Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures
Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures
4.5
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Full view
About
Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures has been a leader in the Maui dive community for over three decades. Our dive charters cater to certified divers and we offer the best Maui dive site experience through personalized eco-friendly tours. We have select boat tours for both divers that need some supervision and for experienced divers that are looking for more flexibility to match their advanced diving skills. Our store also offers scuba instruction, refresher dives and introductory discover scuba tours. In addition, our sister company Maui Snorkel Tours offers shoreline eco-snorkel tours for the whole family.
Kihei, Hawaii
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Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
411 reviews
Excellent
353
Very good
35
Average
4
Poor
6
Terrible
13
James B
2 contributions
Oct 2024 • Couples
The choice for Ed Robinson Diving Adventures as our scuba guides was a great choice for us. Kerry was a great guide and we saw lots of sea creatures on our dives. Highly recommended for your diving experience in Kihei.
Written October 23, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Susan_2301
Vaughan, Canada42 contributions
May 2014 • Family
Reserved a diving trip after reading recommendations online. Since I went diving with my children, wanted a safe a dependable trip and Ed Robinson's was highly recommended. Made the inquires a few weeks before I travelled, and made the final reservation a few days before once I knew when am I taking a helicopter ride or going to see the sun rise from Haleakala (both limiting factors...).
The dive groups are small (we were 4 people lead by Dave, the other group were 6 lead by Richardo) which was really nice. Everyone is very professional and safety is paramount. The equipment was in good condition, fit very well - wet suit, BCD, regulators, weights, fins and mask. The boat is very well organized for multiple dives.
We dove at Molokini (outer rim) and then at Turtle bay. The actual locations were not as nice as I remembered them from 20 years ago - probably my memory and the multitudes of divers / snorkelers that come every day. There are so many unique fishes, most can only be found here in Hawaii and I would have missed them if Dave did not point them put (he is great finding these gems). After the dives we got cookies and muffins, fruit and drinks - all seemed home mead.
The only issue I had was a social one - it was assumed that I know when to start getting dressed, or the fact that there is a fresh water hose on board (who much can I use it? for a full shower?). Wanted to put something in my bag stowed away and got a snarky remark from Byron the Captain (got up on the wrong side this morning?). I had my family to talk to, but the guy alone on our group was really alone...I had a refresher course before I came diving, but we could have all used a few more words as novice divers on how the dive will actually proceed.
Recommended for being very professional, informative and safe but not really caters to occasional divers.
The dive groups are small (we were 4 people lead by Dave, the other group were 6 lead by Richardo) which was really nice. Everyone is very professional and safety is paramount. The equipment was in good condition, fit very well - wet suit, BCD, regulators, weights, fins and mask. The boat is very well organized for multiple dives.
We dove at Molokini (outer rim) and then at Turtle bay. The actual locations were not as nice as I remembered them from 20 years ago - probably my memory and the multitudes of divers / snorkelers that come every day. There are so many unique fishes, most can only be found here in Hawaii and I would have missed them if Dave did not point them put (he is great finding these gems). After the dives we got cookies and muffins, fruit and drinks - all seemed home mead.
The only issue I had was a social one - it was assumed that I know when to start getting dressed, or the fact that there is a fresh water hose on board (who much can I use it? for a full shower?). Wanted to put something in my bag stowed away and got a snarky remark from Byron the Captain (got up on the wrong side this morning?). I had my family to talk to, but the guy alone on our group was really alone...I had a refresher course before I came diving, but we could have all used a few more words as novice divers on how the dive will actually proceed.
Recommended for being very professional, informative and safe but not really caters to occasional divers.
Written May 30, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kumi M
Palo Alto, CA1,481 contributions
Jan 2014 • Friends
I started out by doing a little bit of research online and from what I read most experienced divers suggested ERDA. I ended up giving them a call and spoke to Robyn and immediately booked dives for my friend and myself on the Adventure X with Ed. Then I changed my mind and called back and added another day of diving (the Tues 3-tank adventure). I wanted to book Friday's 3 tank day as well but my friends had never been to Maui and that day we had to do the trip to Hana :-(
Well, within a week I had called back again and added another dive day: Sunday 2 tank.
Wednesday dives are great because rather than asking where divers want to go (everywhere but molokini) and what they want to see (sharks!), Ed asks where they *don't* want to go which makes people a bit happier. Plus, if there are any newer divers, or if anyone feels uncomfortable with anything, this is where they can say something and that way everyone can be accommodated.
Diving with ERDA was super. In the end, I wish I had more days to dive.
The crew was great and friendly - and hopefully I'll head back to Maui in a couple of months for more dives. (Hi justin, rico, tiffany!)
Plus, if you dive the same days in a row, you can leave your gear on-board which is convenient!
(Also there's a discount on the price too!)
During the time of year I got to visit, the whales were in! You can't beat diving while listening to whale song the whole time! And it's nice to be able to have the birds visit for their goldfish cracker fix too!
Hmm. Kind of a short review than I'd usually do but it's been a while. Hopefully I'll have more to say the next time I go out with them!
Well, within a week I had called back again and added another dive day: Sunday 2 tank.
Wednesday dives are great because rather than asking where divers want to go (everywhere but molokini) and what they want to see (sharks!), Ed asks where they *don't* want to go which makes people a bit happier. Plus, if there are any newer divers, or if anyone feels uncomfortable with anything, this is where they can say something and that way everyone can be accommodated.
Diving with ERDA was super. In the end, I wish I had more days to dive.
The crew was great and friendly - and hopefully I'll head back to Maui in a couple of months for more dives. (Hi justin, rico, tiffany!)
Plus, if you dive the same days in a row, you can leave your gear on-board which is convenient!
(Also there's a discount on the price too!)
During the time of year I got to visit, the whales were in! You can't beat diving while listening to whale song the whole time! And it's nice to be able to have the birds visit for their goldfish cracker fix too!
Hmm. Kind of a short review than I'd usually do but it's been a while. Hopefully I'll have more to say the next time I go out with them!
Written August 17, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MNKA17
Benton Harbor, MI61 contributions
Oct 2012 • Couples
Mu husnad and I are PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water certified divers. We dove with Ed Robinson Diving Adventures in Maui and had several issues with their dive plan, overall professionalism, and service:
1. We dove at Molokini Crater, which has a significant current that whips around the end of the crater. We dove with the current to start, and there is a corner at which the divemaster wanted us to stop and wait for sharks. Their suggestion was, if there was a rock, grab that, but if not they suggested to grab onto the coral to stay in place. In fact, they suggested that they usually hold onto the coral since there aren't many rocks there. We felt this was very strange that PADI certified divemasters would be condoning, even supporting the idea of intentionally grabbing onto coral reefs just to stay in one place. Isn't that illegal? We signed a waiver stating we would never touch the coral, why are the divemasters encouraging us to grab and hold onto it? We were able to dig our fingers into the sand to try to stay in place, but the others in the group were on the coral.
2. After this corner section of the dive, their plan required us to swim into the current, which was very strong. This was planned for approximately half the dive and it was how we had to get to our ascent + pickup area. This struck us as a very poor plan - who purposely structures a dive plan into currents, especially at the end of a dive?
3. We also noticed that on several occasions, the divemasters got out of the water before all of the customers were out - very unprofessional behavior!!! We have never dived anywhere where the divemaster is not the last person out of the water - that's just right way to do it.
4. Partly due to the poor dive plan I talked about above, and partly due to rough weather at the surface, we ended up ascending much too quickly from approximately 40 feet. The surf actually popped us right past our safety stop. We had been at 100+ feet on this dive, and we both got pretty bad headaches and I began vomiting as well. Even though we didn't feel great about it, we decided to continue, and did two more dives with the company that day.
Due to the issues listed above and our concern about possible lingering effects of our uncontrolled ascent, we decided to not dive with them the next day. However, this dive shop has a 48 hour cancellation policy and they refused to refund our money for the second day. This was $375USD for services that we did not use, and we feel cheated by them.
We have made no less than five attempts to contact the dive shop to try to resolve this amicably with them. We were told every time that Ed, the owner, would call to talk about it. Even if he wouldn't ultimately refund our money, it would have been the professional thing to do to return our calls, and I would have appreciated the courtesy. However, Ed never called us, even after repeated messages and notes from the people in his office that I was assured were going directly to him. So we are left with the impression that Ed doesn't have the professionalism or decency to speak to his customers who have had a negative experience.
1. We dove at Molokini Crater, which has a significant current that whips around the end of the crater. We dove with the current to start, and there is a corner at which the divemaster wanted us to stop and wait for sharks. Their suggestion was, if there was a rock, grab that, but if not they suggested to grab onto the coral to stay in place. In fact, they suggested that they usually hold onto the coral since there aren't many rocks there. We felt this was very strange that PADI certified divemasters would be condoning, even supporting the idea of intentionally grabbing onto coral reefs just to stay in one place. Isn't that illegal? We signed a waiver stating we would never touch the coral, why are the divemasters encouraging us to grab and hold onto it? We were able to dig our fingers into the sand to try to stay in place, but the others in the group were on the coral.
2. After this corner section of the dive, their plan required us to swim into the current, which was very strong. This was planned for approximately half the dive and it was how we had to get to our ascent + pickup area. This struck us as a very poor plan - who purposely structures a dive plan into currents, especially at the end of a dive?
3. We also noticed that on several occasions, the divemasters got out of the water before all of the customers were out - very unprofessional behavior!!! We have never dived anywhere where the divemaster is not the last person out of the water - that's just right way to do it.
4. Partly due to the poor dive plan I talked about above, and partly due to rough weather at the surface, we ended up ascending much too quickly from approximately 40 feet. The surf actually popped us right past our safety stop. We had been at 100+ feet on this dive, and we both got pretty bad headaches and I began vomiting as well. Even though we didn't feel great about it, we decided to continue, and did two more dives with the company that day.
Due to the issues listed above and our concern about possible lingering effects of our uncontrolled ascent, we decided to not dive with them the next day. However, this dive shop has a 48 hour cancellation policy and they refused to refund our money for the second day. This was $375USD for services that we did not use, and we feel cheated by them.
We have made no less than five attempts to contact the dive shop to try to resolve this amicably with them. We were told every time that Ed, the owner, would call to talk about it. Even if he wouldn't ultimately refund our money, it would have been the professional thing to do to return our calls, and I would have appreciated the courtesy. However, Ed never called us, even after repeated messages and notes from the people in his office that I was assured were going directly to him. So we are left with the impression that Ed doesn't have the professionalism or decency to speak to his customers who have had a negative experience.
Written October 22, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Xwantone
Hurst, TX11 contributions
Dec 2013 • Friends
Called the night before to make sure they had our weight integrated bcs. "Chong" (SP?) told me that yes they would be on the boat. Next morning we get to the boat and all they have is weight belts for us that were not correctly weighted down. Also no Aloha, Mahalo no nada. Just an extremely rude boat captain "Bird" and his fellow rude colleagues. He told us to fill out or paperwork. What happened to customer service or a Hi, Hello, How are you? Ed himself showed up with his 3 dogs in tow to see everyone off.
On our first dive Ricardo did ask if there was anything he should know about how we dive. This would be the only show of concern for us our entire time of 3 days of diving. Dave, the other divemaster, was a jerk to just about everyone on the boat. His curt comments were only broken up by his joke telling which left much to be desired. My boyfriend did his first dive underweighted (despite us putting in specific weight requests) and surfaced with a bloody nose. The only concerned person on the entire boat was another diver. No questions or comments from the divemasters or the boat captain. Scary. Dave was constantly rushing Ricardo's divers and complaining that they were too slow to get into the water. Also they had divers get into the water and swim to the mooring line without a single divemaster in the water first. Unbelievable!
The next day of diving was a repeat of the first. Only this time we had Dave as our divemaster. Other passengers were complaining about the lack of organization of equipment and not knowing which was theirs and at times not having the appropriate sizes. There was never a final check before getting in the water. It was all rushed without any care for dangers and issues that divers may have been having.
I decided to go ahead and cancel my 3rd day of diving because I did not feel safe diving with this bunch. Our last dive of day 2 had been the wall of Molokini and the instructions given to us to be picked up were not executed by the captain. Talk about confusion.
Their cancellation policy is 48 hrs in advance which sounded good. Well not so fast. It is 48 hrs in advance AND only if they can sell the spot to someone else. Figures. Best loss of money I will ever have. Stayed by the pool that day and didn't have to worry about rude obnoxious comments from the divemasters. There was one diver who we could tell was very advanced and the divemasters surfaced without him every time and said he will come up at some point.
This dive company came highly recommended by every guide book I had read. I was shocked by their lack of customer service and safety during the entire dive. I also can't understand why there are not more bad reviews on this place especially since 5 other divers were upset at the lack of experience and bad manners/ attitude among the staff.
On our first dive Ricardo did ask if there was anything he should know about how we dive. This would be the only show of concern for us our entire time of 3 days of diving. Dave, the other divemaster, was a jerk to just about everyone on the boat. His curt comments were only broken up by his joke telling which left much to be desired. My boyfriend did his first dive underweighted (despite us putting in specific weight requests) and surfaced with a bloody nose. The only concerned person on the entire boat was another diver. No questions or comments from the divemasters or the boat captain. Scary. Dave was constantly rushing Ricardo's divers and complaining that they were too slow to get into the water. Also they had divers get into the water and swim to the mooring line without a single divemaster in the water first. Unbelievable!
The next day of diving was a repeat of the first. Only this time we had Dave as our divemaster. Other passengers were complaining about the lack of organization of equipment and not knowing which was theirs and at times not having the appropriate sizes. There was never a final check before getting in the water. It was all rushed without any care for dangers and issues that divers may have been having.
I decided to go ahead and cancel my 3rd day of diving because I did not feel safe diving with this bunch. Our last dive of day 2 had been the wall of Molokini and the instructions given to us to be picked up were not executed by the captain. Talk about confusion.
Their cancellation policy is 48 hrs in advance which sounded good. Well not so fast. It is 48 hrs in advance AND only if they can sell the spot to someone else. Figures. Best loss of money I will ever have. Stayed by the pool that day and didn't have to worry about rude obnoxious comments from the divemasters. There was one diver who we could tell was very advanced and the divemasters surfaced without him every time and said he will come up at some point.
This dive company came highly recommended by every guide book I had read. I was shocked by their lack of customer service and safety during the entire dive. I also can't understand why there are not more bad reviews on this place especially since 5 other divers were upset at the lack of experience and bad manners/ attitude among the staff.
Written December 28, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ex dirtbag
seattle74 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
first off, we did 2 dives and arrived back safely. their rental gear was new and in good shape. so at least safety wasn't an issue - it was most everything else.
We arrived at 6:30 as instructed, and the boat wasn't even in the water until 7 am. its ok. we're in hawaii... everything is slower here. the big problem was the lack of leadership or communication at this stage - and throughout.
we communicated clearly with Ed R. that we had each done more than 100 dives after our certification 14 years ago, and they still put us in the group with the 12 year old who spent the first 10-15 minutes of both dives getting his act together. which would have been fine if there was better leadership and communication from our DM, Dave. but instead, it felt like we blew the first 1/4 of each dive.
so at $330 for 2 of us doing a 2 tank dive, this was easily the worst value diving i've EVER experienced.
Dave seemed more interested in bloviating and checking his smartphone than actually leading us and ensuring that we had a good experience. and then he had the nerve to indicate how he'd like to be tipped at the end.
sorry dude. i'm a tipper, but i need decent service first.
We arrived at 6:30 as instructed, and the boat wasn't even in the water until 7 am. its ok. we're in hawaii... everything is slower here. the big problem was the lack of leadership or communication at this stage - and throughout.
we communicated clearly with Ed R. that we had each done more than 100 dives after our certification 14 years ago, and they still put us in the group with the 12 year old who spent the first 10-15 minutes of both dives getting his act together. which would have been fine if there was better leadership and communication from our DM, Dave. but instead, it felt like we blew the first 1/4 of each dive.
so at $330 for 2 of us doing a 2 tank dive, this was easily the worst value diving i've EVER experienced.
Dave seemed more interested in bloviating and checking his smartphone than actually leading us and ensuring that we had a good experience. and then he had the nerve to indicate how he'd like to be tipped at the end.
sorry dude. i'm a tipper, but i need decent service first.
Written October 23, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jared99999
Los Angeles, CA6 contributions
May 2019 • Friends
Before I posted this here I emailed Ed Robinson, but a week later with no reply I think I need to post it:
My dive master was Dave and he seemed oblivious, more concerned with taking photos than watching the divers, a level of independence that I don’t think was appropriate for our group of divers with varying levels of experience, including my dive partner who has 20 dives. There were no self checks or buddy checks, I didn’t see anyone check gauges and regulators before getting in the water. There was no safety stop. Underwater, Dave was too far ahead of the group to see everyone, especially on the second dive, my dive partner remarked that we could have lost someone and he wouldn’t have noticed. On the second dive the captain set a max depth of 55’ however Dave was down at 70’ and one guy got down to 90+. Also, I think it is poor form for the dive master to get on the boat before everyone is out of the water.
I think it is important to keep a strong culture of safety and avoid becoming complacent, recreational diving is not without risk, but most of it can be mitigated by following safety procedures.
My dive master was Dave and he seemed oblivious, more concerned with taking photos than watching the divers, a level of independence that I don’t think was appropriate for our group of divers with varying levels of experience, including my dive partner who has 20 dives. There were no self checks or buddy checks, I didn’t see anyone check gauges and regulators before getting in the water. There was no safety stop. Underwater, Dave was too far ahead of the group to see everyone, especially on the second dive, my dive partner remarked that we could have lost someone and he wouldn’t have noticed. On the second dive the captain set a max depth of 55’ however Dave was down at 70’ and one guy got down to 90+. Also, I think it is poor form for the dive master to get on the boat before everyone is out of the water.
I think it is important to keep a strong culture of safety and avoid becoming complacent, recreational diving is not without risk, but most of it can be mitigated by following safety procedures.
Written May 20, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
levergun
Alaska27 contributions
Sep 2013 • Solo
ERD was one of six dive ops I used on Maui from 9/14-29/2013. I would rate my experience 2nd from the bottom of the ops used during this visit. I was really looking forward to the dive after reading the below reviews. I went to the boat ramp fully expecting to book two more dives the following week. Dove the advance two tank dive on a Friday with Nitrox, 2,825 and 2,840 :o(. I have been on boats that no way would you give a customer a tank with less than 3,000 unless there were some special circumstances. Bright side Austin was my DM Joe was the other and they were knowledgeable and safety conscious. Let me dive my air and showed cool stuff. Down side was Kim and the boat captain. Found Kim a bit rude and the Captain rather standoffish. Maybe they need time to get to know someone a bit better, but I took my money somewhere else for the next seven tanks I dove. The deal breaker for me was Kim.
Written September 30, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JaniceandRon
Raymond2 contributions
Feb 2012 • Couples
My husband and I went diving in February on one of Ed Robinsons dive boats. The only thing interesting on the first dive was the sound of whales talking. Dropped us off by a pile of rocks hardly any fish. Least fish, and visualy interesting dive we have had in 10 years. Between dives the dive masters were goofing off and switched my husbands tank out for an empty tank. My husband descended with an empty tank, we got to the bottom and we turned to follow the group. I turned back within a couple minutes my husband was GONE and so was the dive master, we were on a drift dive and I couldn't return to try to find him. I was terrified and no one else in the group knew where he was. IT WAS ABSOLUTLY TERRIFIYING they had buddy breathed to the surfaced and hadn't been able to let me know. An opphs appology was all that was offered. They never offered any compensation or anything. When we got home I emailed them twice and didn't even get a single reply from anyone. On top of it all it was the most unorganized trip, we arrived at 6 am and stood around for over 2 hrs while they launched the boat and signed people in. Everywhere else we've dove we did all the paperwork ahead and walked up to the dock and took off. Just a crappy expensive trip.
Written October 14, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Teresa L
Paso Robles, CA2 contributions
Dec 2011 • Couples
Felt rushed, crater dive was awful! Got caught in current because of poor planning of dive master. Two experienced divers ran out of air. Second dive was a bunch of old tires and a sunken wreck that had very little to see. They spend too much time taking pictures so they could up sell to us.
Written January 3, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.