Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of Maui Diveshop in
Hawaii/Maui / Molokini

Maui Diveshop: "Molokini crater 2 tank dive", Nov, 2018,

by Phil Johnston, Bayswater, AU (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 26 reports with 25 Helpful votes). Report 10795.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations N/A Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments My first visit to Maui & Molokini.
I was pretty happy with Maui Dive Shop’s administration, they confirmed the dive through my hotel the day prior to my arrival, and collected me at the specified time (6:30am) on the actual day. Transfers from hotel to boat were part of the total package.
Safety briefing & pre-dive briefings were good, divers were separated into groups according to experience levels. A breakfast spread of savories & fresh fruits was available, & a buffet of make-your-own sandwiches was provided after the 2nd dive.
First dive was within Molokini crater. Molokini is a partially submerged volcano with a horseshoe shaped island, the inside of the horseshoe being a protected calm area, the outside of the horseshoe being a basically vertical wall with much more exposure to the open sea. It was a 45-50 minute boat ride from Maui boat harbor to Molokini.
Visibility within the inside horseshoe area was excellent, & the site had a large expanse of healthy hard corals. As I had experienced with other Hawaiian dive sites, hard corals weren’t as colorful as I had experienced in the western parts of the Pacific eg Australia, Indonesia etc.
I had heard that Molokini was exceptional for tropical fish life, however I rated the fish life inside the crater as good but not excellent. I did however see the largest school of surgeon fish I have ever seen. I didn’t see any new species that I hadn’t already seen at other dive sites in Hawaii, but it was good to again sight some of the endemic Hawaiian species such as Potter’s angel fish.
After a relatively short surface interval the 2nd dive was on the back wall of Molokini crater. Viz was again very good, highlights were a good sized manta ray passing at a relatively close distance, and multiple large blue dragon nudibranches (I stopped counting at 6 or 7). A few white-tip sharks were seen & fish life was quite similar to the inside of the crater, I didn't see any large sharks, dolphins or pelagics. Because of the shortish surface interval the 2nd dive wound up after 39 minutes. The dive lengths and surface interval appeared to be structured to conform with getting the boat back to the dock by around 12:30pm.
Overall, the operation was pretty well organised, I enjoyed the inside crater more than the back wall. I would have preferred a slightly longer dive on the back wall though.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia/Bali, Cocos Islands, Mexico (Cozumel & Socorros) Tonga, Galapagos, Tahiti, Maldives, Mozambique, Bahamas, Red Sea, Roatan, Philippines, Hawaii (Kona, Maui)
Closest Airport Kahalui Getting There I flew from Hilo on Big Island to Kahalui.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 78-79°F / 26-26°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 25-28 M / 82-92 Ft

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions The usual - no deco diving, 50 minutes max
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available?

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments I'm not an UWP so haven't commented.
Was this report helpful to you?

Subscriber's Comments

By Craig A Wood in PA, US at Dec 13, 2018 09:16 EST  
I wonder why they didn't do your two dives in the opposite order? Reef's End was our best dive off Molokini
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 665 dive reviews of Hawaii and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 

Want to assemble your own collection of Hawaii reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.5 seconds