Dive Review of
Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures in
Hawaii/Maui

Worldwide

Dive Conditions

No decompression.  

Camera table on boat and rinse tank.  

Overall Rating

On the way to Bikini Atoll we stopped in Maui for a week, to do some diving
and exploring, and to get rid of some jet lag. We dove three days with Ed
Robinson’s Diving Adventures and stayed  in a pleasant bungalow attached to
Ed’s house consisting of a living/dining room, full kitchen, bedroom with
queen-size bed, and bath. Another bedroom and bath can be utilized if
needed at an additional cost. There is also an elevated deck from which the
ocean and sunsets can be viewed.  Also available are a grill, coolers,
laundry, and covered parking, all at a very reasonable price. A two-minute
walk down the street is the main office for Ed Robinson’s Diving
Adventures, also where they keep their two boats and another rental chalet.
Our car rental was from Maui cruisers, a local business with extremely
reasonable prices and older automobiles with character that made us look
like locals.

We had a ten minute drive to the dock where the boats were launched;
awaiting us at 6:30am were a welcoming staff with coffee, juice, bagels,
and waiver forms. Departure was 7am after everyone was pointed toward the
correct boat, gear was handed up to the boat and put together by the staff;
no more than 10 guests plus staff were on each 30’ or 32’ boat. 

Four to six divers are grouped together with a guide; each of the three
guides we dove with was competent and enthusiastic, looking for things to
point out to us. Although we dove Molokini Crater four times, we never did
the same dive site twice; they try to give repeat customers new dives each
time. The three-tank day the water was flatter than normal so they
excitedly took us to “Turtle Rock”, a site they only get to 20 times a
year, an hour and a half away. Between dives on two-tank days we were
offered fresh fruit and pastries, three-tank days also included
do-it-yourself sandwiches. Water, lemonade, and soda were always
available.

The diving is pleasant, not much coral since this is a volcanic island, but
the turtle-cleaning station is pretty cool, and there are many endemic
species that are not found anywhere else. We saw several kinds of eels, two
giant frogfish, an eagle ray, octopus, a few sharks, and Spanish dancer
eggs. Another pretty cool dive was the wreck of the Corinthian, a fairly
new wreck sunk by the Atlantis sub; our captain timed our dive to coincide
with the passing of the Atlantis, so we got to wave at the passengers.
There was a whale shark hanging around Molikini Crater which we
unfortunately didn’t see, and during the winter months listening to the
whale songs underwater is a rush.

When not diving, we explored the island, doing several early morning hikes.
And on our last morning on Maui we experienced our first earthquake, a 6.6
with the epicenter off the Big Island. Airports and electricity were
disrupted throughout the Hawaiian Islands for several hours—it took us an
extra four hours to make our way from Maui to Honolulu where we were
staying overnight to catch an early morning flight to Bikini. There was no
electricity in any of the hotels, including Waikiki, which were overflowing
with tourists whose flights were cancelled. Luckily the electricity came
back on by 1:00am and the airport was functional earlier than that. When we
arrived at the Honolulu airport at 5am it looked like a refugee camp with
people sleeping everywhere, and there were already long lines of travelers
trying to get home. Not too many trying to get to Bikini, though, and we
left on time for a fabulous week of deep wreck diving on World War II
wrecks.
 

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