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Lahaina Scuba Diving

Maui shore diving and snorkeling site with clear water near Olowalu Mile Marker 14.

Shore vs. Boat Diving in Lahaina, Maui

You can best experience scuba diving in Lahaina, Hawaii based on the season and your certification level. The time of year you prefer to visit Maui coupled with your overall diving history will provide various options to help navigate choosing a dive service. If ocean temperature ranks high on your important items list, an online search for Maui scuba diving shows that you can expect dive site temperatures of 76 degrees Fahrenheit in February and 82 degrees Fahrenheit in August.

There are two ways to scuba dive in Lahaina. You can go shore diving or boat diving, and your choice may come down to time commitment and cost. Maui has the best shore diving in North America. For example, shore dive sites like Mala Wharf in Lahaina feature turtles, sharks, frogfish, stingrays, and colorful coral reef fields! Even more, Lahaina provides nearly year-round clear visibility and calm dive site conditions.

Boat companies offer tours to Lanai, Molokini Crater, and maybe Molokai. You usually meet your dive guides at 7 am and finish up at 2 pm. Many boat companies leave from the Lahaina harbor near the Banyan Tree, just off Front Street. These dive trips go across the channel to a popular Lanai dive site called The Cathedrals.

Lahaina scuba diving means sunshine, clear visibility, and Hawaiian Turtles. Maui divers can expect year-round ocean temperatures of 74 to 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the year, the Lahaina averages 80 degrees. Banyan Tree Divers Maui includes for each guest a rental short or long wetsuit to keep you comfortable. During the warm summer months of June to September, many scuba divers choose to wear just a swimsuit. But there is a limit to how hot the ocean in Lahaina should get each year. The ocean temperature should never rise past 84 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer as these conditions become too hot for the health of Maui’s coral reef ecosystem.

Our Maui Dive Service

We want to be your Maui dive service for the best scuba diving lessons, tours, and PADI courses. Every day you can walk into the ocean from the beach in Lahaina and descend upon an expansive coral reef. When you go scuba diving in Ka’anapali at Airport Beach you can sometimes see Spinner Dolphins! Not to mention the opportunity to hear Humpback Whales from December to April!

Beginner divers visit dive sites in Lahaina at depths of 5 to 40 feet, while Advanced divers can reach 90 to 100 feet in Ka’anapali. We recommend a Scubajet scooter dive to reach the deeper depths! After your first Maui dive, we offer a second dive located at a new site. Your expert instructor usually chooses the world-famous Mala Wharf in Lahaina for a second dive site. At Mala Wharf you can find two turtle cleaning stations and a family of White Tip Reef sharks.

Top Spot to Hear Humpback Whales

Maui is home to a massive 10,000-plus group of Humpback Whales from  December to April. Nearly every day for these five months, scuba divers in Lahaina get to listen in as male Humpback Whales sing to females. The whales come closest to Maui’s coast during January and February. Even then, we rarely ever get to actually see the whales during a scuba dive, but you experience them loudly. The sound amplifies so much that you can also listen to their songs while snorkeling or using SNUBA. But no matter if you snorkel or scuba dive, the underwater experience feels uniquely life-changing.

Lahaina scuba diving means you get to rent dive gear, meet your instructor, and walk into the water to explore the vast shoreline! We like to say that all diving on Maui is shore diving because almost all the deeper water is like a blue desert. When you look at the sea from West Maui, the middle basin connecting Lanai and Molokai is virtually empty compared to all shore locations. Likewise, these two islands have their barrier systems. In contrast, Molokini Crater is a seamount that only boats can reach to snorkel or dive.

Grab a Tank and Get Underwater

Not sure what tour to book with Banyan Tree Divers Maui? For beginner scuba diving lessons, you have a few different options. You could start a course right away to earn your PADI Open Water certification. Or you could just go for an introductory dive. If you are not a comfortable swimmer, then choose private diving. Your private experience can pave the way to learning to dive! You might even find that snorkeling can be more complicated compared to the ease and comfort of scuba diving.

Banyan Tree Divers Maui offers scuba diving services in Lahaina and Kaanapali. TripAdvisor consistently ranks our company in the top 10 of all Maui activities because we have years of scuba diving experience, customer service, and excellent rental dive equipment.

Every family visiting Lahaina wants to do things that can’t be done at home. Go diving!