May 2016 - Island Divers Hawaii

Three Terrific Tanks

May 29, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

The sunday three tanker today was one a spectacular one! We had amazing conditions with very little wind and small swell making for an incredibly calm and beautiful day out on the water. It was warm and sunny on top and clear blue underneath! For our first dive we had a nice strong current so we decided to drift the barges which is always an awesome experience. We started at the LCU, drifted over to the new barge, and then ended over top of baby barge! Three wrecks in one dive! It felt like we were flying as we glided along the bottom with the current in between the wrecks. Over by the new barge I saw the biggest moray eel I have probably ever seen. There was an octopus sighting by baby barge, and of course the turtles came up to say hello as we were doing our safety stop over top of baby barge. As we were getting back on the boat we were greeted by a pod of spinner dolphins cruising by!

Just in case three wrecks in one dive wasn’t enough for our wreck fanatics we headed over to the YO-257 for our second dive and hit another two wrecks. The San Pedro sits just right across the sand from the YO so you can check them both out in the same dive. There was a pair of turtles sitting on the YO right at the bottom of the mooring line just hanging out. Lots of nudibranches to check out that call the wreck their home. And it is always cool to see the Atlantis submarine driving around.

For our last dive we headed back over to Sea Cave. Always an awesome experience being inside the sea cave. Finding cool little crabs, watching the fish sway in the surge. While drifting along the wall a spotted eagle ray cruised by as well as a couple turtles. Five different wrecks, three awesome dives, 2 new certified nitrox divers (congrats Michelle and Eddie), 2 new advanced open water divers (yay Likai and Ning), 1 new wreck diver (woohoo Lisa), and 15 awesome dive buddies. A wonderful day out on the seafox!

Crew: Instructor Sarah, Instructor Kevin, Instructor Mary, Captain Kendal, Crew Britney
Conditions: Visiblity 60-100, Water Temperature 77
Dive Profiles: Barge Drift 90 feet 38 min, YO-257 92 feet 37 min, Seacave 56 feet 43 min

SHARKS OR EAGLE RAYS ??? !!! 28 may

May 29, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

Or both! plus octopus and giant turtles! not to speak of a cool wreck or two to explore! that was our dive day today, and there were lots of smiles on the boat! the Landing Craft, or LCU for short, had mild current and excellent viz, well over 100 feet, and we cruised underneath and around the wreck spotting sharks and rays, plus a well hidden octopus! large schools of various reef fish were shoaling around as well! 2nd dive was over at Baby Barge, where we visited the shark cave, finding a big whitetip who was happy to see us, and came out and showed us his swimming style while cruising around us! huge turtles around the wreck, as well as more octopus! current was mild, viz was great! thanks to all for safe diving! Larry, mary, joe

LCU 92 ft 39 min

baby barge 80 ft 34 min

How to Navigate the Pacific

May 27, 2016/in Uncategorized/by Kevin Cloud

What is Neutral Buoyancy? Neutral buoyancy is a condition in which a physical body’s average density is equal to the density of the fluid in which it is immersed. Two eager students of mine had to experiment and understand how to master this skill(which in this case, everyone should know how to do), and I could not be happier on the outcome of their success, they did an outstanding job on their Peak Performance Buoyancy class, especially the Underwater Navigation course as well. So as always I would like to tip my hat to Kai and Harry Pittman on their success, really great job. I also want to thank Thomas,Stephan,Vienna,Paul, and Karen for coming out and diving with us, hope you guys had a great time.

Now, moving on to our dive sites, we first went to the always popular Koko Craters which is just crowded with the alluring Sea Turtles(Honu),the maximum depth is 37-40ft with a visibility of about 50ft. Our second was the easy going Anglers Reef with a moderate current, its depth was 43ft and endless visibility.

Monk Seal Monday! 5/23 AM

May 23, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

We had a light day on the Sea Fox this morning but it was perfect. Sun was shining, tradewinds were light and we had divers that were ready to dive. Everyone was eager to go diving today and all arrived early. We got off the dock early and headed to LCU. LCU is a landing craft utility vehicle that was sunk as an artificial reef. When they sunk it, it got flipped over and that is where it lays in the water today. We were met there by a pretty strong current but all the divers were experienced and up for the dive. It was beautiful there, lots of fish on the wreck today and everyone was especially happy with the schooling eagle rays that were on the wreck. We got to spend lots of time with us there and that is the one bonus of a close to full moon current. When we returned to the boat we all had some hot tea and recounted our sightings at the wreck. We had some good music on the boat and everyones mood was excited for our next dive.

Our next dive was on the wall. We started our dive at Fish Garden area because the current was still pretty strong. This was a very good choice today. We floated along enjoying all the interesting topography and sea life. As we drifted along we took our time poking our heads into all the caves along the way…drifting right into the spitting caves dive sight. At one point we looked up and there was a Hawaiian Monk Seal watching us from above. He was rather interested in our dive group and come down to check us out. Swimming in and around us, really giving us quite a thrill. We watched the seal for a time then continued on our dive. Turning around to do a head count and air check, which we do quite often I was surprised to see we had a new member in our group. The Monk Seal had joined our dive!!! He stayed with us to everyones delight for a bit then went on his way. Also making an appearance on the dive was a huge scorpian devil fish and our favorite big yellow frog fish. We had such an excellent dive today and everyone was so happy.

Dive sites: LCU, max depth 90 feet, viz 100 feet, wreck. Fish Garden/Spitting Caves, max depth 50 feet, viz 80 feet, drift

Awesome Divers: William, Lesley, Tim, Tatsuya, Justin and DMC Ben! (Ben gets the photo credit for monk seal shots)

Amazing Crew: Captain Kendal, Dive Instructor Mary, Crew Marisa

Thank you everyone for an Amazing day!!

SHARK DIVE AT THE CORSAIR AIRPLANE !!

May 21, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

for me sharks are always just so compelling to dive with. there is definitely some primordial connection with these creatures that stirs the blood and fascinates the eye! The downed airplane is at 107 feet, and this day, conditions were perfect – mild current and great viz. coming down the line from the Sea Fox i was surprised and excited to see that so-recognizable form of a shark swimming lazily around the wreck. I have seen the occasional big shark here, but they usually just a quick shadow that fades into the mist. this shark, a white tip, was using the wreck for some resting cover, but came out to cruise the plane with us humans. great dive! second dive was the Kahala Barge, a great wreck for penetration. and guess what? another shark! thanks to all for safe diving, larry, joe

corsair 107 ft 35 min 150 viz

kahala 90 ft 45 min 150 viz

Baby Frog Fish at Turtle Canyons

May 21, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

It as a beautiful afternoon out on the water today! The sun was shinning and the water was crystal clear as we headed out to out into the bay. The first dive site of the afternoon was Koko Craters. The turtles were out and about swimming around with us the whole dive. We also found a couple moray eels, a blue dragon nudibranch, a porcupine fish, and tons of cute little reef fish! After a wonderful 40 minute dive at 35 feet we climbed back on the boat to head over to the second dive site. The second dive was Turtle Canyons, 40 feet for 40 minutes. With about 80 feet of visibility it was an incredible dive. We were able to spot an octopus out walking around! We found a few more moray eels as well. We also found a baby frog fish! So cute! Today was an awesome day of diving with some awesome divers. Congratulations to Hipo for completing his Open Water Course and Libby for completing her Advanced Open Water Course!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Matt, Crew Brooke

Amazing Morning of Diving! 5/18

May 19, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

The winds were up a little but it was still fairly calm out this bright Wednesday morning. We motored our way to Baby Barge, max depth 85 feet for our dive. There was a slight Koko head current but once we got to the bottom it was pretty much calm waters. Oh my, there were tons of turtles and the group kind of just explored on their own. We made our way to the shark cave and then out over the sand. Coming back up along the small reef and back to the barge. It was so nice down there….made it hard to come up. Got to stay down a bit extra with our bottom time because Loren and Susan were stretching the legs, so to speak, on their new PADI Enriched Air Certifications!

Next dive was at Spitting caves, max depth was 50 feet, drift dive. The current was light and it made fur a super fun time checking everything out. We got to see plenty of Turtles again, peacock flounder, eels, and 2 frog fish. We tucked in and out of the caves along the wall and really had a nice time just doing the lazy drift dive. Captain Joe had hot pours for us after both dives and we served hot peach tea today on the boat. At the end of the day we had hot towels to freshen up with, always a super end to our dive day.

Amazing divers: Susan, Loren, Brett, Cynthia, Craig, Doug, and Mike.

We are very sad to see Brett and Cynthia making some of their last dives with us. They have been very good friends to Island Divers and are moving back to the Mainland. A big Mahalo to both of them for becoming family with us and enjoying so many dive trips. You will truly be missed. Best of luck to you and we can’t wait for you to come back and visit us all very soon!!

Dive Staff: Captain Joe and Dive Instructor Mary

Dive Sites: Baby Barge, max depth 85 feet, viz 85 feet, wreck dive. Spitting Caves, max depth 50 feet, viz 80 feet, drift dive.

Awesome Afternoons

May 18, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was a great afternoon out on the boat with some pretty great divers as well. We had a mixed group on the boat this afternoon, a couple certified divers, a discover scuba diver, and a student finishing up her open water course. But everyone was out there for the same reason, to blow some bubbles! The first dive site we went to was koko craters. The turtles were out and about this afternoon. We swam along with over 7 different turtles including an adorable little baby! We also found a couple moray eels hanging out in the reef and a great big porcupine puffer fish just bobbing along. Towards the end of the dive we were able to find an octopus, awesome little creatures! After a nice 45 minute dive at 35 feet we headed back up to the boat to chow down on some pretzels. The second site we headed to today was Anglers reef. And boy were we glad we chose Angles today! As we were cruising along the ledge checking out a couple moray eels and playing with the reef fish we came across a white tip reef shark! He was swimming around the reef and swam right by the group! Not your typical suspect at this dive site but an incredible encounter non the less. He swam by the group another 4 times before the end of our 40 minute dive. White tip reef sharks are one of the smaller species of sharks, this individual being around 3.5-4 feet. But of course everything is magnified underwater so he still looked pretty big! Swimming with sharks is always an incredible experience and I think we all felt pretty lucky to be graced by his presence. Overall it was a great day of diving. A special congratulations to Nicole for completing her open water course! Welcome to the club!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Larry
Conditions: Visibility 40-60 feet, Water Temperature 78

Perfect day to Dive! Skimmen’s, Baby Barge and Sea Cave! 5/15

May 15, 2016/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

The winds were light, the sun was shining and there was no better place to be but on the 3 tanker dive today! We headed to Skimmen’s first today and were lead there by a nice pod of dolphins. Had such a lazy dive, puttering along and catching all the sights. Making it through the swim thru’s, poking around on the reef in the deeper areas and the shallows. The dolphins even made an appearance when we were loading up the boat just to wish us on our way. It was pretty magical.

The mooring has been out at baby barge for awhile and thanks to Capt. Joe and Kelsey it got put back in so we went there on our second dive. Loads of turtles, eels, found some sharks teeth in the sand. Thinking all our photographers were quite pleased with all the turtle pictures they got to take this day. Back on the boat Capt. Kendal and Britney made a great lunch spread. All the divers were happy that they take such good care of us.

SEA CAVE!! Yep we finally got a break in the weather and made it to Sea Cave today. The cave was awesome as usual and the reverberation of the waves hitting on the walls above us was like an old friend giving a hug. The drift was interesting with the current today but we got to see tons of stuff. This is one of my favorite dive sites on the island and we are lucky we get to do it. Arman and David saw so many people doing Nitrox on the boat they both decided to give our TRY Nitrox program a try. Loving it so much they made the choice to do the whole certification today. A huge Congratulations to Arman, David and Kurt on getting their PADI Enriched Air Certifications today, you guys were Awesome!

Hot towels and cut up fruit on the way home….all were pleased with another Island Divers Amazing 3 Tanker!!!

Dive Sites: Skimmen’s Reef, max depth 75 feet, viz 100+, Baby Barge max depth 85 feet, viz 100+, Sea Cave, max depth 50 feet, Viz 80.

Awesome Divers: Alex, Rebecca, Anthony, Arman, Bruce, James, Renee, John D., John F, Amber, Kurt, Nick, David, and Peter!

Amazing Crew: Capt. Kendal, Dive Instructors Mary and Sarah, and Crew Britney!

Spirit of Adventure

May 13, 2016/in Uncategorized/by Kevin Cloud

Of all the inspirational sites I have seen, I would have to tip my hat to Marina Storelli for sticking with her short journey to become Open Water Diver, at first she was very concerned and anxious about doing certain skills, but what drove her wasn’t only the instructor guidance, no I would say it’s the inspiring feeling everyone faces to make their own adventures happen. So without a further ado I welcome Marina to the diving community and hope her future dives will always have that spirit of adventure. I would also want to give a congratulations shout out to Michael and Tracey becoming newlyweds, and hey what better way to spend it in Hawaii. The dives we did were amazing (as always), blue clear water KOKO Craters with a depth of 37ft, visibility 50 feet, and the exotic Turtle Canyon with a depth of 42ft, and with endless visibility.