Archive for month: May, 2015

the viper moray has a very distinct jaw shape and coloration, and are rarely seen by divers in Hawaii, except at turtle canyons, 15 minutes out from our dive shop in Hawaii Kai!  the top jaw on the viper moray has an unusually hook-shaped upper jaw, plus a copper colored skin. and those jaws are bristling with black and brown teeth!  love em!  Turtle canyons also has white mouth morays, stout morays, yellow margin morays, and zebra morays, to name a few! Plus turtles and eagle rays.  great dive yesterday!!  first dive was over at Koko craters, home of the huge hawaiin green sea turtle.  always a treat to get cruised by one of them.  we also saw more eels, octopus, and a green hawaiin lion fish.  great diving today, as viz was forever, and current mild!  thanks to all for safe diving!  larry, david, captain joe, matt n.

kokos    40 feet   50 min  200 viz

turtles   35 feet   50 min  120 viz

how often do scuba divers get to see a submarine!  not too often, unless you’re diving the wreck of the YO 257 with us!  it is such a unique dive experience, and I highly recommend a trip to Oahu for any interested diver!  the YO is a great site on it own, eagle rays, sharks, large schools of shoaling fusiliers and banner fish surround it, while eels, turtles, and frogfish are found all over the wreck.  but seeing the Atlantis Submarine, which does an underwater circuit, with a long visit to the YO, is a real diver’s treat! before we dove the YO257 we did our first dive at Baby barge, seeing the resident huge turtles, octopus, and beautiful coral-covered ledges as we drifted along to the shark cave.  dive number three was Turtle Canyons, a beautiful shallow reef, covered with coral and packed with sea life – eels, rays, frogfish, octopus, schools of various juvenile reef fish, and lots of turtles of all sizes!  thanks to all for safe diving,  larry, max, joe, matt

baby barge   80 feet   200 viz   40 min

YO 257         100 feet   80 viz     27 min

turtle canyons  35 ft   120 viz   50 min

yes they do!  the eagle rays seem to love the ambiance of that great dive site.  the LCU is a WWII style landing craft that flipped upside down while purposely being sunk as an artificial reef!  they are always there, cruising around some invisible circuit.  they fly in formation, and it is an inspiring sight!  we also found a white tip shark relaxing underneath, as well as barracuda and a large school of fusiliers!  great dive despite strong current, as the viz was 200 feet again!  2nd jump was a drift of Fantasy!  man oh man those turtles are huge, and everywhere!  more barracuda, lots of reef fish, huge morays of various types, and beautiful topography!   thanks to all for safe diving!!

LCU  90  ft    200 viz    37 min

Fantasy Reef  52 ft   100 viz   51 min

yes they do, and they never fail to bring a smile to our divers.  here in Hawaii we call them Honu.  there are other species of turtles here in the islands, loggerheads, olive ridleys, hawksbills, and the giant leatherback.  but these last four are usually only seen in deep waters.  whereas the greens are everywhere, even on the beach!!  our turtles actually nest in the northwest islands, mostly on Frigate Shoals.  so we don’t usually see a lot of juveniles here, but lately we have been seeing a few!!  they may be part of the Sea Life Park hatch and release program, which i’ve been lucky enough to participate in, thanks to my niece who worked there!  watching the hatchlings crawl across the beach and into the waves is an amazing experience!  In any case, today we saw lots of turtles at both dive sites.  current was very strong at Baby Barge, so we stayed near the wreck, still have a great dive, as the viz was close to 200 feet of clear blue water!  sweet! 2nd jump was a drift of staff favorite Fantasy Reef.  viz was down, as we hit a slack tide, but we saw a ton of cool stuff – barracuda, morays, puffers, octopus, and well as the huge turtles that call Fantasy home!  thanks to all for safe diving,  larry and captain joe

baby barge 80 feet  37 min.  200 viz

fantasy reef 52 feet  45 min   100 viz