Lahaina Divers of Maui, HI - any recommendations?

Anyone here ever use Lahaina Divers in Lahaina Hawaii on the island of
Maui? How'd it go? Have a good experience?

I'm certified, haven't been in the water for a couple of years. If
that makes any difference.

George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
> Anyone here ever use Lahaina Divers in Lahaina Hawaii on the island of
> Maui? How'd it go? Have a good experience?
>
> I'm certified, haven't been in the water for a couple of years. If
> that makes any difference.

Lahaina divers is apparently a cattleboat operation. I did not dive
with them, but their shop was nice, adn they seemed nice.

I was treated VERY well though across the street at Pacific Dive. The
owner and the divemasters were all extraordinarily pleasant. They're
a smaller operation, and booking ahead would be advised.

Lahaina Divers though, seemed to be easy to get onto because their two
boats scaled up to being able to accomodate a LOT of divers. The
boats looked really really nice from what I saw.

One other trip worth mentioning there is an afternoon on the
Quicksilver going to molokini and turtle town. It's a fast catamaran
that holds a lot of folks, but it never felt crowded. They stop for
snorkelling and snuba, and also accomodate up to 12 certified divers.
It's a great choice if you're travelling with someone who doesn't
dive, and even if you both dive--we both dove with them and our most
memorable day was on the Quicksilver. Saw a whale shark on the
surface which was a hell of a rare find. Saw a humpback whale and her
calf come right up to the boat too... it was wonderful (though the
whales are headed back to Alaska by now). And all the other
snorkelers didn't affect us at all, we plopped in off of another exit,
went down, snorkellers disappeared from us essentially, and then they
all have to wait after getting bored on the surface for us divers to
return. There was also a guy doing video on the boat, and the video
was very nice as well.

Have a great time. Maui is friggin awesome. Where ya stayin?

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

On 01 May 2005 18:01:56 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:

>George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
>> Anyone here ever use Lahaina Divers in Lahaina Hawaii on the island of
>> Maui? How'd it go? Have a good experience?
>>
>> I'm certified, haven't been in the water for a couple of years. If
>> that makes any difference.
>
>Lahaina divers is apparently a cattleboat operation. I did not dive
>with them, but their shop was nice, adn they seemed nice.
>
>I was treated VERY well though across the street at Pacific Dive. The
>owner and the divemasters were all extraordinarily pleasant. They're
>a smaller operation, and booking ahead would be advised.
>
>Lahaina Divers though, seemed to be easy to get onto because their two
>boats scaled up to being able to accomodate a LOT of divers. The
>boats looked really really nice from what I saw.
>
>One other trip worth mentioning there is an afternoon on the
>Quicksilver going to molokini and turtle town. It's a fast catamaran
>that holds a lot of folks, but it never felt crowded.
>
>Have a great time. Maui is friggin awesome. Where ya stayin?
>
>Best Regards,


Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Is the Quicksilver operating with Pacific Dive? Or is that a second
alternative to Lahaina Divers?

Right now, I'm considering my options.

We'll be staying at a condo in Kaanapali (sp?) in August.

I'm certified, but not the rest of my family. That may not make any
difference. They could come along for the ride or do something else.

My first "real" OW diving was done in Maui and used Ed Robinson.
Understood my level of diving but did not baby me.
I hate cattle boat diving, you are just part of the crowd.
I will pay a bit more for a limited number of divers on the boat.
Enjoy Maui, and make sure you do the ocean side of Molikini Crater.

--
Message posted via http://www.scubamonster.com

George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
> Thanks for taking the time to reply.

My pleasure to help!

> Is the Quicksilver operating with Pacific Dive? Or is that a second
> alternative to Lahaina Divers?

Oh, separate operation. Another alternative. The
diving/snuba/snorkelling on Quicksilver is done by ... oh, some other
shop that honestly doesn't have a great reputation evidently because
they don't pay their folks very well, however, their work on the
quicksilver is good and our dive guide Rachael was quite pleasant, set
up all the gear, and made for a nice experience. Quicksilver doesn't
typically attract a ton of divers since people mistakenly think that
the snokellers would get in their way. But really, it was the most
fun activity we did in Maui.

> Right now, I'm considering my options.
>
> We'll be staying at a condo in Kaanapali (sp?) in August.
>
> I'm certified, but not the rest of my family. That may not make any
> difference. They could come along for the ride or do something
> else.

Then the Quicksilver would be ideal. They could do Snuba if they
wanted, or they could snorkel, while you could dive. Quicksilver is
owned by teh Boss Frog dive shop. You can find a lot of places
selling this tour on the Quicksilver, but here's one:

http://www.maui-vacation.net/activit...lokini.html#QS

and keeps scrolling to read and see all the details.

Same boat, but packages for snorkel, scuba, and snuba. Tanks weights
even fins and masks available on the ship, all included in tehprice.
A wetsuit shorty which I'd recommend was an extra 10 or 15.

Have fun!

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

On 02 May 2005 10:35:13 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:

>George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
>> Thanks for taking the time to reply.
>
>My pleasure to help!
>
>> Is the Quicksilver operating with Pacific Dive? Or is that a second
>> alternative to Lahaina Divers?
>
>Oh, separate operation. Another alternative. The
>diving/snuba/snorkelling on Quicksilver is done by the Boss Frog dive shop.
>
>http://www.maui-vacation.net/activit...lokini.html#QS
>
>and keeps scrolling to read and see all the details.
>
>Same boat, but packages for snorkel, scuba, and snuba. Tanks weights
>even fins and masks available on the ship, all included in tehprice.
>A wetsuit shorty which I'd recommend was an extra 10 or 15.
>
>Have fun!
>
>Best Regards,

One last thing - is it easy to rent underwater camera equipment there?
I'd read the Mike Severn website that says such things are for rent,
but I don't want to have to hunt down an obscure location. I just
don't have time for that. What I'm hoping for is to rent a camera for
that particular trip, same as all the rest of the gear.

If not, fine, but I'm hoping.

George Max <lazarus@removethis.rr.com> writes:

> One last thing - is it easy to rent underwater camera equipment there?
> I'd read the Mike Severn website that says such things are for rent,
> but I don't want to have to hunt down an obscure location. I just
> don't have time for that. What I'm hoping for is to rent a camera for
> that particular trip, same as all the rest of the gear.
>
> If not, fine, but I'm hoping.

That I have to wave a hearty "dunno" flag. I bought the DVD off the
Quicksilver, and dove unencumbered. 8-)

I really need to get an UW enclosure for my digicam.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Thus spake George Max <lazarus@removethis.rr.com> :

>On 02 May 2005 10:35:13 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>
>>George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
>>> Thanks for taking the time to reply.
>>
>>My pleasure to help!
>>
>>> Is the Quicksilver operating with Pacific Dive? Or is that a second
>>> alternative to Lahaina Divers?
>>
>>Oh, separate operation. Another alternative. The
>>diving/snuba/snorkelling on Quicksilver is done by the Boss Frog dive shop.
>>
>>http://www.maui-vacation.net/activit...lokini.html#QS
>>
>>and keeps scrolling to read and see all the details.
>>
>>Same boat, but packages for snorkel, scuba, and snuba. Tanks weights
>>even fins and masks available on the ship, all included in tehprice.
>>A wetsuit shorty which I'd recommend was an extra 10 or 15.
>>
>>Have fun!
>>
>>Best Regards,
>
>One last thing - is it easy to rent underwater camera equipment there?
>I'd read the Mike Severn website that says such things are for rent,
>but I don't want to have to hunt down an obscure location. I just
>don't have time for that. What I'm hoping for is to rent a camera for
>that particular trip, same as all the rest of the gear.

Severns would only rent if you went on their trip. And I don't think,
from the way you describe yourself, that you're qualified to go out
with them. They leave out of Kihei, which is a bit of a drive from
Ka'anapali.

Most dive ops will have some kind of camera rental. Probably most are
now doing a sealed MX-5 or a cheap digital.

>
>If not, fine, but I'm hoping.

--
dillon

Women should be obscene and not absurd.

On Wed, 04 May 2005 02:39:34 GMT, Dillon Pyron
<dmpyronINVALID@austin.rr.com> wrote:

>Thus spake George Max <lazarus@removethis.rr.com> :
>
>>On 02 May 2005 10:35:13 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>>
>>>George Max <bluemax53201@removethis.yahoo.com> writes:
>>>> Thanks for taking the time to reply.

>>
>>One last thing - is it easy to rent underwater camera equipment there?
>>I'd read the Mike Severn website that says such things are for rent,
>>but I don't want to have to hunt down an obscure location. I just
>>don't have time for that. What I'm hoping for is to rent a camera for
>>that particular trip, same as all the rest of the gear.
>
>Severns would only rent if you went on their trip. And I don't think,
>from the way you describe yourself, that you're qualified to go out
>with them. They leave out of Kihei, which is a bit of a drive from
>Ka'anapali.
>
>Most dive ops will have some kind of camera rental. Probably most are
>now doing a sealed MX-5 or a cheap digital.
>
>>

Yes, I got that info from one of the operators - a cheap film camera
with minimal adjustments. Sort of a brownie box camera for divers ;)
That's o.k.

The other alternative of course is spending big money to outfit my
digital. Probably won't do that.

And about that last point, I've already contacted the shop I used to
dive from for refresher prior to leaving for Hawaii.

George Max <lazarus@removethis.rr.com> pounded away at his keyboard
resulting in:
:The other alternative of course is spending big money to outfit my
:digital. Probably won't do that.

How much do you think it will cost?

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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