#3091
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I’m not sure where your hotel is on Maui, but if it’s anywhere near Lahaina on the west side, I recommend Lahaina Divers. Ask to dive with either of the Cesere brothers, John or Dan. They’re really great guys and a lot of fun. John’s wife, Gwen, also works with L.D. and is really great too. Well, actually, all the staff is great. Jerritt, Captain Dan, Elliot, Chelsea, and everyone else, too.
John and Dan are not only great dive leaders, but also professional underwater photographers and videographers and take really cool underwater pics and video. A great souvenier to take home. I usually get one dvd or cd everytime I go. If you want, you can check out some of their work at www.c3submerged.com. And, no, I don’t get a commission for promoting them. I just think they’re great guys and good friends and I love their work.
If you do sunrise on Haleakala, bring arctic clothing - it’s cold up there. I went in the summer when it was 90 at sea level, it was in the 20s at the top of the volcano. BRRRR. And if you do go up to Haleakala, do it your first day, before you go diving, as it is 10,000 ft.
If you like hiking, they’ve got some nice trails. You can choose your level from easy to moderate to difficult and usually there’s a stop on the way back where you can go swimming in a waterfall. It’s a lot of fun.
If you want to drive the Road to Hana, go with a tour that has someone else do the driving. The point of the drive is the scenery, not the destination and you can hardly look at the scenery if you’re doing the driving.
As to diving itself, the Carthaginian (a wreck) is a good dive. Lahaina divers also has a trip out to Molokai where there’s a good chance of seeing a school of hammerheads (I got a really cool video of that from C3). There’s also Molokini crater, inside and the back wall. I never did get a chance to dive the back wall, but I hear it’s really cool.
Around the time you’re going, the whales should still be there. If you’ve never heard whale song while you’re diving, it’s quite an experience. When I dove there, it was loudest at the Carthaginian. It was really eerie diving the Carthaginian at night and hearing whale song. It’s like WOW!
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