Northwest Dive Club

Howdy Folks
I went on a quick trip to Maui, mostly to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary. I got in 3 dives on the trip. Makena Landing, Polo and Mala Wharf.

All great dives -- the diving was better than I thought it would be! There was some dead corral, mostly in the shallows, which was sad, but there was healthy corral too. Not gobs of fish, but I did see some invertibrates like a few crabs, sea stars, huge chitons (much like our gumboot chitons), as well as harlequin shrimp! I also saw a couple white tip sharks (no photos)

Humpback whale songs were heard loud and clear during each dive. We also saw plenty of humpbacks from the surface!

Here were some of the snaps!
Happy New Year!

Gorgeous Eric! Though ScubaJess may be green with envy right about now.

Soooooooooooooooo AMAZING! I think my next trip is to Hawaii!!! I've gotta see those turtles and those super cute Frogfish!! They look like Huge lumpies with legs!! How cool!!!

Excellent snaps and lighting!! You are so cool! Also how was the coffee?

Oh man, the FROG FISH!!!!

Nice! Love Hawaii, and as with the rest of the world haven't dove there near enough!

Once I realized that the underwater scenery and coral life was not going to be the tropical Caribbean I was able to appreciate it much more. Come to think of it, I still need to do an Oahu trip report....

Thanks for telling the story Eric!

Great pics Eric, and great find on the frog fish!! Love the tan one. The one I found last time were all mud brown, not really photogenic lol

Really like the pictures and amazing find on the frog fish!

Last night on Maui and had to share my dive report from my week!

5 dives total: 2 boat dives with Extended Horizons to Lana’i and 3 shore dives.

Boat dives: I chose Extended Horizons because their boat is smaller and carries fewer divers. (I don’t like being crowded.) because of winds and swells, rather than the Cathedrals, we dove 2 sites on the east side of the island. Sorry, I can’t remember the site names. The visibility was 60 ft plus and water temperature was 74 degrees. Good healthy reef structures but the critters are not as accustomed to divers so quickly hid. En route we saw lots of humpback whales breaching so it was like a whale watching tour as well as diving!

Shore dives: we stayed on West side and there was a massive storm in the middle of the trip; hence no South Maui dives. We did basic weight check dive at Airport Beach. Ok- would skip next time, but free parking and easy shore entry.

Today we went to Black Rock and the oft mentioned Mala Pier. Both were fantastic with my favorite being Mala. We were 20-30 feet the whole time and saw turtles galore, eels aplenty, and even a bright yellow frog fish! Of course my GoPro runs out of battery at this crucial moment so no evidence of the frog fish. But we did spend 70 minutes so not unexpected to have battery die. I would definitely go back to Mala again.

Oh, in other threads I looked at in preparation for my trip, I tried to decide between taking my dry suit vs 5mm. (I dislike 7mm.) I was dissuaded when I spoke to another dive shop, but on the boat dive, I wish I had worn my dry suit because I was freezing in the full 5mm with hoodie. Even my husband got cold with 5mm and he’s usually hot. However for the shore dives with water temperature 76, I was comfortable.amazing how much effect 2-3 degrees can make.

Sounds like a great trip to Maui. Yes it can be downright chilly there at times. Aloha!

Glad you had some good dives! Mala Wharf is awesome!