore diving, as long as the surf isn't up. I believe Doug also has scooters.

I don't know much about the shops in Lahaina, because we've never dived with them.
 
TS&M summed it up pretty nicely, though I would add another excellent choice, Dive & Sea Maui.

Although Ed Robinson's has a reputation for catering more to advanced divers, I'll say that their regular 2-tank charters are totally appropriate to newer or less experienced divers. It is only the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday charters that are geared toward more advanced and independent divers, but Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday are great for any level.

B&B leaves the earliest (6:0am) but also gets you back by around 10am so you have the rest of the day to do other things. Dive & Sea goes out a bit later than the others, at 7:30, and you're back by about noon. Ed Robinson's and Mike Severns both launch at around 7am, and you're back between 11-noon.

Scuba Shack is one operation I don't recommend, though I'm friends with one of the DMs on the boat. The owner isn't my cup of tea, nor is his "no pee in your wetsuit" policy (even though I don't if there's a head on the boat), and the just about always go to "5 caves" for their 2nd dive, which is a super easy shore dive.

Dive & Sea runs a new boat that will easily hold 12 divers, but the owner/captain limits the divers to 6, except for rare occasions. There's a great Aloha spirit on the boat, the DM is very good, and you get excellent personal service from both.

The good news is that there aren't any truly "bad" dive operators on Maui. It's a matter of finding the ones that match your desires, style, etc.
 
Part of the decision is where are you staying?

If in the Kihei/Wailea area (south Maui) these^ are good recommendations. B&B also does escorted shore diving and has scooters. Although with 20 dives a scooter might be a little too much task loading for your g/f. In that area Wailea Beach would be a good option if you wanted to try shorediving on your own. Easy beach entry with a short swim out to the dive off the point. fwiw Maui Dreams dive boat is actually the Maui Diamond - they don't have their own. http://mauidiamond.com/

If you're staying in Ka'anapali, the Lahaina area (west Maui) or farther north in Kapalua, they're 45mins. to an hour drive south. Since the boats leave starting at 6AM for Molokini...

Dive operators in Lahaina - for new(er) divers try Lahaina Divers. They also have the biggest boats which is nice riding back from Molokini or Lanai since the tradewinds make that rougher coming back usually. For shore diving try Tiny Bubbles - I have no exp. with them. Extended Horizons also does both but their boat is smaller. Easy shore dives in that area are the Sheraton Black Rock or Old Airport Beach. OAB is really shallow for a long way though.
 
Pet peeve of mine - TIP TIP TIP - those divemasters / guides work for dirt cheap. Give them at least 10%, you give more tips at a fancy restaurant than the dive guide that... you get my point.

Ed Robinson's
boat op I used, they are top-notch. Great speeches (like marine toilet usage) and what you will see & why. I used them for Molokini. On the way back for Molokini, they spotted some sea turtles in a particular area and we dove there, with a few car-sized turtles. What a treat.

For Cathedrals at Lanai, I used Extended Horizons. VERY IMPRESSED by how they went beyond Ed Robinson's perfect quality dive op.
For example :
- a 100 foot drag line for holding onto at the surface, waiting your turn to board
- allowed for snorkeling after 2nd dive waiting for divers with better air control to return
- no plastic water bottles, zero litter policy
- diesel engines running on recycled filtered used oil
- great snacks, lots of fruits and homemade cookies, muffins
- photographer on board - let them know you want this service - you can buy the cd of the pics of you & your SO, etc, relatively cheap

The only two boat ops I went with, I was there ten days for business, so could only "weekend dive".

If you want to do the Road Trip To Hana - start early, before sunrise. Like that you can relax at the various locations along the way, and past Hana (state park) before heading back. If you leave at 6am, you'll be back to "normal" road conditions by sunset, at around 7pm.
Have dinner on the way back at Mama's Fish House ($$$).
 
DiveMaven, thanks for the info about Dive & Sea. A six pack sounds like a great option, and we'll have to look into that the next time we are there.
 
ProDiver is another GREAT option for a small boat op out of Kiehei. Usually a 6 pac with great service and a nice ability to choose sites based on diver consensus (and the conditions and experience of the clients).
 
I have always done shore dives when in Maui, and I can vouch for Shaka Doug as a great guide who will take care of you and point out things you would otherwise swim right over.
 
DiveMaven, thanks for the info about Dive & Sea. A six pack sounds like a great option, and we'll have to look into that the next time we are there.

We were very impressed with the boat, particularly how smooth of a ride, how well laid out, and how comfortable it was. John (the owner) told us that B&B based their boat on the design of his boat, only B&B's is bigger. John runs a quality operation with a wonderful Aloha spirit and lets you dive your tank. We chose to come up after 60 minutes since the other divers were already on the boat, but we consider an hour a good dive so it was no big deal. On our first dive with them, Adam, the DM, watched us for maybe 5 minutes then basically let us do our own thing, confident that we were experienced divers and since we are an experienced buddy team, would take care of eachother.

My only "complaint" about them would be that they don't have any advanced days scheduled where we could go to our favorite dive sites at Molokini. Unless we happened to be on the boat with advanced divers, they will stick to Reef's End, inside of Ene Nue, or middle reef for Molokini dives. However, as we were talking and the subject of Harlequin Shrimp came up, they took us to a site that Adam has seen a pair recently. Unfortunately they weren't there, but they totally tried. We won't hesitate to go back out with them in the future.
 
Lahaina divers for Molokini or Lanai. Scuba MIke is a great guy for shore diving, but so chatty, plan to spend an hour in the parking lot talking about Colorado and Austria. Do NOT use 5 Star at the Westin.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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