Archive for month: August, 2014

The sun was shining for our afternoon out on the bay. With groups of families and students alike, we decided to head out into the ocean. There were so many families out on the boat today, it was fantastic! We made our way to Koko Crater for our first dive of the afternoon.

We had separated into two groups to ensure that the families stay together in groups, despite some being students. I feel that this was a great move because most of the time we spent exploring the shallows of the bay. We came across many different kinds of fish that were doing a great job of blending into their surroundings.

We got a chance to explore a lot of the coral heads that surround the site and they were teeming with marine life. It was awesome to see all the different kinds of schools of fish. We eventually made our way back up to the boat and enjoyed a light snack before we hopped in at our second site.

When we dropped in at our second site, we came across this wonderful sea star that made a great way to start to dive. We made our way to the end of the mooring and checked out the rocks that are covered with fish.

Once we got a good look at some of the marine life at the beginning of the site, we made our way down the wall and got to check out some really cool eels that were hanging out along the wall.

Of course, one of the interesting things that inhabit the reef wall are the urchins that make their homes in the cracks among the reef. They wedge themselves in the holes and are protected enough to withstand the currents. We again made our way back aboard the Sea Fox and headed back into the harbor.

Congrats to the newest certified divers!

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CREW: Marnie (instructor) Carlos (divemaster) Amy (instructor) Joe (captain) Max (crew)

WEATHER: 88*F Sunny, Slight breeze

DIVE PROFILES: Koko Crater: 81*F water temp, 40ft max depth, 38min bottom time, surge

Pa’a’awa: 81*F water temp, 43ft max depth, 32min bottom time

MARINE LIFE: green sea turtle, pincushion seastar, brittle star, squirrel fish, pencil urchin

Despite the rain early this morning, the skies cleared up for another great day on the south shore of Oahu. A rather empty boat left the docks at midday and set out to the open water to some really great diving.

We spotted tons of pufferfish today at our first dive site, Koko Crater. We even saw a baby pufferfish that was only a few inches long! So cute!

As usual, Big Buddha was surrounded by massive schools of fish and we had a chance to swim through them for quite some time. With both students and certifieds, we spotted tons of turtles hanging out under the ledges of the crater.

We made our way back onto the boat and headed to our next site, Angler’s Reef. The conversation was great aboard the boat during our surface interval and everyone had a great time swapping stories and interacting with each other during the break.

Over at Angler’s, the visibility cleared up quite a bit and we got to see a lot of really cool marine animals along the wall.

There were a ton of eels along the ridge today and divers got to see quite a variety of the different species underwater. Its so interesting to see the different sizes of each of the different species, from the massive moray to the small whitemouth.

Thanks to all who joined us out on the boat today, and congrats to the newest certified divers!

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CREW: Marnie (instructor) Amy (instructor) Greg (instructor) Carlos (divemaster) Neil (captain)

CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy with a slight drizzle, breezy

PROFILES: Koko Crater: 40ft max depth, dive time 32 minutes, Koko Head current (E), 60ft visibility, 81*F

Angler’s Reef: 44ft max depth, dive time 34minutes, Koko Head current (E), 80ft visibility, 81*F

MARINE LIFE OBSERVED: moray eel, green sea turtle, pencil urchin, pincushion seastar, white mouthed eel, squirrelfish

Doesn’t really matter what day it is out here in hawaii landia, there are always big green sea turtles!  They are forever interesting to see, whether dozing, cruising, or landing on your fins!!  We had a nice group today, with Leslie, a rare lawyer/scuba instructor combo, and husband Jim out with us.  Smiling Mike Oxley, Gambino and Lance, plus Tyler from Virginia rounded out my group as we visited shark cave at baby barge. What did we see? You guessed it! A huge turtle! This guy had barnacles all over his shell, kind of unusual.  We also saw a shark, more turtles, and a fun wreck with lots of fish around it!  2nd jump was a drift of Fantasy reef, a real favorite of ours, with its spectacular topography and sea life.  Turtles, octopus, barracudas, were just a few of the critters we saw. Thanks to all for safe diving, Larry, Mark, and Joe.