Going to Maui

[blackfin]

We are planning a family vacation to Maui in June and will be staying at the Embassy Vacation Resort in Kaanapali.  If anyone has stayed in that area I have a couple of questions:

1. Is there shore diving available?

2. What dive shop would you recommend for boats trips?  Don't want to be on a cattle boat for the prices they charge.

3. If I would only do a couple of boats trips, what dives sites would you recommend?

Thanks much,

Joe

[vmi]

Joe -

I was there a couple years ago in march and stayed at kaanapali beach hotel right by black rock.  We dove a couple times with lahina divers and due to the winds, they took us to lanai to dive.  a little cooler than just a shorty in my book but they were very accomodating, big boat with lots of deck space to gear up.  my son and I have lots of dives and having a dm rating plus a wheelbarrel of other cards, they let my son & I pretty much do what we wanted as long as we kept their dm and group in sight.  we were actually down one wall to 110' where they put a limit to 80' with the rest of the group.  I was happy not to be restricted.  Kind of funny as when we were filling out the pre-dive paperwork and they asked when our last dive was, we said a few weeks prior through the ice in Minnesota.  You should have seen their jaws drop!  lol.  There was some really nice "flats" areas with small caves that held shark they cased out for us to see.  all in all a good experience.  back to the kaanapali beach, it was snorkeling only that we did but really nice.  huge turtles were there and lots of fish in the black rock bay.  also, you have to jump off the cliffs at black rock. take a surfing lesson or two as well. very very fun.  aloha...

pete

[blackfin]

I bet their jaws dropped when they heard the words ice and dive in the same sentence.  ;D  I had another recommendation on the Lahina dive shop, so I  will hook up with them when we arrive.  I did email them with another question and they told me all the dives were "guided" by the DM.  Nice to know if I flash my DM card they might give me a little freedom.  Thanks again for the reply. 

Joe V.

[vmi]

Joe -

You gotta do the cliff at Black Rock !!  Here's a pic of one of my kids going off.  It's better than the Arcola bridge at Tonka !  Hey Chuck N., If you are reading this post, I think you know this kid !!  He likes to eat old food from your vending machine.

Pete

[blackfin]

Oh man...that looks like fun.  I will make sure to check Black Rock out.  Thanks for the heads up.

[mart0681]

You've been there by now, but thought I would post anyway.  I visit Maui every year and stay at Ka-anapali/Lahaina.  You can shore dive right at Black Rock (Sheraton), it's shallow, about 25 feet, viz is 40-feet or greater, with a great abundance of just about every kind of fish.  A nice dive is to start on the golf course side of the beach and head around black rock exiting on the beach on the other side.  It's much like a wall dive where the vocanic cinder meets the ocean.

You can also dive the Ka-anapali reef from the beach virtually anywhere from the Sheraton down to the Hyatt at the other end.  I've done this from in front of the Marriott several times.  Island Scuba has a shop right on the beach there where you can rent anything you need and get arrange a guided dive if you'd like.  I don't think they fill tanks there, but at any given day they've got about 40 or so tanks for rental and their own PADI classes which are given at the Marriott.  Not difficult to find turtle cleaning stations with 4 to 5 green turtles being serviced by the local cleaning fish.

Finally between Ka-anapali and Lahaina (just before Lahaina) is the Mahala boat ramp, and next to it is a concrete fishing pier that's been mostly knocked down and sits at about 35-feet extending 300 feet or so and is considered a wreck dive.  It's mostly covered with coral with lots of swim-throughs, cracks and crevices.  Just dove there last week and saw a white tipped reef shark, along with more turtles and the largest variety of butterfly fish I've seen anywhere.  You can enter and exit from the boat ramp and stay near the jetty go around to the left where you'll run into the sunken pier.  Sign says no diving, but that means jumping off the pier, not SCUBA.