David Sanchez

Season of the Humpback Whales Closing, but Diving with Eagle Rays Has Just Begun in Oahu

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A nice day out on Maunaloa Bay for a group of 4 divers… yes 4 divers! Overcast skies but fairly calm surface conditions for Barb, Joe, Kevin and Ron as we made our way to LCU…

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No sharks under the wreck, but just outside a group of Spotted Eagle Rays cruised around the site and seemed comfortable enough let us get within 10ft of them… pretty cool!

rays

Once back on the boat a pod of Humpback Whales escorted us to our next site…Spitting Caves.

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Lots of cool things to see… Eels, Reef Fish, Turtles and Taco…

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A great day of diving by all. Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day out on the Fox… Aloha!

LCU/ 80ft/ 25min/ 75*

Spitting Caves/ 50ft/ 40 min/ 75*

Dave- Lead

Joe- Capt

Crew- Matt

Mark Savel

Scuba Diving in Great Visibility Among the Eels and Sea Turtles

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Today was a wonderful day to be on the waters off Oahu scuba diving.  There was perfect visibility today as we headed out on the morning Sea Fox charter.  We had a few people out diving with us who had extra time on the islands due to different airline incidents and what better way to spend dive but go diving.  For the first site we dove Kahala Barge and it was wonderful.  With the clear water and a medium current we got to the bottom and had reef fish all about the wreck.  There were pyramid and pennant butterflyfish and damsel fish as well as some wrasses as well.  We also had the good luck of seeing a spotted eagle ray swimming by the area.

For the second dive we drifted Spitting Caves and again it was a great dive.  There was wonderful viz and a good current as we moved along the wall.  There were schools of goatfish and butterflyfish all along the site plus a nice sized green sea turtle.  We also found a large frogfish and a few eels hiding about. It was a wonderful day to be scuba diving.DCIM100GOPROG0010216. GOPR1199 school of fish

Larry Hogan

Successful Wreck Specialty Dives On the Wrecks of Oahu

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NO, not that “getting wrecked!”  that is not a good idea, especially underwater!  I’m talking Wreck Specialty!  and today Barb was getting wrecked with me on both the Kahala barge and the world famous YO 257 !!  she did good on wreck dives 3/4, although rewinding that line in heavy current underwater takes practice!!  kahala barge was nice, mild current and good viz, and we had a great swim-through into the dark beneath the deck!  but your eyes adjust and the ambient light makes it simple.  there is a very big octopus living on that same deck, but topside!  2nd dive was the YO, and the submarine was right below us as we cruised down the mooring line.  lots of fish, some big morays, napping turtles, and flash-popping tourists in the sub!  beautiful dive!  3rd try was a drift of Fantasy reef and we all had a great dive.  huge turtles and eels, a big sponge crab, a fleeting eagle ray, colorful coral, and awesome topography made for lots of smiling divers!  thanks to all for safe diving! larry, max, joe, matt

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Larry Hogan

Hawaii’s Epic Underwater Life including Resident Sea Turtles, Scorpionfish, and so much more

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SCUBA Divers in the world you must dive in Hawaii, which has spectacular diving adventures awaiting you!  today we did the Kahala Barge in excellent conditions.  mild current and great visibility helped us to find sharks, turtles, octopus, big moray eels, as well as a huge peacock flounder sitting (?) right on the deck!!  Dr. Joe and daughter Kristina, the Cawdrys, were out for fun, and Barb was doing her wreck specialty dive one as well.  2nd jump was a drift of the ever-pleasing Spitting Caves, where we saw fish eating algae off a turtles back, some large schools of reef fish, rock scorpion fish, frog fish, and played a little hide-n-seek with a cute little octopus! thanks to all for safe diving!  larry, joe, kelsea

kahala  90 ft  35 min  100 viz

spitting 50 ft  50 min  100 viz

 

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David Sanchez

White Tip Reef Sharks in the Caves of Maunaloa Bay Oahu

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Swells, winds, and white caps were the order of the day today out in Maunaloa Bay… but it did not deter our band of determined divers. Joining us today were Barb, Bill, Chris, Joe, Julia, Mary, Steve and Kiko’s crew. Forced to go around the corner of China Walls because of strong currents, we decided  to drop in on Sea Cave. Turned out to be a great call!

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Cruising down the walls towards Sea Cave the group was met by a Green Turtle in high gear…

Wall turtle

Once inside the dark Cave  at least 3 White tips slept lazily on the back wall…

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The Cave was rockin so soon it was time to leave… Mary decided to try her hand at trying to catch lunch…

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All returned to the boat safely, and after a long surface interval it was on to Corsair…

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Schooling fish, Garden Eels, and the resident of the plane Mr Green Margin Eel made the site a lively spot!

Thank you to all our divers for a Fun and Safe day out on the Fox! ALOHA!

Sea Cave/ 50ft/ 35 min/ 75*

Corsair/ 107ft/ 13 min/ 73*

Dave- Lead Instructor

Joe- Capt

 

Lauren Smith

Advanced SCUBA Diving with the Creatures of the Hawaiian Islands

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Tuesday morning was a great day for diving on the Sea Fox!

Our first dive site was Barge Barge. At a max depth of 77 feet, divers descended to the sunken barge to soon be met by a huge Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. Hiding in the rubble near the wreck was a sneaky scorpion fish and a large Crown of Thorns. In between the hard corals we found a few eels and nudibranchs. Divers broke off into their buddy teams to explore a little more of the dive site and were soon back on the mooring line begging their ascents to the surface, for a total dive time of 38 minutes.

Our next splash was a drift across Fantasy Reef. With a max depth of 54 feet we prepared to dive as one team across this awesome reef. The current was fast today and the drift was enjoyable. Below we made our way in and out of swim throughs hiding sleeping turtles. More nudibranchs and larger eels crossed out path on this dive. After drifting for 41 minutes we began our safety stop into the blue and were soon pick up be the Sea Fox.

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Advanced diving made easy today, thanks to everyone who was out there!

W: Bradley (instructor) Joe (captain)

CONDITIONS: Windy/Partially Cloudy, High 70’s , 75*F water, Visibility 60+ft

DIVE PROFILES: Baby Barge: 77ft max depth, 38min dive time Fantasy Reef: 54ft max depth, 46min dive time

MARINE LIFE: Spotted moray eel, green sea turtle, Nunu trumpet fish, Scorpion Fish, Gold Laced Nudibranchs, Crown of Thorns Starfish.

David Sanchez

The Famous Corsair Plane Wreck in Oahu

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Plane

Sun shining, a slight breeze, great visibility, and a bit of a chop on the surface was the order of the day out on Maunaloa Bay today… our hearty crew of divers included Austin, Brian, Cliff, Cody, Evan, Jesse, Kenny, Teresa, Mark, Ryan, Mike, Scott, and Davis along with myself and Everett leading the group. First stop… Baby Barge.

Baby Barge

A slight current was countered by using the descent line down to the wreck… where the divers were met by a multitude of reef fish and a pair of Green Moray Eels lurking in the caved in wreck. Just before surfacing a Green Turtle decided to make an appearance…

Turtle Barge

Next it was on to the Corsair… a plane wreck that reportedly was ditched by its pilot after running out of fuel. He was on his way back from Maui and did run out of fuel, survived, crashed in about 30ft of water with subsequent hurricanes moving it further out to sea.

Corsair

A resident Green Moray makes its home in the fuselage, and a school of fish take refuge under the tail section…

School

A great day of diving was had by all… thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day of diving! ALOHA!

Baby Barge/ 65ft/ 74*/ 25 min

Corsair/ 107ft/ 74*/ 14 min

Dave-Lead

Everett-Support

Capt- Joe

Crew-Kelsey

Lauren Smith

The Best Drift Dive in Maunalua Bay is Fantasy Reef

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A perfect day for advanced dives at Island Divers Hawaii! We had a nice group of divers from all over United States and Canada today.

As divers geared up we headed out on the Sea Fox into Maunalua Bay. Our first dive site destination was Baby Barge, sitting at a maximum depth if 79ft, a great location for wrecks, sharks and large Hawaiian green sea turtles. Below the water divers explored this collapsed barge, finding spiny lobsters, eels and turtles hiding in the sunken vessel Once following the reefs ledge, some of our divers made their way towards a small over hang we like to call “Sharks Cove”. Today a small white tip reef shark was spotted tucked away, lying in the sand. On the return towards the wreck a few nudibranchs and crown of thorn had been spotted crawling across the sea floor.

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On our second dive of the day we a fun and mild drift down Fantasy Reef. With a max depth of 54 feet divers enjoyed the swim throughs and beautiful topography of this reef. Below the surface we had many types of butterfly, wrasse and parrot fish swimming in all directions. A few divers were keen enough to follow me through several large swim through that we shared with more green sea turtles and nunu trumpet fish. Eels had been hiding in virtually  every corner of Fantasy Reef today, including  a sneaky octopus trying to camouflage with the hard corals.

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Today was a fun an relaxed way to start the new month!

Thanks Divers!

W: Bradley (instructor) Joe(captain)

CONDITIONS: Sunny, mid 70’s*F Air, 75*F water, visibility 80+ft

DIVE PROFILES: Baby Barge: 79ft max depth, dive time 44 minutes. Fantasy Reed: Max depth 54ft, dive time 50 minutes.

MARINE LIFE: Octopus, Crown of Thorns, White Tip Reed Shark, White,  Spiny Lobster, Moray Eels & Green Sea Turtles!