Maui in February

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Doctorfish

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My wife and I are experienced divers with over 1000 dives each. We have to go to Maui in February for a wedding and wanted to do a week of diving while there. We are interested in operaters who do not run cattle boat operations, cater to more experienced divers and who head out to the best dive sites on the west. The wedding is on the west side so we were thinking of staying in Kawai.

Who would you go out diving with?
 
My wife and I have always been pleased with Lahaina Divers. Sometimes the boats have quite a few divers, but they are likely to give experienced divers like yourself a "long leash." We have hundreds of dives on Maui and off Lanai. There is also lots of excellent shore diving on Maui. From our experience, best off shore boat dive sites on Maui are: Southwest area: Molikini Crater, Five Caves (aka Five graves). On the West end, Olawalu, the Carthaginian( intentionally sunk masted whaling ship), and the Hyatt Reef. Lahaina Divers go across to Lanai, a must go excursion, as all sites there are terrific, especially 1st cathedrals. Shore diving on the west end is fun and easy at Black Rock, good at other locations including old airport. In the south west, Ulua Bay and 5 caves are both good. If you stop in one of the many MauiDive Shop stores (they do run cattle boats) they have a terrific maui shore diving guide, with locations and rudimentary site maps. Water will be in the 75 to 78 degree range, so wear appropriate exposure gear. A full 3 mil is usually adequate. Have a great trip!
DivemasterDennis
 
My wife and I are experienced divers with over 1000 dives each. We have to go to Maui in February for a wedding and wanted to do a week of diving while there. We are interested in operaters who do not run cattle boat operations, cater to more experienced divers and who head out to the best dive sites on the west. The wedding is on the west side so we were thinking of staying in Kawai.

Who would you go out diving with?

I've only stayed on South maui. Mike severns, Ed robinson's, Pro diver, or B&B, are all very good taking max 12 divers. The 3 tank adventure with Ed robinson's on Tuesday's and Fridays tends to attract a more experienced group. They only take max 10 on that charter. The only issue staying on the West side is leaving around 5:15 to get to Kehei where they launch from. I tried to get out with Extended horizons this past month but it was the owners birthday when I wanted to go and they were not operating that weekend. Ended up going with Lahaina divers to Lanai. Diving was great there we were treated to about 75 dolphins underwater near the end of the first dive. Nice topography on Lanai. Not much to say about the DM. Pretty much were on our own for both dives which was fine for us we found our own critters etc.
 
Today is my last day in Maui, we did a bunch of shore dives. 5 caves was great, dove it with Shaka Doug, did Old Airport and Napili Bay to name a few. One that is not listed on any map is Mara Boat ramp, ask about it at Maui Diving as they are just down the street from it. We missed that one but will be sure to catch it next year!
 
Linedog's comment should have read "Mala Boat Ramp"

Good diving with you and your son!! Thanks for the shout out and the photo. I got a few good ones too. Watch your email...
 
After getting home and reflecting on all my dives, 5 caves with Doug was with out a doubt the highlight of our trip. Doug really knows is stuff, and can see things I would have swam right over. I still don't know how he saw the octo in the coral. I would rethink boat dives and plan on a few shore dives, call Doug he is a wealth of information. Sorry bout the misspell, Mala boat ramp, lots of parking and looks to be a killer dive site.

P.S. It was great to finally meet you Doug.
 
Personally, although we dive with Lahaina Divers to Lanai, I would never recommend them to very experienced divers looking to avoid a cattle boat. Although I don't consider them a cattle boat, many do because of the fact they can carry 24 divers, and sometimes do. IMO Lahaina Divers is an excellent choice for the beginning or occasional diver, or anyone who wants a big comfortable boat for the often rough crossing to/from Lanai (which is why we go with them).

If you want to be "guaranteed" to be on a boat with advanced divers, the only operator that I know of who specifically runs charters that cater to the advanced diver is Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures. They have a 3-tank charter on Tuesdays and Fridays, and an Adventure charter on Sundays and Wednesdays. Wednesdays is when Ed will be on the boat if he's on island.

What makes these charters "advanced" is usually the depth and conditions. Most (if not all) of the dives will be live boat dives, so those not comfortable or experienced in doing mid-water safety stops and boarding a boat in rough conditions, shouldn't consider these dives. They also expect the divers to be more independent, and although the dives are led by a DM, the DM is pretty much just there to navigate the site and point out creatures....definitely NOT to babysit.

All that said, Makena Coast Charters, Mike Severns, and B&B are all excellent choices as well for charters leaving out of Kihei.

Additionally, before we bought a condo in Kihei, we used to drive down to Kihei from Kaanapali (West Maui) to catch our boat. It's about a 45 minute drive and for us it was worth every minute of the trip. The boat ride out to Molokini is short from the Kihei boat ramp, and South Maui sites have never disappointed.

One amazing thing nobody has mentioned is that February is the uber-high time for Whales in Hawaii! So you'll not only be treated to whale watching on the surface, but you're pretty much guaranteed to hear whale song during your dives. If you're very lucky, you may ever see one underwater!!

I will also add (to this long post) that if you don't want to get up early to catch a 6:30am boat, Shaka Doug is the way to go for shore diving. I believe he doesn't start until 9:00am, and I have yet to hear anything negative about him. We haven't had the pleasure of diving with him yet, but I'm thinking next summer... :wink:
 
Yeah, one of the slogans I was working on for my services was "Sleep In With Shaka Divers!".

(My girl says there's some kind of potential double meaning there but....hey, it's only a sentence. So far she has Vetoed it!)

Like Dive Maven said, I start at 9 am. I figure bankers and lawyers start at 9, why shouldn't I?
 
I wanted to add that if you're not an experienced Hawaii diver that IMO a good guide is a must. There are so many creatures in Hawaii that aren't anywhere else in the world, and the topography is so different, that without a guide often divers see little to nothing....then complain about how bad the diving is.

If you're interested in checking out what you might see diving Maui, check out my husband's photos on our webpage: http://divetraveladventures.shutterfly.com/maui

Keep in mind if you view the photos that many of the nudibranchs you're seeing are less than an inch in length. :wink:
 
Thanks everyone.

Looks like Ed Robinsons will be the best fit for us.
 
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