2016 - Island Divers Hawaii

Amazing Dives to End the Year

December 30, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

We had some amazing dives off the Seafox this morning. The ocean gave us a pretty good show to end the year with a bang. We had a fun and excited group with us out on the boat today. First dive site we went to was the LCU. Visibility was beautiful today. We dropped down to 90 feet and cruised underneath the wreck to check out the fish and see what was hiding underneath today. As soon as we came back out we were greeted by a group of 7 spotted eagle rays! They were cruising in the current right next to the wreck. So awesome to see those guys up close. On the front of the wreck we found a slipper lobster. Then we went and checked out the blocks surrounding the wreck and found two white tip reef sharks. It was a beautiful dive at the LCU. For the second dive we went to Fantasy Reef. We had crystal clear visibility over the reef today was well. We found a beautiful flounder swimming along the bottom at the beginning of the dive. At least 10 turtles throughout the dive. Another white tip reef shark sleeping in a little cave. A couple barracuda. Quite a few moray eels, one of the yellow margin morays out swimming around! But the highlight of the dive was the great big hawaiian stingray. A rare sight to see and it was absolutely amazing. With about a 6 foot wingspan this creature was nothing short of incredible. It was a great drift across fantasy reef this morning with some great dive buddies. So glad everyone came out diving with us this morning and hope to see you all on the boat again soon! And a special congratulations to Claire for completing her nitrox certification today! Dive on!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Dave, Instructor Everett

Conditions: Visibility 100+ ft, water temperature 76 degrees fahrenheit

Twas The Day After Christmas

December 26, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Twas the day after Christmas and all through Maunalua Bay sea creatures were swimming and roaming about. Today we had a great group of divers on the boat for some Christmas diving celebrations. With great underwater conditions we headed out to LCU for our wreck dive. The visibility was over 100 feet today at LCU! It really was beautiful down there. We saw one spotted eagle ray cruising around the wreck for almost our entire 30 minute dive. We also found a white tip reef shark napping underneath one of the cement blocks. And a hawaiian green sea turtle even stopped by the wreck to say hello. A few moray eels around the wreck today and tons of fish milling about. A beautiful and relaxing dive on the wreck today. We headed back up to the boat for some hot chocolate and made our way over to Fantasy reef for the drift dive. The visibility was incredible at fantasy reef today as well. We had a great drift along the reef with lots and lots of sea creatures along the way. In one hole we found some unlikely friends sharing the christmas spirit, a yellow margin moray, a slipper lobster, and a swimming crab all in the same hole! We saw lots of different moray eels along the reef today. Quite a few sea turtles. Another white tip reef shark, sleeping again, feeling the holiday slumber. And to top it all off, a christmas miracle, two massive frog fish! Overall an awesome day of diving with some awesome dive buddies. Thanks to all our return dive buddies for coming back to see us and to all my new dive buddies from today I hope to see you out on the boat again soon! And a special congratulations to Mehrdad and Laura for completing the nitrox specialty! Happy Holidays to all!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Mary, Crew Krystal

Spotted Eagle Rays for Aloha Friday

December 2, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was a beautiful day out on the boat. We finally got a break from the strong winds and got some warm sunshine! It was great on top of the water and underneath today. For our first dive we went to LCU. The visibility was 100+ today. We dropped down to the wreck at 90 feet and took a cruise around spotting a couple moray eels, a blue dragon nudibranch, some adorable reef fish, a giant school of barracuda, but the main attraction today was the school of 11 spotted eagle rays! Always awesome to see these guys and super special to see so many of them! They are so graceful as they glide in the current. It was an awesome dive. But the fun didn’t stop there. We went to fantasy reef for our second dive. An exciting 50 minute drift along the reef with lots to see. We saw at least 10 turtles throughout the dive, an octopus, a couple more barracudas, imperial nudibranches, a porcupine fish, a devil scorpion fish, and a massive trident trumpet. Oh and of course a few more moray eels. It was an awesome dive with some awesome dive buddies. Hope to see everyone out on the boat again soon! Aloha!

Whales are Back!!!! 11/07 am dive

November 7, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

The water was glassy and clear this Monday morning. A beautiful day for a dive, always nice with winter here and we get these conditions. The first thing we saw as we dropped down on LCU was a very pregnant white tip reef shark. She really wanted nothing to do with us but she didn’t want to move much from where she was laying. We got a couple shots of her up and moving but she made it clear that laying down was what she wanted. The turtles were very active at LCU also. Swimming around and under the wreck and also one sleeping with his head resting in one of the props down there. Kind of ironic that of all places was the choice to sleep. Also got to see some eels, an octopus and two very curious eagle rays. This was a great dive!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our Surface Interval was fantastic also. It really was like a lake out there….the waters still and just up ahead we see it. The spout of a WHALE! Not one but two. Then the backs as the swam and dove, then a spout again. This went on for quite awhile, we counted 4 whales in the pod. As we were getting ready to leave we got to see the big tail fin as the whales prepared for their dive too!

Everyone super excited at this point could not wait for the next dive. Fantasy Reef was what we picked. We just needed more of everything. No disappointment on the dive today. Sharks, Eels, Turtles, Peacock Wrasse, Octopus x3, more turtles, a school of moorish idols, nudibranch, and yes….More Turtles. This dive had it all.

Peacock Wrasse

Favorite Fantasy Reef Turtle,,,He has an odd tail.

Imperial Nudibranchs

Hiding Yellow Margin Moray Eel

Goofy Fish!!

Awesome Divers: Rick, Fabian and Tim

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt. Dan, Dive Instructors Mary and Dave, Crew of Marissa!

Dive Sites: LCU max depth 95′, viz 100++, Wreck Dive

Fantasy Reef, max depth 55′, viz 100, Drift

Inspire!

November 5, 2016/in Uncategorized/by Kevin Cloud

The Ocean, it inspires us all with wonder and fear but then again it’s what drives our pioneering ambition to little-known waters. The waters in which I dwell and call home, this is what I want to share and teach others the same sensation of discovery as I once had. Michelle Olson and Sarah Williams who are the two of the many divers I had taught have grasped the same pioneering spirit from this early morning experience out on the beautiful vessel known as The Fox, where we have dove down to the crumpled and decaying wreck we call Baby Barge to the ever illustrious Spitting Caves with it’s range of aquatic sea creatures from White Tips to the concealed Frog-fish. For that, I would like to say thank you to Sarah and Michelle for choosing us as your way of learning how to dive, and hope that you continue this journey for many years to come.

Aloha Friday Fun

November 4, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was a great day out on the Seafox. The conditions were great both above and below the water. We had an excited group of divers on the boat as we headed out to our first dive site. The first dive we did this morning was the Corsair. The water was crystal clear as we descended down to 107 feet where the plane sits in the sand. As we made our way down to the wreck we noticed two huge octopi sitting on the wing! They slowly hid themselves under the wing as we approached them but they were massive! We found Bertha, the resident yellow margin moray, underneath the wing as well. We also found a leaf scorpion fish on the wreck. Lots of great stuff today. As we were headed back to the line at the end of the dive I turned around to take one last look at the octopi and they were back out on top of the wing slowly making there way towards each other. The moment we had all been waiting for. The male octopus slowly put his tentacle into her mantle. It was happening, octopus sex. What an epic dive. We headed back up to the surface to give them a bit of privacy to do their thing. The second dive site we went to today was Spitting Caves. There were not any animals procreating but it was still a great dive. We saw two white tip reef sharks, quite a few moray eels, a couple devil scorpion fish and tons of reef fish swimming around. It was a relaxing drift along the wall with awesome visibility. Overall a great morning of diving and some great dive buddies. Until next time! Aloha.

Got Eagle Rays?? 11/02 AM dive

November 2, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

LCU is always amazing for sea life and today was no different. We dropped down and right off the bat we saw 8 eagle rays!! So exciting to see so many at once. We took a look under the wreck then out the other side. When we were exploring the z blocks and culvert pipes out there we found the cutest white tip reef shark. This shark swam around us for quite a while as we made our way back to the wreck. The eagle rays stayed right around us the whole dive and put on a nice show. At the top of the wreck we took our time exploring everything and found a really cool reticulated butterfly fish, not something we see everyday!!

White Tip Reef Shark

8 Eagle Rays!!!!

Reticulated Butterfly Fish

This day really couldn’t get much better but going to Fantasy Reef always makes that happen. We got to see tons of turtles, reef fish and even some barracuda. Scorpion Devil fish made an appearance and we had a group of happy divers. All of the very small things on the reef make it ever so special for everyone that gets to visit.

Christmas tree worms on coral.

Scorpion Devil Fish

Happy Divers

Awesome Divers: Joe, Marin, Kody, Chris and Sean

Dive Sites: LCU max depth 95 ft, viz 150++ Wreck

Fantasy Reef, Max depth 50 viz 90, Drift

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt Todd and Dive Instructor Mary!!

Happy Halloween Dives

October 31, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Great day out on the boat this morning for some holiday fun. We had a nice small group this halloween morning and some awesome underwater conditions. It may have been windy up top but underwater it was gorgeous! We did a double drift today. First drift we did was drifting the barges. We started at Baby barge with all the turtles and let the Koko head current take us to New Barge. Along the way we saw an octopus, a giant yellow margin moray and giant schools of reef fish around the cement blocks. So relaxing to just have the current take you along. After finding a blue dragon nudibranch on top of new barge we drifted on to the LCU which we saw from our safety stop. There were three spotted eagle rays circling the LCU today. Awesome dive filled with lots of different sea life.

Second dive site we went to was Fantasy Reef. Another great drift dive. A little shallower we got a bit of a longer bottom time. Tons of turtles at fantasy reef today as well. We also found a white tip reef shark hanging out in one of the small caves. A couple more nudibranches, the imperial nudibranch and the varicose phyllidia. We found another octopus at fantasy reef as well! Near the end of the dive we were also able to find a flounder! Two great dives and some great dive buddies. Thanks for coming back and diving with us Jason and thanks for joining us for the first time Denise and David! Hope to see you all out on the boat again soon!

Crew: Captain Todd, Instructor Sarah, Crew Marisa

Conditions: Visibility 70+ feet, water temperature 79 degrees Fahrenheit

Barge Drift: Max depth 88 ft dive time 43 mins

Fantasy Reef: Max depth 55 ft dive time 59 mins

Super Saturday at LCU and Spitting Caves! 10/29 AM

October 29, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

The skies were grey and threatening rain but we made it away from the dock before that happened. The group was intimate which always makes for a fun boat. LCU as always was a crowd pleaser. Dropping in on the wreck there was a light current but at the bottom was fantastic. We were visited by a couple of white tip reef sharks and a few schooling eagle rays. The reef fish surrounded the wreck and out in the z blocks. We also got to see a huge yellow margin moray eel. We celebrated Courtney’s 100th dive at LCU today and boy was it great!!

White Tip Reef Shark

Eagle Rays

Eagle Ray Faces….

Spitting caves was our next dive site choice. We started at Fish Garden and made our way through spitting caves. Lots of turtles on this dive, loads of eels and the cutest octopus around. This was Anki’s 100th dive and she celebrated with an underwater back flip and pictures with turtles. We did a super long dive and got to see all the cool sights. This was a great bunch of divers and we had so much fun today!!

Hiding Hawaiian Day Octopus

Awesome Divers: Anki, Chris, Cortney, Mark and Matt!!

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt Todd, Dive Instructor Mary and Fantastic Kelsey as our boat crew!

Dive sites: LCU, 95′ 100+ viz, Wreck

Spitting Caves, 50′, 100′ Viz, Drift

Another Awesome Sunday 3 Tanker!

October 23, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was a great day out on the boat. Sundays with Island Divers are as good as it gets. We had an awesome group of great divers on the boat today eager to do some great diving. Based on the tides and chasing good visibility we decided to go to Spitting Caves on the first dive. We had an incredible drift along the wall this morning. We saw so much. There were quite a few turtles swimming along the wall. We found a devil scorpionfish, a leaf scorpionfish and a frogfish! All magnificent masters of disguise, but they can’t hide from me! We also saw the tiniest baby octopus! He was adorable. In one of the caves we found a white tip reef shark. Congratulations to Mandy for swimming with her first shark! The visibility was incredible at the wall today, 100+ feet. After a great 50 minute drift we headed back up to the boat and over to the wreck. The second dive we did was LCU. A nice deep dive to 90 feet. There were two white tip reef sharks underneath the LCU today. We took a tour around the outside of the wreck, found a couple moray eels. I saw the tiniest kahuna nudibranch I have ever found today as well. Finally as we were headed back to the line to make our ascent to spotted eagle rays showed up. At first there were three, just cruising around the wreck and then their friend, a fourth, showed up as we were completing our safety stop. Another beautiful dive with great visibility, 100+ feet again. The final dive site we went to was Keanu Reef, another drift. A nice reef at 70 feet Keanu is home to some of the biggest octopus I have seen in Maunalua Bay. We found a few moray eels and tons and tons of reef fish. Being our third dive of the day it was a little short on bottom time but we enjoyed every minute of it! Amazing underwater conditions today and a great group of dive buddies. Thank you so much everyone for coming out and I hope to see you on the boat again soon! Happy Diving!