Don't-miss shore dives on Maui?

[scottsax]

Heading to Maui on Sunday, for some much-needed R&R, which will obviously include some diving, probably 3 days or so. So, what are the can't-miss shore dives? I'm staying in Kaanapali, will have a car, and don't mind driving to dive. Where should I go? Where should I get tanks?

I can just buy a book at a dive shop when I get there, too. I'm not afraid of a little exploration...

[mancub]

Mala wharf or the old lahaina pier is sweet. Long shallow dive with swim throughs, turtles, and reef sharks. Careful getting in the water. Either tread lightly or watch for boats at the launch.

Five caves five graves is cool. With more turtles and sharks. Uh and more that I can't remember the names of. I'll take a peek at my marked up map after work.

I snorkeled black rock. That was probably enough at that site. At the north end of the island are a few bays which I never made it to but I hear have some good diving.

There are lots of good shore dives. You shouldn't have to drive very far.

And make sure you go to Alexanders for some fish.
Jacob

-edit- when shorediving I used Maui dreams for tanks and air. Pretty solid friendly shop. They do an Apollo scooter (no x...) dive from shore to the st Anthony which my buddy enjoyed.
For boat diving I'd recommend either severns or lahaina divers. Backwall of molokini if you are only doing one boat dive. Then add on others as time and money allow.

[Sockmonkey]

Hopefully Peter/Lynne and Greg (jabberjaw) will chime in on this thread. They're both veterans of the Maui scene.

I have no idea how comprehensive this list is but ShoreDiving.com has a Maui page. The Big Island one is pretty lame for sure, but since more people go to Maui it could actually include good places to dive.

I would also do some searching in the Hawai'i forum on Scubabored. The question has been asked a million times, it's just a matter of wading through SB's asstacular search engine.

If you want to pay for a guided tour of the shore diving spots please check out Shaka Doug and support your local small time dive ops. He might even be willing to help with advice.

Oh and you're a clown... if you had come to the Big Island you would have had a personal guide (I heart scuba guilt). Of course then you'd have big ole me crashing your romantic vacation... like I've done to a few others already.

Also please time your scuba diving with watching sunrise from Haleakala. Most people do it the first day because you have to wake up at 0300 to get up the mountain in time. Jet lag helps.

Don't forget your fanny pack, big white sneakers, aloha shirt, and black dress socks for the real Maui experience.

-Eric

[scottsax]

Words....

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out...

Shaka-something or other

Cool. I love supporting small local businesses!

Oh and you're a clown... if you had come to the Big Island you would have had a personal guide (I heart scuba guilt). Of course then you'd have big ole me crashing your romantic vacation... like I've done to a few others already.

This is more of a family vacation (my dad, his wife, and my stepsister are going) so you're welcome to come to Maui and be my BP/W-diving, long hose s-drill practicing dive buddy, if you like. I'm sure there's a pullout in the living room of our condo....

Also please time your scuba diving with watching sunrise from Haleakala. Most people do it the first day because you have to wake up at 0300 to get up the mountain in time. Jet lag helps.

I hope you're kidding.... Actually, the Haleakala sunrise morning is going to be followed by horsies and ziplines...

Don't forget your fanny pack, big white sneakers, aloha shirt, and black dress socks for the real Maui experience.

How did you know my dad's vacation clothing package?

[Diver Doug]

Don't forget Prodiver Maui and B&B scuba if you end up Kihei way. Prodiver is always the first in Molokini in tyhe morning. They run only a six pack, sometimes with only four divers. They pride themselves with being dive valets. Divemaster Matt is orriginally from Puget Sound area. For dives, five caves is good, and even though Molokini is becoming short of life ( I think ), it is still an experiance diving the back wall. Floating along at 80 fsw and being able to see the bottom at 250 fsw COOOOOL.
Doug

[LCF]

I second the recommendation for the Mala Pier dive -- lots of really cool life there. Another good dive is Polo Beach, down by Wailea. Dive the north end of the beach -- there are long fingers of coral-covered rock, and some of the healthier coral I've seen there. Watch for the outrigger canoe that the hotel runs on and off the beach, when you are in the shallows.

Ulua Beach is another very nice, simple dive -- swim out along the visible coral point, and when you reach the end, swim 240 degrees to the second reef. It's a wonderful night dive, too.

Diving in Maui isn't what it was even four years ago, but it's still warm, clear water, and you can still run into some cool stuff.

[mancub]

Okay

I found one of my maps that I wrote on a few years back. My other (Franko's) has gone missing. Up north by you, Honolua bay is a good spot for a day or even better night dive. The right side (east)is best, and it is an easy dive with turtles, octos, cucumbers, and lots of fish in the coral at night. An easier dive yet is to the west at Mokuleia bay...which has lots of white sand...maybe skip for Mala Pier.
Skip Napili bay, it is filled with sunbathers and snorkelers. Don't forget to look for lizard fish at the Mala Pier!

The fish joint I was talking about, Alexander's, is south of Kihei. One way to dive Five caves is to start at Makena Landing and go to your right around and end up at the Five caves/graves entrance. Otherwise, I just hopped in the water behind the little cementary place and came back to my entrance.

If you want to be daring and find yourself all the way south. La Perouse (Ahihi Bay) could be a treat (?). The road ends and there is a warning sign, along with a rugged entry, but I'm told crown of thorn seastars are to be found and that it is not a bad divesite.

Also, for topside activites, driving along 36 between mile marker 16 and 17 fresh water pools can be found. With some rocks to jump off. Should be a fruit stand along the way.

Hope you have a sweet trip!

Jacob

[scottsax]

This is great information everyone-keep it coming!

My dive buddy is going to be my girlfriend, who is a brand-spanking-new NAUI Scuba Diver (and is nitrox certified, btw!) These dives will be her first OW dives, so I want to make sure they're easy, shallow dives with some cool stuff to see. I want her to love this sport as much as I do!

That said, I'm not going to subject her to my level of enthusiasm (4 dives a day, anyone?) And it's a family trip, as I said before, so there's going to be a fair amount of socializing and topside activities.

[Diver Doug]

That said, I'm not going to subject her to my level of enthusiasm (4 dives a day, anyone?) And it's a family trip, as I said before, so there's going to be a fair amount of socializing and topside activities.


The good thing about Prodiver, they are back in port by the time everybody else is finally getting out of the condo. It worked out great when I went, my wife doesn't dive.

[JimmyEis]

My favorite shore dive in Maui was the 5 graves/caves site from Makena Landing.

The dive is great, tons of turtles, swim throughs, caverns with white tip sharks, bubble cave, etc....

but what set it apart for me was the parking.

I think they have some rule where commercial operators can't go to Makena Landing. It was never crowded when we went.

You basically get to park right on the water, which is rare for Maui. Short little walk and your in the water.

Most relaxing enjoyable place to hang out and dive all day for me.

Link to our log. The first picture is from the tailgate of my car.
http://jimandtavin.blogspot.com/2009/06 ... -maui.html

Some pics and log of a another dive we did at Makena
http://jimandtavin.blogspot.com/2009/05 ... -maui.html

We used Maui Dreams http://www.mauidreamsdiveco.com for all our tanks and such.

They also have a dive boat now http://mauidiamond.com/

Everything was top notch from them. They were even at the PNW Dive show.

[scottsax]

My favorite shore dive in Maui was the 5 graves/caves site from Makena Landing.

Yeah, doing it from Makena Landing would've been much better, and if I'd had more reliable internet access that wasn't on my phone, I would've known to do it from there. No caves, since we went in by the graveyard, but we did see 3 turtles at a cleaning station, and another in the cove on our way back in.

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