Scuba Tips to Plan Your Maui Vacation

Your flight to Maui and hotel in Kaanapali are all booked. It’s time to plan your scuba diving adventure, but you may have countless questions. Do you want to visit specific dive sites in Lahaina or Wailea? Which dive company is the best fit for you? What scuba gear should you pack? Properly preparing for your scuba diving experience during your Maui vacation will ensure the best possible experience for you and your family. Here are some tips to help you get ready for your upcoming scuba diving holiday. Keep this list handy for your next trip to Maui.

Scuba Diving Checklist

1. Research Shore vs. Boat Diving in Maui

Scuba diving in Maui offers options! Whether you are a brand new diver, a seasoned professional, or somewhere in between, you can find the perfect dive site. For example, shore diving sites in West Maui are ideal for non-certified and certified divers, whereas boat dives like Molokini Crater Backwall and Lanai Cathedrals may require you to have an Advanced scuba certification!

Maui has as many shore dives as boat dives, so pay attention to whether or not the dive shop you choose offers both or just one. Banyan Tree Divers Maui, for example, only facilitates shore diving tours in Lahaina and Kaanapali. We can help you with boat diving referrals, but we do not offer this service unless you charter a boat privately. Contact us if private boat diving interests you.

We always recommend shore diving for beginners because of the shallow depths and calm conditions! Shore diving is also great for people who get seasick on boats.

For certified divers, we recommend both options! First, shore dive along Maui’s coastline to see tons of sea life, like Hawaiian Green Turtles and White-Tip Reef Sharks. Second, book a day of boat dives to visit Lanai Island’s iconic sites, like the Second Cathedral.

For a more detailed description of Maui’s shore diving sites, refer to the Maui Shore Diving: Official Guide and the popular Maui Information Guide, which offers excellent descriptions of boat and shore dive sites.

Shore diving at Ka’anapali Beach.

Boat diving at Lana’i Second Cathedral

Charter your private boat

2. Choose Your Maui Dive Shop

Researching dive companies on Maui can be dizzying. There are MANY options for your Maui vacation! Choosing the best dive company depends on what you want in a scuba diving experience. Reading reviews is an excellent place to start. TripAdvisor and Google do not aggressively filter their review results, so what you read most often comes from previous guests.

Call the dive shop to get a feel for their offerings and availability. We offer a full dive service to answer your questions and guide you in the right direction when you are looking for something we cannot provide.

Get scuba certified on Maui! Maui has a variety of dive shops to choose from, catering to different preferences and needs. If you’re a solo diver seeking plenty of options and availability, choosing a dive shop that offers both shore and boat diving and a range of time slots to fit your vacation schedule is beneficial. On the other hand, if you prefer a more personalized experience, smaller boutique dive operations might be the better choice for you.

Perhaps you are a couple or a family looking to scuba dive together for the first time. West Maui shore diving is perfect for first-time divers. There are several excellent shore diving operations in the Lahaina area. Often, your decision will depend on price comparison. Our competitive prices reflect our service quality, the added benefit of guaranteed small groups, and private diving options. So, if you are looking for the cheapest deal, we might not be the best fit. But if you want to book the memorable highlight of your Maui vacation, then we can’t wait to style you out!

No matter which Maui dive shop you choose, take time to do research and make sure that the company reflects the Maui scuba diving experience you hope to have.

3. Pack Your Dive Gear

When your Maui vacation date approaches, it’s time to pack your dive gear. The first three items listed apply to ALL scuba divers, while the remaining items apply mainly to certified divers who bring equipment from home.

♦ Comfortable Swimwear

Ocean temperatures in Maui, Hawai’i, range from 72 to 82 degrees, depending on the month you visit the Hawaiian Islands. It’s common for Lahaina dive shops to provide wetsuits for your scuba dive. 3mm shorty wetsuits are perfect for May to October, while 3mm full-length wetsuits ensure comfortable diving during the winter months of November to April.

♦ Reef Safe Sunscreen

Starting in 2021, the Hawai’i ban on oxybenzone and octinoxate sunscreens went into effect. Yay!

Be sure the sunscreen you use contains only zinc or titanium dioxide. Please avoid an ingredient called Avobenzone, which is sadly still found in so-called “reef-safe” sunscreens.

♦ Dive Mask and Snorkel

A comfortable mask is your most important piece of scuba equipment! You can bring your mask and snorkel if you have them. However, reputable dive operations rent high-quality scuba masks that rarely fog and have comfortable straps that don’t pull your hair.

♦ Dive Boots and Fins

Dive Fins are tricky. Fins take up a ton of space in your luggage. But if you don’t mind packing them, having your fins for snorkeling and scuba diving can be nice. You can rent snorkel equipment for a nominal fee from the Snorkel Store, Boss Frog’s, or SnorkelBob’s. Most scuba companies provide rental fins for you. Banyan Tree Divers Maui includes all your rental dive equipment and provides the added luxury of dive boots to protect your feet! You use dive boots with high-quality open-heel fins from Aqua Lung, the number one scuba brand. Dive boots are necessary for shore diving in Maui. The parking lots get hot in the summer, and the sand, too!

♦ Long or Shorty Wetsuit

Whether or not to bring a wetsuit depends on personal preference. A wetsuit takes up a lot of space in your luggage, and it’s annoying to worry about drying it thoroughly before you return home. However, it is nice to know that you are the only person who has worn your wetsuit.

Do you need to bring it? Probably not.

♦Regulator

You made it to the point in your scuba diving journey to invest in scuba equipment! Welcome to the club. But before you pack your regulator set:

Be sure to hook your regulator to a tank and ensure your primary and alternate regulators breathe easily and don’t leak—test for escaping bubbles using a bucket full of water.

Make sure the regulator hoses and first stage do not leak air. Test for bubbles using soapy water in a spray bottle. Of the four hoses, the high-pressure hose gets replaced the most often.

Ensure that your pressure gauge works by breathing from your regulator while looking at the pressure gauge. Does the gauge needle move when you breathe from it? If it does not move, you are good to go! The pressure gauge needle should NOT move when you test your regulator. Always remember to replace the first stage dust cap after scuba diving.

♦BCD

The importance of soaking and rinsing your BCD with fresh water immediately after diving will make itself apparent when you get your BCD out of storage. If you neglect this simple step in equipment care, you might have problems putting your BCD back into use. Saltwater is incredibly detrimental to your dive equipment. Failing to rinse your BCD inside and out can lead to excessive salt deposits, undermining the material’s integrity. You should also test your BCD with a scuba tank to ensure it does not self-inflate. Monitor if the BCD self-inflates for at least an hour!

Conversely, make sure that your BCD holds air. Proper fresh water washing and careful handling can avoid leaks. If your BCD self-inflates, do not use it to scuba dive. You must have your BCD repaired at your local dive shop. But don’t worry—it’s easy—and cheap to fix!

♦Dive Computer

A dive computer should be the most prized possession in your scuba arsenal because it allows you to plan and execute dives safely! I would argue that a dive computer should be one piece of equipment that avid divers should first invest in. They are easy to pack and give you peace of mind in every dive you make. Make sure the battery gets fully charged and set to dive mode. If you recently purchased a new computer, take some time to read the instructions first!

4. What Else Could I Forget?

PADI open water diver card for a Maui scuba diving certification course.

♦Scuba Certification Card	All certified scuba divers must show proof of their dive experience. Pack your scuba certification card or purchase a digital copy from your certification agency. PADI provides an app that stores all your dive training proof in one place.
♦Dive Insurance Paperwork	DAN is the most widely used provider of scuba diving insurance. If you purchase dive accident insurance, bring that information to Maui.
♦First Aid Kit	Dive operations maintain a first-aid kit in the unlikely and unfortunate event you encounter a sea urchin or take a spill exiting the water. You can consider purchasing your own travel first aid kit for possible wound care.
♦Log Book or Log Book App	Your logbook proves your dive experience and acts as your dive journal. But many certified divers do not take the time to record their scuba diving history, which is nonsense! Keep a record of your memories in your logbook. After a few Maui vacations, you will be thankful!

Final Thought

Preparing for your Maui vacation requires careful planning. I hope you find this scuba diving tips checklist useful. Click HERE for a great, printable scuba checklist. Thank you for reading!

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Maui Scuba and Snorkeling