Dive Review of Maui Diamond/Grand Wailea in
Hawaii/Molokini Crater

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Maui Diamond/Grand Wailea: "Molokini Report", Aug, 2024, by Christopher Smith, FL, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 13016 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	First time diving Molokini and while it's geologically interesting, the diving was a little disappointing compared to diving elsewhere in the Pacific, even compared to neighboring Lanai'i or Black Rock Beach area in west Maui. Still, I'd recommend everyone do it once as the crater is cool. I did 2 backwall dives, which all dive shops rate as potentially challenging due to variable current and 2 inside the crater. The inside dives are good for beginners. All 4 dives had great conditions with essentially unlimited visibility. There isn't much coral though and pretty much everything below 40 or 50 feet is dead especially on the inside of the crater. Above that level there is some decent coral. For the backwall dives we were the only ones there, while for the interior dives we had a dozen with probably a hundred snorkelers. After the Lahaina fire destroyed the facilities there, all dive boats take off from Maalaea harbor on the south coast in between west Maui and the Wailea resort area. That means its probably a half hour from any luxury resort though there are inexpensive hotels nearby. Since the boat left every morning at 6:15am that meant getting up at 5am every morning. You had to pay for parking and getting a parking space in front of the boat meant making sure you arrive by 6am. Maui Diamond is a very good dive operator and their boat is well designed. Certified to carry over 40 pax they limit each trip to 21 divers. Three groups of 7 on each dive. A little more than I like, but the crew was helpful and skilled. They let each person surface as they run low on air rather than forcing the group to surface when the first diver gets low. A little weird though was the fact that Maui Diamond requires you to sign two electronic releases for each day of diving. I would use them again. Perhaps the coolest things we saw weren't even on the dives. Going out to Molokini we got chased by a large pod of dolphins. They followed us for about 15 minutes and we put cameras in the water and got great videos. On the way back we saw a much more dramatic encounter. We were surprised when a 8 to 10 foot tiger shark finned the surface right next to us. The captain cut the engines and again we put cameras in the water. For the next ten minutes we watched this tiger try to kill a small green turtle. The turtle couldn't outrun the tiger, but it had a much smaller turning radius, so it kept doing little donuts around the sharks body. Every few minutes though the shark would get enough distance to bite down on the turtle and carry it through the water for a bit, but it couldn't break the shell. After 10 minutes we left and never knew the outcome. Hope the little guy made it. The Grand Wailea is a fabulous hotel, but it is a terrible value overall. The breakfast buffet is $57 per person and it doesn't even include coffee. I wouldn't use them again.
Websites	Maui Diamond Grand Wailea
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, Bermuda, USVI, BVI, Turks & Caicos, Aruba, French Polynesia
Closest Airport	OGG	Getting There	Domestic USA flight. Nonstop from west coast and one stop from east coast.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	77-79°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	40 dives minimum experience to do backwall dives.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I just use a GoPro so I didn't observe much here.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Maui Diamond/Grand Wailea in Hawaii/Molokini Crater

Maui Diamond/Grand Wailea: "Molokini Report", Aug, 2024,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Maui Diamond/Grand Wailea in
Hawaii/Molokini Crater