2015 - Page 20 of 25 - Island Divers Hawaii

The YO 257 with Excellent Visibility on the Southside of Oahu

February 23, 2015/in Uncategorized/by David Sanchez

YO257

Aaah Sunday… a day of rest for most, a day of increased excitement for Island Divers! The diving increases 3 fold to 3 tanks, 3 sites, and 3 times the awesomeness of diving off of the south side of Oahu. A hearty crew of divers consisting of James, Joe, Katrina, Paul, Laura, Scott, Eleanor, Chris D, Chris S, and John joined Island Diver Pros Larry, Bradley, Sarah and I (Dave) for a day of calm seas, great visibility, and ocean creatures of all shapes and sizes. Whales and Dolphins made their presence known as we motored around Maunaloa Bay on our way to our first site: Baby Barge…

Baby Barge

Down to the right side of the ship and entering the cave underneath, while a turtle decided he wanted to exit… MAKE WAY!

Turtle X-ing!

Back to the top of the wreck and looking for interesting sea life… none more so than this guy…

Rock Lobster! (B52’s)

Soon it was time to surface and head around Diamond Head for one of my favorite sites…YO-257. This is such a great dive because not only do you have 2 ships in close proximity (YO-257 and the San Pedro), you also have the Atlantis Submarine cruising around the site making things a little more exciting as you play Dodge The Sub during your tour…

On the Pedro

In the Pedro

Danger! Turtle With Attitude!

Too soon it was time to once again surface… and eat lunch! Captain Kendal pointed the Hound East as we headed back around Diamond Head for a surface interval as we decided to drift our last site… Fantasy Reef. Larry lead the group in and around an area that he knows like the back of his hand, and the site did not disappoint… Turtles, Eels, Octopus, Reef fish and swim throughs!

Baby Turtle on Board!

Day is done…

Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun Sunday of diving! And thank you to all the support of the great people I have the honor of working with… YOU GUYS ROCK!

Baby Barge/ 75 Ft/ 74*/ 30 min

YO257/ 90 Ft/ 74*/ 20 min

Fantasy Reef/ 52 Ft/ 74*/ 35 min

Dave- Lead

Larry/ Bradley/ Sarah- Support

Kendal- Capt

Lauren- Crew

Sandy Beach Dives Always Prove to Impress with Swim Throughs and Underwater Canyons

February 21, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Larry Hogan

unless, of course, they are tears of joy! or you drop a tank on your foot (Maxine)! well, no crying today, but some great diving as we headed north out of Maunalua Bay and over to Sandy’s beach (home of the neck breaker shore break!) and to the excellent, and rarely dove, Skimmins Reef! we had a blast dropping in for a drift on this topographic marvel, loaded with swim throughs, canyons, and topped with tons of hard corals. beautiful spot! 2nd jump was another drift on the wall – this time Sea Cave, which just blows diver’s minds. the large lava tube houses big animals – turtles, sharks, monk seal, plus some large schools of fish. truly an awesome dive. after exiting the cave, we drifted the wall, spotting more turtles, eels, very large schools of idols, tangs, and butterfly fish. thanks to all for safe diving. larry and sara

h

Wreck Diving with the Pufferfish of Hawaii … 2/21/2015

February 21, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Manolo Cabasal

The wind and rain finally passed as typical Hawaii Kai conditions resumed this morning. Party cloudy skies accompanied by light and variable winds and a small swell were a vast improvement over the weather the past few days. This morning on the boat, we had a plethora of students (wreck, deep, nitrox, & advanced open water) along side certified divers.

KAHALA BARGE
92FT – 34MIN
73 Degrees

With a very mild Diamond Head current, the divers entered into 90 foot visibility. The wreck was easily discernible from the surface. The wreck diver laid line and penetrated the wreck, the rest of the divers frolicked among an assortment of juvenile fish. Hawaiian Damsel fish, box fish, trigger fish, and file fish hovered over the top of the wreck and its young budding coral. If you paid attention, you may have also seen a couple spiny stars and crabs hiding in the cracks and crevasses.

FANTASY REEF (DRIFT)
54FT – 42MIN
73 Degrees

This time the current shifted towards Koko Head and began to increase in strength. Entering negatively into more 90 foot visibility, the reef unfurled below the divers. Huge turtles cruised and posed with divers and a couple of massive crown of thorns starfish cruised along the bottom. A viper eel was also thrown into the mix along with more trigger fish.

A special thanks to the crew! Captain Brian, Hayley, and Whitey

Frogfish Sit on the Anchor Lines and Spinner Dolphins Show Their Agility in the Pacific Ocean

February 21, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Lauren Smith

Today was fun in the sun at Island Divers HI! On the 2 tank afternoon charter we had Discover Scuba Divers, Open Water students in training and Certified divers.

Our first dive site of choice was Koko Crater. With a maximum depth of 39 feet, we had Larry guided our group of certified’s while I lead our OW students and intro divers. Visibility was awesome today! Right under the boat we could see turtles resting in the sand next to their underwater statue buddies. We made our way around the crater spotting eels and schools of wrasse. Current was very light today, which made an easy swim and exploration for everyone.

The second dive site we picked was a fun reef named Turtle Canyons. Not long after being at depth an Octopus was spotted by Larry! Sitting on the mooring line not far away as also a frogfish! After exploring the reef and playing with compass skills in the sand our divers where soon back on the boat, and just in time to watch the spinner dolphin show.

Great dives with awesome people today at IDH!

W: Bradley (instructor) Larry (instructor) Brian (captain)

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

DIVE PROFILES: Koko Crater: 39ft max depth, dive time 34 minutes. Turtle Canyons: Max depth 40ft, dive time 36 minutes.

MARINE LIFE: Octopus, Parrot Fish, Pennant Fish, Nudibranch, Moray Eel, Frogfish & Green Sea Turtles!

The Home of Sea Turtles in Oahu is Anglers Reef Feb 20

February 20, 2015/in Uncategorized/by David Sanchez

June, Lou, Turtle, and Buddha!

Well a VERY interesting day unfolded at 12:30pm as the Sea Hound departed the dock at Island Divers Headquarters bound for Koko Crater… aboard was 2 divers on a private charter: June and Lou! They had the run of the boat! Very lucky of me to have such an easy and fun day of diving that turned out to be an EPIC DAY! But I digress…

First stop… Koko Craters. Great visibility, small current, and lots to see was the order of the day for our diving duo. As we dropped down the line there were 4 Turtles roaming around Little Buddha…

A TurtleFest!

and as we made our way around the crater a few more Turtles poked their heads from under the ledges…

June and friend

Lou and Sleepy

and of course we had to play with some reef fish…

Fish Frenzy!

Lucky Buddha!

Soon it was on to Anglers Reef… where the usual critters hung out along the ledges… Green Margin Morays, Reef fish aplenty, and a group of 12 Puffers. But then something totally out of the ordinary made its way down the ledge right for us…

Angler Shark!

A Shark At Anglers! In The Middle Of The Day! CMON! But yes there it was cruising past us… WOW!

Speechless…

Thank you to June and Lou for a GREAT DAY! ALOHA!

Koko Crater/ 32 ft/ 70 ft Vis/ 75*/ 40 min

Anglers Reef/ 43 ft/ 80 ft vis/ 75*/ 35 min

Dave- Lead

John- Capt

Lily- Crew

Drift Diving at Its best, this is Why Drift Diving Specialty Certification is a Must! Feb 19

February 19, 2015/in Uncategorized/by David Sanchez

A challenging day of diving for the crew aboard the Sea Hound today as the current was ripping at our first destination: Corsair. Since it was not advisable to drop on the airplane, we decided to drift the barges, starting at Baby Barge. Jim, Sarah, David, Eric, Frank, Edward, Mike, Jason, Bill, Kelsie, and Chris all made a successful negative entry atop of Baby Barge and rode the current East. Next stop was New Barge where we made a stop and had a chance to enter the hull of the ship. Back on the current where we came to our next stop: LCU.

White Tip at LCU

Soon it was time to surface, and after a 40 min surface interval and a short trip East it was on to Sea Cave for another drift. Once inside the cave there were 3 white tip sharks resting at the back wall…

Sharks in a Cave

back outside the cave we began our drift of the wall…

Turtle Fly Bye

Turtles, Eels, and Sharks cruised the area and enjoyed the awesome visibility and great conditions of the day.

Thank you to all our divers for a safe and enjoyable morning out in the water. Aloha!

Drift Barges/ 85 ft/ 35 min/ 75*

Sea Cave/ 50 ft/ 45 min/ 75*

Lead- Dave

Support- Mark

Capt- John

Crew- Ashley

Moray Eels Hunting Among the Reef Fish Aside the Devil Scorpionfish

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

Today was an amazing day out on the water! The sky was clear and the sun was shining. The water was crystal clear today as well with visibility being over 100 feet! We had a full boat this afternoon as we headed out to our shallow reef. The first site we went to was Koko Craters. After dropping down into back crater we saw lots of turtles and few Moray eels. After a 36 minute dive to 37 feet we headed back onto the boat to snack on some Famous Amos before our second dive.

When we were done catching some rays we hoped back in the water for out second dive at a site called Turtle Canyons. We found many more moray eels hiding in the coral and some on the hunt swimming around! We were even graced with the presence of a spotted eagle ray! One of the coolest fish we saw today was a Devil Scorpion fish. They are pretty hard to find because they are very good at blending in with the reef but when they feel threatened they flash their pectoral fins which on the inside have orange and yellow stripes to warn off predators. It is a truly amazing color display from such a well camouflaged creature. Overall we had an awesome day of diving.

Staff: Captain Sophie, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Dave, Instructor Larry

Spinner Dolphins Escorting the SCUBA Divers to Their Dive with Singing Humpback Whales Feb 18th

February 18, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Lauren Smith

Our 2 tanks advance charter was the perfect day to shake things up after a long holiday weekend. We had certified divers and Dive Masters in training this morning on the Sea Hound. With calm winds and plenty of sun we headed around the East side of Oahu for 2 drifting adventures.

As soon as Capt. Sophie pulled the boat into the channel we were welcomed by a pod of spinner dolphins, putting on a show for us, dancing, spinning and splashing away. After a 20 minute boat ride towards Hanauma Bay the group was ready to begin our first drift dive at Skimmins Ledge. With a max depth of 62 feet we began gliding over fields of beautiful hard corals and very populated schools of fish. Below we came across puffers, turtles and several different types of eels. After a 44 minute drift the group swam out into the blue for our safety stop while listening to whales singing lullabies.

We spent no time on our surface interval relaxing, we were on a chase! Capt. Sophie turned the boat around and we headed towards 3 very large humpback whales breaching right out of the water. These must of been the guys who were so talkative during our safety stop. After 40 minutes watching these huge creatures tail slapping and splashing around we began to gear up for another drift into the Sea Cave.

Conditions where perfect today for a double drift, and especially with such a good dive site as the Sea Cave. With a maximum depth of 59 feet the group made their descent under the boat and follow me through a large tunnel that opened into a cathedral of a cave. This place is special, no overhead environment with plenty of light shining into the cracks and ledges which hide white tip sharks and sea turtles. An extremely large hermit crab was spotted by one of our Divemaster students as well!

Soon the group was out of the sea cave and back to drifting down the wall, on our way we spotted a cute little octopus and hung out in large schools of pennant fish, synchronized in their movements. After a 46 minute drift the group was back on the boat talking about the best Wednesday of the month!

Drift on divers, drift on!

W: Bradley (instructor) Mark (instructor) Sophie (captain)

CONDITIONS: Sunny, mid 70’s*F Air, 75*F water, visibility 100+ft

DIVE PROFILES: Skimmins Ledge: 62ft max depth, dive time 44 minutes. Sea Cave: Max depth 59ft, dive time 46 minutes.

MARINE LIFE: Octopus, Hermit Crab, Pennant Fish, White Tip Reef Shark, Moray Eel & Green Sea Turtles!

Hawaiian Monk Seal Can be Found Inside the Sea Cave of the Island of Oahu 2/17

February 17, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Mark Savel

We had an absolutely wonderful day out on the waters of the southeast side of Oahu. With little wind and small swells we headed around to Sea Cave for the first dive. There was great viz as we dropped in and had a little current on the bottom. Inside the cave we were treated to a Hawaiian monk seal swimming about checking us out, but we soon left as he didn’t seem to happy by our presence. Along the wall we had reef fish all about with schools of pennant butterflyfish and damsel fish guarding their egg patches. We had a great drift but soon had to head up for the next site.

For the second dive we dropped in at Palea Point with a strong current and perfect viz. There were fish everywhere with color butterflyfish and wrasses everywhere as well as a few eels hiding around the coral. We also had a few turtles swimming about the area and even found a tiger cowrey hiding in a cave. It was a great day to be on the water and wonderful way to spend the morning.

Sea Caves and Flocking Eagle Rays in Oahu 16 feb

February 17, 2015/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

an essential nutrient for all scuba divers! a daily dose of our Hawaiin Vitamin Sea will keep healthy and happy! and we certainly were that today, as we had two awesome dives in great conditions! lots of smiling divers! everyone wants to see sharks, so off to the Landing Craft (LCU) we went, and sure enough, we saw some sharks! nice white tips hanging out underneath the wreck. and not only that, but a flock of eagle rays were circumnavigating the wreck, so we saw them several times, up close and personal!! stoked !!! very cool to see them glide through the sea. they’re getting vitamins!! 2nd jump was a drift of Spitting Cave, one of my favorites. a bit green, as the tide was still coming in, but those wall and caves always looks so beautiful underwater! plus we saw turtles, frogfish, and large schools of American Idols (same as Moorish), fusiliers, big eyes, you name the reef fish – we saw it!! thanks to all for safe diving, larry, manolo, and Admiral Sophie.

lcu 90 ft 35 min 100 viz

spitting cave 50 ft 48 min 80 viz