Dive Reports Archives - Page 5 of 76 - Island Divers Hawaii

A Day of Nitrox Diving

May 11, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Mark Savel

Today was a wonderful day on the waters of south Oahu with a great group of divers. We had most of the boat diving enriched air nitrox with a few of the guys finishing up there EAN class. We had planned to tie up for the first dive but as we got to the barges we had a ripping current and opted for a barge drift. It is such a wonderful dive being able to drift past Baby Barge, New Barge, and the LCU in one dive. There were turtles all around the Baby Barge and fish life throughout the dive. We even saw two massive ulua on New Barge.

For the second dive we drifted Fantasy Reef. The current had gotten weaker but we still moved well along the reef site. There were more turtles around and eels hiding in the reef everywhere. We had a few barracuda and schools of butterflyfish and snapper all over the reef.

Thursday Afternoon Reef Dives

April 30, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Carl Santangelo

Another beautiful Hawaiian afternoon in Maunalua Bay with Open Water students and certified divers aboard the Enzo; final preparations were made and dock lines were cast off. The winds were light, the sun was shining, and the swell was down, creating fantastic diving conditions. In addition to learning valuable new underwater skills, our divers were treated to an enchanting assortment of turtles, moray eels, colorful reef fishes, and corals on our afternoon trip.

Dive Sites: Koko Craters, max depth 36 ft., 80 ft. visibility, 45 min. bottom time reef dive

Turtle Canyons: max depth 40 ft., 90 ft. visibility, reef dive, 40 min. bottom time

Dive Staff: Carl Santangelo, Captain Joe Curcio

Aloha Friday Dives

April 28, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was an absolutely gorgeous morning out on the water. Totally flat seas and crystal clear water. Always nice on the boat to have a break from the wind out here. We had an awesome group of divers with us today. We headed out to the LCU for our first dive. There was a white tip reef shark underneath the LCU today and three spotted eagle rays cruising around it. We were also able to spot an octopus hiding on top of the wreck. The giant school of barracuda that has been hanging around was there again today. We had an awesome dive in some awesome conditions. Second dive site we went to today was Fantasy Reef. Visibility was a little lower than at the LCU but that didn’t stop us from seeing tons of turtles! We probably saw at least 10 different turtles. We found another little octopus and a couple moray eels. We also had an inquisitive and large barracuda come check us out during our safety stop. Overall two amazing dives. Thanks to everyone for coming out and diving with us. Hope to see everyone back out there again soon. A very special congratulations to Mike for finishing his Advanced Open Water certification today! Way to go Mike!

Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Instructor Dave

Conditions: water temp 77 F, visibility 60-100

Friday Reef Dives

April 26, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Carl Santangelo

After several rainy overcast days we finally caught a break in the weather and were treated to a healthy dose of light winds and Vitamin D. Preparations were made aboard the Enzo and we set out into Maunalua Bay to see what aquatic delights awaited us. We tied up to our first dive site, Koko Craters, at about 1:30 pm and made the plunge shortly thereafter. A delightful assortment of turtles, fish, and even a white tip reef shark greeted our divers during the 45 minutes we spent in the 78-degree water. After a short surface interval filled with the obligatory intake of sweet and salty snacks we found ourselves at our second dive site of the day, Angler’s Reef; a 45 ft. ledge filled with a tantalizing assortment of tropical reef fishes, corals, and invertebrates. Our divers were also treated to a 10-minute game of hide and seek, courtesy of a young, inquisitive octopus. It was an excellent afternoon of diving.

Dive Sites: Koko Craters, max depth 36 ft., 80 ft. visibility, 45 min. bottom time reef dive

Angler’s Reef, max depth 48 ft., 90 ft. visibility, reef dive, 40 min. bottom time

Dive Staff: Carl Santangelo, Daniel Bond, David Pinilla, Captain Joe Curcio

Double Drifting Monday!! 4/18 AM

April 17, 2017/in Dive Reports, Diving Courses/by Mary Christensen

It was a blustery start to the day today but the weather cleared quickly as the dive boat headed out to the sites. We drifted off the LCU wreck today and headed west after that. The barracuda were out like crazy today, hundreds of them. We explored parts of the ocean floor that we seldom get to see. Never knowing what you will see out there is pretty exciting. So many reef fish around on this dive and the cutest little free swimming octopus. It’s always fun to do this drift when we get the chance.

Barracuda Moray EelDay Octopus

Next we drifted Fantasy Reef. The water was crystal clear today and the reef was full of turtles. This was pretty exciting for most of our divers today. Lots of people taking pictures and enjoying the sites. We saw a couple of nudi’s and yet again another free swimming octopus. One of the favorite parts of the dive was finding the red frog fish, this is one of my personal favorites around. They are not common and a little hard to find. Towards the end of the dive we even got to see the big present white tip shark we have been seeing around. She is so slow when she swims now that everyone had a chance to take good pictures. Lot’s of eels on this dive also….was so much fun.

Imperial Nudi Day Octopus Green Sea Turtle Blue Dragon Nudi Red Frog FishMoray Eel

Thanks to our awesome divers: William, Pat, Amanda, Josh, Nico, Carly, Angelo and of course Pastor Tim.

Congratulations to Carly and Angelo on their New PADI Enriched Air Certifications!!

Amazing Dive Staff: Capt. Joe, Dive Instructor Mary and Maddie as Crew!!

Dive Sites: LCU Drift, 95 max depth, 100 ft Viz.

Fantasy Reef, 55 max depth, 100 ft Viz, Drift

Thank you Everyone!!!

Amazing Monday!! AM 4/10

April 10, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

The sun was shining and the divers ready to take on the morning dives. We started with a trip to the Corsair but the current was a bit strong. As divers do we changed up our plan and headed to Baby Barge. On the way there the last of the whales gave us a lovely whale watch. What a good choice this was. We were greeted on Baby Barge with so many turtles we couldn’t count them. Yellow margin moray eels, to many reef fish to count, nudi’s and even an Octopus! It was a great day there and a hot bed of activity. After everyone boarded the boat and we were doing gear change overs there were DOPHINS! It was a super pod and they stayed with us for over 45 minutes during our surface interval. Not to mention…..the Whales came back!

Our next dive site was Keanu Reef. When we jumped in and were making our decent…..DOLPHINS…they surrounded us and started the dive that way. It was breath taking. On the drift we did at Keanu we got to see a huge octopus in its hole. When we looked in we could see all her eggs there, can’t wait for all the new baby octopi around the reefs. Lots feels also on this site. It was a pretty amazing day on the ocean for all that were there. We had a very happy Dive Day!

Awesome Divers: Andy, Rebecca, Seena, Kyrylo, John, William and Tim!

Amazing Staff: Dive instructors Mary and David, Capt. Joe and Maddie the boat crew!

Dive Sites: Baby Barge 85 Feet, 100′ viz, Wreck Dive

Keanu Reef, 65 feet, 100 foot viz, Drift Drift

Baby Barge and Fantasy Turtle party!

March 30, 2017/in Dive Reports/by David Sanchez

A beautiful day today out in Maunalua Bay as we set out for a days adventure in the great waters of Oahu. On board the Enzo was a lucky 4 who had the boat all to themselves… Ainhoa, Nathalie, Gaelle, and Brian were all set for a 2 dive experience. Conditions were good as we reached our first destination: Baby Barge. Currents were moderate, visibility was 60-70 ft, and water temperature around 76 degrees. All divers entered the water and descended to the wreck which sits at around 60 feet. We were met by many turtles who make the wreck their home, a porcupine fish, but alas no white tip sharks…

Turtle flybye

You talking to me?

Next it was a drop to 50 ft. for a drift on Fantasy Reef… the current died down a bit but the visibility also was down around 50 ft. Alot of turtles, reef fish, great barracuda, eels, and thanks to Nathalie who is an expert Nudibranch whisperer… Nudibranchs!

Barracuda!

Eel

Dancing turtle

A great day of diving for all. Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day in the water, hope to see you again soon. Aloha!

Lead Instructor Dave Sanchez

Captain Kendal Vercoe

Crew Phillipe

Baby Barge 60-85 ft

Fantasy Reef 50 ft

Water Temp 76 degrees

Great day out at the LCU!

February 21, 2017/in Dive Reports, Uncategorized/by David Sanchez

Braving some moderate winds and some surface chop, our certified divers boarded the Enzo looking for high adventure under the rolling ocean. Divers Brian S., Brian B., Carlos, Craig, Devon, Jared, Paul, Dray, and Megan, were set to dive out in Maunalua Bay in Hawaii Kai. After gearing up and getting our boat and dive briefings we were headed out to the bay and our first stop: the Landing Craft Utility or LCU.

Wow dropping down the lines it was easy to see that the LCU was a hotbed of activity and was not going to disappoint… we immediately saw a large school of Pacific Barracudas off to the left of the ship

Pacific Barracudas

This school has been growing bigger and bigger each time we see it, and is easily taking over the site. Out away from the wreck we trekked until we came to some cement tubes where inside sat a White tip reef shark… who promptly exited the tube and swam off into the blue…

White Tip Tube

Turning back towards the wreck we ran into 2 Spotted Eagle Rays gliding along the perimeter of the site…

Gliding Spotted Eagle Ray

Such graceful and beautiful creatures… one of my favorites!

Soon it was time to surface and bid farewell to the awesome LCU!

Next it was on to the East side and Spitting Caves wall drift!

The currents were up and visibility was down a bit, but we did manage to see a few Hawaiian Green Turtles…

Hawaiian Green Turtle

a White Tip Reef Shark, a Scorpion fish, a Frog fish, and an Octopus! A very nice drift for all.

Thank you to all our divers for a very safe and fun day out on the Enzo, and Aloha from IDH!

Dave Lead Instructor

Megan Instructor

Kendal Captain

LCU 87 ft.

Spitting Caves 45 ft.

Double Wall Drift

February 17, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Sarah Moore

Today was an absolutely beautiful day out on the boat! We had a great group of divers on the boat as we headed out into the bay this morning. The conditions were perfect, light winds, flat seas, and amazing visibility. The perfect day for a double wall drift! We started our first dive at Spitting Caves and meandered along the wall with current. Just a couple minutes into the dive is when the turtles started showing up. We probably saw at least 8 different turtles throughout the dive! We also found a scorpion fish camouflaged on the wall. We saw a couple large moray eels, yellow margin and spotted, and quite a few small ones, snowflake moray. We also found two imperial nudibranches. Really small but really beautiful. After a beautiful and relaxing 45 minute drift we hoped back up on the boat and soaked up some sun during our surface interval. We jumped back in just a little bit further down the wall from where we left off and drifted towards seacave. Again tons of awesome stuff along the wall. More moray eels. Massive schools of butterfly fish. We were lucky enough to spot a frogfish. Pretty ugly fish but awesome to see. We also saw the biggest barracuda I have ever seen. It was somewhere around 5 feet long. Absolutely massive. Inside the seacave there were 3 white tip reef sharks! We also found a big porcupine pufferfish inside the cave and quite a few blue dragon nudibranches. It was two magnificent dives. A great day out on the boat with some great dive buddies.

Shark, Rays, Eels, Oh My Monday! AM 1/30

January 30, 2017/in Dive Reports/by Mary Christensen

Yan and Si came out for an amazing dive today. They braved the winds we had this morning and went to LCU and Fantasy Reef today.

With the over 100 feet of visibility we were all happy just coming down the lines in the slight current. The schooling barracuda were there and boy were they there! Hundreds and hundreds of them in fact. Under the wreck the long nose butterfly fish were swimming upside down, because they can. Swimming out the far side of the wreck we were greeted by the barracudas again! Then while gazing up to them the eagle rays came into view. Just two of them to begin with but they were big. We looked around at all the hiding places in the Z Blocks and got to see and array of many reef fish. At the top of the wreck we looked for the Tinker’s butterfly fish that lives around that area but could not find it. When we came to the far side of the wreck we found the Eagle Rays again….and right under them a Shark! This was the thing Yan and Si had requested to see today so they were pretty stoked. The white tip reef shark swam around us for the rest of the dive!

Fantasy Reef was totally clear and amazing also. The turtles put on quite a show for us and seemed very interested in what we were doing. The eels out on the reef as they always are keeping a watch over there coral reef home. The swim thru’s were bustling with activity today also. We had the regular reef fish, loads of turtles, eels, great barracudas, octopus, sea hare, even got to see one of the solitary Guinefowl Puffer fish. This is a pretty uncommon sighting for us so it made all pretty happy. This was an awesome dive and we really just took our time soaking it all in.