mrsmad

We just got open water Certified and will be cruising to Hawaii next month on Carnival Splendor. We’ll be grateful for tips and recommendations for dive shops that can accommodate our port call schedule, particularly in Maui.

Next few cruises will be to the Caribbean from Galveston since a short drive from home.

Does anyone have news to report? We’re sailing on the Splendor in October and just upgraded to Cloud9 cabin mainly for the thalasso Pool...

More from boring me:

 

I just looked at your cruise's itinerary, and see a couple things:

 

You're ship is docked at the pier in Maui, rather than tendered at Lahaina. You're looking at about a 1 hour drive from the port to where the diving is. Also, you're arrival is 10:00 am, with an 11:00 pm departure there. You'll definitely need to try to arrange your diving in advance. When you check with operators, explain you're looking for an "afternoon, 2-tank trip. You should be easily able to get a rental car at/near the port, and prices for a day rental are generally not bad.

 

Your other ports are Honolulu, Kona and Hilo. Hilo is not a spot for diving, so no issue there. Your times in Honolulu and Kona are again not conducive to catching shop's regularly scheduled 2-tank morning dives.

 

Honolulu I would say the diving is so-so at best, so it's hardly worth the hassle of trying to arrange something, and there is much to do there otherwise. However, I've had good luck with Aqua Zone there. (www.aquazonescuba.com).

 

Kona has fantastic diving. Big Island Divers doesn't currently show any scheduled afternoon trips on their website, They used to do two tank afternoon trips several days a week, so it maybe worth giving them a call (www.bigislanddivers.com). Jack's Diving Locker is the other big name shop for Kona. I prefer Big Island, but they're both good. They may have something for you if Big Island doesn't (www.jacksdivinglocker.com).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Thank you, Harris, very much, for your reply.

We'll be cruising Hawaii on Carnival Splendor next month.

We just got our Open Water SCUBA certification but Carnival has no diving excursions at all, on any port. Looking for recommendations for Dive Shops that will accommodate cruise passengers. We really want to dive the crater off Maui...

Thank you!!