This was a our 3rd and 4th dives ever. First in Maui and WOW, what a treat to meet two very passionate and customer centric dive instructors/owners. Kevin and Caitlin run a very low stress and truly enjoyable scuba business that was one of our all time favorite experiences in the Hawaiian Islands. They embrace and live the OHANA way of life and treat each customer as being a part of their extended OHANA...
We scheduled a single dive with them March 17th at 9:00am near the Ka'anapali area. The location was close to our stay at the Sheraton down the road. We walked over to the park where their GPS instructions were accurate! Kevin greeted us with a big hello and set out the gear for our trip while the other 3 divers arrived. Caitlin had a private dive with 2 individuals, and the 5 of us went with Kevin. These are small groups compared to other dive companies and that really helped those of us with little to no experience get a good feeling about what we would experience.
Step 1: Learn the lingo. Kevin spent time discussing what we needed to know and used easy catch phrases to help you remember what to do.... L and L's = Lungs and Legs. Exhale your lungs and use your legs to propel you downward in the water. (there's more...)
Step 2: Learn how to breathe (under water). We spent time getting to know how to use our regulator and various components of the dive equipment.
Step 3: The fitting. Getting everything just right is an art. So, we spent time getting the right size for each article including the foot protection, fins, suits (both full length and short sleeve available). Then the mask. They have a variety of masks for all face types. Then the tanks and weights were put on us.
Step 4: Walking on the beach. As this is a non-boat experience, you walk into the water with your tanks on and follow the group into the water right from the beach! This is a very "green" way to go and a new experience for us. I highly recommend this as a great first experience to a new diver. (our first was on a boat and that was a little intimidating)
Step 5: Practice and get comfortable. We spent time filling our flotation vests with air and floated on our backs to move further out to sea. Then we practiced breathing with our regulators without our masks on with our faces under water. (do that for 3 breaths) Once Kevin saw we were comfortable with that, we put on the last mask you will ever need... :) Down we went by releasing O2 from our vests, holding our noses with one hand to equalize the pressure, we began to descend into the beautiful Maui Ocean. Knees touch the sandy floor, we make sure our ear pressure is ok, and practice clearing our masks with water (head tilted back, inhale through the mouth, use the "L's" (index fingers and thumbs) to slightly lift the mask up at the base and a strong exhale through the nose. Voila!! Clear mask! Kevin did a check with everyone to also remove our regulators while underwater, swing your right arm down by your thigh and up above your right shoulder and there your regulator appears for you to place back in you mouth. We did this a few times to make sure if we did lose it under water, we would not panic and try to swim to the surface. It's all right there for you. Easy as pie.
Step 6: Go Forth and Have Fun! We began our dive to the near coral reef and were able to see a great deal of fish. The clear skies helped to illuminate the water for us. As we moved through the area, Kevin checked on our breathing, if we were too full of air in our vests and whether we had the right amount of weights in our vests. He also made it clear he would monitor our O2 levels throughout the dives and explained that the guys would go through the O2 faster than the ladies.
Sights included many species of fish, starfish, coral, sea urchin... alas on this first dive, we did not see any Honu (sea turtles) or White Fin Sharks. That was for the next dive. All in all, about 45 minutes underwater. Truly awesome experience by a great dive instructor. No question was a bad question and he was willing to answer all of them with no loss of a smile and true excitement to share the wonderful experience with us. Both Kevin and Caitlin had spent over 10 years diving in many places around the world, they have found Maui to be one of their favorites and could not wait to share that with us.
Exiting the water was new to my legs to stand up with this tank on my back, but everyone was able to do it on their own.
The next adventure was up to us to let them know if we wanted to do another dive farther south where there were always sea turtles and sharks to be seen. Unfortunately, we were tired and cold with other ideas in mind but the rest of our group continued on. The second dive is 20% lower in cost than the first, but would also be more time in the water and less on land. Lessons were done.
Here's where I want to make a special MAHALO to Kevin and Caitlin. We truly enjoyed our experience and didn't want to miss out on the second dive. We contacted them later that same day and asked if they could accommodate us on Sunday. This was very short notice and we did not think they would be able to do so. Kevin asked if we could go on Monday instead, but our schedule was already full and we leave on Tuesday. Once we explained we only had Sunday, he told us he would see what he could do and would call us back. Not very much later, we received a call from Kevin. He worked it out so he could take us at 9:30am on Sunday. This was awesome! Obviously (Thank you, Caitlin) he was able to break from his personal time in order to accommodate us. He did not have to go to that length, but really felt he wanted us to experience the second dive. Also, he was not going to charge us anymore than what was planned on Saturday. (WOO HOO! as I would have gladly paid more for the exception that Kevin (and Caitlin) made for us.)
SECOND DIVE! Well worth it and so many Turtles and 3 White Fin Sharks! We dove at the Mala Pier, which was a pier destroyed by a hurricane and now has become a favorite reef of many Honu! They have what are called cleaning stations where the sea turtles float in the water and fish come to clean them. Great relationship! We were able to dive very close but did not touch (nor should anyone) the beautiful sea turtles. I believe we saw over 10 that dive. Some were sleeping, some were getting cleaned and others just enjoying their time.
The pier offers great places for the sea life to hide, but some potential areas for divers to be aware of due to the steal rebar and the strong current in places. Kevin kept us out of harms way, but also next to beautiful sea life. We floated through and under the hurricane made reef, had pictures galore as Kevin is "Sea Life Paparazzi" with a happy trigger finger.
At the end our journey, Kevin made available for purchase a large amount of photos he took of us, of sea life, and of us with sea life... Very cool and yes, we purchased them. Delivery comes via Dropbox. If you also are interested, they offer some very cool "Banyan Tree Divers" branded clothing. Their logo of the islands with a red Maui, is quite nice and we purchase a tank for my beloved!
We highly recommend Banyan Tree Divers and will look to join them again the next time we are on Maui. Mahalo!