Review - Great Dives in Hawaii

[stingraynz]

Here is some information on the great dives I did in March in Hawaii. I have done dives in Kona, Kauai & many dives in Maui in the last ten years. This is Maui really was tops for me for wildlife & Dive Op.

 

This was my second dive trip & cruise using my new Canon SD700 digital camera and Canon housing. I am absolutely loving the camera. I will try to post a few selected shots.

 

MAUI OCEAN CENTER

Under the ‘adventures’ section in the Maui Revealed Guidebook, there was an option listed to ‘swim with sharks’. Three times a week certified divers could book the ‘Maui Shark Dive’. This is an approx. 40-minute dive in the main shark tank at the Maui Ocean Center. The total time for viewing, orientation & dive was approx. two hours. We did this dive during our pre-cruise stay in Maui and I cannot even describe how cool this dive was. The tank is about 18 feet deep and you overweight yourself so you can just hang out on the bottom with all the tank creatures. They have about six different species of sharks including black-tip & white-tip reef sharks, sand bar sharks, gray sharks, 2-3 hammerheads and even a tiger shark. There were many species of Hawaiian tropical fish and 6 huge stingrays and a spotted eagle ray. The eagle ray is quite obviously the ‘queen of the tank’ and a big part of the dive was feeding her mussels on the half shell. We were quite lucky as we were the only two divers booked for our day and they allowed us to stay in the tank almost twice as long as the scheduled time. “Thanks” Harry and Jim!!

 

WHEN: Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings

Maui Ocean Center Office: 808.270.7075 or

info@mauioceancentre.com

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

 

ED ROBINSON’S

Probably the best dive op I have ever used anywhere was Ed Robinson’s. They came recommended on CC as well as in the Maui Revealed guide. They were spectacular from beginning to end. Very organized, very prepared and had everything worked down to a science in regards to loading the boat, setting up payment, setting up gear. The dive crew was levels above spectacular. We had originally booked a two-tank dive to the cathedrals off of Lanai, 2-tank night dive & the 3-tank adventure that included back-wall Molokini. We had to cancel the Lanai dive to allow the dive in the shark tank. So our first dive with them was the night dive. There were three dive instructors onboard and 3 or less divers with each instructor. These guys were into spotting the best wild life possible for your dives. They were so into showing us the best possible time. Our guide John was so great, he wanted to show us the fish swirling in the water column outside off of the outer reef in Molokini and it all looked exactly as he described in our briefing. He gave me some great tips about finning and breathing on deep dives greater than 120 feet. Whether you brought your own gear or used theirs they set it up, changed it out between dives and packed it up afterwards. If you booked multiple dives, they offered a discount and allowed you leave your stuff on the boat for the next day etc.

 

Ist dive site was Molokini Mid Reef– the main attractions here were the hundreds of schooling fish in the water column, scorpion fish and two reef sharks.

 

There were many whales spotted on the surface before and after the dive but none on the dive itself. When we were pulling into Molokini at twilight we saw a nice sized whale tail. I have yet to see a whale on a dive. We certainly heard them!

 

2nd dive was the night dive not at Molokini but just off the coast in Wailea, on a reef in the middle of a sand bar called Marty’s Reef. We saw tons of night creatures like nudibranch, dozens of lobster and eels. The black night abyss was surprisingly very soothing and calm.

 

It also didn’t hurt that we had fantastic conditions, calm waters and the humpbacks were very loud and active during the dives.

 

The next morning we did the 3-tank adventure and it was an early morning. We got out just as the sun was rising over Haleakala on Maui’s south shore. Our guide on these dives was Kim.

She was a maniac – she seemed to be showing us something either rare or truly hidden every second. Excellent!

 

The first dive – our deep dive was a straight 110 feet for 18 minutes at a site called ‘Apartments’. We saw the elusive frogfish (a great specimen), we saw a rare hawk fish, some schooling tropical fish and a huge moray eel together with some shrimp in their lair.

 

Second dive was at their ‘secret spot’ called ‘85 foot pinnacle’ and the name was very appropriate. Where again we saw tons of reef life.

 

Third dive was on the back wall of Molokini. This is supposed to be the best wall dive in the USA. It was a straight timed drift dive and we were to stay between 50-60 feet. The bottom will drop as deep as 300ft. There was great visibility. But we liked to call this dive the reverse drift dive as we had to swim the entire dive ‘against’ the current. The other group aborted their dive and was already back on the boat when we surfaced. I guess we were tougher we persevered and finished the dive as planned current and all. The topography on this dive was phenomenal and we encountered a very cute octopus and some sharks followed us around.

 

We certainly got our work-outs and exercise with Ed’s group. I could not recommend them more. They were totally into diving and into giving you the best experience and dives possible. They made sure time onboard was spent to discuss what you should look for in the dive briefings. They were really into the wildlife.

 

ED ROBINSON’S DIVING ADVENTURES

800.635.1273

808.879.3584

http://www.maui-scuba.com

robinson@maui.net

 

JACK’S DIVING LOCKER – KONA

This dive op was recommended on CC and in Rodale’s Scuba Diving Magazine. It is a big dive op with a great dive boat. Their dive shop was fantastic. The dive conditions in Kona are my favorite in the Hawaiian Islands, but I would consider another op the next time. Our DM was not that great. He was more of a drill sergeant and really did not seem to know the dive site that well. We were picking out way more wildlife than he was and he seemed to flit around darting here and there when I was trying to take photos. He was not as into the wild life and I know Ed Robinson’s was a tough act to follow. I don’t have any specific complaints but I also did not have the wow-factor Ed’s did. The two dive boats used with both Op’s were very comparable and wonderfully equipped. I guess I just didn’t like getting bossed around and he was constantly banging on his tank – you know the type. I like the cute sweet naturalist types vs. the drill sergeant.

 

JACK’S DIVING LOCKER

800.345.4807

808.329.7585

http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com

dive@jacksdivinglocker.com

[Kim in CA]

Stingray... glad to hear that you are happy with your Canon SD camera. I just purchased an SD1000 and plan to get the waterproof housing to take with us on our Caribbean cruise in June. I noticed that the SD1000 has added an "underwater" setting. Who knows if it will make a difference, but it sounds cool.

 

Diving in Kona is awesome! We spent a week there last summer and dove twice with an operation called Dive Makai. They were great... really into going slowly and checking out the critters. Lots of critter education during surface intervals. We also had the good fortune to do a night manta dive there. If you ever get the chance... DO IT! It was amazing.

 

We are new divers, and we have only dived in Maui and Kona, so we are jazzed to see what it is like in the Caribbean in June!