Dive Lana'i!

The island of Lana'i now has two dive shops of its own:  Trilogy Ocean Sports is a Gold Palm facility located at the Manele Bay hotel, and Adventure Lanai Dive Center in Lanai City is also PADI certified.  Most of the dive outfits on Maui also run Lana'i trips at least one day a week.  They don't offer these dives every day, so make sure you check into their schedules in advance.  For more information on choosing a dive shop, check out our page dedicated to choosing a dive shop on Maui.   Lana'i is rated as one of the world's top ten dive destinations, due to its water clarity, with visibility over 100 feet, and beautiful dive sites.  

We took a two-tank dive to Lana'i during our stay on Maui, and it was definitely the highlight of our stay.  After freshly completing our Advanced Open Water course with B&B Scuba on Maui,  we headed off at 6:00AM sharp to meet Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures at the Kihei Boat Ramp, where we loaded up for a trip to the Cathedrals of Lana'i.   There were 12 divers on our boat, with two divemasters, which was the most divers we'd ever shared a boat with.  In Cozumel, we never had more than six people on our boat.   The water was very rough, with whitecaps crashing over the rails of the boat, drenching us all.  The crew handed out raincoats and asked us about what type of dive we would like to do.  This was a nice change, as B&B never even asked, they just decided where we would dive.   The boats were fast, though noisy, but the trip to Lana'i was still about 1 1/2 hours.  During the trip, however, humpback whales breached many times off the side of the boat, providing an awe-inspiring experience.  After interviewing everyone on board, the crew decided to dive the First Cathedral.  The dive was not too deep, at around 70 feet, and the visibility was excellent, well over 100 feet.  The Cathedrals drew their name because the sun lights up the underwater grotto like a magnificent church.  The crew was very patient with everyone and our divemaster was very helpful and showed us many interesting types of nudibranchs and fish.  She took us on a very leisurely stroll of the area, allowing us a lot of time to explore the nooks and crannies that the Cathedral offered.  Make sure you bring a dive light on this dive.  It really makes a difference!  We saw lobster, reef sharks, morays, and lots of fish.  This was a really great dive site, and offered a little bit for everybody.  We were cursing ourselves for not renting a camera!

After surfacing, I chummed for fish a third consecutive time, as once again my seasickness patch had come off during the dive.  I swore that I was going to stick with pills from now on!  We ate lunch of sandwiches and soda as we motored off to the next site, pitching and rolling all the way in the rough waters.  While we relaxed and enjoyed our surface interval, more humpbacks breached nearby, as the warm Hawaii sunshine warmed us.  The crew decided on Sergeant Major for our second dive of the trip, which was by far the best dive of our stay on Maui.   Immediately upon descent, we were joined by multiple pods of spinner dolphins, who were riding the bow of a passing boat, and shortly thereafter a huge Hawksbill turtle, who rested nonchalantly on the bottom and watched me as I watched him.  Sandra was on the other side of the coral formation at the time, and didn't get to see that one, but she was the first to point out another pod of dolphins, spinning playfully nearby.  A huge white-tip reef shark, at least seven feet in length, swam back and forth under a ledge, and beautiful fish were everywhere.  The current was fairly strong at this site, and we had to kick hard to swim against it.  However, the reef formations, like hedge rows, provided adequate protection for us to be able to explore the reef at our own pace.  The dive wasn't deep, at around 50 feet, and the visibility was once again excellent.   Two dolphin encounters on one dive!  Truly amazing.  Once again, I puked on exit from the water, but as usual survived the trip home with no further complications.  The crew was very social and were very willing to answer questions about the dive sites, and anything else we inquired about.  For more information on diving in the waters off Lana'i, you might like to read A Dive To Remember: Spinner Dolphins and Whales, from a couple who also dove with Ed Robinson's.

The following tables excerpted from our Maui Dive Sites page, will give you reviews of the dive sites on Lana'i.  We've also included personal recommendations and trip reports from divers in Maui, many of which include trips to Lana'i.

Visit Top 50 Sports Sites to cast your vote for Johann & Sandra's Hawaii Beneath the Waves!

Maui Dive Site Descriptions & Reviews

Personal Recommendations and Trip Reports