Maui vs Key Largo

[fresh_fish]

Well, It looks like our lodging is less than ideal. It's smack in the middle of Kihei. Meaning the shore there sucks! We have a 2 mile walk just to get to Beach I. I hate having to rent a car for everything. If I wanted to drive everywhere, I'd stay home! Granted, rental call is a must, if you want to drive around the island to Hana, etc, but I wanted a days or so, not the whole week!

If you want to know what I'm referring to, look up seaweed and maui in your favorite search browser.

 

[caymaniac]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, hopfully the diving will help make up for it. We've stayed on the beach and it was really great but it does come with a price.

 

[adjuster-jd]

Maui is a great choice, especially staying in Kihei. There is a lot of great shore diving in that area so don't feel you have to do boat dives all the time. The boat diving on Maui is rather expensive compared to the FL Keys, but the shore diving is cheap.
I recommend Maui Dreams Dive Co for gear rentals. If you want a dive guide, Maui Dreams does a lot as does Shaka Doug here on Scubaboard Welcome to SHAKA DIVERS Web Site!

For cheap rental cars check out Kihei Rent A Car | Maui Car Rentals | Discount Rental Cars in Kihei, Maui Hawaii | 800-251-5288. They will pick you up at the airport at no charge but dont have all the airport surcharges on rental cars so you save a bunch.

Lots of discussion on Maui dive sites, etc in the Hawaii Ohana forum on SB.

Enjoy.

 

[Blazinator]

I can't agree more with Ken below (Hi Ken!), especially since I just spent two weeks in south Kihei, used all the operators Ken mentioned, and have done the Keys twice.

The first thing that popped to my mind between the two locations is that you cannot shore dive in the Keys, so the overall pricey-ness of Maui can be offset by doing mostly world class shore dives all along the Kihei coast. Two boat dives a day in the Keys is nearly $200.00 with tips, plus the time it takes, and you cannot sleep in in the morning (key word: Newlyweds!).

Kihei is a lee shore, protected by the Trade winds, so vis is great and surf is almost ALWAYS less than two feet (May-June - not sure about Oct). Many review say that PM dives are too surfy, but we dived all day. And Molokini is not ranked in the top dives of the world for nothing. Can you say 200 ft visibility?

Marine life in Maui vs Keys will definitely sway toward Maui. Routine sightings of white tip reef sharks (harmless), turtles constantly, several species of nudibranchs (saw my first slugs ever in Maui - really cool), Octopus, and the whole host of Hawaiin fish that you will not see in FL - too numerous too mention.

We stayed at Hale Hui Kai next door to the Mana Kai, RIGHT ON THE OCEAN, and could shore dive by simply walking onto the water from our condo. Having a true beachfront condo is well worth the money - $175.00 a night for four of us. I've heard of better places you describe for $99.00 per night, for two person studio, but I would try to upgrade out of your $250.00 per week deal so you don't have to drive to the beach. But then again, renting a car is cheap on Maui, which you will need to get to Makena Landing, Five Caves, Ahihi Cove, etc, etc.

Maui is a great choice, especially staying in Kihei. There is a lot of great shore diving in that area so don't feel you have to do boat dives all the time. The boat diving on Maui is rather expensive compared to the FL Keys, but the shore diving is cheap.
I recommend Maui Dreams Dive Co for gear rentals. If you want a dive guide, Maui Dreams does a lot as does Shaka Doug here on Scubaboard Welcome to SHAKA DIVERS Web Site!

For cheap rental cars check out Kihei Rent A Car | Maui Car Rentals | Discount Rental Cars in Kihei, Maui Hawaii | 800-251-5288. They will pick you up at the airport at no charge but dont have all the airport surcharges on rental cars so you save a bunch.

Lots of discussion on Maui dive sites, etc in the Hawaii Ohana forum on SB.

Enjoy.

 

[dashark]

I can't agree more with Ken below (Hi Ken!), especially since I just spent two weeks in south Kihei, used all the operators Ken mentioned, and have done the Keys twice.

The first thing that popped to my mind between the two locations is that you cannot shore dive in the Keys, so the overall pricey-ness of Maui can be offset by doing mostly world class shore dives all along the Kihei coast. Two boat dives a day in the Keys is nearly $200.00 with tips, plus the time it takes, and you cannot sleep in in the morning (key word: Newlyweds!).

Kihei is a lee shore, protected by the Trade winds, so vis is great and surf is almost ALWAYS less than two feet (May-June - not sure about Oct). Many review say that PM dives are too surfy, but we dived all day. And Molokini is not ranked in the top dives of the world for nothing. Can you say 200 ft visibility?

Marine life in Maui vs Keys will definitely sway toward Maui. Routine sightings of white tip reef sharks (harmless), turtles constantly, several species of nudibranchs (saw my first slugs ever in Maui - really cool), Octopus, and the whole host of Hawaiin fish that you will not see in FL - too numerous too mention.

We stayed at Hale Hui Kai next door to the Mana Kai, RIGHT ON THE OCEAN, and could shore dive by simply walking onto the water from our condo. Having a true beachfront condo is well worth the money - $175.00 a night for four of us. I've heard of better places you describe for $99.00 per night, for two person studio, but I would try to upgrade out of your $250.00 per week deal so you don't have to drive to the beach. But then again, renting a car is cheap on Maui, which you will need to get to Makena Landing, Five Caves, Ahihi Cove, etc, etc.

We are also staying at the Hale Kui Kai this October. How is the reef out front? I knew it was good for snorkelling (kids should dig it). I am glad to see that a shore dive out front is an option.

 

[Blazinator]

We are also staying at the Hale Kui Kai this October. How is the reef out front? I knew it was good for snorkelling (kids should dig it). I am glad to see that a shore dive out front is an option.

I was pleasantly surprised when I snorkeled it the first day there. Then we rented tanks from Maui Dreams Dive co and did a leisurely "get aquainted" dive out front.

That house reef is really just a smaller version (not real small either) of the great diving reefs all along the So Kihei coast - All the usual suspects - turtles, several eels (spotted, zebra, yellow margin etc), tons of red pencil urchins, spiny urchins, most of the different butterfly fish (raccoon, milletseed) goat fish, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, parrots, large unicorn surgeonfish, schools of jacks, and many others.
I love macro life and there was plenty there - saw my first nudibranchs there (REAL excited about that! - imperial, and scrambled egg) and even found a leaf scorpion fish - right on the first mini-wall - south edge of reef. Diverse coral formations. Depths from 12 to 25 feet.

Snorkelers will love the top of the reef - real close to see with great color and good vis (when we were there).

But don't be tempted to stay right there - drive to Ulua beach and Makena Landing and Five Caves. Ulua HAS to be planted right from Diver's heaven - great facilities, big canyons and sand channels, nudibranchs, fucsia flatworms, etc. The shark caves at five caves are sure bets for white tips - easy navigation - just follow the wall.

I hope you are staying on a ground level unit - we were glad we did for gear hauling and drying. Still not easy to hang stuff, and the groundskeeper, Sky, will not allow you to put anything on the grass - all chairs and gear has to be on the concrete patio.

Check out this great site with reviews on Maui: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands

There is nothing even remotely close to this kind of immediate shore access in the Keys (dive boat is a different story).

 

[fresh_fish]

OK, rent a car. Got it.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

OK, rent a car. Got it.

The big guys are expensive. Aloha and other smaller offsite car rentals are a lot less costly. The cars are not as new, but decent. They can leave the car in the airport lot to pickup, you drive yourself to their office to complete the paperwork and save enough for a boat dive or 2.

P.S. Don't tell them you a diver.

 

[Blazinator]

P.S. Don't tell them you a diver.

Good point. Every time we dove, and had to put gear in the trunk, the trunk stank, even though I brought a plastic tarp. Took a while to clean and air out the trunk at the end. I would rather have rented a jeep or a truck like we originally planned. When I tried to book with Maui Cruisers (one of the cheapest for good deals on beater jeeps), they said they were booked two months out, because Avis, the main name brand rental co at the airport had just closed their Maui division, but he gave us the name of Kihei car rental.

 

[dashark]

I was pleasantly surprised when I snorkeled it the first day there. Then we rented tanks from Maui Dreams Dive co and did a leisurely "get aquainted" dive out front.

That house reef is really just a smaller version (not real small either) of the great diving reefs all along the So Kihei coast - All the usual suspects - turtles, several eels (spotted, zebra, yellow margin etc), tons of red pencil urchins, spiny urchins, most of the different butterfly fish (raccoon, milletseed) goat fish, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, parrots, large unicorn surgeonfish, schools of jacks, and many others.
I love macro life and there was plenty there - saw my first nudibranchs there (REAL excited about that! - imperial, and scrambled egg) and even found a leaf scorpion fish - right on the first mini-wall - south edge of reef. Diverse coral formations. Depths from 12 to 25 feet.

Snorkelers will love the top of the reef - real close to see with great color and good vis (when we were there).

But don't be tempted to stay right there - drive to Ulua beach and Makena Landing and Five Caves. Ulua HAS to be planted right from Diver's heaven - great facilities, big canyons and sand channels, nudibranchs, fucsia flatworms, etc. The shark caves at five caves are sure bets for white tips - easy navigation - just follow the wall.

I hope you are staying on a ground level unit - we were glad we did for gear hauling and drying. Still not easy to hang stuff, and the groundskeeper, Sky, will not allow you to put anything on the grass - all chairs and gear has to be on the concrete patio.

Check out this great site with reviews on Maui: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Maui, Hawaiian Islands

There ithe suggested sites nothing even remotely close to this kind of immediate shore access in the Keys (dive boat is a different story).

We definately plan on shore diving all around. I will check out the sites you suggested. Already hip to the shore dive website.
And, thankfully, we did get a ground level unit....