Dive Review of Lahaina Divers/Napili Kai in
Hawaii/Maui, Lanai, Molokai

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Lahaina Divers/Napili Kai: "Hammerheads in Molokai, whales on the way, dolphins too? NO way!", Mar, 2016, by Mark Etter, PA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8852.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	OK, so I just went diving in Socorro and Raja Ampat in the last 6 months, so how could I possibly enjoy going to Maui to dive? One word: Hammerheads. (Or is that 2 words?) Anyways, twice a week Lahaina Divers schedules trips to Eastern Molokai to a site called Fish Rain where we actually did see scalloped hammerhead sharks on both dives. Pretty cool considering how hard these buggers are to find around the world. The 5 sharks that we saw were >8 feet long and at depths of 80-95' so plan on conserving air until you see them. They were shy but did hang around for 5-10 minutes. No great "money shots" though, i.e. they don't like bubbles and won't approach you if you have a camera and want to breath. Lahaina Divers organizes this trip for experienced divers. The conditions can be rough but that's always where the cool stuff is anyways. The drop off is a "live" drop off close to the rocks requiring all 8 divers to jump in almost together. The pick up is even more fun. Since there can be current and surge, the boat comes to the divers with a drag line. Reminds me of North Carolina. This is real diving with all of the rewards. The coral at Fish Rain is great for Hawian standards and the fish life was great. LH does a great job for this excursion. The guides are experienced and fun. I had the pleasure of meeting "Bob" Hartman on this trip who has been diving in Hawaii since the 1950's and discovered cathedral #2 in 1959. He owns a really cool store in Lahaina where he shows his hammerhead video. Bob of course is truly a real diver, using a rebreather, Gates housing, twin Keldane lights, multiple SMB's, etc. Captain JB was professional yet approachable. The guides including Dave were great. The boat was much less full for this trip. Earlier that week we went to Lanai with >20 on board. They do a good job of separating divers. On the way to Molokai and Lanai we had several close encounters with whales and dolphins. On most dives we could hear the whales singing but they were not visible. Too bad as there are so many nearby in March. My only complaint is that Lahaina Divers uses 72's for tanks. They are a great outfit suitable for most experienced divers and have wonderful itineraries. The boat and crew were splendid too. The sites are sometimes as deep as 95' and they really should offer 80's (100-120 would be great but we do need to surface some time for lunch) Overall, I really thought the experience was a fun and i will use them next time I'm in Maui.
Websites	Lahaina Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Raja Amat, Gangga, Lembeh, Bunaken, Komodo, Maldives, Red Sea, Socorro, North & South Carolina, Fiji, Australia, Chuuk, Kona, Caymans, St Lucia, Belize, Bonaire, etc.
Closest Airport	Maui	Getting There	i would fly, it's faster
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	77-78°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	70-90 Ft/ 21-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco (oops! I spent too much time with the hammerheads), stay within site of the guides, esp when at Molokai
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	> 2
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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Really I have no complaints. Not many serious UWP on the boat so it was easy to accommodate a few without problems. However, >10 SLR's would be difficult.

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Dive Review of Lahaina Divers/Napili Kai in Hawaii/Maui, Lanai, Molokai

Lahaina Divers/Napili Kai: "Hammerheads in Molokai, whales on the way, dolphins too? NO way!", Mar, 2016,

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 Lahaina Divers/Napili Kai in
Hawaii/Maui, Lanai, Molokai