Banyan Tree Divers Maui

With recent storms heavily impacting Hawai’i’s nearshore waters, and more rain on the way, coral reefs are extremely vulnerable to runoff. Calling all Divers!! Please help document any unusual or damaging evidence and submit to Mahalo plenty!

We are patiently waiting for this swell to die down so we can get back to underwater exploring! We still have a few slots available during Christmas week. 🎄Come dive with Banyan Tree Divers!

The first winter swell has passed and conditions are looking stunning today! Time to go look for some underwear treasures. Photography great knows where all of the creatures are hiding 🙈 📸 with

We had so much fun this summer we forgot to post much at all! Cheers to BTD legend for the excellent photography 📸 You never know what you might encounter underwater until you go! with

We love you, Lahaina. Memories are flooding our minds today. One of our favorites is riding our bikes down Front Street to surf Breakwall in the summertime. We are grateful to have lived this charmed life and look forward to making new memories as Lahaina re-emerges strong and rooted.

Today instructor Chelsea encountered a turtle in about 20 feet of water entangled in many feet of fishing line. She spent about 20 minutes calmly removing most of the line wrapped around the turtle’s pectoral flipper and her shell. The turtle hovered next to her this whole time and allowed her to slowly remove the line, even surfacing for air and returning to her to let her finish the job. She was unable to remove the hook from inside the turtle’s mouth and promptly called the Marine Institute at Maui Ocean Center to report the entanglement.

This is unfortunately a common occurrence in the near shore waters along Maui’s coastlines. Scuba divers are often removing fishing weights, discarded nets, and fishing line from the reef and animals. removes hundreds, if not in the thousands, of pounds of discarded fishing debris each year. This is not a knock on the many responsible fishermen who have been subsistence fishing here MUCH longer than us divers have been exploring Maui’s reefs. We like to look at this relationship as one of commensalism. We are granted the permission recreate and explore these coastal waters while also giving back and doing our small part to care for the moana.

Please do not try approaching sea life unless you are a trained professional and it is state law to remain at least 10 feet from a turtle. Thank you instructor for your efforts and to all of the Maui scuba divers who help keep the reefs clean. with