Maui Dive Shop (http://www.mauidiveshop.com/)
Captain: Jim
Boat: Maka Koa - Pro 48' Dive Boat
Dive Sites: XXXX and Reef's End, Lanai Cathedrals 2 and No Name Reef
Our 2 days of boat dives with Maui Dive Shop and Captain Jim and his crew were INCREDIBLE!!!!! We can't thank them enough for their help, knowledge, experience and humor. These guys made this day extremely enjoyable. This was like Valet Diving. They handled equipment setup, tank changes, pre-dive briefings, post-dive briefings, local marine life info, local land life info (hot spots, secret spots, etc).
I can't stress enough how much I wish I could dive with these guys everyday!!!!! I hope I can dive with them again some time.....
Their boat - the Maka Koa, was VERY diver friendly. Individual lockers under the seats, great tank holders, fresh water rinse, marine head, etc..... Freedom to roam the boat and go up the the bridge.... we can't stress enough how wonderful everything was.....
Pictures from our dives with Maui Dive Shop extracted from the 9th and 11th of September.
Molokini Crater
It is a very popular dive and snorkel spot in Maui... Molokini Crater was formed a long time ago by a volcano that cropped up out of the sea. Erosion has taken place and over time it has become the crescent shaped crater that it is today.
We saw:
A Manta Ray (rare to see)
A barracuda
Eels
A Whitetip reef shark
Lanai
Anyways, the first dive site was Cathedral #2. We couldn't dive Cathedral #1 because the visibility was poor and the current was too swift.
Cathedral #2 was a neat dive with lots of swim-throughs and mini-caverans.
We got to see some rare marine life that you don't normally get to see like a red pipefish....(no picture)
Blue-Lined Snappers
A neat fish (I don't know it's name) but it was tough to see in the blue light of the water.
At the second dive site (No Name Reef) we saw some more interesting things...
This is some "finger coral" that is only found in Hawaii....
As we looked overhead, we saw the waves crashing over the top of this 40 ft tall coral/lava wall...
VIDEO !!!!!! Wave Crashing Video (MPG - 5MB)
(right click, Save Target As... note where you save it to so that you can play it back)
A neat little purple sea urchin. (Actual diameter about 1 1/2 inches)
A pretty large moray eel. (about 6ft)
I saw a bunch of these guys... they like to sit on the coral and they are very skittish once you get close to them. They are only about 2-3 inches long.....
September 3 - Departure Flight / Oahu Day 1
September 7 - Oahu Day 5 / Maui Day 1
September 13 - Maui Day 7 / Big Island Day 1 - Delayed
September 14 - Big Island Day 2
September 15 - Big Island Day 3
September 16 - Big Island Day 4
September
17 - Big Island Day 5
September 18 - Big Island Day 6 / Flight Home
