David Sanchez

Diving in Hawaii… its GRRRRRRRRRREAT! 9 4 17

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As the iconic Tony the Tiger would say, and you will understand the reference soon :)! A beautiful Monday morning sprang to life as a adventurous group of divers boarded the Sea Fox for adventure… and they were not disappointed! Ready to tackle Maunalua Bay were Ben, Breawna, Cory, Dan, Robert, Jai, James, Joe Kim, John, Michael, Mike, and Christina. We motored out of the harbor enroute to our first site: LCU.

Ah LCU, one of my favorite sites due to its abundance of life. So many things to see… from White Tip Reef Sharks, Pacific Barracuda, Spotted Eagle Rays, Hawaiian Green Turtles, and so many species of fish, Eels, and Octopus.

they put on quite a show at LCU!

After a required surface interval it was on to our next site: Fantasy Reef!

Now let me just start by saying that I always tell my students and Certified Divers that one of the great things about diving is NEVER SAY NEVER! Because Mother Nature will throw you a Curve every once in a while and BLOW YOUR MIND! Well… it happened today.

The dive started as usual with the  common siting’s of Hawaiian Green Turtles and Great Barracuda

 

And we ran across a White Tip Reef Shark laying in a small cave

so all was well… until I rose up above the reef and came face to face with a 10ft TIGER SHARK! It was no more than 15ft away from me crossing from my right to my left, its beautiful stripes and distinctive eye gazing right at me. It continued on its path as several divers pointed in awe of its powerful tail. As I tried to chase it whipped its massive tail twice and was GONE!

MIND BLOWN! As far as I know it was the first confirmed sighting of a Tiger Shark at Fantasy Reef.

 

GoPro footage courtesy of Mike Davis

An EPIC DAY! And so that’s why I say… Diving with IDH… its GRRRRRRREAT! Thank you so much for a fantastic day of diving! Until we dive again…ALOHA!

Dave INSTRUCTOR

Mary INSTRUCTOR

Joe CAPTAIN

LCU 90ft

Fantasy Reef 50ft

Water temp 80

 

David Sanchez

Eclipse Day Diving 8/21/17

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After the excitement of the mornings full eclipse came and went it was time to get into the water on the PM Sea Fox with a great group of divers. Joining us today were Amber, Marguerite, Glen, Natasha, and Wayne. The weather was perfect and the bay calm as we left the dock and headed for our first destination… Spitting Caves.

One of our favorite spots to dive, Spitting Caves is a wall drift that sits between China Walls and Hanauma Bay. We dropped down to 40 Ft and rode the current West and found…

White Mouth Moray Eel waiting for a meal

Hawaiian Green Turtle out for a swim

Octopus cruising the reef

Next it was on to Anglers Reef for a tie up and drop to about 40 ft. Anglers is a ledge reef that extends for 130 yards in a NE-SW direction. Lots of great reef fish and other visitors inhabit this cool site…

Butterfly Fish, Trigger fish…

and a large Yellow Margin Moray Eel.

A fantastic day out in Maunalua Bay. Thank you to all our divers for a safe and fun day out in the water… till we dive again… ALOHA!

Dave LEAD

Tim CAPTAIN

Ziggy CREW

Spitting Caves 50FT, 40 mIn

Anglers Reef 40FT, 40 min

Water temp 79*

 

 

Oahu Scuba Diving Club
David Sanchez

Back To School (Of Barracuda!)

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A blustery raining morning broke into a nice calm wind as the Sea Fox departed the IDH office enroute to the bay known as Maunalua. A bevy of certified divers the likes of  Charlie, Eric, Guillaume, Natalie, Athina, Holger, and Lucas joined me for a days adventure under the waves. Our first stop: LCU.

This ship sits around 90 Ft at the bottom of the bay, and has a lot of life in and around its hull.

It began with a very inquisitive Green Turtle who was checking out a few divers by getting up close and personal…

and a great sight was the return of the Pacific Barracuda who have been absent for a few weeks… guess even they went “Back to School” Wha Whaa!

and right at the end of our dive 3 Spotted Eagle Rays did a fly bye to wow the divers!

After a short surface interval it was on to our drift dive of Fantasy Reef. A beautiful coral area known for its great family of turtles and reef fish that sits at 50 ft.

The bully of the area are the Great Barracuda. They have an attitude and don’t mind flashing you a dirty look if you get in their way. But harmless.

And of course Green Turtles… so many today. Must have counted 10+ today…

and as the dive ended we found 2 White Tip Reef Sharks lounging in ledge section. They came out and swam around to say goodbye to our great group of divers.

Such a great day with small currents, great visibility, and calm oceans. Thanks to all the divers for a safe and fun day out on the Sea Fox… till we dive again… ALOHA!

Dave INSTRCTOR

Matt CAPTAIN

Natalie CREW

LCU 90 Ft

Fantasy Reef 50 Ft

Water Temp 79*

Daniel Bond

Another Fine Day Out in the Bay!

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Yes! Another fine day out in the Maunalua Bay with two really good dives!

Today had a lot going on with people doing either open water, advanced, or just diving for fun. With three instructors: Dave, Alaina, and myself we figured out our groups. Captain Joe gave the briefing and we were on our way to see what we could find. With a water temperature of about 80 degrees the water was becoming very inviting on this hot day.

Our first stop was Koko Craters, a shallow dive with a max depth of 40 feet. Here at this site we spotted many turtles getting their shells cleaned off by fishes and chilling in the sand. Along with these relaxed sea life we saw the hawaiian state fish, “Bertha” a moray eel, and many other marine life.

We made our way out to our next stop which was Angler’s Reef which had a max depth of 46 feet. Angler’s is a mini wall that is teeming with life such as octopus, trumpet fish, a very, very big sea turtle, and not to forget all the many eels that call this particular site home.

So with a couple students who are well on their way to achieving or “joining the ranks” of certified divers and also a couple more who are broadening and advancing their education in the diving world, early congrats to all!

A very big shoutout to Dave and Alaina for helping me out with the groups and making another day of diving a great success!!!

Daniel Bond

Diving into August!

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It started out just like any other day with beautiful weather and the water looking so inviting. Captain Chris at the helm we made our way out into the bay where we had amazing dives awaiting dsd’s, certs, and even students.

We got out to our location, Hawaii Loa which was a real treat to dive. At 36 ft max with 75 ft visibility we saw all types of marine life and beautiful reef systems. We went to Angler’s reef with great visibility and 80 degree water temperature. We saw different things such as octopus, eels, a very big sleepy sea turtle, and many other things.

A big shout out to Manny and Bill for helping me out with everyone. Until next time just keep diving everyone.

David Sanchez

Going Deep on Aloha Friday!

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The sun rose on a beautiful Aloha Friday morning as the Sea Fox departed the dock enroute to the dive site Corsair. On board were a great group of divers consisting of Francito, George, Jake, Joshua, Michelle, Josh, Tim and OWSI David. Great weather, calm water, and excitement were the order of the day…

The Corsair. Our deepest dive site at 107 ft, and the only natural wreck on Oahu. A fantastic site to test your skills in deep water. We were met with a moderate current so all divers used the lines as we descended on the impressive WW2 plane…

And of course BIG BERTHA the Yellow Margin Moray was protecting her home.

After a short surface interval topside, it was on to Fantasy Reef. An impressive coral area with swim throughs, Turtles, and a variety of reef fish.

and one of my favorite fish… the awesome Great Barracuda.

A great day of diving, and Mahalo to all our divers for a safe and fun day out on the Sea Fox… until we dive again: ALOHA!

Dave LEAD INSTRUCTOR

Joe CAPTAIN

Corsair 107 ft

Fantasy Reef 50 ft

Water Temp 79*

David Sanchez

Hump Day Diving!

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Oh Wednesday. A day that is either half empty/ or half full, depending on your outlook. A divers outlook: A GREAT DAY TO BE BELOW THE WAVES! A great group of divers consisting of Daniel, Grace, Meghan, Joe, Jackie, Kaz. Michelle, Sebastian, and Terrence boarded the Sea Fox for a day of adventure. The weather out in Maunalua Bay was good, the currents were up, and visibility was 80 feet plus. All in all great conditions for diving. So on to our first wreck… LCU.

As we dropped down the lines quickly identified our target at 90 feet below. After a quick entry into the site we popped out and looked under a Z Block where we found a 3 foot White Tip.

And as we ended our dive the the Hawaiian Green Turtle I respectfully named “Larry” dove down and assumed his place on top of the wreck…

After a short surface interval it was on to Fantasy Reef. The currents were up quite a bit by this time so our visit was shortened. We made the most of our time and visited with the Green Turtles

and saw a few Great Barracuda packs as well…

All in all a great day of diving was had by all. A big MAHALO to all our divers for being safe and diving our plan… See you all again soon… ALOHA!

Dave LEAD INSTRUCTOR

Joe CAPTAIN

LCU 90 Ft

Fantasy Reef 50 Ft

Water 80*

 

Daniel Bond

Heat Wave?!? Let’s Go Diving!!!

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There is no better way to escape the heat then go diving! Well that’s what 6 other certified and 1 DSD divers thought as well. So everyone showed up ready to go, boat briefing was done, and we were on our way to the open sea. The water temperature was around 79 degrees and everyone was ready to take a plunge into the aqua blue Pacific waters.

Led by Captain Joe we headed out into Maunalua Bay where the water looked remotely flat and calm. Coming to our first dive site, Koko Craters, we moored up and noticed there was a little bit of a surface current. Visibility was ok and we were all anxious to get down there to see what we could see.

During the 36 ft max dive we saw sea urchins, hawaiian state fish, and amongst many other things cruising by. I must not fail to mention…turtles and lots of them! We watched as the fish were giving them their cleaning “treatments”.

Upon surfacing everyone was eager to get back in so we nailed down our next destination. We decided to go to Angler’s reef which had a nice underwater current, but much better visibility than the first dive site.This site also was a max of about 45 feet at the bottom of the wall and 40 feet at the top.

We saw so many things such as eels which were all different colors, shapes, and SiZeS. We also spotted needle-nose fish, puffer fish, trumpet fish, star pillows, sea urchins, and many other types of marine life. One of the groups was lucky and saw an octopus!

So it twas a very successful afternoon with many sitings to report of. A big thanks to Carl for helping me out with the group today. Keep diving! Who knows what else we’ll see next?!?

Daniel Bond

Celebrating New Beginnings and New Adventures!

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July 7, 2017 started out as any other day as we got the Sea Fox ready for another trip out into the Maunalua Bay. Everything was set and this day was special because out of the many people who were going on the dive we had two honeymoon couples on board! What better way than to spend their honeymoon by diving in our beautiful Pacific waters!

With a 78 degree water temperature, 36 max feet, and good conditions we started our first dive in Back Crater (Koko Craters). There we saw many things such as a big eel, turtle, two octopus, trumpet fish, and many other species of marine life.

Back on deck we got everything ready for our newly excited crew which consisted of 7 DSD’s, 1 AOW student, and 8 certified divers. Big shoutout to Bill and Evans for helping me out that day with everybody.

After some brief discussion our next site was Turtle Canyons (T2 as we like to call it). With amazing visibility and same great conditions as previous we found this site teeming with life! There were multiple schools of fish everywhere, turtles, eels, octopus, and many other amazing finds down at 38 feet. Everyone seemed to have a great time. One of the honeymoon couples (Kelly and Misty) said they had so much fun they were going to come back tomorrow!

So congrats are in order for another AOW student (Drake Autrey), 7 successful new DSD divers, and big shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. Casey from Texas, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell from Canada for their new beginnings and adventures to come!

Daniel Bond

37 Meters Down…Actually Just 36 Feet!

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Working at a dive shop allows you to meet all sorts of people from all backgrounds, cultures, and in this case…ages! First of all meet the Davis family from Colorado with their youngest Jackson aka “Jack” who is 11 yrs old and not afraid to scuba dive! I believe this boy has an incredible future in scuba diving awaiting him when he turns 12. GO JACK!

You also get a variety of diving levels onboard the Sea Fox. We had certifieds and also 2 students who were going to be joining the ranks of certified divers after completing their OW 3 and 4 dives! Big shoutout to Evans for helping me out today.

So after getting all introductions out of the way. Our Captain Chris made his way out into the beautiful Maunalua Bay where we would go to our first dive site Koko Craters. The water temperature was at 79 degrees. So comfortable for some to not even have to wear a wet suit. The max depth again was 36 feet or 12 meters down in case you were wondering. So with good visibility and not too much current “conserving our oxygen” was no problem. We saw turtles, eels, and lots of other marine life. SHARKS….not so much. After seeing that there were no sharks present which in case there never are at this site we made our way over to the next site which is a nice “fingered reef” system called Turtle Canyons. We  had a max depth of 38 feet or so as we made our way in and out of the reefs spotting octopus, eels, sea urchins, star pillows, sea cucumbers, trumpet fish, and even an occasional puffer fish.

So in conclusion no snapped cages, no narcosis or almost running out of air, and no rescue attempts had to be made! It was an amazing day out on Oahu’s Pacific waters.

P.S. there was a shark spotted aboard the Sea Fox…but don’t worry our “tip shark” only ate “green things”!