Kellan Bernhardt

5/1 Plane Wings, Turtle Wings… Fishy Wings?

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Thursday – Four guests plus myself head out to the corsair first for some deep diving. Ray, Feras, Nick, and Mark were on board. Cj and his lovely wife Paula were out for some fun diving as well. We dropped onto the Corsair, a fairly difficult prospect considering how strong the current is flowing. It seems that the water is never still on this site.  We see some Garden eels, and another eel that buries itself in the sand, but is clearly not a Garden. It defies classification when we get back to the boat. We then head over to Fantasea reef for some drift diving. We get a bunch of turtles, some eels, I pick up some garbage, we find a horned helmet. We don’t see any octopus, alas. A short cruise and some hot cocoa and we’re home.  Thanks guys, I had a lot of fun.  Stay safe out there, we’ll see you next time.

"You can fly"

They always look unhappy

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Good crew

Horned Helmet

Horned Helmet

Conditions:  Windy 10-20kts, Medium swell, Very sunny

Dive Conditions: Strong current, high visibility ~120ft, 76f, fish density:high

Sites: Corsair 105ft 25min, Fantasea 50ft 40min

Staff: captain Kendall, crew Chris, inst Kellan

Larry Hogan

SHARK CAVE april 25

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another great day of diving!  a bit of rock and roll on the surface, due to the high winds, didn’t stop us from having a blast diving today.  Baby Barge was calling to us, as we had more divers looking to see some sharks, and the shark cave at Baby Barge has been occupied frequently lately!  Wind was out of the NE and the current was heading NE, perfect conditions for not using the line all the way to the wreck, and instead, doing a free descent directly under the boat.  having already briefed our divers on this possibility, we dropped off the line and headed to the cave, around 75 feet. and inside was a huge turtle!  wow, he was really big and ready for some diver fingers! just kidding!!   Heading along the ledge to the wreck we spotted several more turtles just relaxing on the bottom, as well as some big green-head morays, plus loads of reef fish.   the wreck at 90 feet is quite a spectacular ruin, having imploded gradually, leaving fantastical shapes in the blue.  Ray from Norway was out doing his AOW and Nitrox work – good job ray!  also out was Aussie rick, who has done some famous shark dives himself – Beqa Lagoon in Fiji, and the Neptune Islands with its great white Shark cage-dives off Adelaide.    don’t think he had a problems seeing some of our reef sharks!! DM paul, wife natalie, and amika were also out for fun!  2nd jump was a drift of Spitting Cave with a big checkmark next to the Shark Box!!!  two nice whitetips, lots of turtles, more eels, frogfish, and large schools of reef fish, along with great viz, and perfect current gave us a fantastic  ride in the blue.  thanks to all, larry, max, joe

 

 

 

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Mark Savel

Easter Sunday Spectacular 4/20

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Another great day on the water today for the Sunday three tank charter today. We headed to the LCU for the first dive and had nice clear water as we swam down the line. There were a couple frogfish found right away on the bottom right under the mooring and a small white tip reef shark hiding under a cement block near by. Swimming around the wreck there were goatfish and butterflyfish everywhere. It was a nice first dive to start out the day.For the second dive we tied up on the YO-257 and again had great viz on the bottom. There were reef fish all over the wreck with blue striped snapper, moorish idols, and wrasses about the area. The Atlantis sub was cruising around the wreck passing by us a few times as we swam around.
For the last dive we dove Hawaii Loa Crater. The viz was down a bit but there were fish all about including large schools of sergeant majors. There was also a large Triton’s trumpet and some scorpionfish hiding in the reef. We drifted around seeing what we could find among the coral and rocky areas but soon was time to call and end to a great day.

frogfish on LCU

frogfish on LCU

Stern of the YO

Stern of the YO

Triton's trumpet eating a sea star

Triton’s trumpet eating a sea star

Hawaiian Monk Seal sighting during Scuba Diving
Amy Bossler

A Dive to Remember!

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DSC00070 Entrance to Sea Cave Trumpet Shell Green Sea Turtle Swim Thru @ Skimman's Reef

Hawaiian monk seal

Hawaiian monk seal

Weather Conditions: Sunny with a slight breeze
Dive Sites: Skimman’s Reef and Sea Cave
Dive Conditions: 80′ visibility, slight current
Marine Life: Monk Seal, green sea turtles, white tip reef shark, dragon moray eel, trumpet shell, yellow legged hairy hermit crab, sponge crab, and various species of nudibranchs
Staff: Capt. Jo, MSDT Amy, and Eric (crew)

Aloha,
Thanks for choosing to dive with Island Divers Hawaii.  We had a beautiful morning of diving. Wes, Paul, Alex, and Elena joined us for some fun in the Hawaiian waters.  With the light winds and flat waters we decided to drive over to the south/east side to hit up some less commonly dove sites.  Our first site was a :35 dive on Skimman’s reef (named in memory of our good IDH friend and coast guard pilot).  This site is an amazing topographic dive.  Lots of valleys, walls, and swim thrus.  Our team saw some green sea turtles, nudibranchs, flat worms, and octopus.  However, this site is by far known for its structural beauty.  During our quick surface interval we watched some squid on the surface and attempted to catch some fish.  After fueling up on Famous Amos and Red Vines, we headed in for dive two at Sea Cave.  Today’s dive was one that will not be forgotten in the near future.  We saw a white tip reef shark, yellow legged hairy hermit crab, sponge crab, various nudibranchs, multiple green sea turtles, AND a MONK SEAL and a DRAGON MORAY!!!!  For those of you who don’t know, both are incredibly rare.  There are currently less than 1000 monks seals left in the wild and they will very likely be extinct in our lifetimes.  Anyone lucky enough to dive with one of these majestic creatures is truly blessed.  Additionally, we found a dragon moray (equally rare).  This was only my fourth sighting in HI waters in over seven years of diving!!!  I’d like to think that our AZ friends brought us good luck today.  Thanks to our four customers for diving with us and choosing IDH.  We had a blast sharing the underwater world with you.  Until next time, dive easy!

Aloha,
Amy and Capt. Jo

 

 

 

Kellan Bernhardt

New Divers are the *Best* Divers

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When people talk about a thing, whatever it is, it’s very easy to gravitate to the worst experiences a person had.  This is just as true with work.
“You will NOT believe what Becky did at the office today.”  Or, “We had the WORST guy today.  He was screaming, throwing a tantrum…” etc.
I’m here to tell you that people like to talk.  It’s easy to talk about things that you didn’t like.  It’s so easy to be negative.
That’s what’s so good about new divers.   Teaching new people to dive is really the best part about what we do.  Every time I get a new person in the ocean, I get to experience scuba diving for the first time through them.  It’s a vicarious experience that has no parallel.  The excitement, the satisfaction, all the hard work that pays off finally in certification, it’s really great.  So thank you, all you new divers.  You make it a pleasure to be around.  Seeing people on their best days… there’s nothing else that comes close.
Congratulations: Sheila and John McClellan, Sydney Scarrow, Haley Hanna, and Eric Wisnom

Max with Fred, the Turtle

Max with Fred, the Turtle

Robert Swain Getting Intimate With a Statue

Robert Swain Getting Intimate With a Statue

Departure!

Departure!

John, Sheila and Haley finishing up the paperwork for Open Water Diver with Kellan

John, Sheila and Haley finishing up the paperwork for Open Water Diver with Kellan

 

Maxine Markert

Whale watch and Hammer heads too! 3/19/2014

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On this gorgeous evening we were blessed with the calmest day we have had all week. Practically no wind and no swell, our whale watching crew was among the most lively and entertaining of the year. We departed around 16:40 heading out of the channel and going around to the mouth of Sea Cave then turning around. We were traveling back towards Maunalua Bay when one of our customers hollers out SHARK! I laugh never seeing a shark on a whale before look out the window and what do I see SHARK, a 8 foot Hammerhead shark cruising on the surface. The Hammerhead was around the boat for about 15 minutes before we went to pursue the whales. After another 15 minutes we found whales, a mother and her calf just traveling along towards Portlock. We got some good tail action and a beautiful Hawaiian sunset. Thank you for everyone who came out tonight with us, we appreciate your positivity and patience. All of you were an absolute pleasure, you make my job easy. Aloha, and we hope to see you again soon.

Minnesota madness with Koko Crater. Skog Vikings

Minnesota madness with Koko Crater. Skog Vikings
Locals loving the sun, with Koko Crater

Locals loving the sun, with Koko Crater

Shark spotters, in the aloha shirts

Shark spotters, in the aloha shirts

Hammerhead

Hammerhead

Shadow of Hammerhead

Shadow of Hammerhead

Whale tail

Whale tail

Fluke

Fluke

splashy whale tail

splashy whale tail

Whale fingerprint

Whale fingerprint

tip of a tail

tip of a tail

Koko Head, Koko Crater, and Sea Cave

Koko Head, Koko Crater, and Sea Cave

Locals enjoying the sunset

Locals enjoying the sunset

Friends enjoying their time and the natural beauty behind them

Friends enjoying their time and the natural beauty behind them

Some people visiting enjoying their time on the Island

Some people visiting enjoying their time on the Island

Our jersey friend's making our time on the boat hilarious.

Our jersey friend’s making our time on the boat hilarious.

Kids getting a little tired after being on the water for two hours.

Kids getting a little tired after being on the water for two hours.

Weather Conditions: East at 20, 2 to 4 foot seas  and 25 mile visibility
Captain Joe Crew Maxine

Lauren Smith

ninja turtles – March 12, 2014

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This afternoon, Capt. Kendall brought us to Koko Craters and Turtle Canyons where we took two terrific groups of divers around the shallow sites. David took the certified divers while Sam lead two refresher scuba divers and a DSD around the sites. Turtles, morays, cushion stars, and reef fish were abundant on both sites. An octopus and puffers were also observed.

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Conditions: Warm, Partially cloudy with a mild northeast breeze.

Visibility: 45-50′

Dive Sites: Koko Craters and Turtle Canyons

Dive Conditions:  Koko Craters vis. 50′, max depth 38′, 38 min. dive time, water temp 76 f, West current;  Turtle Canyons vis. 45′, max depth 32′, 40 min. dive time, water temp 76 f, West current.

Marine life observed: Turtles, morays, cushion stars, and reef fish were abundant on both sites. An octopus and puffers were also observed

Staff: Capt Kendall, Instructors Sam and David, and Crew Dene

Larry Hogan

jake and the fat man

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WOW!  150 foot visibility today! although  strong current kicked our butts at Fantasy Reef on the first dive,  we still had a blast, seeing turtles, big eels, and fantastic topography!  jake, at 10 years, is a great diver already, even tho this was his 1st dive as a cert!  also along was dad scott, and big pete and small pete.  2nd jump was at Anglers Ledge, where we still had great viz, and much less current! big eels, lots of reef fish, and a huge conch shell crawling around looking for a seastar to eat.  instructor Pete K. was also out, doing OW 1/2 with sarah, with his daughter supervising!  great day !DSC00057 DSC00049 DSC00073 DSC00098

Lauren Smith

Safe Scuba Diving Excursions Near Oahu, Hawaii

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Safe Scuba Diving Excursions Near Oahu, HawaiiIf you’re visiting Honolulu or Waikiki and looking for great scuba diving excursions, check out Island Divers. We are a small company of experienced divers who love to share our love of underwater exploration with you, whether you are a seasoned diver or a first-timer.

Rule Number 1: Good Training Equals Safety

Island Divers puts an absolute priority on comprehensive pre-dive training in order to make dives as safe and enjoyable as possible. When you train with us, you will receive the best dive training available on the island of Oahu. We are listed as a 5-Star PADI Instructor Development Center and we offer training from introductory courses to Master Scuba Diver certification. Hawaii Scuba University, which operates parallel with Island Divers, is the most active instructor training facility in Hawaii. As part of our commitment to safety, we guarantee you that all Island Divers training occurs with the latest scuba equipment, including integrated weights and dive computers.

Beginners: Start in Confidence with the Island Divers Experts

Our afternoon dives are ideal for people who are trying diving for the first time, getting back into diving after a break, doing open water referral dives, or simply want to take their time in the morning before heading out for underwater adventure. Our expert divers and divemasters always make sure that safety and expert knowledge are integral to every dive excursion. We select an itinerary based on the day’s dive conditions, and take you to the best dive sites around Oahu. All our diving guides possess in-depth knowledge of the sites, local flora and fauna, and of course – are very experienced divers themselves. The afternoon dives generally consist of two 30- to 40-foot dives, and pick-up time is 11:30am with a 5pm drop off.  You’ll want to arrive at the shop at noon if you are driving yourself. Lastly, you also have the option of doing a morning pool session to prep yourself for the afternoon charter.

A Variety of Dive Sites Around the Island

At Island Divers, we like to explore a variety of locations around Oahu and always offer new and different diving opportunities to you. This means we don’t set a rigid schedule for locations – instead, we change up the dive sites often. In order to stay safe while exploring, our divemasters always base their decisions on the diving and weather conditions of the day. They take many factors into account before deciding the day’s itineraries. Clients are always welcome to make specific scuba dive site requests when signing up for a scuba charter, and divemasters will take those requests into account. You also have the option of booking a private boat to charter a visit to a particular site. In every case, we make it a priority to provide clients the best and safest possible dive experience by taking into account the daily weather and diving conditions along with all other relevant safety considerations.

Get on Board – and Dive In!

Diving is an unforgettable experience into the incredible beauty of underwater worlds. Our trained, experienced, and certified divemasters and diving teachers at Island Divers are here to make your Hawaii vacation all the more memorable. Contact us today to schedule a dive!

Kellan Bernhardt

Sunny Afternoon at Koko Craters

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It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and the sea was as calm as it ever gets.   All the divers on the boat were looking forward to getting into these nearly-perfect conditions.  We had Jake, Scott, Steve, Mendy, Lucas, Brock, Sydney, Jessica, Brook, Peter, Bob, Joanie, amd Blake all on the boat.  Some people were doing the first couple days of their certifications, some people were finishing up our brand new 2 DAY OPEN WATER COURSE, and some people were just doing what we do best, which is diving for fun.  I personally was getting to work with Jake and Scott, the former of who was getting certified, and we had a great time.  The video is us playing rock-paper-scissors on our 3 minute safety stop, which is a game I highly recommend any time you have time to kill under the water.  If you have a slate, tic-tac-toe works well.  Jake crushed me, btw.  RPS world champ?  Maybe.

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Jake helps scott out with a loose tank, one of the new requirements of the PADI Open Water Course

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Spotted Moray Eel (Gymnothorax isingteena)

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Pete and T.J.’s Two Day Open Water students hover.

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Photo Op. with the Koko Stone Warrior

 

 

Weather Conditions: Sunny, air temp 75F

Dive Sites: Koko Crater, Pa’ava

Dive Conditions: 35-40 FSW, water temp 72F, small Koko head current, small wind waves, no swell.

Marine Life Observed: Green Sea Turtles, Spotted Pacific Eel, Homo Sapiens Aquatica

Staff: Captain Joe, Kelsey, Pete, T.J., Matt N., Kellan, Everett