Diving the old pier in Maui

Description

Mala Pier, close to the Cannery Mall is one of the best scuba diving sites on MauiMala Pier is undoubtedly the best shore dive on Maui and especially on the leeward side of the island near Kaanapali. The pier is in the middle of Lahaina next to the Canary Shopping mall. When you are driving down the road from Kaanapali back to Kahului you will see the pier on the right as you enter Lahina. This is an relaxing boat dive and a reasonably trouble-free beach dive (the only complexity is the access if you go across the coral reef on the seward side of the pier ). The dive site depth ranges from 3 to 5 meters and you can as a rule spend well over an hour on the site   with no problems depending upon your air consumption. This site is loaded with all kinds of marine life, White-tip Reef Sharks, lots of Butterflyfishes, Green Sea Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles and much more making it an outstanding dive site for underwater photography. Mala Pier was built inThe dock was constructed around the early 1900's via the Dole Pineapple company to have the ability to to unload pineapples from the island of Lanai and have them processed at the Cannery in Lahaina that is at this time the Cannery Shopping center. The pier, for a range of causes, was not utilized to transport and process pineaplesby the Dole Company} however it did see service in WWII for transporting equipment. The concrete pier stood unitl it was ruined in hurricane Iniki. However, the loss of the pier has been a benefit for scuba divers in Maui County.

Details of the dive

This site is a great morning or afternoon dive and is amazing as a night dive, but It is recommended that your first dive on this site should be during the day that you dive the site first during the daytime prior to attempting a night-time dive. This dive site typically have very good visibility Visibility is more often than not very good, from 60 feet and up. There is no current to speak of and the dive site is rather easy to find your way around. You simply swim out withfollow along} the remains of the wharf and then turn around and follow them back to the boat ramp when your air or deco time requires you to do so.. No problem. There are a small number of coral mounds in the sand around the pier that are fairly appealing and provide a great place for macro photography but you ought to be a sound navigator to examine these additional sites. There is plenty of parking spots at the dock along with a place to wash your gear following the dive at the top of the ramp. The dive site can be accessed either via the beach on the seaward side of the pier that is still in place or by walking down the ramp however do not advise anybodythat I suggested this alternative …. If you enter from the beach it should be at high tide as you will have to cross a very shallow reef and you will more than likely need to walk part of the way out. One suggested approach is to {let your gear flotfloat your equipment and put your fins and BC on when you reach deeper water. To understand the tides you might check with tides.info and look for for tidal data for Lahina. When you pass the reef you will quickly come to about 15 feet of water and may start your dive. You will be at the end of the portion of the wharf that is still standing andshould see numerous Keetail Needlefish in the region of the columns of the dock. You can also see a variety of juvenile fishes of a number of species in the same place. As you move further down the pier you will come across a number of corals attached to the pier and a variety of different types of Butterflyfishes, Bird Wrasses, Goatfishes, Green Sea Turtles and much more. If you are searching for sharks you will more than likely come across several White-tip reef sharks during this dive. There is frequently one or more resting under the fallen columns near the far end of the pier. You will also see sharks resting on the bottom normally on the western side of the pier typically about mid-way down. You might also encounter these sharks while they are cruising in and around the ruble in pursuit of their next meal. Do not worry they will not bother scuba divers except if they are significantly provoked. So advance gradually and then take a few minutes to recognize the value of these splendid creatures. Scuba diving on this site can be thoroughly delightful, so take your time to truly recognize the value of it. {You can rent tanks from a variety of operators on the island, my favorite is Lahaina DiversIf you have to rent tanks check out Lahaina Divers, they are my preferred dive operator on Maui, but you can also rent from a number of other places. So no matter if you are an underwater photographer, a seasoned diver or a novice scuba diver you should without doubt like this location. You can investigate the entire photo gallery for Mala Pier at stevenwsmeltzer.com plus more on underwater photography and landscape photography or you can follow Steven on Twitter @ Images2Inspire.