South Maui Shore Dive: Wailea & Makena Guided Scuba with Photos

5.00

(146 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the crunch of gravel under my flip-flops as we walked down toward the water in Makena — that, and the faint smell of sunscreen mixed with salt air. Our guide, Keoki, had this way of making everyone feel like we’d known each other for ages, even though we’d just met by the parking lot. He double-checked our dive cards (I almost forgot mine in my bag), and then we did a quick safety chat while watching some locals haul their boards out past the break. The sun was already warm on my neck, but under the shade of a kiawe tree it felt like another world.

Getting into the water always makes me nervous for about thirty seconds, but then you’re floating and it’s quiet except for your own breathing. We followed Keoki along the reef edge — he pointed out a honu gliding right below us, so close I could see its shell scratched up from years in these waters. There were flashes of yellow tangs everywhere and at one point a pair of butterflyfish darted between us like they owned the place. I tried to signal “shark” when I thought I saw something bigger off to the side, but Keoki just grinned through his regulator and gave me a thumbs-up (guess it was just a big eel).

Afterwards, sitting on the rocks eating pineapple slices with seawater still drying on my skin, I realized how different diving feels here compared to anywhere else I’ve been. It’s not flashy — just honest blue water, real people, that feeling you get when you surface and can’t stop smiling even if your mask left marks on your face. Oh — they take photos too (I’m pretty sure I blinked in half of them), which is good because otherwise nobody back home would believe how clear it was down there.