Current at Ulua Beach?

[TSandM]

My husband and I have done a fair number of dives at Ulua, since it's so close to where we stay on Maui, and I fear we had come to view it as a pretty benign place to go diving. Yesterday, we went out on a day with a bit of surf (not horrible) which we knew would mean surge and poor viz in the shallows, which it did. But we weren't concerned, because we usually head out to the second reef, which gets deep enough to avoid the worst of it.

But yesterday, we were diving with halemano, who wanted to show us a cleaning station that was quite a bit further offshore than we normally go. When we got there, we ran into a significant current running away from shore -- enough so that we had to get down on the bottom and swim fairly hard. We had to give up the idea of returning to our entry, and instead moved north to exit at the next beach (Mokapu (sp?)) which wasn't a big deal, because there's a concrete path back to the Ulua parking lot. But it did mean we had to exit on the more exposed side of the point, which predictably resulted in mishap for me, although I stayed on my feet this time. Thank you to halemano for rescuing my mask! And I learned something -- mask on and reg in mouth is good for ladders, but mask around the neck is better for surf

Anyway, I wanted to share this because I wondered if other folks have encountered strong current here, and also to warn that it's possible.

 

[Shaka Doug]

I've made lots of dives there too and every once in a while you will get a weird current like you described. Sometimes if the wind is coming strong out of the south it pushes water into the beach and it spills out around the rocks (on the right) and pushes directly out to sea, away from the beach. That can make it hard to get back to shore.

When was the last time Steve saw the shrimps he told you about? I haven't seen them in several months now. I get the feeling someone collected them for a tank or something. They were really cool and were always in the same place. I miss those little guys!

Glad you made it back in one piece. Just goes to show you there is nothing routine when it comes to diving!! No such thing as "Same Old Same Old!". Our shores here on Maui can be unpredictable and it's always best to go with an experienced guide if you are exploring new terrrain.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Yes Doug, the closer teeth cleaning station did not have the happy to see us scarlet's I was used to being greeted by for years.

Their lionfish neighbors were also absent.

We went a couple rocks farther out and found a scarlet pair, but it was evident they were wary of divers. Started out farther for the big oasis rock, but the outbound current changed my mind and we aborted that plan.

Then after we picked up my flag the shallows current was so strong to the North, exit at Mokapu was much less work. The North swells of the past months have moved sand around at Mokapu so the impact zone is all stretched out and we did get some surf exit practice!

Not the typical Ulua dive of my Renaissance days memories. I do remember similar conditions there, but not unless I have to.

 

[fppf]

We Found these little guys in about 45 feet of water off the back side of Ulua when we where there last Feb.

Sounds like a classic rip current setup on you.

 

[TSandM]

Well, the first rock actually DID have at least one cleaner shrimp on it, but we didn't see him on the way out. I did see him on the way back.

I don't know if this was a rip current, although I've no experience with those at all. But I understood they had to do with water exiting through a narrow break in a reef, which doesn't pertain to this site. We had northwest swell and north wind, and north flowing current, which as a gestalt doesn't make much sense to me. But it was there, and it was strong.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Well, I saw it as Kona winds (all day - changing shortly after we ended our dive to Northerly), so a wind swell wrap from the South filling in the South side of Ulua reef, and the North swell wrap with it's typical impact on the North (Mokapu) side of Ulua reef.

In the shallows, around the reef, there was surface current following the wind running Northerly (parallel to shore), and we felt that Northerly current down to ~40 feet deep above and along the South edge of the reef. Beyond the reef there was significant current to the West at 40 to 48 feet deep (don't know what was happening shallower), which I would guess was mostly due the North swell reflection from Mokapu beach channeled out by the reef and kept submerged by the surface current. Beyond the reef, the bottom two foot was still a little work to make progress towards shore.

Here is the Google map view and here is the Maui weather Today page quoted below. I thought we were exiting the water about 5 PM.

It’s Tuesday evening, as I begin writing the last section of today’s narrative. As described above, the majority of the remaining showers, some at least medium in intensity, if not a little more than that…are passing over Maui County. The showers, and most of the clouds have cleared Kauai and Oahu, with just the rather insignificant cold front destined to pass quickly through tonight into Wednesday. This looping radar image once again shows this situation well. I’m personally hoping that the Big Island, which has been particularly dry this winter, will get some of these showers soon! ~~~ Here in Kula this evening, it’s totally socked in with clouds above, and pea soup fog below…with still the Kona breezes blowing ahead of the frontal passage. The air temperature at a little past 5pm, was a chilly 59.5F degrees.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17605

So a friend recently shot me a link to a Northwest Dive Club forum discussion; you know what they say about good deeds and punishment...

Thanks LCF,

Staying in the Kihei area. I like the description of Mike's boat and I love obscure critters. I will call them and Ed Robinson. I my have to book with a couple of operators. I definitely want to do the Hammerhead dive, but surprised they would use 72's on a "advanced" dive with current and a possible 120' depth. I also like the critter expertise of Severns boat and want to dive Lanai. I like the advanced X dive that Robinson puts on Wednesdays. Good to have choices.

On the Mala Pier shore dive. Do you know of a guide or dive buddy? I have used independent dive guides, Dave Sanford on Oahu and Jackson Seay on the Big Island, and have had great experiences. Thanks for the info and I will PM you as the date draws near.

Jesse

No, unfortunately, I don't know of anyone. There's a guy named Shaka Doug who guides shore dives in the Kihei area, and has a reputation as being a really fun person with whom to dive. We did the Mala Pier with a friend who lived in Lahaina, but he now lives on Oahu. One person I would avoid is the guy who goes by halemano on ScubaBoard. I have dived with him. I did not like him and did not think he did a good job of guiding.

I am pretty bummed this dive is now used against me on forums I did not even know existed before this week.

 

[Peter Guy]

HM, since you brought it up:

OK -- I'll just say it out front -- Halemano was the worst dive guide I've ever had! I do not and will not ever recommend anyone diving with him.

He was:

a. Unresponsive to the two people he was guiding;

b. Left the two people he was "guiding" to the point they couldn't see him;

c. He made an error in judgment that left everyone with a much more difficult exit than should have happened.

It was, and is, my opinion that but for the skill level of the two people being guided, there could have been a significant incident.

So, HM -- no, neither Lynne nor I will ever suggest anyone dive with you.

Is that clear enough?