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No certification is needed for snuba, which means even nondivers can go swimming with the fishes in Kaanapali, Maui, in a flash.

By Ken Van Vechten | Special to the Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Kaanapali — As I plod toward the surf, I’m trying to channel a bit of orca because nothing in the ocean messes with Shamu. I just hope some do-gooder doesn’t try to free me or toss me a mackerel. I plan to be underwater for 25 minutes, and I’m told the artificial blubber of the neoprene wet suit will be comforting.

My wife, Terri, and I have hooked up with an outfitter for a swim with a twist — snuba — off the beach in Kaanapali, Maui. Think of it as scuba for dummies. Mask, fins, regulator, cool bubbles floating upward — the vast numbers of which indicate I need to slow my gaspiration rate — it’s regular “Sea Hunt” stuff, and you don’t need a license or certification.

“The ‘OK’ gesture is a question and an answer,” says Yorkie, our guide. “If I do it and you’re OK, don’t give me a thumbs-up because that means you want or need to go up.” If I were running things, we’d be flashing the old Hang 10 sign, but she is in charge so I take in her speech about safety, comfort and having fun in the briny depths. I pledge to remember to equalize often the air pressure in my ears while descending, and should I engage, à la James Bond, in an underwater tussle with a thug hell-bent on world destruction, I will be able to clear my mask. I also vow to tightly purse my lips around the regulator and not gnaw on it. A few more how-tos and a quick run through a medical checklist, and it’s water time.

PLANNING YOUR TRIP

The best way to Maui

From LAX, Delta, United and American offer nonstop service, and Alaska, US Airways, United and Hawaiian offer connecting service (change of plane) to Kahului Airport. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $528.

Shoreline Snuba, http://www.shorelinesnuba.com, (808) 281-3483, offers beach excursions from the Marriott Maui Ocean Club, Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas and the Kaanapali Beach Club in Kaanapali. It also coordinates boat dives with several vendors in both west and south Maui. Couples and family dive packages available.

As the name suggests, snuba is scuba-esque, but the tank stays on the surface rather than lashed to your back. Purists might scoff at the T-ball quality of it all; Jacques Cousteau was a rookie once too, and he’s the guy who invented modern scuba.

Terri and I are doing the shore version, swimming out from the beach with a small raft containing the tank rather than dropping in from a boat or fixed platform at sea, as can be done in some locales.

Remembering Yorkie Lesson No. 11 — “Your body will follow your head” — down I go. Ten, 15, maybe 20 feet, which is the limit to the air hose; I haven’t been this deep since my older sister invented the game she dubbed Baby Brother the Submersible, which I equated more to controlled drowning.

Go ahead and laugh, scubaistas, but this rocks. Twenty feet isn’t exactly down to the abyss off the backside of Molokini, the blown-out volcanic crescent off south Maui, and the tank-on-the-raft thing hints at training wheels. Yet I’m gliding underwater largely unencumbered, and I can breathe rich, wonderful puffs of good old air. Nice.

Yorkie plops a hunk of rock in my hand, and it starts to wriggle, something a rock shouldn’t be doing. She puts the grayish mottled lump back on the sea floor and puts an index finger upside her head. That’s my cue that a bit of education is in the offing, but the lecture will have to wait. Back topside, she tells us the little darling is a sea cucumber.

For the wary, Yorkie — and I would surmise all guides with Shoreline Snuba — is conscientious and helpful, pausing often to give the OK sign and expecting one in return. At one point she swims over — she’s tank diving — and adds another hunk of ballast to my weight belt. What with the neoprene and being zaftig, I was a touch too buoyant. Now my body does follow my head.

Terri plays tag with a small school of tangs and directs us to a honu munching away in turtle bliss on a sea salad clinging to a rock. Yorkie taps her temple to remind us to talk later about the two lionfish wedged in a crevice. Clown fish, eel, wrasses, several of my all-time fave Hawaiian sea critters, the plucky/cranky riot of color the locals know as humuhumunukunukuapuaa, or the Picasso trigger fish; it’s a nice sampling if not the broad, deeply representative census to be found on more active reefs. Taking it all in at fish level for 25 minutes isn’t chopped bait. This is one area in which snuba beats snorkeling.

Snorkeling, however, is free once you have the gear, and you can do it as long as you want and wherever you want. Our excursion cost $95 a person, the wet suit is $10more. Photos, which we didn’t buy, plus a few trinkets, can be had as part of an all-of-the-above package for $149. With orientation, waddling to the beach, kicking around, diving, rolling back onto shore with all the grace of a penguin on land — me, not Yorkie and Terri — and talking about what we’d seen, we burn up about 90 minutes. Time and dollars well spent? Yes, for scuba neos like us. And the little Cousteaus will love it.

But if you go, know that the killer whale has migrated back to the mainland.

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SNUBA International Inc., manufacturer and developer of the proprietary SNUBA shallow water dive system, recognized Maui’s Shoreline SNUBA as the “Most Outstanding SNUBA Operation of 2010.”

Over 60 SNUBA locations across the world were considered for this prestigious honor, and SNUBA licensees were evaluated on “performance, customer service quality, guest comments, safety, strength of SNUBA branding and promotion, operations innovation, and overall commitment to the SNUBA program.”

Similar to scuba diving, SNUBA divers breathe from an air cylinder while exploring the underwater world. Divers wear masks and fins, and don’t carry air tanks as the air supply floats on a raft at the water’s surface connected to their SNUBA raft by a 20-foot hose.

Shoreline SNUBA provides tours of Maui’s crystal waters, coral reefs and close encounters with an array of sea life and the underwater songs of the humpbacks during whale season. In 2010, Shoreline SNUBA opened new sites at the Westin Kä‘anapali Ocean Resort Villas, the Marriott Maui Ocean Club, the Kä‘anapali Beach Club, Kai Kanani Sailing Charters and Teralani Sailing Charters. Over 5,000 guests dived with Shoreline SNUBA in 2010, and the company is poised for significant growth in 2011.

Shoreline SNUBA President Brian Heustis relayed that although the honor is “humbling,” great satisfaction was “the real payoff.” And according to Hannah Mayfield, director of marketing for California-based SNUBA International in Diamond Springs, Shoreline SNUBA’s certified SNUBA guides are “extremely helpful, professional, patient and fun,” receiving some of the top comments from customers on social networking sites and travel blogs. “When it comes to positive feedback, Shoreline’s customers speak volumes,” she said.

Visit www.shorelinesnuba.com or call 281-3483 for more information.

Combining the best of snorkeling and scuba, SNUBA is a big hit with Maui visitors of all ages

01.19.2011– SNUBA® International, Inc., manufacturer and developer of the proprietary SNUBA® shallow water dive system, has recognized Maui’s Shoreline SNUBA as the “Most Outstanding SNUBA Operation of 2010.” More than 60 SNUBA locations around the world were considered for this prestigious award. SNUBA licensees were evaluated based on performance, customer service quality, guest comments, safety, strength of SNUBA branding and promotion, operations innovation and overall commitment to the SNUBA program.

“The growth of Shoreline SNUBA is impressive,” states Jim Mayfield, President of SNUBA International, Inc. “Shoreline exemplifies what SNUBA is all about: making a great trip even more memorable.”

Like scuba diving, SNUBA divers breathe from an air cylinder while they explore beneath the waves. Like snorkeling, divers wear masks and fins and carry no air tanks. During a SNUBA dive, the air supply floats on a raft at the water’s surface, leaving the divers unencumbered while they explore the ocean tethered to their SNUBA raft by a 20 foot air hose.

New Shoreline SNUBA sites have been opened at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas, the Marriott Maui Ocean Club, the Ka’anapali Beach Club, Kai Kanani Sailing Charters and Teralani Sailing Charters all during 2010. Shoreline SNUBA also offers an innovative children’s SNUBA program, “Mermaids and Mermen” at the Marriott, where kids can demo SNUBA and play games in the hotel’s pool.

Shoreline SNUBA president Brian Heustis says while the recognition is humbling, guest satisfaction is the real payoff. “We dive with thousands of visitors each year, many of whom have never seen the diverse beauty of the ocean from underwater. When you see the excitement of a child who has just come face to face with their first sea turtle, it makes you remember why you got into this business,” says Heustis.

According to Hannah Mayfield, Director of Marketing for Diamond Springs, CA-based SNUBA International, Shoreline SNUBA’s uniformed staff of ten certified SNUBA Guides are extremely helpful, professional, patient and fun. “These Guides receive some of the highest customer comments on vacation blogs and social networking sites. When it comes to positive feedback, Shoreline’s customers speak volumes,” says Mayfield.

Shoreline SNUBA provides SNUBA tours of clear Maui waters and close encounters with a variety of sea life, including majestic sea turtles, gorgeous fish of every variety, whales and dolphins and picturesque coral reefs. During November through April guests are able to hear the singing of humpback whales. More than 5,000 guests dived with Shoreline SNUBA in 2010 and the company is poised for significant growth in 2011.

Fans on Shoreline’s Facebook page say:
“[SNUBA] was one of the most unforgettable life adventures!! My kids 8 and 11 had the time of their life and Jack was the best guide ever.”

“Jay… you were great… thanks for the fantastic memories… we had a blast learning SNUBA…”

Shoreline SNUBA offers a variety of specially tailored dive packages starting at just $95. SNUBA requires no certifications, just a brief orientation which describes SNUBA’s nearly effortless instructions: breathe, kick your feet and have fun. SNUBA excursions depart daily from shore and ship. For more information visit www.ShorelineSNUBA.com.

SNUBA International Inc. licensees provide tours offered in various locations worldwide, including: the Pacific, throughout the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States. For more information visit www.SNUBA.com