Hawaian Adventure in Maui - Part 1
By Roee (December 2005)

It was decided earlier this year that our trip would be to Hawaii this year, more specifically to Maui . First because it looked like a great location to dive with the warm water and ample coral reefs and second because Ghost and Ice have been there themselves and highly recommended.

After more than 3 months of planning, discussing, making reservations, on November 12 th we boarded an United flight bound for Maui . After a short flight of a little just under 5 hours, we landed in the Kahului airport in Maui . Car rental facilities were a short walk away and off we went on our drive to our hotel, the ResortQuest Kaanapali Shores .

On our way to Kaanapali which was about 30-35 miles away, we passed by Lahaina which has a large concentration of dive shops and shops and restaurants. If you want supplies, stop by the Coscto, Kmart or even Home Depot near the airport.
After properly checking in the hotel we were able to drive ourselves to Lahaina to scout the town and also to find Lahaina Divers, the outfit we used for all of our dives while in Maui . Thankfully, Lahaina was a short drive away from Kanaapali.

Now, as soon as you arrive in Maui , you get bombarded with magazines and review books of all “Best of Maui”. Be it on restaurants, tours, hotels or even shop areas, they have a “Best of” guidebook for everything. Our biggest disappointment in the trip was that we were not able to find any superb restaurants. Sure, they were all voted best of but our best meals were actually local establishments recommended by the locals.

Our first dive experience of the trip was on Monday with Lahaina Divers. We met at the shop around 6am and departed to the boat at the docks. A briefing was given to divers on our way to our first dive site, the first cathedral. Our DM for the day were JC and Pierre. Myself and Echo were grouped with Pierre in a group of 6 divers.

The First Cathedral is a truly marvelous dive site. It is probably the second most popular site after Molokini Crater. First Cathedral is large lava tube that is approximately 100 feet in length and is nearly two stories high and sitting between 45 to 60 feet of water, this is an amazing dive site that is a must do while in Hawaii. Pierre took us in and around the site. As soon as you enter the small opening into the interior of the cavern like structure, the “cathedral”, you become amused almost immediately. The room is as big as a living room with high ceiling. The holes around the structure, coupled with the blue ocean gives out the illusion of glass murals you would see at cathedrals. When the sun's rays enter through holes in the ceiling they illuminate the chamber and create a stained glass window effect. There are several rooms and passageways, make sure you take the time to fully explore for crabs, lobsters, shell life and the occasional white tip reef shark. Outside, the dive spot is covered with reefs just like any other dive spots in Maui . One thing that surprised me was the lack of bigger size fishes. In California , in our boat dives and even on some beach dives, you are able to spot larger fishes which wasn't the case in Maui . There were multiple common warm water fishes but nothing large. We were also introduced to the resident Eel that was lazily relaxing in its hole in a part of the reef. After a 50 minutes dive, Echo and I were happy with our first dive in Maui .

Our second dive of the day was at a site only a short hop away called the Fish Rock. Located at the south side of Lanai near Manele Bay in waters between 20 to 70 feet, making this an excellent spot for snorkelers and scuba divers alike. Fish rock was a site that centered around these big rocks. Pierre took us on a quick tour around the rocks and you could see reef all around. In one of the clearings around the spot, we were led to a field of garden eel in the sand. There is also an abundant sea life such as Pyramid Butterfly Fish, Moorish Idols, Frogfish. Our dive lasted about 50 minutes again and I returned to the boat still with over 1300 PSI of air.

After a meticulous count to make sure all divers were safe and aboard, the captain sped the boat back toward the docks at Lahaina. Most people were shedding and putting away their gear prior to our arrival but since we were diving with them once again in the afternoon we were told to leave our gear at our station so they could change the tanks for us. After a short period, we were back at the docks. We had an hour of downtime and which we spent at a restaurant at the center of Lahaina.

After our well deserved lunch, we headed back toward the docks to our boat, the Dauntless. The crew was lying lazily on the deck conversing about diving and all sorts of other things. We joined in the conversation and found out a bit about local live and dive spots. Our gear was already set on new tanks for us and we just had to relax until the afternoon dive group showed up from the shop.

In the afternoon, we were to go to Turtle Reef. We found out later from the captain that Turtle Reef is wherever the captain says it is and wherever they find turtles. Our destination that day was the Mala Wharf or what was left of it after Hurrican Iniki swept through the island in 1992.
The Mala Wharf dive was the most pleasant dive we had in the trip. We were able to swim amongst the wreck of the pier taken down by the hurricane. We were able to spot a few turtles and it was a marvelous sight. I was able to swim closely and be face to face with two of them during the dive. It was also at this site we had the most fun encounter with an octopus. One of the divers in our group spotted it under a rock and dutifully got Pierre 's attention. After a short chase and nab, Pierre had it on its hands or was it the other way around and the octopus had Pierre in its tentacles. Either way, we were all treated to a close showing of the octopus' defense mechanisms of ink jetting and camouflage. It was an interesting sight when the octopus attempted to change its color to match the ambient in the hopes of camouflaging itself and hiding from us. The octopus accompanied us for the remainder of the dive either wrapped around Pierre 's arm or in between his BC and tank, by then I think the octopus was “attached” to Pierre . We met the other group of divers led by JC and Pierre dutifully passed on Mr. Octopus to him so he could show to his group of divers. After an almost 55 minute dive, I returned to the boat once again with over 1300PSI.

Our last dive of the day was at the Jodo Mission site. Jodo mission is a mission that spots a huge statue of Buhda near just before Lahaina if you are heading from Kanaapali. Again, we were greeted by several resident turtles which curiously swam around us checking us out. We spent the majority of the time exploring the area and half tank of air was enough to give me almost 50 minutes dive time.

After everyone was aboard, we made it back to the docks to end our day's dive.

Overall, it was a great set of dives and on our way back, we were treated to a sighting for a humpback whale with its calf. The captain stopped the boat and we were treated with the “fin wave”. It was a magical moment and the year's first according to our captain.

We arrived at the docks and were excited about our dives the next day.