Molokini wall ???

[jon m]

So, I have 60 dives, the wife has 40. We have drift (mexico), night Mexico, hawaii), cavern (mexico cenote), wall ( real wall, no bottom in Hoduras) and cold water(Monterey) experience. We are both Padi OW ...(no advanced) , and our bouyancy is good, although the wife tends to be verticle when on a wall.Do we have any chance of diving the backside of Molikini(SP?)??
Any dive ops that will do this? We will be in Maui Sep12-19th…

Thanks!!!

 

[diversteve]

My buddy did it at around 60+ dives...

I think it was a live drop/pickup but I'm guessing you know how to do that from drift diving.

Check with Ed Robinson's out of Kihei. Or B&B Scuba.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

There are plenty of operators that will take divers with even less experience than you to the backside of Molokini.

After years of diving Molokini, guiding Maui divers, listening to other Maui guides and hearing feedback from visitors who dove Molokini I am of the opinion the Backside of Molokini ranks as the 5th, 6th & 7th best dives at Molokini (depending on where you drop and which way the current is).

It is a fact that Molokini's Backside is one of the top wall dives in the USA. It is also fact that the USA has mostly lame wall diving. I have not been lucky enough on my Ni'ihau attempts yet, but I would say that trip (off Kauai) may be the only great wall diving in Hawaii.

Reef's End, Reef's End Drift, Enenui and Enenui drift (Shark Ledges if done deep) are all better dives with better chances of seeing cool animals in many experienced divers opinions. With your experience level, Shark Ledges is the only one where you would be in slightly over your head.

 

[DiveMaven]

The part of Molokini that really requires experience is often simply getting off and on the boat. Molokini is a live boat dive with sometimes rougher water, so if you're comfortable getting in and out of a rolling boat and doing a safety stop mid-water (sometimes without a visual reference), you'll do fine. You said you already have good bouyancy control, which is definitely a plus.

That said, the wall itself can create strange water conditions, with down and upwellings that can move you 20' or more in no time. In the 20 or so backwall dives I've done, I've only been hit by an upwelling once that moved me over 20' up in seconds (my computer went crazy). I had no problem getting out of it, but watched someone near me nearly get pushed to the surface while totally out of control.

IMO Molokini is vastly over-rated and probably one of my least favorite locations on Maui to dive. I agree with Halemano, I much prefer Enenui, Reef's End, and either as a drift.

 

[StuartT]

So, I have 60 dives, the wife has 40. We have drift (mexico), night Mexico, hawaii), cavern (mexico cenote), wall ( real wall, no bottom in Hoduras) and cold water(Monterey) experience. We are both Padi OW ...(no advanced) , and our bouyancy is good, although the wife tends to be verticle when on a wall.Do we have any chance of diving the backside of Molikini(SP?)??
Any dive ops that will do this? We will be in Maui Sep12-19th…

Thanks!!!

If you go on the 3 tank adventure with ed robinson's you will probably do the backwall (weather permitting ). They ask all the divers what they want to do and see. We actually did it on 2 of the three dives when I went with them in Jan. Only because after the second dive in south Maui the trade winds hadn't picked up so we went back to molokini. They only take divers with 25+dives that have dove recently on that charter. I don't think they will limit you to 60 feet (ow depth limit ) but you'd have to check with them. Even if they do you still would get a great view of the topogaphy. As long as you are comfortable with safety stop with no line in mid water it's a pretty easy dive.

 

[StuartT]

The part of Molokini that really requires experience is often simply getting off and on the boat. Molokini is a live boat dive with sometimes rougher water, so if you're comfortable getting in and out of a rolling boat and doing a safety stop mid-water (sometimes without a visual reference), you'll do fine. You said you already have good bouyancy control, which is definitely a plus.

That said, the wall itself can create strange water conditions, with down and upwellings that can move you 20' or more in no time. In the 20 or so backwall dives I've done, I've only been hit by an upwelling once that moved me over 20' up in seconds (my computer went crazy). I had no problem getting out of it, but watched someone near me nearly get pushed to the surface while totally out of control.

IMO Molokini is vastly over-rated and probably one of my least favorite locations on Maui to dive. I agree with Halemano, I much prefer Enenui, Reef's End, and either as a drift.

I'd have to agree. The backside is not as good as other sites at molokini plus there is tons of great shore diving. But we are kind of spoiled here being close to port hardy,campbell river,howe sound etc. where the walls can be spectacular. I was actually a little bit bored on the backside.

 

[scubadada]

Entirely agree with previous posts. Molokini back wall is not a particularly great dive nor is it particularly challenging. Your experience and skill should be more than sufficient for this activity.

There are many very good and/or challenging wall dives within striking distance of the US in the caribbean such as Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Turks & Caicos, Cozumel (you may have done this), even Bonaire. I would try to set my sites on one or more of these destinations afer your visit to Maui.

Best of luck on your Maui visit, much fun diving there

Good diving, Craig

 

[Damselfish]

I enjoyed the backside of Molokini, but probably more because of the uniqueness of the dive over anything I saw. It was just fun flying around a volcano.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I call it thrillingly vertical, and during the winter the whale song back there can be astonishing!

 

[DiveMaven]

I call it thrillingly vertical, and during the winter the whale song back there can be astonishing!

Very true, sometimes the whales almost seem to be shouting!! Plus I do believe that the backwall is worth diving at least once, so the OP should definitely go for it and decide for himself how much he likes it. One pretty cool thing is that the viz is usually pretty amazing, giving you quite an incredible view of a huge portion of the wall at all times.

As far as being limited to 60', we've been diving Maui (at least annually) for over 5 years and have never heard a dive operation limit the depth of an adult diver. However, when we had a junior diver on one of our charters, Ed Robinson's put depth limits on the father and son. Usually the DMs discuss the dive profiles and expect you to decide what you're comfortable with. Many times I've chosen to stay above 60' rather than drop down to 100', letting the DM know of my plan. Don't be afraid to do the same if you want.