Look out Hawaii . . . Here comes BettyRubble

[BettyRubble]

Looks like I'll be in Maui at the end of February for 10 days. Going to celebrate my b-day with a little dive vacation in paradise. All my previous trips to the islands were pre-diving so this is very exciting!

My understanding is Maui offers alot of options for newbies. I have 20+ dives so far (about half quarry/half ocean) , and will get my AOW this fall. But won't have more then probably 35 dives before February, so I want to find dive ops and locations that work best for my range of skills (aka almost non-existent!)

I have not booked a hotel yet. Want to find the best dive locations for me first, then book the room.

Any suggestions you can offer for the best areas for newbies to dive, and perhaps the ones to avoid would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[StuartT]

Hi Betty,
There are 2 great companies that do boat dives from the Kihei boat ramp. I've been with both of them. Mike Severns and Ed Robinsons. Only the Ed Robinsons 3 tank adventure is geared toward advanced divers but even that is very easy diving. I think they want min 25 dives and been diving recently. South Maui also has awesome shore diving if you have a buddy. My wife doesn't dive so last time we were there I found someone from one of the boat dives to do some shore diving with. We have a condo in Wailea for rent. Palms at Wailea 703 if you want to check it out. Maybe some locals can suggest other good sites.

 

[DESIGNERDIVER]

Pammie!!
wow have a great time girlfriend!!

 

[DiveMaven]

We dive with Ed Robinsons when on Maui (annually for a couple of weeks) and I wouldn't recommend their 3 tank dive for an inexperienced diver for two main reasons: The first one is that the first dive is sometimes to 130' (shark condos), but almost always deeper than 100'. Dive profiles are geared toward the experienced diver and could be considered aggressive for a beginner. The second reason, and most important, is that this charter is often a live boat dive. This involves being able to be comfortable swimming out into the blue water at depth, and doing a blue water safety stop without a line to hold onto. Sometimes you're still able to see land for reference, but sometimes you're simply surrounded by blue water with no visual reference and have to do your safety stop mid-water. Then you have to be able to reboard the live boat in sometimes rougher water.

I'll take it even a step further and wouldn't recommend Ed's 2-tank Adventure Charters for an inexperienced diver for similar reasons as stated above. These are charters geared toward the more experienced diver and they really go by that standard. (Thank you Ed!!) It can be almost painful to watch less experienced divers on these charters sometimes since they are often clearly uncomfortable with the dive profiles and safety stop/reboarding procedures.

However, a less experienced diver would be fine on Ed Robinson's regular 2 tank charters, B&B charters, and Mike Severn's for boat diving out of Kihei. For shore diving Shaka Doug is "da man" around here. One nice thing about diving with Doug is that he doesn't get going until 9am, whereas you have to be at the boat ramp as early as 5:30am (for B&B) for a boat charter.

 

[diversteve]

I concur, my buddy did Shark Condos on the 3-tank Adventure, that's not for newer divers. But definitely find someone to take you out to Molokini at least once.

There's some nice shorediving in the Kihei area. In addition to Shaka Doug, Maui Dreams Dive Co. in Kihei does shorediving.

If you decide to stay around Lahaina or Kaanapali, consider Lahaina Divers or Extended Horizons. Both are more likely to go to Lanai than Molokini though. If you're not good on boats, Lahaina Divers has 2 46' Newton diveboats that make it a lot easier when the tradewinds kick up early afternoon. They will take up to 24 divers but we were on their boat mid-week once with 8.

The Cathedrals are the famous dive off Lanai. Sharkfin was also really good for spotting large schools of fish. Even on the big Lahaina Divers boat, people were sick late one morning at the Cathedrals, we got tossed around pretty good. There was a hard-hulled zodiac next to us they looked to be having a tough time recovering their divers.

For shorediving in West Maui contact Pacific Dive. They're just up the street from Lahaina Divers.

Good descriptions of most of the known shoredive sites can be found here: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands. Most are pretty easy entries but parking can be hard to get at some of the South sites.

The one diveop I had a marginal experience with was Maui Dive Shop - their bigger boat leaves out of Maalea. Not bad, just that I've since found better. Too many people meant the dive was too regimented for my taste.

Another easy - though pricey($199) dive is the Shark Dive at Maui Ocean Center. But you can tell your friends you dove with Tiger Sharks in Maui. Shark Dive Maui | Maui Ocean Centers Hawaiian Aquarium

Isn't February the start of Humpback season? Near Molokini you can often hear them sing.

 

[DiveMaven]

Great advice diversteve. December is the start of Humpback season, February is a great time to hear them singing since it's mid-season.

We prefer Lahaina Divers to go to Lanai due to those big, comfortable 46' Newtons. Since we travel at Christmas usually (uber-high season) the boats are usually full with 24 divers, but honestly they are so well laid out and they divide dive groups into 6-8, so we usually never notice the number of folks. This isn't the case for their afternoon charters where they do Discover Scuba dives....the boat feels super full with all those excited and inexperienced divers.

 

[BettyRubble]

Awesome info! Thank you everyone! I look forward to digging into these more when I get back from Texas. Thanks again!

 

[RobynJ]

DiveMaven - when are you going back to Maui. We dive with Ed too - they are all wonderful and have become good friends. Will be back diving with them September 26-October 3 - can't wait. I'm in Vancouver too.

 

[DiveMaven]

Hey Robyn, small world, eh? We've been going to Maui for Christmas and New Years every year for the past 4 years, and really enjoy getting away from home during the craziness. Last year it took us 2 days to get out because of the snow and ice, but we made it and enjoyed being away from the maddness we left at home.

One thing we love about diving with ERDA is that it feels like we're diving with local friends instead of "guides", making for relaxing and enjoyable charters. With the economy so poor, we're hoping very much that Ed has managed to keep all of his wonderful crew members.

 

[wake4rick]

Hi

I am in Maui as I write this. I am staying in Lahania, but I travelled to Kihei to dive with Ed Robinson's 3 tank adventure dive. The least experienced diver on our charter had 250 dives. The first two dive were at Molokini and one must be comfortable with drift diving for both dives. The third dive was at a tank and landing craft from WWII. At the landing craft a Manta visited us. LaHania is about a hours drive to Kihei. I would select my charter based on travel time as well. Coming back the winds picked up and it was a bouncy wet ride back to the boat ramp.

Rick