Kaamoss
Registered
Hey everyone, I just wanted to share my personal experience with Maui Dreams Dive Co out of Kihei in Maui from late October 2017. This was the one and only interaction that I had diving with them, so please take it with a grain of salt. I also don't hold any sort of grudge or personal animus against them because of this. With that out of the way...
I was in Maui for 2 weeks last October, mainly to scuba dive. I took my entire set of gear (everything except lead and tanks) with me, and had my regs and computer serviced ahead of schedule before the trip, because I don't trust rental gear. I spent days trying to find any dive op that had STEEL tanks (I wasn't able to find a single one), I even tried to settle for buying steel tanks I could ship back home empty at the end of the trip. I dive exclusively on steel at home, and have a strong disdain for the buoyancy properties of aluminum tanks.Tangent aside, I'd heard mostly good experiences about Maui Dreams Dive Co from the boards here, so cruised over to chat with them.
Some context, I brought along a girlfriend, who isn't certified and has never dove before. I was trying to find a shop who would let her do a PADI "experience" dive under the supervision of a dedicated DM, AND would allow me to dive solo without "insta-buddying" me with some knob. I felt Molokini was the ideal spot for this, as I'd done an "experience" dive there as a kid with my dad. It has a hard bottom, is not very deep, and is incredibly calm. Because of the combination of these factors, I felt comfortable leaving my girlfriend with a DM, after having pounded into her gas laws, and how lung over expansion works.
When I paid in full up front for the both of us, it was clearly explained that there were no refunds < 24 hours from the dive, and that going to Molokini would depend entirely on the conditions and was subject to change. At this point, I did ask if the alternative dive, should Molokini not be reachable, would be a hard bottom of under 120ft. I asked this because even with me by the girlfriend's side, I would not allow her to do a drift or wall dive with no reasonable hard bottom. They assured me that the alternative sites would meet these parameters.
Fast forward to the morning of the dive. We arrive at the boat in Maalaea Harbor (pro tip, if you need to park here, you have to use a painful mobile web or phone system which takes some time, in hindsight I'd have left myself an extra 10-15 minutes for this. Cash or credit card were not options at that hour in the morning. It also took a long time to find a spot). A heads up about the parking at the Harbor from the shop would have been nice.
Conditions are windy and choppy. Personally I think Molokini looked reachable at that point, but I'm sure the return would have been hell. What really irked me, was that until I asked specifically, no one on the boat had told anyone we would not be going to Molokini. Bear in mind, we had all paid specifically for the sole purpose of going to Molokini... I honestly would have appreciated a call when the staff arrived at the harbor and called Molokini for the day, I would have stayed in bed. I also had to press the man in charge of the dive boat pretty hard to even get him to tell us what spot we'd be visiting instead. He tells us we'll be doing a wall dive off of Papawai Point. I'm not a local, but from what I understand, that spot can get to 90+ ft very quickly. Either way a wall dive is specifically not what we signed up for, especially on the exposed side of the island. Getting banged against a wall by chop and surge doesn't sound like as much fun as Molokini, not by a long shot.
So, I've already got a bad taste in my mouth from their unwillingness to be upfront about Molokini or the new dive site. As the person in charge begins checking us in, I size up the rest of the divers on this trip. Not a SINGLE one has a piece of gear that's their own, unless gopros count. Another major thing that irked me, is that the 2 DMs assembled everyone's rig including my own before we had checked in or boarded the boat. They wouldn't allow me onboard to assemble my own rig, or bring a tank off board for me to do so onshore either. It felt like they were pushing us quickly through turnstiles... I decided to start some casual conversation with a few to size them up. I got the distinct impression that they were all muppets who took an OW class years ago, and I didn't talk to anyone with more than 15 dives. There were 20+ divers with what looked like 2 DMs and the leader.
Given the experience level of the divers there, the ratio of qualified divers to customers, and the conditions/site, I decided to call the dive. If I had decided to get onboard and judge the dive site, my first job would have been to tear down and re-assemble my rig. The man leading the dive tried multiple times to twist my arm into making the dive anyways. First he tells me that these conditions aren't that bad (but bad enough we can't make passage to Molokini???), then he tells me, if conditions are too rough at Papawai Point, they'll head back in and refund all of us. At this point I'm pretty frustrated, and ask him why no one has bothered to make a 10-15 minute drive to the new spot to check the conditions before we bother to head out there? He told me again that there were no refunds, and I asked if they went out and called the dive, and I left now, would I be issued a refund? He didn't give me a clear answer, and I didn't bother calling back to the shop later to inquire if they had called the dive. Again, I knew the dive was non refundable and that it could be called based on conditions, but I think they could have handled things much better from their end.
I would bet money that they either called their dive, or the poor divers on that boat got tossed around like beer cans in a dryer. Regardless, I'm glad I passed on the dive. There are other operations out of the Lahaina area which cater to more experienced divers, but I felt all of those dives were beyond the girl I had with me at the time. I was hoping to find a shop somewhere between that, and a bunch of people just certified at a resort. I failed.
I was in Maui for 2 weeks last October, mainly to scuba dive. I took my entire set of gear (everything except lead and tanks) with me, and had my regs and computer serviced ahead of schedule before the trip, because I don't trust rental gear. I spent days trying to find any dive op that had STEEL tanks (I wasn't able to find a single one), I even tried to settle for buying steel tanks I could ship back home empty at the end of the trip. I dive exclusively on steel at home, and have a strong disdain for the buoyancy properties of aluminum tanks.Tangent aside, I'd heard mostly good experiences about Maui Dreams Dive Co from the boards here, so cruised over to chat with them.
Some context, I brought along a girlfriend, who isn't certified and has never dove before. I was trying to find a shop who would let her do a PADI "experience" dive under the supervision of a dedicated DM, AND would allow me to dive solo without "insta-buddying" me with some knob. I felt Molokini was the ideal spot for this, as I'd done an "experience" dive there as a kid with my dad. It has a hard bottom, is not very deep, and is incredibly calm. Because of the combination of these factors, I felt comfortable leaving my girlfriend with a DM, after having pounded into her gas laws, and how lung over expansion works.
When I paid in full up front for the both of us, it was clearly explained that there were no refunds < 24 hours from the dive, and that going to Molokini would depend entirely on the conditions and was subject to change. At this point, I did ask if the alternative dive, should Molokini not be reachable, would be a hard bottom of under 120ft. I asked this because even with me by the girlfriend's side, I would not allow her to do a drift or wall dive with no reasonable hard bottom. They assured me that the alternative sites would meet these parameters.
Fast forward to the morning of the dive. We arrive at the boat in Maalaea Harbor (pro tip, if you need to park here, you have to use a painful mobile web or phone system which takes some time, in hindsight I'd have left myself an extra 10-15 minutes for this. Cash or credit card were not options at that hour in the morning. It also took a long time to find a spot). A heads up about the parking at the Harbor from the shop would have been nice.
Conditions are windy and choppy. Personally I think Molokini looked reachable at that point, but I'm sure the return would have been hell. What really irked me, was that until I asked specifically, no one on the boat had told anyone we would not be going to Molokini. Bear in mind, we had all paid specifically for the sole purpose of going to Molokini... I honestly would have appreciated a call when the staff arrived at the harbor and called Molokini for the day, I would have stayed in bed. I also had to press the man in charge of the dive boat pretty hard to even get him to tell us what spot we'd be visiting instead. He tells us we'll be doing a wall dive off of Papawai Point. I'm not a local, but from what I understand, that spot can get to 90+ ft very quickly. Either way a wall dive is specifically not what we signed up for, especially on the exposed side of the island. Getting banged against a wall by chop and surge doesn't sound like as much fun as Molokini, not by a long shot.
So, I've already got a bad taste in my mouth from their unwillingness to be upfront about Molokini or the new dive site. As the person in charge begins checking us in, I size up the rest of the divers on this trip. Not a SINGLE one has a piece of gear that's their own, unless gopros count. Another major thing that irked me, is that the 2 DMs assembled everyone's rig including my own before we had checked in or boarded the boat. They wouldn't allow me onboard to assemble my own rig, or bring a tank off board for me to do so onshore either. It felt like they were pushing us quickly through turnstiles... I decided to start some casual conversation with a few to size them up. I got the distinct impression that they were all muppets who took an OW class years ago, and I didn't talk to anyone with more than 15 dives. There were 20+ divers with what looked like 2 DMs and the leader.
Given the experience level of the divers there, the ratio of qualified divers to customers, and the conditions/site, I decided to call the dive. If I had decided to get onboard and judge the dive site, my first job would have been to tear down and re-assemble my rig. The man leading the dive tried multiple times to twist my arm into making the dive anyways. First he tells me that these conditions aren't that bad (but bad enough we can't make passage to Molokini???), then he tells me, if conditions are too rough at Papawai Point, they'll head back in and refund all of us. At this point I'm pretty frustrated, and ask him why no one has bothered to make a 10-15 minute drive to the new spot to check the conditions before we bother to head out there? He told me again that there were no refunds, and I asked if they went out and called the dive, and I left now, would I be issued a refund? He didn't give me a clear answer, and I didn't bother calling back to the shop later to inquire if they had called the dive. Again, I knew the dive was non refundable and that it could be called based on conditions, but I think they could have handled things much better from their end.
I would bet money that they either called their dive, or the poor divers on that boat got tossed around like beer cans in a dryer. Regardless, I'm glad I passed on the dive. There are other operations out of the Lahaina area which cater to more experienced divers, but I felt all of those dives were beyond the girl I had with me at the time. I was hoping to find a shop somewhere between that, and a bunch of people just certified at a resort. I failed.
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They told about good shore dive locations, the local conditions, had decent rental prices, booked my boat dives, and didn't try to sell me a bunch of stuff I didn't need. The girl there even loaned me a CD Tour Guide for the Road to Hana. Very nice people.
