Although I have issues with Scuba Luv, to be completely fair, when it came to the 2 dives I did with them, I got exactly what was advertised and what I paid for. Steve, the dive master, was totally competent, professional and observed all the protocols for safe diving. He is also a very friendly and nice guy.
That being said I would like to give a head's up to anyone who is considering diving with Scuba Luv. While I wouldn't say that the way they present themselves is deceitful, I would say it's less than accurate. I did a lot of on-line research before choosing Scuba Luv and along with their reviews, I liked the way the presented themselves on their website. I liked that they seemed like a "mom & pop shop" who were more about diving than business. I was half right; they are "mom & pop" but there's no "shop". There is no actual dive shop which I didn't find out til I offered to come into the shop to pay for my dive package. It seems they run the business out of their house and a van at the beach.
I purchased their 3 dive package for $299. I really wanted the shore dive that comes with the package to be the sunset (night dive) that they describe in glowing terms on their site. Diana (who seems to handle all the business) tried to discourage my interest in that dive. I really wanted that night dive so we went back and forth about it until she finally claimed that the wind on the beach in the evenings made the dive practically impossible. I asked why it was even offered on the site if that was the case and got no response. This should have been a red flag but I didn't see it. We actually stayed in a hotel right on the beach in Kihei for 10 days and there was wind in the evenings, BUT ONLY ON 3-4 OF THOSE DAYS. On my second shore dive with them IN THE MORNING there was so much wind that there were waves strong enough to knock me over with my tank and all my equipment on. We went on that dive anyway. Scuba Luv just didn't want to do the night dive.
Although I booked well in advance of our arrival on Maui, I didn't schedule my dives or pay until I got there and knew more about when I would have time to go diving. A day or so after arriving I started getting emails from Diana which I can only describe as high pressure. She wanted me to schedule my dives as soon as possible as their dives were filling up and she was afraid there wouldn't be space for me. This pressure also should have been a red flag. On my first dive I WAS THE ONLY DIVER and on my last dive I was one of only 4 divers!!
One of the 3 dives in my package was a boat dive. Diana even bragged about "their" really nice brand new scuba boat. When I got to the dock, there was only one boat there - from another competing dive shop, B&B Scuba. As everyone who came to the dock boarded that boat, I kept waiting for another boat from Scuba Luv to arrive. Finally it got to my dive departure time so I asked the boat that was there and it turned out they were looking for me!! Scuba Luv had booked a dive for me with one of the other dive shops in Kihei without telling me...and boasted about B&B's new boat as if it were theirs. Diana had actually referred to it as "our" new dive boat. B&B was actually a great dive operation with very experienced and very knowledgeable guides. I quickly realized I should have booked with them for all my dives. If I were to recommend a dive operation in Kihei, it would definitely be B&B and not Scuba Luv. And they do have a beautiful new boat!
On top of all that, when Diana gave me directions to the dock, where I had to arrive in the pitch dark at 5:30AM, she neglected to mention that there were 2 parking lots, one down by the dock (which was for cars with trailers only) and one NOT near the dock for regular cars. There were actually signs posted in obscure locations which I couldn't see but there were several other cars parked in the trailer area when I parked there so I thought it was ok. Had Diana mentioned anything about the "obvious" parking lot being restricted, I would have known better. Since I didn't know any better, I came back from the dive to find a $35 ticket on my car!! (All the other cars parked there were ticketed too. It seems like it's a good way for the town of Kihei to make money off unsuspecting tourists.). It was really upsetting that Diana didn't mention anything about illegal parking when it would have been easy for her to do so.
Even though the diving with Steve was fine, the way Scuba Luv misrepresented themselves felt sneaky and underhanded and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. If I go back to Kihei again I would avoid Scuba Luv and definitely dive with B&B. I recommend you do the same. read more
