Description

Mala Pier is without a doubt one of the top if not the top shore dive on Maui and especially on the leeward side of the island near Kaanapali. The pier is in the middle of Lahina near the Canary Mall. When you are driving along the highway from Kaanapali back towards Kahului you can see the pier on the right just as you start into Lahina. This is an extremely easy boat dive and a moderately easy shore dive (only difficulty is the entry if you go over the reef on the side of the pier). The dive itself is between 15 to 35 feet and you can spend well over an hourwith no problems depending upon your air consumption. This site is loaded with all kinds of schooling fish, White-tip Reef Sharks, lots of Butterflyfishes, Green Sea Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles and much more making it an excellent site for underwater photography.
The pier was built in the early 1900's by the Dole Pineapple company to be able to offload pineapples from Lanai and have them processed at the Pineapple Cannery in Lahina which is now the Cannery Mall. The pier for a variety of reasons was never used by the Dole Company but did see service in WWII for loading and unloading supplies. The concrete pier stood until 1992 when it was destroyed in hurricane Iniki. However, the destruction of the pier has been a boon for scuba divers in Maui.

The Dive

This site makes a great morning or afternoon dive and is spectacular as a night dive, but I would recommend that you dive the site first during the day before attempting a night dive. Visibility is usually quite good, from 60 feet and up. There is no current to speak of and the site is quite easy to navigate. You swim out with the remains of the pier and then turn around and follow them back to shore. No worries. There are a few coral mounds in the sand surrounding the pier which are also quite interesting and make for great macro photography but you should be a reasonable navigator to investigate these other sites.
To enter the site, there is ample parking found at the pier and there is also a place to rinse your gear after the dive at the top of the boat ramp. The dive site can be entered in one of two ways, entering via the beach on the west side of the pier that is still standing or walking down the boat ramp but don't tell anyone I recommended the second option….
If you enter from the beach this is best done when there is a high tide as you will have to cross a veryshallow reef and will most likely have to walk part of the way out. One suggestion is to float your gear and not put on your fins or BC until you reach deeper water. To understand the tides you can check with Google or go to tides.info and search for tidal information for Lahina.
Once you are past the reef you will quickly get to about 15 feet of water and can begin your dive. You will notice many Keetail Needlefish around the standing and fallen columns of the pier. You will also see a number of juvenile fish of a variety of species in this same area. As you move further along the pier you will encounter a variety of corals attached to the pier and a number of different types of Butterflyfishes, Bird Wrasses, Goatfishes, Green Sea Turtles and much more.If you are looking for sharks you can almost guarantee that you will see several White-tip reef sharks on this dive. There is usually one or more resting under the fallen columns towards the far end of the pier. You will also see sharks resting on the bottom typically on the western side of the pier usually about mid-way down. You can also encounter these sharks as they are cruising around the ruble in search of their next meal. Don't worry they won't bother divers unless they are significantly provoked. So approach slowly and then take time to appreciate these marvelous creatures.
This is a great dive site so take your time to truly appreciate it. If you need to rent tanks check out Lahina Divers, they are my favorite dive operation on Maui, but you can also rent from a number of other locations.
You can see the complete photo gallery for Mala Pier at stevenwsmeltzer.com as well as more on underwater photography and landscape photography or you can follow me on Twitter at Images2Inspire.
 

On December 13, 2005, following two years of preparation, Atlantis Adventures sank the Carthaginian off Lahaina, Maui, creating an artificial reef that will have lasting marine life benefits. The reefing took place off Puamana which is just outside the Lahaina harbor. The 97-foot, steel-hulled vessel, sank in 95 feet of water where it will serve as an artificial reef. The Carthaginian II, previously used as a whaling museum, is a replica of a 19th century brig analogous to the ships that originally introduced trade to the Hawaiian Islands. This vessel was a cement carrier constructed in Germany in the 1920's and rechristened the Carthaginian II. It sailed to Lahaina in 1973 where it took seven years for the historically accurate 18th century whaling ship rigging to be assembled. The ship functioned as a reminder of Lahaina's maritime heritage and was docked for numerous years at Lahaina Harbor. The ship was owned by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation that operated the museum on board that displayed relics of Lahaina's historic whaling days. Atlantis spent roughly $350,000 on the Carthaginian shipwreck project, including preparation of environmental studies. American Marine Services was employed to conduct the sinking operation. Before the Carthaginian II was towed from Lahaina Harbor, entertainers from the Old Lahaina Lu'au performed "Aloha" ; and members of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation placed lei on the ship and held signs bidding it aloha. To arrange for the reefing, 10 tons of concrete had been packed on board, adding to the 35 tons of material the vessel already was carrying. Atlantis' small tugboat Roxie pulled the Carthaginian II out of the harbor before transferring the operation to the bigger American Islander tugboat. A fleet of approximately 20 boats was waiting when the Carthaginian II arrived at Puamana, while spectators lined the beach or pulled over on the Honoapi'ilani Highway to observe the show. Kahu Charles Kaupu supplied a Hawaiian blessing, and after a 3-ton anchor was secured to the bow and the boat was in position, patches were detached from two sets of holes that had been cut into the hull about 18 inches above the water line. Seawater was pumped into the hull, and 27 minutes afterward the Carthaginian was headed toward the sandy bottom and a new wreck was born. Viewers let loose with applause and whoops of appreciation as the ship quietly slipped beneath the surface. Aboard the Atlantis shuttle boat 3 air-shattering blasts were fired from miniature brass cannon to mark the occasion. Dive Overview The vessel was sunk around seven years back and currently supports a large range of marine life. When you start to descend from the mooring ball you will on average be able to observe the outline of the shipwreck quite easily. The visibility on this dive site is more often than not 80+ feet and much of the time in excess of 100+ ft. The shipwreck lies in roughly ninety ft of water off the coast of Lahina and is a interesting location for underwater photography. There may be some current on this site so some divers may want to descend by means of the mooring line. As you descend you should start to perceive additional details regarding the shipwreck and the impacts of being upon the reef for about seven years. The main mast fell in mid-summer 2011 and can currently be seen sitting on the main deck. The main cabin roof and walls have begun to decay to some degree and there are many holes into the hold. The entrance to the cargo hold itself is quite large and easily accessible. The engine room and forward compartment is blocked by means of a gate but you will still get a respectable mix of photographs around this section. The rear section of the cargo hold is fairly clear and at the present time will include a variety of fish species or crustaceans as they happen to be moving about the shipwreck. There are a number of frogfish on the wreck. I was able to photograph five different frogfish on my most recent dive. These fish are particularly well placed for macro photography and can consume a lot of bottom time, nevertheless it is definitely worth the effort. Two frogfish were upon the main deck to the back of the main cabin and 3 were on the starboard side about the midships area. While scuba diving on the ship, you will also find a wide variety of fish such as, Pacific Trumpetfish, Sergeant Majors, Dascyllus, Orangespine Unicornfish, Rainbow Cleaner Wrasse, and much more. This wreck dive is best when there are less than 10 scuba divers in the water given that the ship itself is not very big. It makes a very worthwhile dive and I highly recommend
As in all dives I recommend going slowly and take time to appreciate the site. Read other dive site reviews on my blog and see other underwater photographs on my website and follow me on Twitter @ images2inspire. The pool is open…

 

When considering a waterproof camera there are many questions to think about such as; Which camera has the best water-resistant rating? Which camera has the finest picture? Which camera has the finest video?
The good news is that there are a number of excellent waterproof cameras from which to choose based upon the features you desire and the amount you are willing to spend.


When evaluating a waterproof digital camera I recommend looking at a number of key features including lens speed or the "f-stop" rating. The faster the lens., e.g., the lower the f-stop number the better and the more light that the lens permits into the digital camera making for higher quality, less noise images. f2.0 is very fast and f3.9 is ok, although it will have more difficulty in situations where the lighting is low and will generally be a little more difficult to focus in reduced light conditions. Another capability is the ability of the zoom lens and how much of the "zoom" is created by the lens compared to a digital zoom, where a software program is creating the zooming result. Another characteristic for shooting close up would be the capability to take macro photographs and how near to the subject matter you may come with the camera and still focus. One other feature to think about would be the ability to take video and the video processors speed, e.g., is the video processor high speed meaning it will capture over 200 frames per second (fps), or else does it have a low speed video processor. A faster vidwo processor will create higher quality videos.

The assessments of the cameras listed below gives an interesting overview of several of the top point and shoot waterproof cameras along with a suggestion on the best camera.

Waterproof cameras reviewed:
 

1. Panasonic Lumix TS4 12.1 TOUGH Waterproof Digital Camera with 4.6x Optical Zoom


2. Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS and Full HD 1080p Video


3. Canon PowerShot D20 12.1 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens a 3.0-Inch LCD and GPS Tracking


4. Fujifilm XP170 Compact Digital Camera with 5xOptical Zoom Lens


5. Olympus Stylus TG-830 iHS Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD


6. Pentax Optio WG-1 Adventure Series 14 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom


7. Olympus TG-1iHS 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom
    

For anyone who is prepared to spend approximately $1,000 to get the top waterproof point and shoot camera system then one of the top underwater cameras in the extreme digital camera market is definitely the Olympus TG-1 iHS. This digital camera when purchased with the optional Olympus underwater case and strobe enables the diver to take photos at a depth of up to 130 feet and also makes a very good entry level underwater camera for any diver. ntire expenditure includes the camera, a rugged housing which allows the diver to use the camera down to 135 feet and an independent strobe that delivers the ability to shoot in a varity of different situations.

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Evaluation of five great travel BCDs that are lightweight and offer interesting features and value to a variety of divers from the amateur to advanced divers.

I am a professional underwater photographer and my equipment is extremely significant to me and gets lots of wear and tear. I require equipment that is resilient over hundreds if not thousands of dives while as "travel" worthy as possible. There have been a quantity of wonderful new lightweight BCDs that have been introduced in the last 3 years and I have listed some of my favorite ones below.

The purpose of any BCD should be function first and after that comfort. The Lightweight BCDs assessed here provide a practical degree of function and along with good fit. The trade off on travel BCDs is more often than not restrictions in storage pockets, lift (which is very critical if you take a lot of weight when you dive), security of your tank while you are scuba diving, D-rings for optional equipment and ride when you are on the surface of the water.

The BCDs listed below afford good form and function and a varying amount of additional features. Review the features of each and determine that best meets your needs. I feel most divers should be content with any of these BCDs and I would love to get your response as well. Great Travel BCDs

Mares F-Light Buoyancy Compensator
Cressi Travelight BCD
Oceanic Bio Lite BCD
Tusa - X-Pert Lightweight BCD
Scubapro GO BCD

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