Makena Coast Dive Charters

You will go in the direction your head points...

2009-08-30T11:13:00.005-10:00

This may seem like a basic too obvious to point out, but often people don't pay attention to the direction their head is pointing when they are kicking. If you are at an angle with your head pointing up and you kick, your feet/fins will propel you upward. If you want to go down, head down or simply stop kicking. We often see people trying to go down a descent line, head up, unconsciously kicking. Then, they don't understand why they aren't dropping.

Tip of the Day.....Pay attention to where you are "heading" when you are kicking!

The Eye of the Turtle

2009-08-30T11:10:00.004-10:00

Ever look into a turtle's eye? It is like looking into the eye of something ancient.....and wise.

Have you been diving lately? IS it time to blow some bubbles?

Mantas!

2009-03-31T13:05:00.009-10:00

There isn't much more spectacular than seeing the gracefulness of a giant Manta Ray. These two Mantas were huge.....rising up from the depths at Reef's End dive site Molokini Crater.
Always an honor to see!
Dive Master and Photographer Benja captured these beauties.

An Endangered Species DAY!

2008-07-12T19:23:00.004-10:00

Our divers were blessed not with ONE Hawaiian Monk Seal but TWO!
The first dive was a beautiful dive on the back wall of Molokini followed by a shallow dive at Pu'u O'lai along the Makena coast of Maui.
Here we dove with the monk seals while they searched for food and played with the diver's bubbles!
Hawaiian Monk seals are seriously endangered as their numbers are down to only 1000 or so animals left. They are endemic to the Hawaiian islands, meaning that they are not found anywhere else. It is always a treat to see them, much less swim with them, and to watch their incredibly playful antics. They are extremely friendly and unafraid, which unfortunately may be a contributing factor to their diminishing numbers.

The Best in the World!

2008-07-12T19:05:00.002-10:00

Steve,
Thanks again for a wonderful morning, James, Daniel and yourself looked after us in your usual professional manner - the perfect balance between responsibility (safety, good equipment, clear instructions) and sheer diving pleasure (great guides, superb local knowledge of dive spots and a fun , friendly, happy atmosphere on board).
I have dived around the world - Australia, Cozumel Mexico, Barbados, Scotland, Hawaii and the Maldives - yourself and your crew are the best I have encountered. To back this up I felt entirely safe entrusting my uncertified 12yo son Connor to your resort course and dive. The attention to detail and care shown by yourself and Daniel was truly impressive.
You should be very proud of Makena Coast Dive Charters.
Yours until next time,
Dr. Marcus Watson
Melbourne Australia

Hammerhead Sharks!

2008-07-07T20:25:00.003-10:00

Today we had the pleasure of running a private charter to an awesome spot where Hammerhead Sharks are sited. We got to see 22 of them at one time.
These aren't little sharks either...they are 10 footers!
What a site...

Millet Seed Butterfly Fish

2008-07-06T20:01:00.000-10:00

Hello guys

Today we had a beautiful day in Hawaii! The visibility at Molokini was over a 100 feet.
The first dive was really awesome—we had some Eagle Rays and a couple of sharks.

On the second dive, we went to the St. Anthony wreck and we got to see Milletseed Butterly fish(endemic to Hawaii) eating the eggs of the Sargeant Major.

Aloha

Benja

Baracuda at Molokini

2008-06-22T20:35:00.003-10:00

This lone Baracuda was spotted by our divers and captured on video by Captain Steve Hogan. This shot was taken from the video clip.
There aren't many of this type of Baracuda in Hawaii so it is a extra special treat when we get to see one.

Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins!

2008-06-03T06:59:00.008-10:00

Awesome day....a pod of about 50 Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins came and played all around the boat. These pics were taken with a cell phone!
Spinners are named aptly because they literally jump out of the water and spin, leap, and twist in the air.

Diving with a MARLIN!

2008-05-16T09:04:00.007-10:00

This was a first! In 27 years of diving on Maui, we've never had a Marlin diving with us! BUT TODAY WAS THE DAY!

We've had great conditions for the last few days, no wind, no swell—pretty much flat water.
Today, we got a call on the radio that a Marlin was INSIDE Molokini Crater, in shallow water. Captain Steve and I jumped in the water with cameras.
Steve shot a little video and Benja got this picture, but the real treat was seeing a Marlin swimming free on the wild.
That is one of the great things about diving at Molokini...even after all these years we still see things we have never seen before!

St. Anthony

2008-05-13T20:13:00.004-10:00

What a beautiful dive today!
We dove the St. Anthony wreck today as our second dive. Last week, we had a south swell so we weren't able to do any of the dives along Maui's south coast. Now, however, the water is super clear again.

We had a great dive with a lot of fish. no current and even a spotted eagle ray showed up to visit.

We will see what Hawaiian waters have in store for us tomorrow as we are planning to dive the Back Wall of Molokini.

Kind Words

2008-05-12T20:09:00.000-10:00

Hey People!

Just a note thanking you for the awesome dives at Molokini! They were the highlight of my Maui trip! I've already recommended you guys to other divers. Capt. Steve, Capt. James and Benja were very professional, but made the dives lots of fun. I wished I lived closer, I'd be there more often!

Bill Z.

Easton, PA

Nahuna Point, Wailea Coast of Maui

2008-05-11T09:29:00.002-10:00

Nahuna Point (AKA "Turtle Town," "Five Caves" and "Five Graves") is really fun dive on the shore of South Maui. You can access the dive site by boat or shore but it is always better by boat as the best spots are a bit of a swim from shore. Nahuna Point offers unique lava formations, swim through arch ways and nice caves like the one pictured here.

It is called "Turtle Town" because so many Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles are sighted here. They are often in the caves, or tucked just under a ledge.
This is a shallow dive with a maximum of 45 feet.

Photo Play

2008-05-07T07:55:00.002-10:00

It's always nice to try something new underwater, and the cool thing about diving off the coast of Maui is that the super clear water makes it easy to get good results.

Here, I slowed down the speed of the camera and moved it fast on a circular way, the flash froze the image in the middle creating a nice effect.

Aloha

Benja

A Molokini Day

2008-05-03T20:20:00.003-10:00

Yeah! The calm weather is back. Today was a beautiful day in Hawaiian waters. There was good visibility and no waves so we did a couple of really enjoyable and relaxing dives.

We did a Reef's End drift at Molokini and Mid-Reef, two of the best sites in Maui.
Here is a pic of one of our customers enjoing a antler coral at mid reef.

Rare Sighting! Melon-Head Whales!

2008-05-01T20:11:00.004-10:00

This week we battled some challenging weather as we had a south swell coming up from a storm in New Zealand and a high North wind.
We were crossing the channel between Molokini and Maui and thought we saw dolphins. As we approached we realized they weren't dolphins at all, but rather Melon-Head Whales!
In 27 years diving and boating in Hawaiian waters, Captain Steve Hogan has only seen them here twice. For Benja (the photographer) this was a first!
Check out this shot, there are 49 animals in the picture!

Creature Feature!

2008-04-30T21:42:00.002-10:00

Macro in Hawaii is nice because you can shoot so many little creatures here. At Molokini, it does not matter where you point—there are great opportunities like this Chrismas Tree Worm on a Brain Coral.

The Makena Coast

2008-04-29T16:53:00.005-10:00

This is an aerial shot of the Makena Coast of Maui. Makena is just south of Wailea and Wailea is just south of Kihei.
We usually do our first dive out at Molokini Crater which can't be seen from this shot. The second dive is usually at one of these dive sites: Pu'u Olai (a great drift dive), The WWII Tank and Landing Craft, Nahuna Point (aka Turtle Town) or the St. Anthony Wreck which is in Wailea and also can't be seen in this shot.

If you click on the picture it will make it bigger for you....
There are complete descriptions of each of these dive sites on our web site, www.MauiUnderwater.com

Turtle Love

2008-04-27T08:56:00.001-10:00

Aloha...

It wasn't all that long ago that you had to be a lucky diver to have the chance to see a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. They were endangered due to over-fishing; they were consumed as a delicacy. Due to the regulations put in place to protect them, their populations have experienced a wonderful increase and now we have the opportunity to swim with them daily.

This one is at the "Cleaning Station" getting her shell detailed. This is one of the wonderful symbiotic relationships in nature.

Be Watched by a Whale!

2008-04-24T13:32:00.003-10:00

It was another great day on the water! It has been really calm this week. We dove today at the 85 foot pinnacle near the coast of Maui. As the name implies, it is in 85 feet of water. We had a little current, but great visibility.

We saw several Spotted Eagle Rays, but the show was stolen by a whale who came by stayed and watched us for about five minutes before moving on.

In the 100's of dives that we do a year, this is one of the encounters that divers really wish for. Needless to say, it was a great dive.

Whales, Whales and more whales

2008-04-21T16:55:00.015-10:00

In January, we went out to watch whales with my five-year-old. Captain Steve (my dad) shut off the engines and we were just floating watching a pod, which at the time was over 100 yards away. As we floated, they began to move closer. Here, you can see Molokini Crater in the background and the West Maui mountains in the distance.

My daughter was "talking whale" like they do in "Finding Nemo" and talking really slow—over and over again, calling to them, "Heeeelllllooooo whaaaaalllllessss. Weeeeeee loooooovvvvveeee youuuuuuuu," which was cute for the first few minutes.

As the whales got closer everyone was running around the boat trying to film them and still my daughter was calling out, "Heeeelllllooooo whaaaaalllllessss. Weeeeeee loooooovvvvveeee youuuuuuuu", which was beginning to get a bit repetitive.

The whales kept getting closer and then they came right up to the boat, at least ten of them....and under the boat! We could see them just under the surface below us! They completely surrounded us. We could hear them, see them, feel them and smell them, they came so close.

Since he was trying to record all the sounds of their blows and splashes, Dad asked my daughter if she could stop talking "whale" for a few minutes so he could capture the sound of all the activity.

She did as he asked and suddenly all the whales moved away. Seeing them leaving, he said, "Okay, go ahead and talk whale!"

"Heeeelllllooooo whaaaaalllllessss. Weeeeeee loooooovvvvveeee youuuuuuuu." she continued happily and lo and behold all the whales turned and came straight for us!
We watched in absolute awe.

These pictures were taken with a cell phone camera....

Aloha, Samantha Hogan

The Humpback Whales are breeding and birthing in Maui's waters between Dec. and April.

Hawksbill Turtle—rare and endangered!

2008-04-20T20:00:00.005-10:00

We had a rare encounter today in Molokini; we had the luck to dive with a Hawksbill Turtle this morning. There are only about 80 breeding females around the Hawaiian Islands so close encounters like this one are very rare.

I think she thought the dome port of my camera was a jellyfish and wanted to take a bite!

A close encounter....with a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

2008-04-20T07:21:00.005-10:00

Today we got to dive with the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu in Hawaiian) off the south shore of Maui. It is always a treat to see the turtles; they seem so ancient.

It was a great dive. Two of the people on the boat were on Maui for their first time and this was their first dive with Honu. It was a memorable life experience for them.

This one came really close to my lens and i think he was waving to me!

Remember, the turtles are protected, so never touch or harass them. Also, since they breathe air from the surface, it is important to be careful not to block their access to the surface.

Another Beautiful Dive on Maui!

2008-04-18T07:17:00.001-10:00

Lucky enough, we had another day of light winds and friendly people on the boat today! We had the opportunity to dive Mid-reef, a nice calm shallow dive, and I got the chance to take this image of two of our customers while they were hovering over an Antler Coral.

THIS COULD BE YOU! At Molokini, with visibility in the 100-200 foot range, we always have great encounters...

White Mouth Eel

2008-04-17T22:37:00.002-10:00

Another good day in the water on beautiful Maui! Today we were blessed with a sunny day and no wind.

We did a drift dive at Reef's End dive site at Molokini Crater. I was lucky enough to spot this little White-Mouth Moray Eel.

I think it was curious about the reflection on my lens as it got so close that I had to pull the camera back to get this shot.
White mouth morays are common in Hawaiian waters.

Aloha

Benja

Looking for the Small Stuff!

2008-04-16T16:04:00.001-10:00

Wednesday April 16th...

Today was a really good morning; we were underwater by about 7:45 am.

We were looking for some small creatures and, as always, Maui delivered! We had the chance to photograph a Mantis Shrimp. This shrimp has the strength of a .22 caliber pistol with one strike of the tail—or so we are told. Cute as he is, we have never tested the theory.

It was a really good photo opportunity—see for yourself!

Aloha

Makena Coast Dive Charters
MauiUnderwater.com

Dolphins! Bottlenose and Spinners!!!!!!!

2007-09-14T21:41:00.001-10:00

While siting dolphins is not rare, it is always a real treat! Even better is having the opportunity to swim with these playful and graceful creatures! Hawaiian Spinner dolphins are native to Hawaiian waters and are aptly named for their spinning and jumping antics. The much larger Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin is also a "local" to these waters. The one to the right swam right up to our divers while they were on their safety stop at Reef's End, Molokini!

The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

2007-09-14T21:38:00.001-10:00

The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle has a great success story. When I first began diving on Maui 20 years ago, I never saw turtles on a dive. Now, almost anywhere along Maui's coastline you can swim, snorkel or dive with the turtles. Like the whales, there is something ancient about them; as if they have been alive forever.

Green Sea Turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act, so it is illegal to touch or harass them in any way. You can, however, swim right next to them! Be careful not to block their access to air, as they need to surface regularly. Typically, turtles surface every 20 minutes or so, but they can stay down for hours!

Riding a Manta Ray

2007-09-14T21:34:00.001-10:00

On Thanksgiving day a few years ago, a group of us were diving off of the back wall of Molokini. The back wall is spectacular in its 400 foot drop and deep blue waters pierced by rays of sunlight. On this particular day, we were impressed with a different sort of ray-the majestic Manta Ray! These graceful creatures are amazing to watch. As I approached the ray, with wide-eyed divers watching on, it allowed me to hang on and go for a ride! Since they are strickly plankton eaters, and no stinger, they are a completely docile creature. Their defense is their amazing speed and agility. Thus when you have the opportunity to "ride" on, you know that it was something the Manta allowed. It was a day to be thankful for indeed! While Manta's are not rare in Hawaii, it is always a special treat when we get to swim with them.

Looking in the eye of a Humpback Whale

2007-09-14T21:32:00.001-10:00

I have been one of the blessed few that has gotten to look into the eye of a whale. There is an ancient wisdom in their eyes that seems to be as old as the earth itself. The massive power of their tails is beyond comprehension. These animals weigh forty tons and are forty feet long. Even with this great mass they can propel them selves or (breach) totally out of the water. Imagine these large brained animals with a massive muscle strength being some of the largest creatures to have ever been on earth. Having been on a couple of research projects filming the whales, I've gotten to where I think they could hear the pounding of my heart.

Seymore the Monk Seal

2007-09-13T21:44:00.000-10:00

Some of the most hilarious diving I've had was the rare opportunity to swim with a Hawaiian Monk Seal at Molokini Crater! The seal was quite playful, however, in its seemingly lonely state, very amorous to say the least. The seal would grab onto people to "hug" them, much the way a house dog "latches onto" a person's leg. It is believed that the male seals are driven out of the larger herds by the older males. We believe this is why we had "Seymour," the monk seal, with us for a while. It is illegal to intentionally harass a Hawaiian Monk Seal, however in this case, he did the "harrassing"! Every time we dived in the area were Seymour lived, we would see him playing with snorkelers and divers. We haven't seen Seymour for a while, but we keep our eye out for him. We'll keep a watch and keep you updated. As you can see: Seymour is not shy!

Refresh Your Basic Skills

2007-09-13T21:41:00.005-10:00

Remember that you cannot go to elevation the same day that you dive, which includes driving up Haleakala (a 10,000 foot mountain on Maui). Make sure you plan your helicopter and airplane trips and drives up the mountain for 18 hours or more AFTER you dive.(It doesn't matter what you do before you dive, only after).

Remember that you should be in good health and reasonably fit to SCUBA dive. If your physical fitness or health has changed since you got certified, it would be prudent to get a doctor's check up before diving. Clear any medications you may be on with your doctor before diving.

Introductory divers must fill out a medical form at the boat which states you are in good medical health, with no medical problems. You cannot be on any prescription medications without a doctor's permission. You must not have any heart, respiratory problems or asthma and you cannot be pregnant. If you have any medical medical issues, you will need doctor's clearance to dive.

Introductory divers must be comfortable swimmers and they must be fluent in English.

Clear your ears early and often! Sometimes it helps to swallow, and/or flex your neck on the side that is difficult to clear.

Great Diving! Great Crew!

2007-09-13T21:26:00.001-10:00

I had a blast diving with you all. Thank you so much for everything. I dove with the crew two days in-a-row and it was one the highlights of my time in Hawaii. You guys
were great!!!!
So a big thanks from me to~ Steve, Loren, Benja, Daniel, and Chris!! I love you guys!!!!!!
—Kara Donahue