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Dive Review of Ed Robinson/N/A in
Hawaii/Maui

Ed Robinson/N/A: "Ed Robinson's Adventure Dives", May, 2014,

by Mr. Jonathan Blake, CA, US ( 2 reports). Report 7891.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food N/A
Service and Attitude 1 stars Environmental Sensitivity 3 stars
Dive Operation 1 stars Shore Diving 5 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 1 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Ed Robinson’s “Famous” Maui Scuba Diving Adventures
(Week of May 10 thru 17, 2014)

Last year I was lucky enough to win a two tank dive certificate at the Long Beach Scuba Show for Ed Robinson's Adventure Diving. One of my fellow dive buddies from our dive club also won a certificate. Eight experienced divers from the La Verne Eco Dive club planned a week of shore diving on Maui but set aside one day of boat diving with Ed Robinson’s famous Dive Adventure-X on Wednesday, which they advertise as advanced diving only. They will take you anywhere you want to go for two advanced dives.

I was asked to e-mail Ed Robinson’s staff (Robyn) in advance with certification levels of each diver, the number of dives each diver had made, when was the last time each diver had been diving, how much weight each diver would require and a credit card to guarantee payment if we decided to cancel within 48 hours of the dive day.

We were asked to meet the boat at the Kihei boat ramp at 6:30a.m.

I was surprised and disappointed to see the boat arrive on a trailer ...!!! It was a 32 foot aluminum hull boat that had seen better days.

Three other individual couples had also signed up for the advanced dive trip. With 14 divers on this boat, space was very tight and the two young dive masters were very cavalier about the way they handled and set up our gear. I witnessed regulators and dive computers being stepped on. And in one case the front plate of one regulator was squished and popped off the unit. With the aid of a knife we were able to trim the threads and screw it back on.

As we approached the harbor entrance Ed Robinson asked us where did we want to go? As spokesman for our group of divers, I asked to go the “Cathedrals” on Lanai and the back side of Molokini Crater! Ed Robinson immediately replied that we couldn’t got to either location because of the weather. A young lady from one of the other couples said, and I quote . . . “ I recently had a baby by C-section and my doctor said I should not make any deep dives or risk tearing my stitches, and oh, by the way, I have to be back by 1:30p.m. because my baby sitter can only stay that long”!! (Are you kidding me!!)

Dismissing the wishes of the majority of the group Ed Robinson took us to what can only be called beginner dive sites. One known as the “Tank n Tractor” and the other as “Pinnacles”. Both shallower than 60 feet.

When we returned to the boat ramp our group of 8 divers were asked to come up to the "store" to settle up our bills individually. The “store” was located on a side street in a mixed residential and industrial neighborhood. The “store” was a little wooden building not much larger than a walk-in closet.

The regular Accounting person, Robyn, was not there so an older gentleman named Dave stepped in to try to sort the billing. We expressed our disappointment with the trip to Dave and asked for credit back on each bill. The Adventure-X dive day is a little more expensive than the average two tank dive. Since my buddy and I both had certificates we had to pay an additional $22 each for the Adventure-X trip. Dave said he would credit us for the difference and essentially our dives would now be covered by the certificates.

Dave asked us to come back to the “Store” in about an hour so he could get the billing sorted out. Two of us came by three hours later and the billing had still not been processed.

The following afternoon I received an e-mail from the Accounting lady, Robyn. Only one of the certificates was credited back so I replied making the correction. At this point I’m hoping that she did bill us individually and not $1345.60 to my credit card.

The next day we stopped by the “Lahaina Divers” Shop in Lahaina and was surprised to learn that their boats had gone to Lanai and also the backside of Molokini Crater. They said the weather was great??

To say that Ed Robinson’s Adventure Diving is a Mickey Mouse, shoe string operation would be an offense to Mickey Mouse! None of our group will ever go out with him again. And his regular two tank dives are more expensive than Lahaina divers regular two tank dive and their boats are much larger and more comfortable than Ed’s tin cup!

And incidentally, the shore diving in Maui is great! The best spots we dove were the Mala Ramp in Lahaina, McKenna’s in Kihei, Black Rock in Kaanapali, and the north side of Kapalua Bay!
Websites Ed Robinson   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving All over Indonesia, Philippines, Maldives, all over the Caribbean, all over California
Closest Airport Maui Getting There variety of airlines

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 85-90°F / 29-32°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions both locations were for beginners
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter 1 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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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.

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