Never have been scuba diving, but Maui, here I come

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eganders@yahoo.com - 14 Mar 2006 00:35 GMT

We are going to be staying at Kaanapali Beach Hotel on Maui the first
of May. I have never taken a scuba lesson. Some questions:

* My son went about 3 yrs ago and took lessons at the Embassy Suites
hotel there. He said that it was easy to go through their lessons and
try it out. Is that the best way, or should I look to try something
here in Michigan before I go?

* Any suggestions as to what suba group/company to use?

* Any suggestions as to how to prepare? Is there any reason to
prepare?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Dillon Pyron - 14 Mar 2006 05:23 GMT

>We are going to be staying at Kaanapali Beach Hotel on Maui the first
>of May. I have never taken a scuba lesson. Some questions:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.

Did he take what's called a resort course (2-3 hours and a short,
shallow dive) or did he do the full blown certification? The full
class will blow anywhere from 4 to 5 days of your vacation. Better to
do it at home and do some vacation diving in Maui.

I can't recommend any operators because, frankly, I don't know of
anyone who caters to beginners (no slam on you, just the truth).

I would recommend owning, at a bare minimum, your own mask and
snorkle. If you take the course at home and plan to do more than a
day or so of diving, see about renting the gear you are familiar with.

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Alan Street - 14 Mar 2006 07:29 GMT

> >We are going to be staying at Kaanapali Beach Hotel on Maui the first
> >of May. I have never taken a scuba lesson. Some questions:
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Did he take what's called a resort course (2-3 hours and a short,
> shallow dive) or did he do the full blown certification?

If he did it through the hotel, it's almost certainly a resort course.

The full

> class will blow anywhere from 4 to 5 days of your vacation. Better to
> do it at home and do some vacation diving in Maui.
>
> I can't recommend any operators because, frankly, I don't know of
> anyone who caters to beginners (no slam on you, just the truth).

I'll second this. The only operators I know in Maui who are worth
diving with don't take beginners.

> I would recommend owning, at a bare minimum, your own mask and
> snorkle.

I'd add fins. Not that you can't rent them, but snorkeling is good fun
too, and it's hard to do in bare feet :-)

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eganders@yahoo.com - 14 Mar 2006 12:39 GMT

Your answers are why I thought I would ask. Some of this equipment
could take quite a bit of luggage space. Would I be better off buying
it in Michigan than in Maui?

I might also check around for dive shops near Ann Arbor where I live.
I know there was one in Rochester, Michigan where I used to live.
Often thought it would be interesting to go there, but Michigan is not
the most exciting place for diving (at least I don't think so...).

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Greg Mossman - 14 Mar 2006 17:48 GMT

> Your answers are why I thought I would ask. Some of this equipment
> could take quite a bit of luggage space. Would I be better off buying
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Often thought it would be interesting to go there, but Michigan is not
> the most exciting place for diving (at least I don't think so...).

I knew someone once who worked for Huron Scuba, if that counts as a
recommendation.

A popular compromise is to take the classes and pool sessions with a local
shop, then do the certification dives with a Maui shop.

Dive gear does take up quite a bit of luggage space. I'm getting ready for
packing for next week's trip: two bags for dive gear, one bag for
underwater video gear, and a duffel for some clothes in case we decide to
wear any. But you don't need to worry about that now. Buy a mask and
snorkel and boots/fins when you take your local class - certainly you can
squeeze that within the 100 lbs of luggage allotment per person - and rent
the rest until you know enough.

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Steve - 14 Mar 2006 18:21 GMT

> Your answers are why I thought I would ask. Some of this equipment
> could take quite a bit of luggage space. Would I be better off buying
> it in Michigan than in Maui?

Almost definitely. Ann Arbor is big enough that competition may help keep prices
reasonable, or at least give you some choices. I'm sure there are plenty of shops in
Hawaii, but tourist destinations usually aren't the cheapest places to buy things,
especially on islands where everything has to be shipped in. Unless you expect to
abandon your new gear in Hawaii it needs to fit in your luggage on the way home, so
it shouldn't be a hardship to put it in your luggage for the trip there.

> Often thought it would be interesting to go there, but Michigan is not
> the most exciting place for diving (at least I don't think so...).

Plenty of people think Michigan is a perfectly fine place to dive, but that's mostly
based on the Great Lakes, which are a bit of a trip fromthe Ann Arbor area. Assuming
you enjoy it in Hawaii you can decide if you want to limit yourself to only diving
when you go someplace tropical or if you'd like to dive more often.

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mag3 - 14 Mar 2006 22:38 GMT

>I can't recommend any operators because, frankly, I don't know of
>anyone who caters to beginners (no slam on you, just the truth).

Dillon - Hope your wife is doing well. Just out of curiosity, at what point
would these dive shops consider one "no longer a beginner?" (eg. # of
logged dives, cert level etc.).

____________________________________________
Regards,

Arnold

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Dillon Pyron - 16 Mar 2006 02:43 GMT

>>I can't recommend any operators because, frankly, I don't know of
>>anyone who caters to beginners (no slam on you, just the truth).
>
>Dillon - Hope your wife is doing well. Just out of curiosity, at what point
>would these dive shops consider one "no longer a beginner?" (eg. # of
>logged dives, cert level etc.).

She's a little run down right now. Her third chemo was Thursday. She
worked from home Friday but didn't really have any problems. The
weekend went well (we even went to Nordstrom's for some retail
therapy). Monday came and she was kind of out of it, so worked from
home again. Tuesday was worse. Today seemed better in the morning,
but after a quick Dr's visit she said "take me home" and has spent
most of the day lazing around and doing some work. Hopefully tomorrow
will be better or she's going in for blood work and probably a shot of
neupocrit or something.

I don't think it's so much the number of dives as the quality. 100
quarry dives does make you a fairly well accomplished diver, but says
nothing for your ability to dive a 100' wall. Most of the operators
just take you on your word, but usually will request that you at least
have an AOW or equivalent. Although somebody with a zillion dives
under their belt doesn't really need one because they've probably done
at least a little of everything. Some questions to ask yourself are:
how good is my bouyancy control, how's my air consumption and how
comfortable am I with my skills?

Oh yeah, THE TUMOR IS DEFINITELY SHRINKING!

>____________________________________________
>Regards,
>
>Arnold

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Could have been is in the past
Could be is in the future
There is only the now

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