Dive Review of Hawaiian Rafting Adventures in
Hawaii/Maui

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Hawaiian Rafting Adventures, Oct, 2005, by Ed Strange, CA, United States . Report 2131.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Having dove at the Cathedrals on Lanai, most decent beach entry points on West Maui, and Molokini's back wall unaccessible due to strong surge and currents, we decided to do a "manta dive" with Hawaiian Rafting Adventures, based at Mala Wharf, Front St., Lahaina, Maui. The dive site is a location about 500 yards off the West Maui coast, 10 Mi. South of Lahaina, better accessible by boat beacause of the strong surf in this area. The dive is over lava formations with moderate reef growth in 30'-50' where mantas regularly congregate in the late afternoon/early evening to be "cleaned" of parasites by wrasses. Visibility was low (35'-50') due to recent rain and runoff from land, but the dive gave what it promised, and within 3 minutes of entering the water, two mantas were spotted 25' from us, lazily cruising the reef. Both had wingspans of 12'-15'! We spotted other pairs intermittently through the dive, but finally found the "sweet spot" with about 5-min. of air left. 18-20 mantas circling overhead at about 25', while we watched in awe from 50'. Some good pictures from the photographer on the trip, even with the low visibility. Hawaiian Rafting Adventures uses RIB diveboats, taking 12 divers max. on their excursions (ours had 10). You must drive to their facility, check in, load your gear on the boat, and then walk to the dock (300 yards) while they launch the boat. Crew has excellent knowledge of the area, pointing out the good and not-so-good beach dive areas that we passed, with entry points and reef locations at each. We saw quality rental gear on other divers and NITROX is available. As we all know, there are not a lot of accomodations on a 25' RIB, but the trip to the dive sites are fun, also, riding the afternoon swells in the Maui/Lanai channel. All-in-all a good trip and a quality dive operation.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	0-25 dives
Where else diving	Jamaica, Maui, No. CA coast & lakes.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	surge
Water Temp	79-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	35-50 Ft/ 11-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Setup at the shop consists of a few tables in the back for customer use. Limited gear and accessories are available. Boat storage consists of a filled marine cooler due to space limitations. The crew will download and burn a disc from your digital camera back at the shop.

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Dive Review of Hawaiian Rafting Adventures in Hawaii/Maui

Hawaiian Rafting Adventures, Oct, 2005,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Hawaiian Rafting Adventures in
Hawaii/Maui