Manolo Cabasal

Into the night @ Baby Barge and Angler’s Reef

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This evening, on the Sea Fox, we were joined by Fran and Danielle. Visiting on business, they were able to sneak away from the hustle and bustle and get in a couple of night dives. Having bought new dive lights the day before, they were anxious to embark on their first night dives.

Entering the water @ Baby Barge, the intrepid divers were met with moderate swells and current, but that wasn’t enough to deter them. Pulling themselves down the descent line yielded them the reward of not one, but TWO White Tip reef sharks elegantly swimming around the collapsed barge.

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Circumnavigating the wreck shrimps and small crabs ducked away from the lights as they swept across the bottom. Before surfacing the adventurers happened across a whole sleeping group of turtles.

Angler’s Reef was host to a whole menagerie of colorful creatures. Several large slipper lobsters, Spanish Dancers, giant morays, sponge, and 7-11 crabs delighted the divers. What a great way to get into night diving. Congrats ladies!!!

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Baby Barge & Angler’s Reef
80 ft – 30min & 41ft – 45min

Big shout out to Captain Neil, Parker, & Jessie! You still owe me a hamburger!!

Marnie Cadden

An Awesome Afternoon! (AUG4)

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There was so much to see today out in the water! We set off this afternoon with a group of 9 divers and some awesome weather. We had two students who were finishing up their certifications and were excited to finish up their skills.

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At our first site, students and certified divers got to spend a lot of time with the turtles. There were so many today! It was as though every corner we came to there was another turtle. It sure made for an awesome dive.

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Of course there were tons of eels, as always, and we got up close and personal with a few of them.

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Right as we were ascending, a huge school of fish surrounded the boat and gave us something awesome to look at as we made our way back aboard the Sea Fox.

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Over at the second site, we had even better visibility. With less of a current, divers had a bit more time to spend on the bottom since we didn’t seem to use as much air. That was cool because we got to see many different kinds of fish then we saw at the first site.

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There were so many urchins as well, and they all were tucked into their own little holes along the reef edge. It was great to see a lot of new fish, I even snagged this photo of the white leaf scorpion fish that I have seen around!

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It was another great afternoon aboard the Sea Fox and we came back into the marina with 2 new PADI Junior Divers! Congrats!

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CREW: Marnie (instructor) Max (instructor) Kendal (captain) Parker (crew)

PROFILES: Koko Crater: 36min bottom time, 40 ft max depth, 81*F

Anglers Reef: 42min bottom time, 40 ft max depth, 81*F

Kellan Bernhardt

8/4 Something Something Bobbing in the Waves

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Monday – Titus, Pia, Alex and I jump into the ocean at Fish gardens along the Kawaihoa point coastline, and drift along looking at a huge scorpionfish, some millet seed butterflies, and a stargazer eel. We also pick up and bounce around a pencil urchin for good measure. Seeking shelter from the biggish waves topside we headed into the bay for our surface interval. From there we headed back to spitting caves, one of my favorite sites, and continued drifting westward. We got face to face with a big old granddad turtle, and gaped along with a ton more eels. Thanks a bunch everybody, stay safe and keep diving!

Alex

Alex

Titus with a Pencil urchin

Titus with a Pencil urchin

Pia

Pia

Double shaka? Intense

Double shaka? Intense

Weather conditions: Warm, sunny, windy, medium swell
Dive Sites: Fish gardens 59ft 40min and Spitting Caves 55ft 40min
Dive Conditions: 60+ viz, 82F
Marine Life Observed: Spotted Moray, Green sea turtle, Pencil urchin, Scorpionfish
Staff: Capt. Kendall, Kellan, Parker crew

David Pinilla

Baby Barge, YO257 & Fantasy reef! August 3rd

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Having a beautiful day we set out for the Sunday 3 Tank dive, with a great crew, great student divers and certified divers and definitely the best Instructor we all left the Koko marina in direction to the Baby Barge, after a short 20 minute boat ride we arrived did a buddy check and dived into the blue. With a medium current we descended and head to the Shark caves to find two adult White tip reef sharks, then head back to the barge to find a third shark and the father of all turtles, with approximate 138 years old.

After a surface interval with cookies red vines and cold water we got ready to go for our second dive of the day on the YO257. We went down into a cloud of butterfly fish, Banner fish and a juvenile Eagle ray. This is a great site for Jacks, parrot fish and lots, lots of fish. The Wreck itself is beautiful and cover on yellow cup coral!

In between dives we had a nice ham, cheese and lettuce sub accompanied with apples, hazelnuts and brie cheese and in order to burn all the calories we went diving to the Fantasy reef where we found moray eels, a bunch of turtles and on octopus cruising the reef. After all these I do not imagine any other way to end the week!

Congratulations to Link and Peter on completing the Advanced Open water course! And special thanks to Jeremy and Mark!

Sea Conditions: Waves and East wind

Visibility: 60 to 70 feet

Current: Medium at Baby Barge, mild at YO257 and slight at Fantasy reef

Dive Crew: David Pinilla (me)

Boat Crew: Captain Joe & crew Lauren

 

White Tipped Reef Shark

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Matt Negaard

Wild, Wild West Side – 8/2/14

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This was our first 3 Tanker aboard the South Seas II on the West Side, and what a great day for it! First stop was Kaena Point, pretty much the end of the Island where the West and North Shores meet. Being anchored and with a significant current (ok, it was quite strong)j, we only got to explore a small area before heading back to the surface. But what we did see was some really great topography from old lava flows with lots of cuts and channels in the reef that are certainly worth exploring..we will be back.

Kaena Point

Kaena Point

After a leisurely cruise, Captain Mike set us up at Stars, another new site for us. With a large swim thru sky-light formation, again we were treated to wonderful West Oahu topography, along with several varieties of reef fish and a couple octopus. A mild current here made for a nice relaxing second dive, and the views were spectacular.

Swimmin Thru the Sky-light.

Swimmin Thru the Sky-light.

Rad!

Rad!

After refueling with excellent BBQ burgers prepared by Capt Mike and Divemaster Howard, we headed for our last dive of the day. It’s called Oz, and sits just a bit West of Makaha. Again with a mild current and fantastic visibility, we explored the large, dramatic reef formations. A great dive with Turtles, Eels, Reef Fish, and even an Oriental Flying Gurnard(see video above).

Must Love Honu..

Must Love Honu..

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A huge Mahalo to all of our Divers for joining us at some less frequented dive sites and for making this adventure a great one! We hope to see you in the water again soon.

Weather: Mostly Sunny, Winds 10-15, Seas 2-3 ft., Temp. 89 f.
Conditions: Kaena Point – Strong Current, Vis. 80 ft., Max Depth. 70 ft., Bottom Temp. 78 f.
Stars – Mild Current, Vis. 50 ft., Max Depth 60 ft., Bottom Temp. 78 f.
Oz – Mild Current, Vis. 100 ft., Max Depth 55 ft., Bottom Temp. 78 f.
Marine Life: Octopus, Turtles, Eels, Oriental Flying Gurnard, White Tip Reef Sharks.
Crew: Capt. Mike, Divemaster Howard, Instructor Matt

Larry Hogan

YAY FOR AUGUST !

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HOT summer days are perfect for scuba diving!  and that’s what we did!!  we decided on a wreck with lots of sea life, so off to Baby Barge we went.  excellent conditions, with over 100 feet of viz, and mild current, allowing us to visit the shark cave, seeing no sharks, but turtles and eels along the way.  back at the wreck we saw a white tip shark, and then an eagle ray swam right over our heads!  awesome experience, particularly for Claudia from Amsterdam, who tried to swim along with it.  2nd jump was a drift of Fantasy, and another great dive awaited us.  huge turtles, eels, a giant barracuda, plus beautiful topography and hard coral.  thanks to all for safe diving!  larry, joe, ashley

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baby barge – 80 feet 35 minutes

fantasy reef – 50 feet  44 minutes

Marnie Cadden

Eels Everywhere!!! (Aug2)

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It was a hot a humid morning aboard the SeaFox. Well into the summer months, we are still enjoying some awesome weather here in Hawaii and it was great for this mornings dives. With a group of 12 advanced divers and 2 instructors, we set out to have a great day out on the water.

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We dropped down at Corsair, which was requested by some of our divers. There was quite a bit of surface tension today and the entry was a bit rough, but the divers did awesome! We dropped down to 105ft and got a good look at the WW2 plane.

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There was tons of marine life surrounding the wreckage, and the remaining wing piece was covered in eels! We spotted four alone on the small remains of the wing. As always, eels surrounding the wreckage were in their holes avoiding any nearby scuba divers.

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Divers made sure to do their safety stop on the way back to the boat. We had some time to take some photos of our divers in this blue water. We then enjoyed some light snacks and tea aboard the boat and made our way over to the next site.

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Over at the next dive, we dropped down into clear waters with a negative entry. We swam around the ledges and coralheads that make up this dive site and got to see a less visited part of the Maunalua Bay.

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It was an enjoyable drift dive that allowed some of the divers to have a more hands on experience with the marine life.

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It was also really nice to see different landscapes that make up our local waters. We know that there are reefs and wrecks, but some of the more unexplored regions are the ones that have the most to see!

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Thanks to everyone who came out on the boat this morning, we had a great time! It was a bit of a bumpy ride but I would say that we all enjoyed the morning.

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CREW: Marnie (instructor) Max (instructor) Joe (captain) Kelsey (crew)

WEATHER CONDITONS: 88*F Humid, strong west winds, strong surge

DIVE PROFILES: Corsair: max depth 105ft, bottom time 26min, 78*F, strong west current

Keanu: max depth 68ft, bottom time 32min, 80*F, slight west current

MARINE LIFE OBSERVED: helmet crab, squirrelfish, moray eel, white mouthed eel, morrish idol, sergeant fish

Lauren Smith

3 Things You Must Be Able to Do to Become Scuba Certified

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Scuba diving is an exceptional sport that allows you to enjoy a world that is magical, mysterious, and compelling. At Island Divers there isnt a day that goes by that we’re not celebrating the beauties of Hawaii’s amazing marine environment. And in this spirit, we are always excited when people come to us wishing to become scuba certified.

Certification is important, because by properly using the ‘Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’ (scuba) you will be able to explore the depths easily, comfortably, and safely.

Requirements
To become scuba certified, you have to be at least 10 years old, although even children under 10 can participate in junior dive training programs. You must be fit and healthy, showing us that you can swim and float without aids. We will ask you to fill out a medical and fitness questionnaire and once all is in place, you’re ready to go!

Three Basic Elements
There are three essential elements things that go into scuba certification, and they all have to do with the techniques and procedures for safety that lead to achieving your lifetime certification.

1) Academic Learning
The first step is self-guided course work that includes quizzes and a final exam. Here you will learn the basic principles and theory behind diving and safety procedures. These include:
· How pressure affects the body
· How to choose the right scuba diving gear
· How to intelligently plan your dives

2) Pool Practice
A pool offers a sense of security until you are ready for open water training. It’s where you learn how scuba diving equipment functions and how to use it correctly. This includes:
· Clearing water from a flooded mask without surfacing
· Breathing from your regulator
· Using fins
· Controlling buoyancy by adding or releasing air from your buoyancy control device
· Descending and ascending
· Easily recovering a misplaced regulator
…and other skills.

3) Open Water Training
We call these “check out dives,” which are several dives made under our supervision. You will not be in very deep water, which allows you to adjust to the sensation of being out in the real ocean world. Here you will show us that you can handle all the knowledge you’ve gained, as well as the absolute thrill you’ll feel finally seeing some amazing underwater sights.

The Coveted Cert Card
Once we see that your skills are in place, you are ready for certification. Now you can get that coveted Cert Card that vouches for your training and qualifies you to dive in open water without supervision!

Contact Us
At Island Divers Hawaii, we are trained and certified through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) to lead courses for divers of all abilities, from beginner to advanced. Here on the island of Oahu you’ll be in one of the best places to learn, with crystalline water, extraordinary sea creatures, along with spectacular reefs and wrecks to explore. Sharing the underwater world is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, so sign up today at www.oahuscubadiving.com !

Maxine Markert

Refreshing Open water Extravaganza 8/01

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I started out this lovely Friday morning with two incredible refreshers, Jerry and Sandy we had a lovely time at Makai pier revamping our diving skills. After an hour at the pier we headed back for lunch and to meet up with the rest of their group, After Marlene, Megan, and Nick got all their gear and briefed up for a their open water training dives. We had an excellent time seeing some large and in charge turtles at Back Crater.  After completing all our skills we got to enjoy the rest of the dive. We then proceeded to Pa’a’awa, where Kellan found a giant octopus! I hope everyone had as much fun as Kellan and Me. You were all an absolute pleasure to have on the boat and I can’t wait for you to come back again soon.DCIM100GOPRO DCIM100GOPRO

 

Weather Conditions: Sunny with small clouds, 2 to 4 foot swells
Dive Sites: Koko Craters, Pa’a’awa
Dive Condition: Koko Craters; depth 37ft time 28 minutes temp 77 f small surge: Pa’a’awa; depth 40ft time 35 minutes temp 77 f slight east current
Staff: Captain Joe, Crew Ashley and Instructors Maxine and Kellan

Marnie Cadden

Family Funday! (July31)

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We had some nice cool weather for our dives off the Sea Fox this afternoon. It was great to see some families out enjoying the seas on this beautiful day!

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Students had small classes today which was really cool! We had a lot of different groups doing different things, but sharing one passion for diving.

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We dropped down onto a large group of turtles at Koko Crater. There are always a lot of turtles at this site but today was crazy! We must have seen 10+ turtles. Needless to say divers enjoyed the first dive and did fantastically on all of their skills.

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Divers got to enjoy a nice break and some snacks for their surface interval as we made our way over to the next dive site.

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Over at Angler’s, we had great visibility! As always, the reef ledge was teeming with wildlife and there was so much to see!

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As the photos prove, we had a lot of camoflague animals on the reef and it was fun finding each of them. Look close enough and youll discover so much about the ocean,

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Again, it was so awesome to see all the families out on the water and so many people who were interested in diving! We love to share our passion for the sea and hope to see you guys out on the boat again!

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CREW: Marnie (inst) Dave (inst) Jess (inst) Neil (cptn) Steve (crew)

DIVE PROFILES: Koko Crater: 81*, W current, 40 ft max depth, 35min dive time

Angler’s Reef: 81*, W current, 43ft max depth, 38min dive time

WEATHER: Partially cloudy, breeze, 82*

MARINE LIFE: pincushion sea star, green sea turtles, eels, urchins, wrasse, trumpetfish