Maui? rent gear? carry on photo equip?

[jedijordos]

im heading to Maui in a few weeks for a wedding. Im bringing all my camera gear including full uw housing etc. anyone have a good recommendation for carry on luggage for this purpose? favorite dives on Maui? and i was thinking i would bring some dive gear and rent some. maybe just bring regs? i plan to do some shore diving and maybe a charter. any advice would be greatly appreciated

[pogiguy05]

I went to the Big Island in June this year and I took everything but weights and suit. I have a travel bag that I was able to fit my BCD,Fins, wet suit boots. I carried on everything else from regs,UK SUN dive light,computers(2), and my camera housing. Unfortunately I forgot the camera . When going thru security you just have to pull things out and put them in the bins and send them thru the xray. I had no problems and my dive light had a rechargable battery pack which you take out of the light as well.

Cannot answer anything about dive charters but I am sure others will.

[squid509]

how hard is it to pack scuba gear for a flight
im planning a trip to Miami mid oct for my godson's birthday party with family flying in from out of town
i want to sneak away for a charter dive. im not sure how to pack every thing
i know i should carry-on regs and comp but that seems too bulky in less i remove the hoses
i try to check everything when i fly and only carryon one backpack with my laptop and electronics which is the exact opposite of what i see most people do on a flight using over stuffed rolly bags to big to fit in the overhead without the use of a slage hammer just to save $20

[Linedog]

I'm heading to Maui in a few weeks also. Last year I rented tanks and lead from B&B scuba. Brad and Blessi are great people and run a charter out of there shop that we will be taking. I carry on my regs, computer and mask. If my luggage gets "lost" I can live with rental fins and wetsuit (ick). As for shore diving there's a ton, 5 graves comes to mind B&B or any dive shop can point some out.

[eliseaboo]

Once you commit to "just do it" packing scuba gear becomes very doable. I've actually flown with all my cold water dive equipment, and carried on my reg, computer, light, camera, AND drysuit! (I have drysuit separation anxiety) As long as you don't mind packing clothes in with your dive stuff, it's not so bad. I can still get by with one checked bag and two carry ons. It's amazing what you can do when you just sort of...make it happen!

[Tom Nic]

ust to save $20

When's the last time you flew?

Most airlines charge $50 a bag eEACH WAY unless you are first class, have elite status, or are on an International flight. Baggage fees add $100 to the cost of the typical domestic round trip ticket - and that's if you just check one.

If I'm on a dive trip I want to walk off the plane with my gear in hand. Of my bag arrives a day or two later - no biggie, just a minor inconvenience. If it does so with all my scuba gear in it I'm blowing 1/7 of my rare, hard earned vacation in Bonaire time because a 10/hr baggage handler lost my stuff

Not worth the risk, personally. YMMV

[squid509]

$50 a bag???
most i ever saw as $25 a bag last year i fly with united and alaska

[Tom Nic]

$50 a bag???
most i ever saw as $25 a bag last year i fly with united and alaska

Perhaps my coffee hasn't kicked in. or I may be thinking a couple flying, or two checked bags adding $100 to the cost of a ticket. Still too much for me...

If I'm on a dive trip the money would be secondary I guess, and the big deal would be risking losing dive days to lost luggage. If it was simply a regular trip in which I might do a dive but diving wasn't the primary purpose it would be different.

[lizard0924]

how hard is it to pack scuba gear for a flight

Not very. Just use a rugged piece of luggage. (There are also regulator carry on bags designed to accommodate hoses, etc.)

You will find that different people have different levels of risk tolerance when it comes to what they carry on vs. what they check.

My general rule is to carry on anything I can't/don't want to replace at my destination (camera/uw housing, regs, dive computer). The rest goes in my checked luggage, along with all my clothes. I figure I can borrow/rent/buy anything the luggage monkeys might lose. While I would sorely miss my BP/W if it failed to show up at my final destination with me, I can always find a BCD to use until mine shows up eventually. Same for fins, exposure suit, etc. There's no way I'm lugging all my dive gear in carry ons thru multiple airports and flights. So far, I've had no issues.

The biggest challenge you will face in packing dive gear is staying under the 50 pound weight limit for checked bags. I'm usually right at 50 pounds and have had to do some creative re-packing once or twice at the airport when I misjudged the actual weight.

Airline travel with dive gear=fun times.

[LCF]

We've got it down to a bag and a half each for a Maui trip, but if you load your carry-on, you can probably get it down to one. We take everything, and that includes canister lights, which a lot of people, I think, would leave home. You don't need a lot of heavy clothing for Maui!

We have dived with three Molokini boat operations, and all of them are fine. B&B leaves earliest, so they get to Molokini first. It's nice not to be in the water with a bunch of other divers. They tend to attract a lot of new divers, though, and if you are looking to instabuddy, you could have a short dive. Ed Robinson runs a three-tank advanced dive once a week (or at least they used to.) But my favorite is Mike Severns. They tend to serve a more experienced group of divers, and the owner is co-author of one of the marine life guides to Hawaiian Islands. They have critter ID materials on the boat, and try to take you where you will see unusual endemic species.

If you are staying up in the Kaanapali or Lahaini area, it's very worth taking a boat over to Lanai to do the pinnacles and the Cathedrals. Lahaina Divers runs such a boat, but be aware they use 72 cf tanks. I have heard that you can request bigger ones, but I have never put that to the test, nor have I been out with them. (We did our Lanai trip from Kihei.)

Shore diving, if the weather cooperates, can be almost as good as the boat diving (the viz isn't quite as good). In the south end, I like Ulua and Polo beaches. Ulua has a second reef just offshore that is very large and fun to explore. At Polo, enter as far north as you can (and beware of the outrigger canoe!) and you will find a bunch of fingers of rock, covered in some of the healthier coral I've seen off Maui. We've seen nudibranchs, octopuses, and several species of morays there.

In the Lahaina area, my favorite shore dive is the Mala Wharf, even though the legal entry is a PITA. It's a shallow dive, with lots of structure and TONS of life. I've heard there can be current there, but we've never had any. Further up is Honolua Beach, which has a long walk to the shore, but a beautiful wall to swim out along, and if the water is calm, you can swim back over the top of it.

www.alohashoredivers.com is a good resource for Maui shore dives, as is shorediving.com.

Have fun in that warm, clear water!

[trevorrowe]

I recently did a family vacation to Maui (Kihei). I packed everything I needed (including a 5 lb steel backplate, wetsuit, etc) sans tank in a single check bag an 1/2 of a carry on (dive light, camera and regulators went in the carry-on). It cost me $25 to check the bag, and nothing for my two carry on bags (the 2nd bag had my clothing).

Hawaiian airlines has their fees posted here: http://help.hawaiianair.com/app/answers ... eptions#tp. If you want to see inter-island flight fees (around $10 a bag) just scroll up.

As for charter, I used Ed Robinson. They still do their 3-tank adventure and their weekly dives with Ed. Compared to Liahaina divers (the only other charter I tried) Ed Robison was a *much* better experience and value.