September 2016 - Island Divers Hawaii

Amazing Visibility and Frog Fish at Spitting Caves

September 28, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was a gorgeous day out on the boat. The sun was shinning bright and the water was crystal clear blue. We had an awesome group of divers out on the boat with us. The first dive site we went to was the famous Corsair. Visibility was 100+ feet today and the corsair looked beautiful. Bertha, the giant yellow margin moray, was hanging out underneath the right wing. There was a leaf scorpion fish on the tail of the plane and school of reef fish surrounding the wreck. And of course the garden eels were in the sand just swaying in the current. A beautiful, relaxing dive. The second dive we did today was spitting caves. Today was a perfect day at spitting. The current was just strong enough to keep us moving along without having to kick but not too strong that we were flying by all the awesome stuff there was to see. We found a white tip reef shark inside one of the caves. A couple turtles in the cave and swimming around. Two octopus, one of which was walking around the reef when we found him! And three frog fish! Two of the frog fish were sitting right next to each other, they must have been buddies. Always awesome to see two of them together. It was an incredible dive at spitting caves with perfect conditions and a fun group of divers. Overall an awesome day. Thanks to all our dive buddies for coming out and hope to see everyone out on the boat again soon.

Crew: Captain Neal, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Everett, Crew Hayley

Spotted Eagle Rays At LCU

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

Today was a great day out on the boat with a great group of divers. We had an excited crowd of some familiar faces and some new dive buddies on the boat. The first dive site we went to was LCU. As soon as we dropped down we were greeted by two spotted eagle rays! They stayed around the wreck for our entire 30 minute dive. They were even joined by their friend, a third spotted eagle ray, about halfway through the dive. Tons of fish around the wreck today and awesome visibility. It really was beautiful under there today. The second dive site we went to was fantasy reef. We did a nice long 50 minute dive around fantasy reef today with again almost 100 foot visibility! We found quite a few moray eels, an octopus, and so many turtles! We probably saw at least 15 different turtles. Awesome conditions underneath today. And even though it may have been a little bumpy on the boat the sun was still shinning and it was still beautiful out! Thanks everyone for diving with us and hope to see you all again soon.

Crew: Captain Neal, Instructor Sarah, Crew Hayley

Three Tankers Rock!!! 9/18

September 18, 2016/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

Everyone on the dive boat this morning was super stoked about the historic Corsair being the first wreck today. It had been requested by over half the boat. There was a pretty kicking current this morning but our divers made their way down the line to the wreck. They were rewarded with crystal clear water and a super nice dive around the wreck. Divers Gene, Heather, Ron, Riana and Omar were doing their PADI Enriched Air course so they got to spend some extra time down there. It’s amazing that the wreck has been there over 65 years and still is in pretty good condition. This is one of the most popular dive sites in Hawaii being the only natural wreck on Oahu. At 107 feet deep Chloe, Riana and Omar also did the deep part of their PADI Advanced Open Water course. Great job all of you!

box crab

divers on corsair

front of corsair

kind of looks like James is piloting

over view of corsair

Baby barge was our next stop and maybe we should have called it the Turtle Barge today! We counted at least 10 of them there. On the wreck, under the wreck, in the wreck, on the side of the wreck, doing swim bys, it was amazing! We also got to see a friendly little free swimming white tip and a few eels hanging around. We stayed right at the wreck and explored today. Pretty sure everyone was pleased with all the turtles as I could hear the squeals of excitement coming from their regs! We were rewarded with great visibility again which is always a treat!

Capt Neal and Malia prepared a nice lunch of sandwiches for the group when they got back up. Divers are always hungry!!

Local Yellow Margin Moray that lives at wreck

Hono on the wreck

Free Swimming white tip

There are 4 turtles in this picture!! Having a meeting I guess.

Winds picked up a little so we went a little closer in to Angler’s Reef for our last dive. The reef fish were abundant and the divers were happy exploring all the little hiding places up and down the reef. This is one of those dives you want to go real slow on so you can see everything and yes….Great Vis again!

Dive Sites: Corsair, max depth 107 feet, 100+ viz, Wreck

Baby Barge, max depth 85 feet, 100+ viz, wreck

Angler’s Reef, max depth 50 feet, 100+ viz, reef

Awesome Divers: Barbara, Chloe, Gene, Haley, Brian, Heather, Ron, James, Riana and Omar!!

Amazing Crew: Capt Neal, Dive Instructors Mary and Alex, boat crew Malia.

Sundays With Island Divers are the Best!

September 11, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Another awesome three tanker out of Hawaii Kai today! We had a great group of divers and some great conditions to dive in. First dive site we decided to hit was the famous Baby Barge. Known for its sea life surrounding the broken down wreck. There were quite a few turtles swimming about the wreck this morning. We also saw tons of moray eels, all different types. The yellow margin, whitemouth, undulated, stout. So many eels. And the mother of all eels was spotted at the end of the dive inside the wreck. She swam around relocating inside the wreck a couple times and we got a real good look at just how big she was! We guessed almost 2 feet in diameter at the head and at least 5 feet long. This had to have been one of the biggest eels I have ever seen. Wouldn’t want to piss her off! And of course the blue dragon nudibranches were hanging out on the wreck as well. Lots of good stuff to see during our relaxing 40 minute dive. For our second dive we decided to hit the wall while the tide was right for some awesome visibility. We had a great long drift along the wall today filled with lots of great stuff. We found octopus, turtles, more eels, scorpion fish, a frog fish, and sharks! Four sharks! Three different caves were occupied by sharks today and one cave had two. Beautiful dive at spitting today. Then it was time for some lunch and some rest before heading back out to Kahala barge for the final dive of the day. Kahala barge has some really cool spots to swim through the wreck. Lots of reef fish swimming around in and on top of the wreck. Congratulations to Peter for completing his wreck specialty today! Passed his penetration with flying colors! Overall an awesome day of diving with some awesome dive buddies. Hope to see everyone out on the boat again soon!

Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark! 9/10 am

September 10, 2016/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

If you wanted to see sharks, like our divers did today, they were out in force. LCU is always a good place for us to find sharks and today it was fantastic. Two good sized white tips under the wreck and then we were met outside by four large eagle rays!! It was a super day on LCU, with 100+ visibility. We had fun exploring the “Z” blocks surrounding the wreck also. Kevin and Izzy had extra time on the wreck while doing their PADI Enriched Air course. What a perfect day to have extra bottom time. It was epic for a beautiful Saturday dive!

Eagle Rays

free swimming shark in Z Blocks

White Tip under LCU

We drifted along our spitting caves dive site. This is a beautiful wall dive with abundant life on it. There are several small caves where our white tips like to sleep. Usually we get to see one or two on the dive site, today was quite different. Every small cave we shined a light in had a shark!! It was amazing as we went along. Everyone was super excited to see them. We also got to see Devil Scorpion fish and also our very elusive frog fish. The frog fish is a light yellowish green color and looks exactly like the coral on this site. He was nestled all in but the keen eye of the dive instructor found it. We had a nice long dive on the lazy current of the day. This was the best start to a weekend. Back on the boat Kelsey made us all hot towels to freshen up with and Capt Joe had fresh pineapple for the excited divers to snack on.

White Mouth Moray

Frog Fish

Devil Scorpion Fish

Dive Sites: LCU max depth 90 feet, Viz 100+, Wreck dive

Spitting Caves, max depth 50 feet, viz 90 feet, Drift dive

Awesome Divers: Ben, Dave, Eric L., Eric O., Jordan, Juhyun, Kevin, Izzy, Drista, Okahuin, Peter, Sergej, Zaur, Alek and Tim!

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt Joe, Dive Instructors Mary, Sarah and Ashley, boat crew Kelsey!

Terrific Dive Day

September 8, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

It was another beautiful day out on the water this morning! The sun was shinning and the water was crystal clear out in Maunalua Bay. We had a great group of divers ready to splash on the Seafox this morning. The first dive site we headed out to was Baby Barge. A broken down wreck with tons of sea life around it. Today was the day of turtles. From the moment we entered the water we were surrounded by turtles and they stuck with us throughout almost the whole dive. We were also able to find a few moray eels around and inside the wreck. The great big yellow margin moray and a white mouth moray. We did a nice relaxing 40 minute dive on Baby Barge, max depth of 80 feet, and then headed back up to the boat for some surface interval sun. The second dive site we went to today was Fantasy Reef. Once again from the moment we hit the water we were surrounded by turtles throughout the whole dive. It was turtle mania today. We found a couple more moray eels including the undulated moray. Nudibranchs are tiny little sea slugs and if you look close enough you can see them all over the reef, especially the blue dragon nudibranch. We did another great 45 minute dive at 50 feet on fantasy before heading back to the surface and back in to dry land. Another great day of diving with another great group of divers! Happy Birthday Ken! I hope some day I am celebrating my 70th birthday on a dive boat as well! Hope to see you all again soon!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Crew Brady
Water Temperature 80 degrees Fahrenheit, visibility 100+ feet

Best NIGHT Dive of the Year!! 9/8

September 8, 2016/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

Taking the boat out at dusk for our first dive we went to baby barge. It was teaming with activity at the change over at sunset. The turtles were settling in for the night but still pretty active around us. We saw several at the wreck. Also the sharks had woken up and were out free swimming around. We made our way to the shark cave where Peter, our PADI Night dive Student was doing some skills. On the way back the sunlight had all but disappeared and at this time it always makes the wreck look so eerie. You can make out the shape of it but it still looks so big in the water. Exploring this wreck at night makes it so different from our usual day time trips.

free swimming white tip

Now our second dive was at Angler’s Reef. This dive site is very interesting during the day but at night it totally changes. We always get to see a variety of things here but this night we really got to see it all. Spanish Dancers were out, an octopus that put on quite a show for us. It stayed active on top of the reef and flashed us different colors and textures for over 5 minutes. Eels everywhere and of course just tons of reef fish. We got to experience the fish all nestled away for the night so the hunting predators couldn’t find them. The anemones that showed us their colors….it was all so breath taking. We had some first time night divers on the boat and they were quite taken by what it had to offer. Peter finished up his PADI Night Spec also. It was a super dive, by far one of the best so far this year!!!

Spanish Dancer on Reef

Spanish Dancer Swimming

Spanish Dancer with a rider if you look close

Slipper Lobster

Octopus

same octopus

Can you see me now? Same Octopus

and one more of the same Octopus

Eel

Dive Sites: Baby barge, max depth 85 feet, Dusk Dive, Wreck

Angler’s Reef, max depth 50 feet, Night Dive, Reef

Awesome Divers: Dave, Sarah, Kevin, Mike, and Peter!

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt Matt and Dive Instructor Mary!

Labor Day Dives! 9/5

September 5, 2016/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

A day off for many, another good chance to dive! We had a great boat full of divers this morning and we got to explore many new things today. Baby barge was our first sight and there were so many fish there it was like we were having a Fish ID Class. Sharks, Eels, Turtles….even a stand off of the goat fish on the top of the wreck. With our experienced group of divers we really had a great time today. There was little to no current and the water was clear. It truly was a great day to be diving.

Threadfin butterfly fish

yellow margin moray eel

Peacock wrasse baby

diver with two turtles by cave

Goat fish stand off

Our second site was Fantasy Reef, mostly because we hadn’t had nearly enough turtles on the first dive. Drifting in the mild current was really nice because we had tons of photographers in the group. Everyone got to take their time and get their shots. One of the coolest things we got to see was a big ole Trevally with a bite taken out of his back. He was still swimming just fine but was staying a little hidden under a ledge. We usually don’t get to be up close and personal with these guys. Also got to see more sharks and eels on this dive. It was a perfect start to our day!! Capt Matt had hot pours for us when we came back up and everyone loved his music selection on the boat today! Thanks for all our hard working customers that got to come out and relax on this holiday dive!! You guys are the best!

Lounging Turtle

Chilling turtle

Trevally

Dive Sites: Baby Barge, max depth 85 feet, viz 100+, Wreck Dive

Fantasy Reef, max depth 55 feet, viz 100, Drift dive

Fantastic Divers: Bob, Chelsea, Chris, James, Matt, Peter, Renee, Sarah, Tim and Vicky!

Amazing Dive staff: Capt Matt and Dive Instructor Mary!!

Super Saturday!! Sept 03 am

September 3, 2016/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

Always a fun time when we get to dive the historic Corsair wreck. This plane had to do an emergency ditch in 1948 and still sits on the sea floor today. For being down there over 65 years it sure has held up well. The water was clear and warm as we made our decent. You could see the plane from almost the moment you jumped in the water. Lots of reef fish around, and the beautiful scorpion leaf fish that have taken up residents there. The wing in the sand and the body listing a bit to the side. It’s always amazing to think of how many missions this plane may have flown before finding it’s final resting spot here in Maunalua Bay. A perfect setting for many to check off bucket list dives and for Nick to do is PADI Enriched Air course dives, giving him extra time.

Corsair

In search of turtles for the next dive, Fantasy Reef was our choice. The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles or Honu as we know them in Hawaii were everywhere! There are so many beautiful reef fish here, you add in eels,sharks, turtles, and the various odd fish we get to see makes this dive one of our favorites. The Honu were out in force today and had lots of interest in the divers. The current for our drift dive was pretty light which made exploring more of the reef super easy. Everyone really had a great time. This was the perfect dive for Peter to finish his PADI Drift Diving Specialty on. Kelsey had hot minty towels for everyone to freshen up with after the dive. It was really a Super Saturday!!

smiling white tip reef shark

Green Sea Turtle

coral

green sea turtle

hiding yellow margin moray

Green Sea Turtle and Divers

Dive Sites: Corsair, max depth 107 feet, viz 100+, Wreck dive

Fantasy Reef, max depth 55, viz 100 feet, Drift Dive

Awesome Divers: Bob, Dave, Eric, Sara, Tom, Kevin, Matt, Nicholas, Brian, Peter, Steven and Tim!

Congratulations Peter on your Drift Diving Spec and Nicholas on your PADI Enriched Air Spec.

Amazing Staff: Capt Joe, Dive Instructors Mary and Matt and Fabulous Kelsey was crew!

We Ain’t Afraid of No Storm

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

Today ended up being a great morning of diving. Even with the threat of storms coming in we were able to get two good dives in. We had a great group of advanced divers this morning out on the boat. The first dive site we went to was LCU. It may have been a little bumpy on the surface but the conditions underneath were phenomenal. We had great visibility, 100+. There were two white tip reef sharks underneath the wreck today and two eagle rays circling the wreck for almost our whole dive! A turtle also made an appearance for part of the dive. Lots of fun stuff happening on the wreck this morning. After a good 30 minute dive we headed back up to the boat and over to our second dive site.

The second dive we did today was a drift along Fantasy reef with again great visibility. We found lots of moray eels along the reef today. I also found a frog fish! His camouflage was on point today. The turtles were out and about all over the place today, we probably saw at least 10. Overall it was a very relaxing, wonderful dive with lots to see. After about 45 minutes we headed back up to the Seafox for our ride back in to the dock. Thanks everyone for diving with us today and hope to see you all out on the boat again soon! And Happy Birthday Peter!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Crew Tim