August 2015 - Island Divers Hawaii

Sharks, turtles and wrecks, diving Oahu!

August 31, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

What a day!! We boarded the Sea Fox and headed to the bay to start our dive day. Asking the divers what they wanted to see today….SHARKS!! Well boy did we deliver today! We went to Baby Barge/Shark Cave, max depth 85 feet. The current was working in our favor and we went to the Shark Cave first….Booya a HUGE shark! The whole group was happy to take pictures and watch this beautiful white tip swim slowly back and fourth hamming it up for the group. So lucky we have GoPro Rentals at the shop. Not to forget our great Hawaiian green sea turtles that where around the wreck.

During our surface interval I asked “What would you guys like to see now?” They respond…..Sharks!! We jump in to do our drift dive over the beautiful Fantasy Reef, max depth 55 feet. We started on the Diamond Head side of the reef and first thing we run into…..You guessed it, a Shark! Not just any shark but a nice big 6′ shark.

Then we made our way through the swim thru and headed down the reef, KoKo head bound. There is one more place that we usually find some amazing sea life is a particular ledge at the end. Looking under it, a good spot for Honu and what do we spy? Two very big turtles and three….yes count them three more Sharks! What a great day for diving and seeing Sharks!!

Drift diving sea caves and wreck dives in Hawaii

August 30, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

Well it wasn’t a night dive so we didn’t actually see the moon but we certainly experienced what effect the moon has on ocean tides. Heading out to the Corsair airplane wreck, always a great dive, we discovered that the current was just too ripping to tie up and dive such a small site. It is a shame if you want to see the Corsair but the up side is we do a fabulous dive we call the drifting the barges! It is a dream dive for divers who like to explore as we can see three different wrecks plus all the underwater terrain between them! Really it’s just a fantastic experience!! 2nd jump was a drift of Sea Cave where the moon and current storms also played their role with the ocean. As we headed into the cave we got a ‘white out’ which is caused by big wave pressure entering the cave and foaming up turning everything white. We headed out seeing a shark on the way and drifted west along that fantastic wall seeing turtles and rays, and large schools of reef fish. Thanks to all for safe diving, Larry, Joe

barge drift – 80 ft 120 viz 40 min

sea cave – 50 feet 120 viz 45 min

Scuba diving with sharks in Hawaii!

August 29, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

We started the day by loading up the Sea Fox with a group of great divers. Our first dive site was Baby Barge, max depth was 85 feet. Buddy teams explored the entire wreck and it’s surroundings. One of the spots is the “Shark Cave” about 100 yards west of the wreck. Most of the time we find turtles staying there but much to our surprise there were TWO Sharks there today!! What a treat. Back at the wreck there was loads of the Hawaiian green sea turtles “Honu”, which always makes everyone happy. They love to pose for out photo taking divers.

Second dive was a lovely drift on Keanu Reef, max depth 65 feet. We all went as one group, Erik, Keith, Louis, Eric, Brandon, Rachel, Imran, Chad, Lindsey, and Jeremy all had a great time. Found loads of reef fish and got to just float along. At the end of the dive we even got to see one of our friendly octopus “Tako”, that came out to play. Such a great day. We are lucky we got to dive in Hawaii!!

Scuba diving and sea life in Oahu!

August 25, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

Fun time on the shallower reef dives today! Angler’s Reef, max depth 45 feet, was full of eels. Snowflakes, Holden’s and yellow margins. What sights to see. So many reef fish too!
Turtle Canyon, max depth 37 feet, was the day of the eel also. Yellow margin, white mouth and viper eels too! We had two groups, one went east and one group went west, the east dive with dive instructor Sarah. They saw green sea turtles and a reef full of fish. The group that went west with myself was joined by a huge spotted eagle ray. We got to see loads of eels and even more reef fish. Very nice dives for Lottie, Craig, Eric, Leslie, Martina, Marlene, Michael, Tiffany and Ben!

Wreck Diving with sea turtles in Honolulu!

August 24, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

The day started off with heavy rain but that doesn’t throw our divers off. We went to the wreck of the famous Corsair, max depth 107 feet. The water was calm and just a slight current. We could see the plane all the way down the line. It was so peaceful down there. Felipe, mark, joe and Tim had such a great dive. Back on the boat we couldn’t stop talking about the 1948 wreck.
We drifted Fantasy Reef next, max depth 55 feet. So many turtles and eels to see. Most relaxing dive of time day just drifting along and seeing the sights. Back on the boat Captain Joe had hot pours for all of us and warm minty towels to freshen up with!!

Scuba diving Oahu’s Hanauma Bay!!

August 24, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

Hanauma Bay is a world-famous marine preserve on Oahu. Known for its beautiful beach, reef, and huge numbers of friendly It is a fantastic shore dive! Even more spectacular are the points where the bay meets the real ocean. The east point we call Palea Point and it is a world-class dive site with breath-taking walls, canyons, and caves plus big animals – sharks, turtles, rays, dolphins, and monk seals. That was our second dive yesterday after our first jump at LCU (landing craft unit) where we saw sharks, eagle rays, and octopus! Palea point is best done as a drift dive off a boat, as there is no access from shore, and we can only do it under certain weather conditions, so we were super stoked to be able to get in there for a fantastic experience! After a quick lunch, we did dive number 3 and Skimmins Reef did not disappoint, even after the mind blowing experience at Palea! Skimmins has a great wall with fun swim-throughs, beautiful coral, and lots of reef fish! Great day of diving. Thanks to all, Larry, Kendal, and Matt.

LCU 90 feet 120 viz 30 min

Palea point 50 feet 120 viz 45 min

Skimmins 50 feet 150 viz 50 min

Dive certifications in the calm waters of Honolulu!

August 22, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

Perfect afternoon dive on Koko Crater, max depth 37 feet! What a busy boat we had today… Certified divers, DSD’s, OW, AOW and dive master students on the boat!! Lots of learning going on and great adventure dives.
Second stop was Turtle Canyon, max depth was 37 feet. We had beautiful calm waters and perfect visibility. Everyone had a great time and looks forward to more dive adventures with us!! Thank you all for making this a great day.

White tip shark encounter diving Koko craters in Oahu!

August 22, 2015/in Dive Reports/by David Sanchez

Many times I have been asked “Will we see sharks?” on the PM dive, and my typical answer was “No, they don’t come to Koko Crater.” And I’m usually right. Today changed my future answer to “Maybe…” As the Barge departed the shop we had 6 adventure seeking divers aboard Bennett, Cora, Imran, Michelle, Darlene, and Victoria (completing her OW cert). We docked at Back Crater and set out for Main Crater where we saw the usual cast of reef fish, Eels and a Puffer fish. We returned to Back Crater and as I lit up under the shelf looking for turtles I was surprised by what popped out instead. A 4ft White Tip Shark! Once awoken it swam out from its hiding place dodged a huge green moray that was swimming bye, and just missed bouncing off a turtle who was watching the shark as closely as we were. Finally it took the high road over the crater wall and left for deeper water… EPIC!

Next stop: Turtle Canyon where we observed Turtles, a school of Puffers, and LOTS of reef fish doing what they do… a great day of diving! Thank you to all our divers for a safe, fun, and answer changing day of diving… ALOHA!

Shark

Koko Crater/ 32 ft/ 80*/ 35 min

Turtle Canyon/ 25 ft/ 80*/ 40 min

Lead- Dave

Capt- Neal

Sharks spotted diving Oahu sea cave!

August 21, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

There are never enough sharks to see!! So many of our divers have never been in the water with a shark before and often are very apprehensive about it. It is double the fun to be able to show them their first shark and then have them truly enjoy the experience! The connection we humans have with sharks is centuries old. Yes they have eaten a few of us humans along the way but in reality they do not seek us out as prey. In fact, the sharks in Hawaii are quite apprehensive about divers! In any case, we had 3 sharks inside Sea Cave yesterday and they put on a nice swim show for us! Great dive as we also saw , as we drifted that spectacular wall after exiting the cave! First dive was baby barge where we had great conditions checking out the shark cave and seeing the huge resident green sea turtles! Lots of smiling diver faces today!! Thanks to all for safe diving Larry, Kendal, Ashley

baby barge 82 feet 35 min 150 viz

sea cave 52 feet 35 min 150 viz

Diving in Hawaii Kai, rewarded with turtles, eels and more!

August 18, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

It was hot hot hot here in Hawaii Kai today but luckily I know a great way to cool off… Scuba Diving! And that is what we did this afternoon. We had 17 divers on board this afternoon who all had the same brilliant idea. Both students and certified divers alike headed out on the boat today for two reasons, to cool off and to blow bubbles! The first dive site we went to was Koko Craters. We dropped down to 37 feet and went for a swim. We found a couple turtles hanging out while we were swimming around. We also saw a few small moray eels. After a 40 minute dive we headed back up to the boat.

After munching on some goldfish, the second dive site we went to was turtle canyons. We dropped down to 35 feet and swam around the reef. We saw a couple large moray eels, tons of reef fish and another turtle! Overall it was an amazing day of diving. Thanks to everyone who came out for being such safe divers!

Conditions: Water Temperature 82 degrees fahrenheit, visibility 70 feet

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Jeremy, Instructor Kevin, Divemaster Ryan, Crew Ashley