Best diving in Maui/Aquarium stores

bv_reefer · #1 07-10-2008, 09:45 PM

hi andestang i see you're heading to maui! i'd definitely check out the local aquarium in kihei, it's a smaller one but never the less real nice, have been there several times. it's about a 20 minute drive from kihei village. As for local diving hot spots, molokini is first on my list. i've also tryed diving in kaanapali and wailea and it was magnificent as well. as delphinus said maui is small enough on it's own, couple hours drive tops. quikk review on the beaches, kaanapali tends to have bigger wave action than shores in kihei i've found, and is great for boogy boarding/surfing, baby beach (close to kaanapali) is nice and shallow all round and is surrounded by a big wall of reef, i've went diving there and it's real nice, massive corals all round and beautiful fish all round you. wailea is pretty well similar beaches to kihei but with nice fancy hotels all round you, worth the drive. long story short, mauis a great place to be, have a good one!

Delphinus · #2 07-10-2008, 10:11 PM

20 minutes drive in any direction from Kihei takes you well outside of Kihei, it's a pretty tiny place!

I think we get used to larger distances and still being inside the same city. The aquarium is in a town called Ma'alaea which is the start of the highway up to Lahaina and Ka'anapali.

http://www.mauioceancenter.com/

Not sure, but I think when you say Napili you'll actually be up in the Lahaina or Ka'anapali area, which means you're very close to Honolua Bay. It's considered one of the better spots for snorkeling so definitely do check that one out.

Veng68 · #3 07-10-2008, 10:30 PM

Any good Snuba sites on Maui........ or any of the other islands

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

Coldwater · #4 07-11-2008, 12:47 AM

I was at Napili Shores during part of spring break and did some diving. The coolest dive I went on was at Mala Wharf with the Maui Dive Shop. Did a two tank dive there. The deepest I got was 25 feet so its shallow and you air will last forever. A little over an hour. There are White Tip Reef sharks there, Frog fish the size of footballs and much much more. Its a dive around a collapsed wharf so its almost like a wanna-be wreck dive. I have pictures of it if you want to see some. As for other water activities about 10 minutes past Napili area there is a beach which I can't remember the real name of. Its unofficially called Slaughterhouse. If the swells are coming in right and you have a good offshore wind they waves become MASSIVE which is great for surfing (you can get barreled) or boogie boarding if you can't surf. Its a mostly tourist beach. And one final word of warning if you go surfing or pretty much anything else STAY OUT OF THE LOCALS WAY. Have fun.

Matt

Johnny Reefer · #5 07-13-2008, 01:03 PM

I was there 11 years ago, so this advice might be outdated. I wasn't aware of an aquarium there then, so I guess that's something relatively new...?
As for aquarium shops, I looked into this when I was there. Waste of time. I only found one (in Kahului) and it was tiny. Nothing that you wouldn't have already seen on the continent. I think Tony has it right. Not a big market. Huge aquarium at the shoreline. Maybe it's changed, but I doubt it.

An excellent snorkelling spot is in Ahihi-Kin' Au Natural Reserve Area. The spot (is?)/was known locally as "The Aquarium". Just south of Kanahena were the road becomes dirt (maybe it's paved now). Sort of hard to describe from there. Maybe they have signs to the trail now, but then they didn't. I have a note to self in my guidebook saying trail between telephone pole 17 & 18, FWIW. Ya, that kinda thing. Trail hike across lava field is about 20-30 minutes. Worth it if you can find it. My Dad knew someone who lived there. This is how we found out about it.

andestang · #6 07-13-2008, 04:33 PM

Thanks for all the input and ideas. I think we're staying in the Wailea area, most likely the Grand Wailea resort or Wailea Beach Resort. Seems to be the best area to go for a snorkel any time you want and I will check out Molokini for a day dive and never had a chance to do a night dive so I will check that out also. There's a few other ideas mentioned above that I'll check into and Tony can make up my itinerary for me