DiveMaven
Contributor
We just got back late last night from a wonderful trip to Maui! We completed our AOW training, and dove everyday except one for a total of 14 dives. We did our training and all of our charters with Lahaina Divers, and couldn't have been happier with the service they offered. We found that they went out of their way to make everyone comfortable and have good dives, including switching a couple of divers on one of our charters to AL100's so they could have more bottom time (never seen bigger hoovers than these guys!). Our tanks were unfailingly filled to over 3000 psi, and they were wonderful about letting us have more bottom time because we had computers.
The dives:
We did 3 Lanai charters, and absolutely loved every single one of them. Both Cathedrals are amazing and we're looking forward to diving them again next year. We also did a Molokini Crater dive, which proved to be one of our highlights as we got a great look at a rather large Manta Ray!! Our backwall charter was one to test skill levels as the current was ripping and the waves were rather high that day. We wound up in a few up and down currents, and at the end were swirled around in a toilet bowl effect before boarding the boat. The captain called the second tank and we puttered around in the crater instead of going back into the current.
Our shore dives were Black Rock and Kapalua Bay. We had a non-diver with us so asked around for which shore dives would be good for her. Black Rock was loads of fun, and we not only saw the requisite turtles, but also 2 spotted Eagle Rays, which came to within about 10 feet of us as we laid on the bottom watching them. Kapalua Bay was a disappointment and we didn't even get close to sucking our tanks dry. We found the reef as a whole to be very unhealthy with algae growing on everything. There were a few nice healthy patches, but basically we wished we had gone down to Honoloa Bay instead. Our snorkeler enjoyed both spots, so all was not lost.
Unfortunately we missed Tim while we were there. We were supposed to hook up with him at Honoloa Bay to dive, but one of our regs had a problem and we spent most of that morning getting it adjusted, etc. (driving to and fro). Kudos go to Lahaina Divers for fixing the problem and not charging us.
We're definitely looking forward to going back to Maui next April and diving more!
Hopefully we can hook up with Tim then.
The dives:
We did 3 Lanai charters, and absolutely loved every single one of them. Both Cathedrals are amazing and we're looking forward to diving them again next year. We also did a Molokini Crater dive, which proved to be one of our highlights as we got a great look at a rather large Manta Ray!! Our backwall charter was one to test skill levels as the current was ripping and the waves were rather high that day. We wound up in a few up and down currents, and at the end were swirled around in a toilet bowl effect before boarding the boat. The captain called the second tank and we puttered around in the crater instead of going back into the current.
Our shore dives were Black Rock and Kapalua Bay. We had a non-diver with us so asked around for which shore dives would be good for her. Black Rock was loads of fun, and we not only saw the requisite turtles, but also 2 spotted Eagle Rays, which came to within about 10 feet of us as we laid on the bottom watching them. Kapalua Bay was a disappointment and we didn't even get close to sucking our tanks dry. We found the reef as a whole to be very unhealthy with algae growing on everything. There were a few nice healthy patches, but basically we wished we had gone down to Honoloa Bay instead. Our snorkeler enjoyed both spots, so all was not lost.
Unfortunately we missed Tim while we were there. We were supposed to hook up with him at Honoloa Bay to dive, but one of our regs had a problem and we spent most of that morning getting it adjusted, etc. (driving to and fro). Kudos go to Lahaina Divers for fixing the problem and not charging us.
We're definitely looking forward to going back to Maui next April and diving more!
Hopefully we can hook up with Tim then.
