Maui advice needed ~10 days with Baby and non diving Grandma

[diverjen]

Hi Guys,

Looking for dive ops/ schedule suggestions for Maui with an almost two year old a non diving mother in law. She likes seafood, scenery, shopping, and hiking, also she would love to see breaching whales. Hoping to be on Maui 7-10 days thinking March 2018. We have slightly over 120 dives in Bonaire, VI, and Philippines. AOW and Nitrox . Hoping to do morning dives, shore ( prefer easy entry with a wonky knee) and boat most days, with maybe one 3 tank thrown in and leave afternoons and evenings for family time, maybe 1-2 mornings for Whale watching tour or something else you can recommend. Can we stay one place on maui the whole time or better to move - which areas? Whale potential? Which dive sites are ok for our skill level? TIA. Also If you have other locale recommendations with small children for diving, love to hear it. We are currently on Bonaire with diving grandparents and it's working out great swapping out babysitting and diving.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Plenty of shore diving, with dozen of easily (mostly) accessible dive sites.

Ed Robinson runs a fantastic operation.Takes care of inexperienced divers, leaves experienced divers alone.

If you aren't locked into a time share or anything, staying around the Kihei area would be best. It is near the dive boats and lots of shore diving. The other option is Lahaina which is 45 min further north. It has a few dive sites (mala pier, must do) and 2-3 dive operators that dive Lanai. The boats that operate out of Lahaina don't go to the same dive sites as those out of Kihei.

 

[diversteve]

I agree with ^. We rented condos on the beach in Wailea and you probably could see whales breach there in season - Molokini is pretty easily visible (island between the palm trees in 2nd header picture) Maui Wailea Ekahi Village BeachFront Resort

All the dive operations in the area leave from the Kihei Boat Ramp in North Kihei. Besides Robinson's look at Mike Severn's Diving or B&B Scuba. They leave at 6am so you're back to family by noon. Robinson's also does a 3-tank Adventure Dive some days.

Just about every beach in Wailea is also a shore dive. There's a Maui Dive Shop in Kihei, Maui Dreams Dive Co or B&B for tank rentals. All rent flags which are required - and checked for.
Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands - I like Wailea Beach to the south esp.

There's a lot of whale watch options including one large powered cat based a few mins north in Ma'alea - Pacific Whalewatch Ma’alaea has shrouded props which I feel is good. Pride of Maui also does those trips during the season - I was on it once. I also like the idea of Trilogy sailing charters since they're much quieter.

Do take Mom to Mama's Fish House near Paia on the NE shore. Mama's Fish House Restaurant | North Shore Maui Hawaii
Roy's is also worth it but pricey - Roys Hawaii | Roys Kaanapali - almost an hour drive up from Kihei with traffic.

I could also make the same case for some areas of West Maui but I'm not a fan of Kaanapali/Kahana where most of the mega-resorts are. Some so tall they shade the beach. Napili is nice but a little removed from everything - just past it is Kapalua which is nicer and pricier. Kapalua Beach is one of the nicest on Maui and it's also a shallow dive site. Really most beaches on Maui are - especially around the points where you'll often find lava structures to explore.

All the dive operations are based in Lahaina which is nice to visit but I wouldn't stay there - very touristy and crowded most days. Nice to walk the shops/galleries and have dinner though.

Lahaina Divers has two big dive boats, Extended Horizon's one smaller boat and Hawaiian Rafting a big zodiac. Mostly they dive Lanai - either the Cathedrals or West Lanai drifts. Lahaina also goes to Molokai for Hammerheads in season - long ride, rough crossing.

I don't hike but for shoping there's the Lahaina Cannery Mall, Whaler's Village in Kaanapali or the Shops at Wailea among others. Maui Ocean Center in Ma'alea is worth a couple hours also - likely the only place on Maui you'll see a Tiger Shark.

 

[diverjen]

Thank you guys for all of the advice! Very helpful! How many dive days would you recommend in Kihei and how many days for Lanai sites? Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

Given your desire to do other things afternoons, I'd plan more shore dive days in South Maui and drive up once or twice to dive Mala Pier,Black Rock and whatever else interests you. Bring a change of clothes and be tourists in Lahaina or Ka'anapali that afternoon. Except for Mala (maybe there also) all the other beach sites have showers.

Boat dive one of the Cathedrals at Lanai, Shark Fin, Fish Rock and another west site to see the best of that. The Lahaina boats leave about an hour later than the Kihei boats typically. If anyone is a golfer, the Kapalua courses are legendary - esp. Kapalua Bay.

South Maui has a lot more convenient shore dive options - Polo, Ulua, Wailea beaches - nice beaches for the kid to play on also while you dive. Plus there's Makena Landing, 5 Caves not too farther south. And you can get as far south as La Perouse (nature preserve) in a regular car afaik.

Inside the crater at Molokini is good, shallower boat diving. Near the south(west?) point is good deeper diving - IDK dives at the other point. The Backwall tends to be deeper (300') blue water diving often with sharks. Friends have told me that hearing whalesong bounce off the wall there is pretty special - I've never been there in at the right time.. It's often live-drop drift diving due to conditions which can be more fun.

Here's a decent resource for Maui diving - Maui Scuba Diving Locations | Molokini Crater, Lanai, Molokai

 

[EricTheDood]

March is the tail end of whale season. You'll see more stuff in February, or at least early March.

We stay in Lahaina, usually in town but have stayed at the Sheraton in the past. We do boat dives with Lahaina Divers (Molokini Backwall, Lanai, and Molokai), shore dives at Mala Pier in Lahaina and Black Rock in Kaanapali. IMO, Kaanapali is a much nicer beach than Wailea and anything in Kihei.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Thank you guys for all of the advice! Very helpful! How many dive days would you recommend in Kihei and how many days for Lanai sites? Thanks!

You can always find a reason to dive XYZ more, but there are dozens of similar, but different dive sites scattered around the island. As a general outline:

Lanai (Lahaina area): 2-3 boat trips. Need to do at least 2 in order to see both Cathedral dive sites. The standard practice for 2 tank Lanai dive charters is for an operator to do 1 Cathedral Dive Site + 1 other Lanai dive site. I would recommend Extended Horizons-larger tanks, less of a cattle boat

Kihei Boat Area: 2-3 boat trips. Molokini needs to be done at least twice--back wall and reef head, there are also some other nice reef set ups

Shore Dives: As many as you can handle--There is enough shore dive sites to fill up an entire dive vacation.