Marine Debris Rapid Response Team

December 31, 2020/in Dive Reports/by Matt Zimmerman

Marine Debris Rapid Response Team makes its debut

Oceans Defenders Alliance (ODA) and Island Divers Hawaii have teamed up to form the Rapid Response team. These partners, while a team of dedicated volunteers, have been doing cleanups in Maunalua Bay since 2017. The Rapid Response team is new. The idea comes from the occasional drifting net that is observed during the daily Island Divers boat charters. These things are marine life killers. We are removing them!

How it works

Basically, Island Divers (or anyone really), reports a new to team leaders Ken Staples or Glenn Roberts and Island Divers finds a captain for one of our dive boats. The time frame is short as these babies are often time on the move. Ken and Glenn make some calls to organize a group of volunteers and the boat gets underway. Ocean Defenders Alliance and Island Divers Hawaii team up to defray the boat operating costs. Thank you ODA financial supporters!

Recovering the ghost net in Maunalua Bay

In this case the net was spotted on the morning charter from Island Divers. Bonus, it was snagged on the bottom so we were fairly confident that it would be there at the end of the day. Captain Tim grabbed the GPS coordinates and put the team into action. It being a holiday week and it being the first time, there were limited folks available, but the net wasn’t too huge for a small team. The boat was ready to go just before sunset and the divers were equipped to dive at night. That ended up being a good thing as it definitely ended up being at least part night dive. Here is a link to the rapid response team entering the water and seeing the underwater portion of the debris for the first time.

By the time the net was recovered it was fully dark and the boat made it way back in. Island Divers Hawaii has made some initial contacts with state representatives regarding disposal of the nets. There is rumor of a grad student that is actually studying them. Hope to get that contact soon. Reaching out at 4:30pm on a holiday week didn’t work to well this time.

All in all it was a successful outing.

Monthly marine debris cleanups

Want to get involved? We have been doing monthly single dive cleanups along the popular fishing spots along the Portlock wall since 2017. These are somewhat challenging dives as they involve drift diving in currents from the boat, handling of lead weights that effect buoyancy, and using lift bags to float debris. Lead fishing weight, abandoned fishing line, and some trash is the usual haul. To participate, you need a rescue diver certification from a recognized training agency and we ask for a $10 donation to Ocean Defenders Alliance (the majority of cost is covered by major ODA donors). Check here for the schedule.

Oahu Scuba Diving – Baby Barge and Turtle Canyons Drift Dive

December 16, 2020/in Dive Reports/by Matt Zimmerman

Oahu Scuba Diving drift diving the Baby Barge and Turtle Canyons

In this post COVID-19 world Oahu Scuba Diving goes on. Today I had some friends from Texas join us for their first of 4 days of diving. Their story about getting here was good to hear. They had filled out there “hawaii safe travels” Hawaii travels form prior to getting on the plane and got their negative covid test results. Once they got to Oahu Hawaii they showed their QR codes on the app and were delayed only 5 minutes at the airport. It is good to hear that visiting Hawaii isn’t that hard. So this Oahu Scuba Diving is for them and our other guests, but it for the rest of you too. Because we are open and doing some awesome Oahu Scuba Diving!

Starting the Day

We showed up at the shop for the advanced wreck and drift dive about 7:15am, a bit early as Terry and Cody needed to size rental gear for the boat charter. After getting on board captain Tim and crew gave us our boat diving safety briefing and we got underway at 8am. The day started out pretty dang cool, we got a light rain and a double rainbow coming out from under the bridge. The wind was pretty standard for Hawaii, about 10-15 knots out of the NE, with swells about 1-3ft. After a brief discussion on what Oahu scuba diving sites people were interested in, we decided to go for the Baby Barge dive site, as it is one of the shallower wrecks so you get a little more bottom time. After a dive briefing in route and then about a 25 minute boat ride to the Baby Barge we were ready to dive. Didn’t spot any whales yet, even though we are moving into whale season.

The Baby Barge

The Baby Barge is one of the smaller barges that was sunk in the 80’s for an artificial reef. It has definitely come apart over the last 20 years, but it lies along a really nice reef ledge, so it is a great dive site. After a current check Kevin, instructor of the day, told us that the current was moving toward the new barge. Since we had only 5 guests and 3 instructors on board (2 fun diving) we decided to split up into small groups and do the first dive as a drift dive as well, in the direction of the New Barge. Our group ended up a little low on air, so we didn’t hit the New Barge but hung a right and drifted over rock piles. Rock piles isn’t found on the dive site list as there is no mooring there, but basically it is a large collection of Z blocks made of concrete that were also sunk as artificial reef. We had a great dive. Visibility was about 100ft. We had an epic turtle encounter right up close and covered a lot of area. We also passed by the memorial stone for Larry Hogan, who passed away in his bed some years back.

Right at the end of the dive while we were doing the safety stop we got to watch a Hawaiian stingray go by underneath us. Now this is not a big deal in the rest of the world, but the Hawaiian on is rare and we don’t see them very often. This was a small one and sometimes they get huge, like 5′ across huge.

Drifting Turtle Canyons

Both groups surfaced at the same time after the Baby Barge drift and there was a delay picking up the first group (my reel unspooled), so a couple people were feeling it a bit by the time they got picked up. We headed to Turtle Canyons which is a highly under rated drift dive in my opinion. With 30′ average depth you get great bottom time. It is protected from the wind from the most part so it is not too choppy there as well. Viz was probably only 50′ here, but we saw some great sea life. The best part was the 67 minute bottom time. Cody found an octopus too, but it was shy and we really did not get any good pics.

A big thank you

Thank you to everyone that is coming out diving with us these days. We understand the getting to Hawaii can be a bit more complicated that it used to be, so it means even more when you choose to dive with us. And thank you to Terry and Cody, who got the owner in the water for the first time since the Palau Trip in January! It is good to get wet and remember why we do it! Here’s to a better 2021!

How the SSI Master Diver program works

May 20, 2020/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses, Frontpage Article, Scuba Diving Certification/by Matt Zimmerman

How to achieve the Master Diver rating with SSI

As Island Divers Hawaii shifts its training focus from PADI courses to SSI, one common questions is how does this affect my progress towards the Master Diver rating. SSI calls this rating Master Diver and PADI calls it Master Scuba Diver. They are very similar ratings. However, the SSI rating has some pretty large advantages..

To achieve the Master Diver rating with SSI you need to

Log 50 dives
- These dives need to be logged in the MySSI app. Since not all divers are habitual dive loggers, this is the minor disadvantage mentioned earlier. If you have been logging elsewhere, there is a shortcut that a dive center can help you with. As an SSI dive center, we can access your SSI diver profile and manually change the number of logged dives in the system for you. We’d are happy to do this for our divers that have logged dives elsewhere.
Complete the Stress and Rescue specialty
- SSI treats the Rescue course as a specialty course. There is no need to achieve the Advanced Open Water rating prior to starting the course.
- A prerequisite for stress and rescue is React Right or an equivalent CPR First Aid certification
Complete 4 more Specialty courses
- There is an extensive list of specialty courses available. Interestingly with the SSI program, none of them have to be specialty courses that include diving. Meaning that a diver that is interested in pursuing the Master Diver certification with SSI can complete many of the course requirements from the comfort of their home. This includes Nitrox
- We recommend that one of these specialty certifications be the online nitrox course. Nitrox certification allows you to dive nitrox. While all the specialty certifications are going to expand your knowledge base, there are only a few that are required for a certain type of diving. Diving with nitrox is one of those that will require certification.
- Currently, almost all our specialty courses are $125 without dives. So, for ecology programs and the like that do not require diving, that is the final cost. Most other specialties can be completed with one set of boat dives. Again, if you are reading this from somewhere with no local diving, you can complete your online learning in advance and just schedule your dives when you are able to come to Hawaii.

Once these are completed, SSI will automatically recognize you with the Master Diver rating. Meaning, once your instructor certifies your last specialty in the SSI system and you have 50 dives you will be automatically awarded the Master Diver Rating. There is no $50+ application fee. The fee that PADI charges for this is one of the reasons we believe the SSI system is better.

It is worth noting that along the way to Master Diver in the SSI system, you will also get the Level II Specialty Diver* rating and teh Level III Advanced Open Water Diver** rating for free. Achieving each of these ratings is automatic upon getting the specialities and logging the dives and you also get entered to win dive trip prizes.

*12 dives logged and 2 Specialties ** 24 dives logged and 4 Specialties

What do you get with the SSI Master Diver rating?

Entry into a yearly drawing for a liveaboard dive trip for 2 people. Each year SSI takes all the people that achieved the SSI Master Diver rating and puts them into a drawing. In early 2020 the winner for the 2019 Master Diver Challenge was announced. Nate Kilgore is the lucky winner in the picture on the right. He won a liveaboard trip for two on the Belize Aggressor. In 2020 the winner will got a liveaboard trip for 2 on a liveaboard trip to Honduras. Here are the 2021 prizes.

Master Diver rating is Level 4 diver in the SSI recognition path, Level 5 diver is the next recognition level with 100 dives. The SSI Master Diver level is primarily a personal achievement. It is also the goal of our dive centers to encourage people to shoot for this goal. We have been doing this a long time. Many people come out of their certification course and just stall, not sure what to do next. We like Master Diver as a goal because it includes training that is going to help you be a better diver and be able to better assist dive buddies (Stress and Rescue). Also, if you make the 50 dives logged goal you really gone from being certified to being a true diver. For many of us that work here, this has been our primary hobby and source of friends and adventures for years. It is a worthwhile goal.

If I’m currently holding PADI certifications, how can I switch?

SSI is pretty generous in this regard. Your initial certification can be with ANY training agency. SSI lets you count any two specialty courses with any other training agency towards the Master Diver rating. Stress and Rescue and 2 other SSI Specialty courses must be part of your profile.

If you have specialty courses from another training agency SSI allows us to verify those certifications in the SSI app. Let us know if you need this. We will need photocopies of the card. Big bonus for doing this is that your card will go into your SSI diver profile and be available for free for life! Just like all of your SSI cards.

Remember, that as the dive center we call manually adjust your number of dives if you are not yet using the dive log on the MySSI App.