Maui dive operator recommendations

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Chris Bergquist - 24 Jan 2007 18:55 GMT

Any recommendations on dive operators in Maui. I will be staying in the
Maalaea area near the Maalaea Boat Harbor.

Also, what dive destinations do you recommend. I would dive everyday we
are there (8 days) but the "others" will only want to go out three days
max.

All suggestions welcome.

Chris

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Greg Mossman - 24 Jan 2007 22:40 GMT

On Jan 24, 10:55 am, Chris Bergquist <chrisb1erg*NOSP...@pacbell.net>
wrote:

> Any recommendations on dive operators in Maui. I will be staying in the
> Maalaea area near the Maalaea Boat Harbor.
>
> Also, what dive destinations do you recommend. I would dive everyday we
> are there (8 days) but the "others" will only want to go out three days
> max.

You're just a few minutes north of Kihei, where several good dive ops
launch their boats. I've used Ed Robinson's three times in the past
now, though I wasn't as impressed on our last visit since Amy, my
previous DM, has left them. It's still a great dive op, but the first
DM we had swam a bit fast for my taste. The second guy (on our last
day of three) was great. They offer extensive marine life briefings,
great service, and allow competent divers to dive their own profiles (I
hit 145' on the back wall with no complaints from the DM since he was a
bit deeper), plus Kona coffee, a cooler full of assorted drinks, and
big muffins (plus sandwiches on the 3-tank trips), and even towels.
Basically everything you can think of that a dive boat could offer,
albeit at a steep price.

The other two dive ops with great reputations are Mike Severns and B&B,
but I haven't tried either since I've always been happy with Ed.

You might get sticker shock when you see what the dive ops charge,
about twice the going rate in the Caribbean, so you may want to look
into shore diving as well. Shore sites vary depending on the time of
year (swells come in from the north during the winter, vice versa in
summer) and you have to lug a flag and won't get very deep, but it's a
lot cheaper. The dive ops do offer multiple day discounts, which helps
a bit.

The premier destination is the backside of Molokini crater which, at
one point, is a perfectly vertical wall dropping down to beyond the
limits of the incredible visibility. I really like 85' pinnacle as
well, having seen a frogfish and a leaf scorpionfish on my last dive
there, along with some other nifty stuff. Both these dives are short,
unfortunately, due to the profiles. You get longer dives closer to
shore, but those sites have reduced viz. On the other hand, the
in-shore dives offer turtles galore, often napping so you can get real
close.

The dive ops' websites are easy to find. You'll also want to pop by a
Maui Dive Shop when you get there to pick up their free shore diving
booklet - it has maps and info on all the sites and did I say it's
free?. www.shorediving.com also covers the shore diving there, but
it's harder to take that with you.

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Chris Bergquist - 26 Jan 2007 22:07 GMT

> On Jan 24, 10:55 am, Chris Bergquist <chrisb1erg*NOSP...@pacbell.net>
> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
> free?. www.shorediving.com also covers the shore diving there, but
> it's harder to take that with you.

Thanks Greg. I called Ed Robinson's and got booked on the 2 tank Molokini
trip, the 2 tank Lanai trip and the 3 tank Molokini trip. They said the first
dive will be to 130 ft....not sure why.... followed by two shallow dives. I
assume this is the deep dive you wrote about. Very nice people on the other
end, boats look good, only down side is they are "around" the other side of
Kihei Bay, about 11 miles by car. 6:30 AM departure....ouch!!!

Again, thanks for the suggestions. I'll let you know how it went when I
return.

Chris

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Greg Mossman - 27 Jan 2007 01:02 GMT

On Jan 26, 2:07 pm, Chris Bergquist <chrisb1erg*NOSP...@pacbell.net>
wrote:

> Thanks Greg. I called Ed Robinson's and got booked on the 2 tank Molokini
> trip, the 2 tank Lanai trip and the 3 tank Molokini trip. They said the first
> dive will be to 130 ft....not sure why.... followed by two shallow dives. I
> assume this is the deep dive you wrote about. Very nice people on the other
> end, boats look good, only down side is they are "around" the other side of
> Kihei Bay, about 11 miles by car. 6:30 AM departure....ouch!!!

Yeah, Hawaiian dive times are a bitch. I usually stay up in
Ka'anapali, a 45-minute drive in the morning. The secret is that it's
earlier in Hawaii than the mainland, so it doesn't feel too terrible
(or at least that's what I always tell myself when the alarm goes off
at 4:30). We usually end up eating dinner real early, which happens to
coincide with sunset. Ed's puts out a morning snack in the parking
lot, which was mini-bagels and cream cheese our last visit, along with
coffee and juice, very welcome that early since our last hotel room
didn't have a coffee maker, the hotel coffee bar didn't open until 6
a.m., and we were on the road at 5:45! Oh, yeah, and along with the
between-dive muffins, they also serve fresh ripe Maui pineapple to die
for.

But it's hardly just Ed's. Mike Severns and B&B meet in the same
parking lot even earlier. By the time Ed's boat makes it out to
Molokini, the other boats' divers are already underwater. Trade winds
pick up early, causing wind swells that can often get pretty bad after
noon. Plus, the snorkel and dive cattle boats head in later, so the
primo small dive boats get first dibs on the choice moorings.

And you're done so early that you're ready to join non-diving friends
with their activities by the time they finally get out of bed. Even
the 3-tank trip is over around 1 p.m. The 2-tank trips have you back
while it's still morning, the entire day still ahead of you.

130' is Ed's arbitrary limit on the back wall that they don't really
enforce. You also don't have to go that deep to see anything more
exciting, except when you look back up toward the surface through the
gin-clear water - obviously that's more dramatic the deeper you go.
Twice now I've done 85' pinnacle on the second dive of a three-tanker,
which is hardly shallow, but bottom times are definitely limited if
you're not diving nitrox (and their nitrox is a steep $15/tank on top
of the already steep prices). Otherwise the in-shore dives are around
30-40' max, but far more interesting than the shallow stuff I've dove
in the Keys, with lava tubes making interesting caverns and swim
throughs, and abundant eels and turtles.

Have fun. Say hi to Byrd from Greg & Janna if he's driving your boat.
We were just there in December so he might even remember us. If not,
he'll pretend.

Enjoy.

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