3 tanks of pure joy 4/27

On this rainy and laid back Sunday morning we were in debate on where to dive. After long thought we decided on Kahala Barge or Big Barge. After jumping in for the line and seeing the current was too strong I decided that we should drift the barges. Courtesy of Captain Joe we were dropped right on the shark cave of the Baby Barge and saw a 5 foot eagle ray. Starting our dive off on a good foot, we then proceeded to the baby barge and spotted a baby turtle with a little help from Max. After we went down the reef ledge for a bit, we arrived at the New Barge. After about 35 minutes we ended our dive with some of our advanced student Yvette and Mike practicing their surface marker buoy deployment. On the surface interval we enjoyed the magnificent view of Diamond Head. Some of people not feeling so hot but diving anyways, way to be troopers guys you all dove with grace and I applaud your resiliency! We tied up at the YO-257 with one of the new Dive Master candidates Steve learning the lines, once we were tied up we descended down and spotting  a white tip reef shark off the port side of the YO- 257 incredible! He circled the wreck 3 times before leaving and going west. After enjoying the shark we swam over to the San Pedro off of the port side of the YO-257 and saw a pack of 3 giant green sea turtles. Truly spectacular, once back at the YO-257 we saw one of the biggest puffer fish I personally have ever seen, as well as a free swimming yellow margin moray. Once we had completed a 30  minute dive including our 3 minute safety stop we were greeted by crew mate Lauren and Captain Joe with chips and sandwiches. On our trip back around Diamond Head Captain Joe caught a Mahi Mahi. We made it over to Spitting  Caves after taking a quick breather in the bay. We did a 40 minute dive enjoying the viper moray getting his teeth cleaned by a cleaner shrimp. All in all we had a solid group of divers today. Thank you to Greg Long for taking all the featured photos I only used one selfie because it was perfect. Thanks to Instructor Callie and her Dive Master Candidates Steve and Juan you guys helped out a bunch today I look forward to seeing you guys on the boats more often. Another thanks to Cody and Carlos for coming out today and teaching Yvette and Mike during their Advanced open water course, you guys did an excellent job today. Thanks to Michael and Brandon for coming out again and again with us always down to dive anywhere. Ling thank you for coming diving today I’m extremely impressed with your diving talent and you were as well a pleasure to have on the boat today. And Last but certainly not least Dan thank you for being so punctual and being so self sufficient all day long, a neighbor is always welcome to me. I hope you all choose to come back and dive with Island Divers Hawaii again, and I look forward to your return! Mahalo.

Weather Conditions: Light showers with hints of sunshine, with 20 knot SE winds, and 4 to 6 foot seas
Dive Sites: Baby Barge to New Barge, YO-257, Spitting Caves
Dive Conditions: Baby Barge to New Barge; max depth 98 ft, 30 minute, water temp 75 f, slight east current. YO-257; max depth 90 ft,  30 minutes, water temp 76 f, east current.Spitting Caves; max depth 62 ft,  40 minutes, water temp 75 f, west current
Marine life observed: , Yellow margin moray, white tip reef shark, spotted eagle ray, puffer fish, and green sea turtles.
Staff: Captain Joe, Crew: Lauren, Instructor: Maxine, Cody, Callie Assistant Instructors; Carlos and Dive Master Candidates; Juan and Steve