Al Mialkovsky's Dive Log

In the past we haven't had much luck diving here as conditions weren't right. But this year in November it was perfect. A little chop at shoreline where the rocks meet the water, so don't mess around going slow and it'll be easy enough. The coral is in great shape here and this site is now on my must-do list.

Here's the thing. It's changed here. The owners of the land, as mentioned in the earlier review, request a donation. I didn't drive down there, but instead parked up on the road as before. Well, I had a friendly chat with the owner but then some snorkelers (obviously vacationers) walked up and there was no such thing as a "donation". It was a fee, flat and simple. The happy Hawaiian said "5 dollars now". The young tourist said he parked up on the road and didn't have 5 bucks with him. The Happy Hawaiian said "Then you go now because someone will break into your car". Sound like a threat?? It did to me. Horror stories about this guy are getting passed around the dive shops. On one day he said the dive site was shut down and no one was allowed. When the scuba diver told him that the diving was still good, it got ugly and the diver said you don't have the right to deny me access, which is very true. He was denied, and there was nearly a fight. So the authorities are gathering evidence to pursue this character. But it's an old Hawaiian family, so don't hold your breath. A great place ruined by local stupidity; what a shame. I love it here.

Today Honolua was as good as a shore dive can get anywhere. The vis was well over 100 and the coral is looking very healthy. There were large schools of fish and the word is out because there were 3 large cattle boats pulling into the bay when we left about 9am.

One of the easiest shore dives on Maui. Unless the summer swell is pumping this site should allow you to enter without any problems. Most dive the reefs to the right, but there are some interesting points on the left side also. This morning it was very crowded with students. I suggest that if you want to sort of ease your way into diving on Maui that this is a good place to start, especially if you haven't done much diving recently. I was very surprised to see 4 kids that are of about 10 years of age all taking classes from different instructors this morning. They are getting younger aren't they. But this beach is about as safe as they get, when the surf is down.

A large swell died down about a week ago but all the southern shore dives are still very murky. We were very surprised to see the fantastic visibility that exists here right now. At 40 feet the vis is 50-60 feet and when we went out past 70 feet the vis was close to 100 feet. The first reef has tons of life with some healthy turtles and tons of eels. We took some fantastic photos of all the creatures.

A large swell died down about a week ago but all the southern shore dives are still very murky. We were very surprised to see the fantastic visibility that exists here right now. At 40 feet the vis is 50-60 feet and when we went out past 70 feet the vis was close to 100 feet. The first reef has tons of life with some healthy turtles and tons of eels. We took some fantastic photos of all the creatures.

There are some great arches to dive through here and tons of sea critters that fear nothing as they are protected here, take nothing. In the middle of the bay is nothing but a couple of boat moorings, stay away from the middle. The best for diving is north, best for snorkel is south. Two concerns here, lots of bugs that will eat you alive and do NOT scratch if you've been bitten, you will regret that as I did. Also this is the main place that thieves break into cars. So leave nothing in your car, NOTHING. The broken glass in the parking area is a dead giveaway. But don't let that keep you away, just be careful of your valuables and DO this site.

Lots of checkout dives are done here so it's a very good spot for beginner divers to get out there without many concerns. There are restrooms and outside showers for rinsing off afterwards. I sort of came away without great feelings here, BUT, when I compare it to my diving spots in Oregon, there isn't a comparison.

I wouldn't dive here during the day as it can get very crowded, but this is a wonderful night spot. Especially if you've never dove at night before. We just followed the rock from one side to the other and saw squid, eels, countless friendly turtles and so many colorful fish that I needed a notebook to keep tract. You see many fish that just don't show up during the day.

Water is a bit murky this spring and the fault might lie in some construction work around the corner. This place makes a very nice one way dive if you start here and end up at 5 graves, or the other way around.