Scuba Dive Reports Oahu - Page 63 of 96 - Island Divers Hawaii

Oahu Dive For Life 2014

August 26, 2014/in Dive Reports, Uncategorized/by Lauren Smith

What a wonderful Event for the weekend. We had such amazing support from all over the island, and a turn out of over 100 divers! For those who are not familiar, Dive For Life is an event we at Island Divers started last year.

There are many ways people are raising money to fund the research into a cure for cancer, one especially that is a successful tradition is Relay For Life.

Island Divers Hawaii decided to put a twist on the Relay for Life to make it fit what they and their diving community can relate to, Scuba Diving. From that Dive for Life was born. Teams of divers hit the water at Sharks Cove to dive for 12 hours while donations flooded in to support their efforts.

The biggest reward at the first Dive For Life is that Divers from around the world donated and Dive For Life raised over $6800 for American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society representative of Hawaii Arthur Grau was blown away by the popularity and efforts that dive for life committed to the cause.

This year we wanted it to be even bigger! We want to be one of the largest Cancer fundraiser event in Oahu and create a tradition for all our future divers in Hawaii to join together their Dive Shops, Dive Clubs, and weekend dive groups and do something for others.

Like we said before, we had an amazing turn out of over 100 divers and we raised over $5000! Every team did such an amazing job getting all their friends and families involved and everyone was so excited to dive all day long!

Not only did we have amazing support from our SCUBA community, We had amazing sponsors join the fight. Aqua Lung donated a Legend LX regulator, Impression Mask, & X Shot fins. Oceanic donated Aeris A300 computer, Veo 1.0 console computer, Veo 3.0 Wrist computer, Aeris mask, fin, snorkel bags, Hollis t shirts, and Lava Core Hats. Scuba Pro donated an MK25/600 regulator.

We just thank you all for coming together and being apart of a cause we can all relate to!

Congratulations to the winning teams Wetter is Better, Honolulu Dive Club, and Better than the Dive Misfits! You can still donate till next week at www.oahudiveforlife.com

Oahu Dive for Life 2014

Hanging out ready to dive

Heading down the Hill first dive of the Day

Our strong SCUBA teams fight the cause!

100 Hamburgers, and 80 Hot Dogs were gone in an 1hr 1/2

Great SCUBA groups leading the charge against Cancer

Huge turn out!

8/25 Students Get Abducted By Aliens At Koko Craters

August 26, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Kellan Bernhardt

Monday – Not really, aliens aren’t a thing yet. YET. However there’s a bunch of weird stuff in the ocean, and that’s what we got to see on our trip. Onboard we had Avi, Steven, Lisa, and Mike, as well as Tim and his son/nephew? Alex. At Koko craters it was the normal student dive 3/4 stuff, compass navigation, working on buoyancy control, clearing some masks, and BCD oral inflation, as well as the CESA, which Avi and Steven passed with flying colors. Along the way we saw some eels, and a green sea turtle, and a ton of urchins, and some fish! Of which there are tons of and too many to name. From there we went on to Angler’s reef after some brief surface excitement, and played for 30 min at 50 feet there. Eels, pencil urchins, and a leaf scorpionfish were seen, all while getting led around by the students. It’s nice to have them take the reigns once in a while. Nice work everyone, and congratulations to our newest Scuba Divers. Welcome.

What a hat

Two hats

No hats

You could fit another person in there, sure.

Weather conditions: Warm, sunny, small wind
Dive Sites: Koko Craters 40min 35 ft, Anglers Reef 45ft 30 min
Dive Conditions: 40+ viz, 82F
Marine Life Observed: Spotted Moray, Green sea turtle, Pencil urchin, Scorpionfish
Staff: Capt. Joe, Instr. Kellan Max Crew

Drifting Away (AUG24)

August 24, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Marnie Cadden

What a great morning for the Sunday 3-tanker! We got an early start and headed out of Hawaii Kai with a boat of 6 diver. Most of us have been diving recently and were ready to have another day exploring the ocean. After a quick briefing, we decided to head over to the barges and check the conditions. We decided, after checking currents, that our best bet was to drift from Baby Barge to New Barge.

Baby Barge

Having some rather experienced divers aboard the Sea Fox this morning, we did a great job executing our dive plan. We followed along the shark cave ledge to Baby Barge, and spotted a white tipped reef shark under the ledge!

Green Sea Turtle

During the drift, we swam alongside the famous green sea turtle who was cruising along with the currents.

Concrete piles

We passed piles of concrete piles that house lots of different marine animals. Such a great thing to pass while drifting between boats.

Blue spotted eagle ray

Once we were ready to make our ascent, we found a blue spotted eagle ray while we were making our safety stop. He too was cruising in the current and hung around for a while before swimming off into the abyss. What a great way to spend 3 minutes!

Passing Diamondhead

We had a nice boat ride over to the Waikiki side of Diamond Head and divers got to share stories and enjoy the nice weather. After about an hour surface interval, we hopped in at our second dive site.

Max off Waikiki

At our second site, YO-257, divers dropped down onto a bit of a current. We had around 20+ minutes to explore the shipwreck before divers had to make their way back up.

YO-257

Our dive plan was to swim along the bottom and then make our way up to the deck of the ship to maximize our bottom time. Divers executed their plan perfectly and got a great look at the wreck off the famous Waikiki coastline.

Bow of YO-257

Inside the YO-257

We had a great time playing around on the ship and were sure to avoid the submarine that also explores the wreck.

YO-257 deck

Deck of YO-257

We finally made our way back to the Sea Fox (after completing our safety stop of course!) and enjoyed a nice lunch while we made our way to our final site.

Max making her way up the line

Captain Joe

Once we finished up our lunch and made our way back into Maunalua Bay, we chose Fantasy Reef for our final dive. After an hour or so aboard the Fox, we hopped back into the water.

Swimming with turtles

We dropped down onto great visibility and were immediately greeted by a lot of turtles!

Green Sea Turtle

We had a mild current across the reef, but divers did a fantastic job navigating across the reef to maximize our time underwater. We made it through both of the swim throughs and checked out all of the ledges. We were surrounded by turtles and schools of fish the entire dive. It was a great way to end the Sunday 3 tanker!

Great group of dviers!

Thanks to all who came out this morning, hope you had as much fun as I did!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CREW: Marnie (instructor) Joe (captain) Lauren (crew)

WEATHER CONDITIONS: light winds, sunny, 86*F

DIVE PROFILES: Baby Barge to New Barge drift: 96ft max depth, 81*F water temp, 32min bottom time, Koko Head current

YO-257: 98ft max depth, 80*F water temp, 29minute bottom time, Diamondhead current

Fantasy Reef: 58ft max depth, 81*F water temp, 22minute bottom time, Diamondhead current

MARINE LIFE OBSERVED: blue spotted eagle ray, white tipped reef shark, green sea turtle, mantis shrimp, crown of thorns seastar

Dolphin Fly By 8/23

August 23, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Mark Savel

It was a nice afternoon on the Sea Fox today even with a bit of a south swell. We had a bit of a mixed group of divers with a few first time divers and a couple PADI open water students plus a bunch of certified divers. We tied up on Koko Craters for the first dive and right as divers were getting in the water a pod of dolphins came cruising by the boat. A few people got to see them in the water but they didn’t stick around long. Swimming around the reef we found a few eels hiding out and reef fish everywhere. There were wrasses and damselfish hanging out with us as well as a large turtle cruising the reef.

For the second dive we dove Anglers Reef and again had nice conditions. There were more reef fish swimming about with butterflyfish and wrasses everywhere. We found a few large eels hiding in the reef including a couple yellow margin moreys and a white mouth morey. It was a great dive with helmet snails and leaf scorpionfish around the reef. It was a wonderful day and congratulations to Tamara for finishing her open water certification.

Threadfin Butterfly Fish

Reef Triggerfish

ADVENTURE !!! 23 august

August 23, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

So much fun today! we drifted the barges today, and it was truly an adventure. at first we tried to tie up at the Kahala, but the current gave us a big NO for tying up to the mooring. when you cannot get the line to the surface because the current is so strong, then it’s time for a barge drift dive! so Joe brought us over to the shark cave at baby barge and we hit the water. currents have been strange all summer, so i was only mildly surprised to find ripping current at the surface, and almost none on the bottom! lots of surge, even at depth! viz is also down, so we kept together and watched turtles swimming and sleeping as the outlines of the wreck loomed above us. under the wreck was a shark, and we found a huge octopus as we drifted along the ledge! on our surface interval we jumped in near a pod of spinner dolphins, awesome!! 2nd dive was another drift, this time at Fantasy reef. we had a blast, seeing turtles, barracuda, crabs, eels, and another octopus! great fun and adventure today! thanks to all for safe diving! Larry and Joe.

8/22 Kahala: Best Place to Live, Best Place to Dive

August 23, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Kellan Bernhardt

Friday – Big waves make today’s diving a so-so proposition, but we went out to the deep water where the diving is always good. The first stop was the Kahala Barge. On the boat was Colleen, Robb, Shelby, Brooke, Erica, Louisa, Tyler, and Matt. The current at Kahala wasn’t bad, and we did a ton of exploring inside the wreck; it’s an excellent place for swim throughs. From there we went over to Fantasea reef, where we were a little bit late jumping off the boat and almost swam too far to the south and missed it. But we finally got going the right direction and saw a bunch of turtles, some eels, an eagle ray, and a horned helmet snail. All in all it was a weird day as there was big surf and it ran the gamut from rain to sun, but altogether an enjoyable one. Stay safe all, we’ll see you next time.

Turtle city

Doesn’t look super thrilled to have his beauty sleep interrupted

Spotted moray

Weather Conditions: Windy and Sunny and Rainy and Cloudy, large south swell
Dive Sites: Kahala Barge & Fantasea Reef
Dive Conditions: 90 FT 32 min & 45 Ft 52 min Temp 79 F
Staff: Capt Joe, Dive Lead Kellan, Crew Maxine

DANCING WITH THE SURGE. 22 August

August 22, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

not dancing with the stars, just the surge. but a lot more fun if you ask me. big south swell today, so as those big waves pass over us and head shoreward, they create a real push/pull effect on divers. which is fun, once you ‘master’ it!! because of the swell, we decided to head out to Fantasy reef, which is a bit deeper, and away from the low tide green. it is a favorite of ours, full of giant turtles and medium size swim-throughs! we also saw morays, crabs, puffer fish, and some baby octopus! current was strong, but fantasy has lots of protected spots to avoid hard finning! 2nd jump was back to Koko craters, where the surge was fun, as it danced us around all, up and down and back and forth. it really is fun to feel the ocean that way, and to move thru it with maximum joy. speaking of maximum joy, my other staff today was Max the joyful one herself, along with her students Tamara, morgan, and clara! congrats to them. thanks to all for safe diving, larry, max, joe, and ashley!

Fantasy reef – 52 feet 34 minutes

koko craters – 35 feet 42 minutes

Reasons Why You Should Stay Hydrated Before Scuba Diving in Hawaii

August 22, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Lauren Smith

It’s ironic that the sport that has us surrounded by water can cause us to lose it. Here at Island Divers Hawaii we’ve seen a lot of dehydration in our time, which can be dangerous given all of the environmental factors that are already in place to cause it. Diving in tropical settings where the water is warm and the air temperature is even warmer, where humidity is high and the tendency to party is even higher, creates the perfect setting for dehydration.

The Many Benefits of Water

No matter what you do in life, it is essential to keep the body hydrated, as we depend on water for survival. More than half of our body weight is made of water, and it is an integral part of the healthy functioning of every cell, tissue, and organ in the body. Water helps to regulate our body temperature, remove waste, lubricate joints, and enhance our cardiovascular abilities.

The Alcohol Challenge

Vacations often call for a lot of drinking. Beer, margaritas, and other alcoholic beverages are surefire candidates for draining you of moisture, as they are diuretics and increase the need to urinate, which creates a loss of fluid.

Perspiring

Perspiration is another factor in water loss. You don’t come to Hawaii for the cool weather – here you’ll sweat on land and in a wetsuit with all that neoprene. The longer your wear your suit when out of the water, the more water you’ll lose. And of course, as perspiration dries on your skin, water is lost.

Breathing from a SCUBA tank and Sunburn

You will certainly lose water in your body when you breathe the highly filtered, dry, compressed air from a scuba tank. In addition, if you get sunburned, internal fluids rush to the area, causing moisture loss.

Salt Water, Water Pressure, Seasickness

As salt water evaporates on your skin, it leaves small crystals, which will attract water molecules and hold them captive. We also tend to urinate a lot when we dive because the water pressure and temperature increase blood flow around organs, which makes the body want to flush fluids out by inducing urination. In addition, if you’re prone to seasickness, vomiting will surely dehydrate you.

Staying Hydrated

No matter your activity level, it is imperative that you habitually drink as much water as possible. Just drinking before or after diving isn’t enough, as the body only absorbs so much water at a time. The body needs to be in a constantly hydrated state.

Alternatives to Water

If good old H2O isn’t your thing, drink caffeine-free beverages like fresh juice, powdered drink mixes, or hydrating fluids like Pedialyte, which you can mix with water and chill. Avoid

coffee, soda, stimulating energy drinks, and alcohol, which are all counterproductive. And never, ever dive hung over!

Knowing When You’re Dehydrated

You know you’re dehydrated when your mouth is dry, you have a headache, you’re very thirsty, sleepy, confused, dizzy or lightheaded, weak, or have cramps. Being dehydrated can contribute to decompression sickness when coming up from a dive, along with a host of other problems. Don’t wait for this. Drink often and plentifully.

Dive Smart and Safe

For more information on staying healthy and fit during your scuba diving vacation, contact us today at: www.oahuscubadiving.com .

Aug 21- The Fox Experience

August 21, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Davy Eleen Vercoe

Have you ever been experienced? Well I have. The advanced Sea Fox Experience is incredible. It is two solid dives where you get to see a wreck and a reef dive site, dive in 80 degree water, at least in August it’s 80 degrees, 60 ft or more viz on any day, little current always a possibility but not guaranteed, we want to keep you on your toes. Plus a beautiful sunny day with the Island of Oahu glowing back at you. The island even offers a little welcome cloud coverage from time to time so you don’t burn to a crisp top side. As far as scuba diving goes, Island Divers Hawaii is top!
We were able to score and hit the Corsair with no other boats on it, little to no current and 100 ft viz. We dove in with no hesitation and it’s a good thing to since Henry and Scott eye balled a massive sting ray. YUP, STING RAY! Super jealous of that since the Ray family is one of my favorite families. On the next dive Jared and his divers got to see a pipe fish. They even scored a photo for evidence. The elite group of divers also had some mystifying turtle encounters where the turtles just swam at us dead a head straight through our group. This group of divers was top and I look forward to see more divers on the experienced Sea Fox.

Safe Diving,

Davy

Crew: Captain Joe, Lead Staff Davy, Crew Maxine

The chicas scuba too!

Go Jared!

Rico

Corsair

Always a pleasure garden eels

Curious Puffer

Paul with some turtle love

Nighty night sharky! 8/20

August 20, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Maxine Markert

Having only 3 incredibly happy people Angel, Joe, and Jesse the night dive was very easy going and fun! We started out trying to tie up at the Corsair but the current was just too strong so we zipped down to LCU watching the sunset on our way. Once we were on the wreck we saw a baby white tip reef shark so stoked. After our first dive we headed over to Anglers’ Ledge doing a nice long dive going well past the end of the reef. Jesse was my only diver, Angel and Joe hung out on the boat taking lots of great pictures, thanks for the free photo shoot guys you were an absolute treat to have out on my charter and I hope you guys make it back out to Hawaii again soon!

Dive sites and Conditions: LCU, max depth 98ft, 20 minutes, temp 72, current east, Angler’s ledge, max depth 50ft, 30 minutes, temp 73 current east.
Staff: Captain Joe, Crew Brent, Instructor Maxine

Oahu Dive For Life 2014

8/25 Students Get Abducted By Aliens At Koko Craters

Drifting Away (AUG24)

Dolphin Fly By 8/23

ADVENTURE !!! 23 august

8/22 Kahala: Best Place to Live, Best Place to Dive

DANCING WITH THE SURGE. 22 August

Reasons Why You Should Stay Hydrated Before Scuba Diving in Hawaii

Aug 21- The Fox Experience

Nighty night sharky! 8/20

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