David Sanchez

Three Tanker Sunday SCUBA Charter to the YO 257 & Sea Tiger Wrecks

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White caps dominated the coastline this morning, as the ocean was in a bit of a frisky mood today. Undaunted, the Fox motored out of Maunaloa Bay with a crew of excited divers consisting of Abbot, Adam, Alyssa, Allen, Chelsea, James, Jorge, Kyle, Ryan, Steve, and Fred along with Instructors Sarah, Mary, and I. Our first site… the Sea Tiger.

april 19Chelsea on the line

eelEel in a tube

Lots to see at the Tiger as Green Morays dominated the site. Outside, inside, under the wreck they made their presence known.

Next stop… YO257 and the San Pedro.

Dropping onto the wreck we are greeted by a lone Turtle…

turtleYO

while a lone Spotted Eagle Ray circled the outside of the wreck…

YOeagle

Awesome school of fish in formation at the cabin…

Cabin

 

and the Turtle saying goodbye as divers began to ascend the line back to the Fox…

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Lunch and a long trip back to Maunaloa for our final dive… Anglers Reef.

Green Morays, Snowflake Eels, and a host of reef fish all added to a very relaxed and enjoyable finish to a great day of diving… thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun Sunday of diving! ALOHA!

Sea Tiger/110 ft/ 20min/ 75*

YO257/ 100ft/ 25min/ 75*

Anglers Reef/ 45ft/ 35min/ 76*

Dave-Lead

Sarah-Support

Mary-Support

Joe-Capt

Lauren-Crew

 

David Sanchez

The Best Cleaning Station for Turtles is Koko Craters on the Southside of Oahu!

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A beautiful Oahu day sprung out from the early morning clouds and winds out on Maunalua Bay. Joining us today on the mid afternoon Fox was Adam, Morgan, Garret, Katie, Russell, and Kim. We set out for our first site: Koko Craters!

 

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And as usual the turtle cleaning station did not disappoint… active turtles everywhere! Under the shelf, over the shelf, diving, surfacing… it was a turtle freeway!

fiveKim and friend

On to Turtle Canyon… and yep you guessed it… MORE TURTLES!

sevenKatie and baby Turtle

Baby Turtles swam all around the reef… some timid… some curious…

fourathis guy wanted his picture took!

and on our way back to the Fox one of my favorites made an appearance…

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A beautiful Spotted Eagle Ray heading to deeper water! What a great way to end the day!

Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day out on the Fox! ALOHA!

Koko Crater/ 35ft/ 75*/ 35 min

Turtle Canyon/ 25ft/ 76*/ 40 min

Dave-Lead

Mary-Support

Joe-Capt

Liz-Crew

 

David Sanchez

Season of the Humpback Whales Closing, but Diving with Eagle Rays Has Just Begun in Oahu

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A nice day out on Maunaloa Bay for a group of 4 divers… yes 4 divers! Overcast skies but fairly calm surface conditions for Barb, Joe, Kevin and Ron as we made our way to LCU…

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No sharks under the wreck, but just outside a group of Spotted Eagle Rays cruised around the site and seemed comfortable enough let us get within 10ft of them… pretty cool!

rays

Once back on the boat a pod of Humpback Whales escorted us to our next site…Spitting Caves.

group

Lots of cool things to see… Eels, Reef Fish, Turtles and Taco…

octo turtle3

A great day of diving by all. Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day out on the Fox… Aloha!

LCU/ 80ft/ 25min/ 75*

Spitting Caves/ 50ft/ 40 min/ 75*

Dave- Lead

Joe- Capt

Crew- Matt

David Sanchez

White Tip Reef Sharks in the Caves of Maunaloa Bay Oahu

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Swells, winds, and white caps were the order of the day today out in Maunaloa Bay… but it did not deter our band of determined divers. Joining us today were Barb, Bill, Chris, Joe, Julia, Mary, Steve and Kiko’s crew. Forced to go around the corner of China Walls because of strong currents, we decided  to drop in on Sea Cave. Turned out to be a great call!

wall

Cruising down the walls towards Sea Cave the group was met by a Green Turtle in high gear…

Wall turtle

Once inside the dark Cave  at least 3 White tips slept lazily on the back wall…

shark dark

The Cave was rockin so soon it was time to leave… Mary decided to try her hand at trying to catch lunch…

mary

All returned to the boat safely, and after a long surface interval it was on to Corsair…

corsair

Schooling fish, Garden Eels, and the resident of the plane Mr Green Margin Eel made the site a lively spot!

Thank you to all our divers for a Fun and Safe day out on the Fox! ALOHA!

Sea Cave/ 50ft/ 35 min/ 75*

Corsair/ 107ft/ 13 min/ 73*

Dave- Lead Instructor

Joe- Capt

 

Manolo Cabasal

Kahala Barge the Largest Wreck Dive in Maunalua Bay Oahu

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Summer like conditions returned to Hawaii Kai this morning. Cloudy skies didn’t last very long when the standard 20 MPH trade wind from the East Northeast blew into town. On top of the brisk breeze, a consistent 3-foot swell rolled through Manalua Bay. The Sea Hound was rocking and rolling a little bit today, but it was nothing the seasoned divers aboard the Sunday 3-tanker couldn’t handle.

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Kahala Barge
91 ft – 26 min

The ever steady and faithful Kahala Barge is the biggest wreck dive in Manalua bay. At approximately 200 feet in length, the barge presents many opportunities for penetration and is teeming with healthy corals on the top deck. The current began as mellow and steadily increased in strength during the dive and the visibility was a solid 80 ft. Spotted during the diving was a crown of thorns starfish, several juveniles eels, and schools of trigger fish.

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LCU
84ft – 32 min

Visibility continued to maintain at 80-90 ft and the current held steady allowing for the second wreck dive of the day to go off without a hitch. Vacant were the local celebrity white tip reef sharks, but a tight formation of spotted eagles circled the wreck throughout the whole dive. More eels and a massive school goat fish were also around.

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Spitting Caves (Drift)
50ft – 48 min

With the flood tide timed perfectly by Captain Kendal, the visibility was seeming an endless 100 ft when the divers dropped onto the wall. A couple of octopus, schools of banner butterfly fish and sergeant fish, and a clumsy little hermit crab filled the dive with excitement from beginning to end. A perfect end to a perfect day of diving.

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A special thanks goes out to the crew! Captain Kendal and the Lovely Lauren.

Sarah Moore

Don’t You Want Some Moray

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We had a great afternoon on the water today. Even though the current was pulling hard all of the divers stayed strong and powered through it. The first dive site we went to this afternoon was Koko Craters. Once we descended to 38 feet we found a few turtles sleeping under the ledge. We also saw a few little morays hanging out in the wall. After a fun 41 minute dive we headed back on the boat to venture over to our second dive site, Turtle Canyons.

Canyon Turtle

At turtle canyons we dropped down to 40 feet over the sand and then headed in over the reef. On the reef we saw lots of fish, butterfly fish, porcupine fish, trigger fish, moorish idols to name a few. We also were able to find a scorpion fish, which is pretty lucky because they look just like a rock! Overall we had two fun, safe dives today. Another great day on the waters of Hawaii!

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Crew: Captain Joe, Instructor Sarah, Crew Lily

Conditions: Visibility 50 feet, Water Temperature 73 degrees Fahrenheit

David Sanchez

Monday + Divers = AWESOME!

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Monday usually translates into WORK, END OF WEEKEND, and BLAH!… but for the adventurous crew of divers on the Fox it was an afternoon full of AWESOME! Rachel and Marta (OW3/4), certified Allison, Christopher, Franziska, Irena, and Patrick along with Instructors Manolo and I (Dave) started our day at a IDH staple… Koko Crater.

Canyon Turtle

And of course our friends the Turtles we out in force… Swimming and hanging out with our divers as they made their way around the site.

koko eel

along with the Eels that are scattered around the crater hiding under the shelf.

Back on board and onto one of my favorite spots… Anglers Reef.

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The Octopus in this region have been highly active as it is nearing their mating season and today did not disappoint.

Congratulations to Rachel and Marta on becoming Open Water Certified, and thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day of diving… ALOHA!

Koko Crater / 32 ft/ 74*/ 35 Min

Anglers Reef / 42 ft/ 74*/ 30 Min

Dave – Lead

Manonlo – Support

Kendal – Capt

Tim – Crew

 

David Sanchez

Octopi that Come Out of Their Homes Find Friendly Divers with Cameras

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Funny thing about diving, when the weather isn’t that great it seems that visibility underwater is! Clouds overhead, a slight chop on the surface, and 80+ visibility under the sea. Joining us today on the Sea Hound were Valerie (OW1/2), Daniel, Steven, Heidi, and Soon. A small group with big enthusiasm… and thirst for adventure. We began our day at Koko Craters where Valerie started out by acing her skills, then it was off to tour the area…

Koko turtle

And of course our favorite resident of Koko made an appearance under the ledge. Also many reef fish were out and about, including the super aggressive Sgt. Major who took a nip at my hand. Not a very nice fish!

Soon it was time to ascend and head off to our next site: Anglers Reef…

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Eels, Puffers, Reef Fish, and after a little nudging…

octopus

A very large very cool Octopus bounced out of his hole and scurried across the reef…

All to soon it was time to surface and head back to the dock…

Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day of diving! ALOHA!

Koko Craters/ 32Ft/ 35 min/ 74*

Anglers Reef/ 42Ft/ 30 min/ 74*

Dave- Lead

Neal/ Capt

David Sanchez

The YO 257 with Excellent Visibility on the Southside of Oahu

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yo257YO257

Aaah Sunday… a day of rest for most, a day of increased excitement for Island Divers! The diving increases 3 fold to 3 tanks, 3 sites, and 3 times the awesomeness of diving off of the south side of Oahu. A hearty crew of divers consisting of James, Joe, Katrina, Paul, Laura, Scott, Eleanor, Chris D, Chris S, and John joined Island Diver Pros Larry, Bradley, Sarah and I (Dave) for a day of calm seas, great visibility, and ocean creatures of all shapes and sizes. Whales and Dolphins made their presence known as we motored around Maunaloa Bay on our way to our first site: Baby Barge…

Baby BargeBaby Barge

Down to the right side of the ship and entering the cave underneath, while a turtle decided he wanted to exit… MAKE WAY!

turtle outTurtle X-ing!

Back to the top of the wreck and looking for interesting sea life… none more so than this guy…

rock lobsterRock Lobster! (B52’s)

Soon it was time to surface and head around Diamond Head for one of my favorite sites…YO-257. This is such a great dive because not only do you have 2 ships in close proximity (YO-257 and the San Pedro), you also have the Atlantis Submarine cruising around the site making things a little more exciting as you play Dodge The Sub during your tour…

pedroOn the Pedro

pedro sharkIn the Pedro

turtle yoDanger! Turtle With Attitude!

Too soon it was time to once again surface… and eat lunch! Captain Kendal pointed the Hound East as we headed back around Diamond Head for a surface interval as we decided to drift our last site… Fantasy Reef. Larry lead the group in and around an area that he knows like the back of his hand, and the site did not disappoint… Turtles, Eels, Octopus, Reef fish and swim throughs!

turtle fantasyBaby Turtle on Board!

sarahDay is done…

Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun Sunday of diving! And thank you to all the support of the great people I have the honor of working with… YOU GUYS ROCK!

Baby Barge/ 75 Ft/ 74*/ 30 min

YO257/ 90 Ft/ 74*/ 20 min

Fantasy Reef/ 52 Ft/ 74*/ 35 min

Dave- Lead

Larry/ Bradley/ Sarah- Support

Kendal- Capt

Lauren- Crew