Diving in Maui

[nicbdivn]

Planning a fall trip to Maui. Does anyone have any FIRST-HAND experience with Maui Dive Shop. If so, what location? Their website shows they run scuba from 3 locations: Kihei (south Maui), Lahaina (west Maui), and Kahana (west Maui).

 

[diversteve]

They run their big boat out of Ma'alea Harbor. I've been on it once. Very mixed group of divers - lots of tourists so the dives chosen were dumbed down to the least common denominator. Not bad, just not the best for someone with more experience. They did segregate by experience level so while the others did a nice reef dive our DM went into an open cave looking for sharks - didn't find any.

With your dive count, if you're staying near Kihei do the Adventure dives with Ed Robinsons - they do a 2 or 3 tank for more experienced divers. Near Lahaina it's a mixed bag - Lahaina Divers does regular 2-tanks to both Molokini and Lanai but they also do the Molokai Hammerhead run and Advanced Drift dive off West Lanai once a week - that were fun... - an e-ticket ride with white tip sharks and huge schools of fish holding in the current. Our DM estimated 500 Moorish Idols. We saw more tangs than that on the same dive.

I haven't done the hammerheads but I've read they're hit/miss at certain times of the year. If they're not there it's mostly a blue water dive with a rough ride back. I have read that's better in the summer. Extended Horizons only goes to Lanai but their boat is smaller.

They don't run a boat out of Kahana since there's no harbor. The shop at Kahana Gateway Mall is good for tanks/fills if you're shore diving in West Maui since it's just off the main road and not in the more congested part along megacondos/waterfront. If you're shore diving West Maui, they're about your best option fpr quick pickup. You can get tanks at Lahaina Divers but parking is more difficult.

Read the fine print/call them, I'm positive you'll have to drive down to Ma'alea for any Maui Dive Shop boat dives from West Maui - we did. Their 2-tank Lanai Cathedrals info confirms it:

PLACE - Maui Dive Shop Maalaea
DAYS - Tuesday, Saturday
PRICE - $149.95 Dive
OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT - $30.00 BCD & REG
TRANSPORTATION – Complimentary transportation from the resort areas on the south and west sides of Maui.

It looks like all their Kihei trips do also now since they list the same info on their Molokini info page. At one time they had a boat at the Kihei Ramp, I watched them pull it out once. Evidently all their trips are out of Ma'alea now. That's a few minutes north of Kihei but maybe a 1/2 hr. south from Lahaina/Kaanapali - or more with traffic. A lot of resort workers travel around that time in the morning so it's surprisingly crowded on the only road between West and South Maui.

The only operators with boats out of Lahaina are Lahaina Divers and Extended Horizons. Both run to Lanai, Lahaina also does Molokini every other day. There's another Lahaina shop that books boat dives but they use Maui Diamond II which moors in Ma'alea also.

The Kihei boats leave early in the morning to beat the tradewinds over to Molokini since they're smaller and launch from the ramp. It's at least a 45min. drive from West Maui and most leave between 5:45 and 6:30. For Kihei shorediving area try Maui Dreams Dive Co.

 

[nicbdivn]

Gosh, thanks for the detailed info. Much more info than I had expected the first reply out of the gate. Ed Robinsons and Extended Horizons have piqued my interest. Gonna check them both out. Thanks so much for the great info. Now I don't feel like I'm just throwing a dart at a wall.

 

[diversteve]

I hadn't realized you were looking for someone other than Maui Dive Shop. Other options in Kihei are B&B Scuba and Mike Severns. Brad & Blesi are just nice people, Severns has one or more naturalists on dives so you learn a lot about what you're seeing. The only downside is Severns is the 5:30AM Kihei departure. If you try that from West Maui (Ka'anapali or north of there) hit the road by 4:45 or so.

 

[vfox]

We've been out with Ed Robinsons before. We enjoyed the dives and the fact that it was overall more experienced divers and we could dive our air, not surface when the first person on the boat has to come up. We just booked again with them for the end of April. Another piece that I like is that we can leave gear with them to store if we're diving next day; 5 less times to haul gear back to the room is good for me.

We also learned after our first trip to Maui to stay in Kihei. Driving all over the island is still not as bad as Dallas traffic but the extra 30-45 minutes at that hour of the morning can now be reserved for a few more dozes.

 

[nicbdivn]

To DiverSteve and Vfox:
Thanks again. Will check them all out. Haven't settled on a place to stay yet. My travel agent is working on the "air/land package" for me. Trying to give her input on my diving opportunities.

 

[scubahawk27]

If you want an amazing experience try Maui Scooter Divers


Greg Walker
Maui Scooter Divers
www.mauiscooterdivers.com

 

[Iwantsun]

You also might want to try some shore dives. There are a lot of nice ones and they won't cost anything beyond your gear/air. I'd recommend Five Caves/Five Graves (enter at the traditional spot or via Makena Landing), Olowalu, Maluaka, and Honolua. If you want more specifics, send me an email. Enjoy!

For gear & air in South Maui, I've always found B&B and Maui Dreams to be reasonable and very helpful -- nice people at both locations.

 

[Mossman]

Gosh, thanks for the detailed info. Much more info than I had expected the first reply out of the gate. Ed Robinsons and Extended Horizons have piqued my interest. Gonna check them both out. Thanks so much for the great info. Now I don't feel like I'm just throwing a dart at a wall.

Just saw this threat. Actually, my only experience diving in Maui besides shore diving is with Ed's and Extended Horizons, with one 2-tank dusk/night dive out of Ma'alea with Maui Dive Shop. We only did it because it was a convenient night dive, but honestly the dive op is directed toward beginners. I think we were the only ones on the boat with more than 20 dives and I had more than twice the number of dives as the DM delivering his briefing that was practically a refresher course. Highlight was when the DM coaxed a snake eel out of the sand, it was my one and only sighting of one of those weird critters.

I loved Ed Robinson's on my first two trips with them because Amy was still there, one of my favorite DMs of all time and cute too Even on my third trip, when my DM wasn't as cute, I still had some great dives.

My first time with Extended Horizons was just OK. We did Cathedral II on Lanai IIRC and I thought it rather monotonous. Second trip out was much better since the DM was finding cool stuff at a site called Lighthouse; unfortunately that's when J got bitten by a moray and we had to cut our day short. BTW, they were very good with the first aid and were nice enough to head back to Maui before the second dive so we could get off and go to the ER. We had planned to do a scooter trip with them the next day but nixed it due to her chewed-up hand. Even with the late cancellation, EH didn't charge us.

Another interesting dive is at the aquarium. My only "dive" with a tiger shark, even though it was a skittish little guy who stayed near the surface. But hand-feeding an eagle ray, that's an experience!

 

[Shaka Doug]

My experience with MDS is this. I taught SCUBA and led dives for them out of their main store (in Kihei) for 3 months and the owner never even bothered to learn my name. So I quit. True story.

They have nice stores and boats... but... so do the 'Mom and Pop' shops, like B&B SCUBA...

---------- Post added April 30th, 2014 at 06:05 PM ----------

To DiverSteve and Vfox:
Thanks again. Will check them all out. Haven't settled on a place to stay yet. My travel agent is working on the "air/land package" for me. Trying to give her input on my diving opportunities.

Hi Nickie, try this for accomodations: Tracy's Tropical Treasures in Kihei