Question: Diving in Hawaii

I just found out I'm going to Hawaii (Maui) for twoo weeks mid october
(WOO HOO)! And I'd like to get a dive or two in, while my boyfriend and
family get stuck snorkellign, hehe. I currently live in BC, JUST
started diving this year, and all I have is the personal gear So..

A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
buy some thin ones before I go

b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
suit? How thick/thin?

c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
avoid?

Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!

<misty63@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123179871.620096.188220@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> I just found out I'm going to Hawaii (Maui) for twoo weeks mid october
> (WOO HOO)! And I'd like to get a dive or two in, while my boyfriend and
> family get stuck snorkellign, hehe. I currently live in BC, JUST
> started diving this year, and all I have is the personal gear So..
>
> A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
> Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
> buy some thin ones before I go
>
> b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
> suit? How thick/thin?
>
> c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
> avoid?
>
> Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
> gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!

Get with a fellow who posts here infrequently that goes by the handle
"suds".

Someone here should be able to hook you up.

I lived and dove in Hawaii for three years prior to moving to Maryland.
Although I never had the pleasure of diving Maui, I did dives on Molokai,
the Big Island and Oahu. The water temps in Hawaii usually hover around the
74 degree mark year around. I always wore a 3mm full suit, 3mm booties and a
3mm beanie. Although, being a diver from BC, you may find a full a bit to
warm for you and may you may prefer a 3mm shorty. Have a great time there!
"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:iGtIe.34$7I4.4150@news.uswest.net...
>
> <misty63@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1123179871.620096.188220@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
>> I just found out I'm going to Hawaii (Maui) for twoo weeks mid october
>> (WOO HOO)! And I'd like to get a dive or two in, while my boyfriend and
>> family get stuck snorkellign, hehe. I currently live in BC, JUST
>> started diving this year, and all I have is the personal gear So..
>>
>> A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
>> Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
>> buy some thin ones before I go
>>
>> b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
>> suit? How thick/thin?
>>
>> c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
>> avoid?
>>
>> Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
>> gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!
>
> Get with a fellow who posts here infrequently that goes by the handle
> "suds".
>
> Someone here should be able to hook you up.
>
>

Thus spake misty63@gmail.com :

>I just found out I'm going to Hawaii (Maui) for twoo weeks mid october
>(WOO HOO)! And I'd like to get a dive or two in, while my boyfriend and
>family get stuck snorkellign, hehe. I currently live in BC, JUST
>started diving this year, and all I have is the personal gear So..
>
>A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
>Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
>buy some thin ones before I go

The wate isn't necesarrily what I'd call warm, but gloves should not
be needed unless you are really cold blooded.

>
>b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
>suit? How thick/thin?

I ususally wear a 3 mm shorty. Sometimes with a fleece if I've been
diving for a few days.

>
>c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
>avoid?

I would recommend Mike Severns if you are a reasonably skilled and
competent diver. They don't hold hands but do have some good DMs if
you want to see the interesting stuff. It's a 12 pack. Ed Robinson
also gets good reviews. I have no idea who's left in the cattle boat
crowd. Mike and Ed leave out of Kihei at between 6 and 7:30 to avoid
the afternoon seas. Most of the others leave out of Lahina.

>
>Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
>gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!

--
dillon

Linux, it's not just an OS, it's a way
of life.

And a damn fine one, at that.

<misty63@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123179871.620096.188220@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

> A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
> Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
> buy some thin ones before I go

Or skip the gloves altogether to be politically correct. Hawaii is very
politically correct.

> b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
> suit? How thick/thin?

A full 3mm should be fine.

> c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
> avoid?
>
> Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
> gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!

Tips are greatly appreciated. I usually tip $5 per dive. You may think
otherwise after you see the prices. Hawaii boat diving is plenty expensive,
especially if you're Canadian. Shore diving is a cheaper alternative, but
being alone and new, probably not a good idea. You can go with a DM-led
shore dive, as most of the shops and dive ops there offer one. That's
cheaper than boat diving but still not free.

The best dive ops there, Ed Robinson's and Mike Severn's, don't usually like
newly certified divers but you can give them a call just in case. Otherwise
you'll probably be stuck with a larger "cattle" boat operation, but it might
not be so bad. Molokini is probably where you want to go. It's somewhat
shallow inside the crater and the water is very, very clear. Most dive ops
will head there, however you usually don't know where the boat is going
until you show up in the morning. If it's your first warm water trip,
you'll be awed at any old site they take you to, so don't be too worried
about where you're going. I did find the trips over to Lanai to not be
worth the effort and you probably don't want to do Cathedrals (the headliner
site there) as a brand new diver since that involves slight penetration.

One different sort of experience you may be interested in is a dive in the
shark tank at the Maui Oceanarium. They only take 4 divers maximum and run
it just 3 days a week to give the sharks a break, but I just spent a week
with Jim, the guy who runs the dives, telling me all about it and it sounds
like a real good time if you like sharks. If you go, please tell Jim I said
hi, but don't flirt with him too much since he's married and you have a
boyfriend. The cost of the dive (again, not cheap) includes aquarium
admission for your non-diving boyfriend and he can keep an eye on you from
the safety of thick glass. Or if you get real sick of your boyfriend and
family, who don't dive after all so how cool could they be, fly over to
Kauai and join me. I'll be at the Sheraton.

Well Greg, I doubt I'll get bored in Hawaii (or how cool would "I" be?)
- but the shark dive in the aquarium sounds amazing- do you have a
website or contact info? I did a google search, but couldn't find their
homepage, if they have one.

One thing that hit me, I've been wanting to do the Advanced open water
cert, but I've held off beacuase my dive buddy wanted to do it with me
(Sorry to her, but I'd rather learn in warm weather!) I was thinking
this way I'd get the cert, have the comfort of warm water, and get 5
dives in. Recommended? I noticed a couple places offer this, but I'm
not sure of the quality of their operations- I notice some people will
actually take divers down without any instruction?! Never seen that in
Canada before...

Thanks everyone for the tips!

<misty63@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123194544.052336.231540@z14g2000cwz.googlegr oups.com...
> Well Greg, I doubt I'll get bored in Hawaii (or how cool would "I" be?)
> - but the shark dive in the aquarium sounds amazing- do you have a
> website or contact info? I did a google search, but couldn't find their
> homepage, if they have one.

Probably because it's now called the Maui Ocean Center.

Scroll down to Shark Dive Maui:

http://www.mauioceancenter.com/VIP_Tours.html

I went to Maui shortly after being certified. I dove with B&B Scuba in
Kihei, we dove Molokini. Their website is currently being updated so
all the links don't work but contact info is there and they have a
discussion group where you might be able to line up a dive partner in
advance if you want:
www/bbscuba.co

The dives were great (we saw a whale shark!) and Brad and Blesi were
both wonderful. Blesi's a good underwater photographer if you're
interested in that. I think I dove in a full 3mm in November but I
chill easily.

Have a great trip.
GC

In article <1123179871.620096.188220@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups .com>,
misty63@gmail.com wrote:

> I just found out I'm going to Hawaii (Maui) for twoo weeks mid october
> (WOO HOO)! And I'd like to get a dive or two in, while my boyfriend and
> family get stuck snorkellign, hehe. I currently live in BC, JUST
> started diving this year, and all I have is the personal gear So..
>
> A) Will my personal gear work? Boots are 3mm, but fit my open fins.
> Obviously, the gloves are a little thick for the warm water, so I'll
> buy some thin ones before I go
>
> b) I want to buy a wetsuit before I go- should I get a shorty, or full
> suit? How thick/thin?
>
> c) Anyone been Maui? Any recommended diving places, ones I should
> avoid?
>
> Tips greatly appreciated! Will be taking dive tour, since I don't have
> gear/buddy to go with- unless someone has another idea!