Scuba Dive Reports Oahu - Page 84 of 96 - Island Divers Hawaii

SHARK CAVE april 25

April 26, 2014/in Uncategorized/by Larry Hogan

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

Repairs on the Corsair and White Tips at Spitting Caves — April 26

April 26, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Lauren Smith

Today’s morning Sea Fox was only a couple customers and some shop tag-alongs. Ralph, from Canada works on airplanes and was pleased as pie to do some work on the 80+ year old Corsair at 110′. Our other customer Jon lives here on the island was happy just to be underwater. He loved the White Tips we saw at spitting caves and asked specifically that I added his photo (Here ya go Jon). Other than that, we had one our our tank fillers Mike, working on his deep and boat dives of his advanced open water. Great job Mike!

Ralph making some quick repairs

Corsair!

Look at those pearly whites!

Go Nudi Go!

White Tips Chilling Hard!

Staff:

Captain: Joe
Boat Crew: Max
Dive Guide: Pete

Weather Conditions:

Weather: Mostly Sunny
Swell: High
Winds: Moderate-High E Trade Winds

Dive Sites:

Corsair
Spitting Caves

Dive Conditions:

Visibility: Good
Current: Mild Koko Head

Marine Life Observed:

Humuhumunukunukuapua`a
Cushion Sea Stars
Blue Dragon Nudibrach
Yellow Margin Morray
White Mouth Morray
Snowflake Morray
Moorish Idol
White Tip Reef Shark
Green Sea Turtle

4 Best Scuba Diving Spots in Oahu, Hawaii

April 25, 2014/in Tips/by Matt Zimmerman

As Oahu’s premier dive center, we at Island Divers Hawaii definitely have the bead on the best scuba diving spots around the island. Because we live and breathe the diving lifestyle, we are super passionate about sharing our expertise and sense of adventure so that you can experience the same joy we feel every time we explore all that our rich waters have to offer.

Exceptional Underwater Adventure

The gorgeous island of Oahu has always been a top spot for adventurous souls. The capital city of Honolulu is here, along with the famed Waikiki, with its exceptional beaches and non-stop fun. With the phenomenal Diamond Head (Leahi) forming a stunning backdrop to an already pristine location, you will find exceptional underwater adventures here, whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced diver.

A Variety of Great Dive Spots

In addition to the many wreck sites that you can visit in Oahu, there are an abundance of other incredible diving spots that will take your breath away. We’ve decided to create a short list that fit the bill for beginner to advanced divers:

1) North Shore Diving – Waimea Wall is one of our favorite spots and is located on Oahu’s North Shore. From 25 to 60 feet deep, it is ideal for beginner to advanced divers. Here you are up front and center with a huge range of underwater life, including Whitetip Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, Lobster, and assorted Shellfish.

2) South Shore Diving – Rainbow Reef and Magic Island make some of the best experiences for beginning divers, with no currents and a mere 20 to 60 feet depth. You’ll be swimming with some incredible companions, including Spotted Puffer fish, Moray eels, Triggerfish, Fantail Filefish, Manta Rays, Moorish Idols, and Green turtles, none of whom are the least bit shy about checking you out.

3) East Shore Diving – At 107 feet deep, Lanai Lookout is a challenging spot for advanced divers. With a great view to Lanai Island, this is the hidden habitat of eels, Whitetip Reef sharks, Spotted Eagle rays, octopi, green sea turtles, and much, much more.

4) West Shore Diving – If you are already an intermediate diver, you will love Mokolea, with waters from 35 to 70 feet deep. A seabird sanctuary, your underwater experience here will include parrotfish, goatfish, unicorn fish, Whitetip Reef sharks, lobster, Cauliflower coral, and Antler corals.

Begin the Exploration

For information on how to enjoy exceptional diving experiences with Island Divers Hawaii, please contact us today!

4/24 It’s Time to Get Serious About Diving

April 24, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Kellan Bernhardt

Thursday – Corina, Pierre, Tim, Graham, Terris, Nate, Kris, And Cassie were all in attendance on this super nice but windy day. We jumped in to Koko craters to small wind waves and warm swells. A quick jaunt to the bottom led us to Sand crater and the little buddha. We did some compass nav skills with our four Open Water students, and then made our way back to the boat for some surface skills. On the way back Tim and Nate nailed some mask removal and replacement. After some BC removal and replacement and asst. other skills we make our way over to Turtle Canyon and swim down for some more skills and the CESA. Marnie got to hang out with Kris one of our super awesome DSDs today. Nice job all, and congratulations to our new OW divers, Tim and Nate! As always, stay safe guys and gals.

Butterfly fish

HAWAIIAN DASCYLLUS

Greenhead Moray

Weather conditions: Windy 15 kts, Small wind waves, Medium trade winds, Sunny.
Dive sites: Koko Craters, Turtle Canyon
Dive conditions: Koko’s: Light current, 35ft, 78F; Turtle’s: Light easterly current, 35ft, 78F
Marine Life observed: Moray Eels, Pacific Hermit Crab, Butterfly fish
Staff: Captain Kendall; Crew: Mia; Instructors: Kellan, Marnie

SHARK HUNT !! april 23

April 24, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Larry Hogan

Sharks, and the fear of them, is a huge part of the non-diver psyche. But once a diver sees sharks behaving naturally, a huge paradigm shift takes place. There is always some apprehension, but when i ask “what are you guys up for today?” multitudes of divers say, “I want to see a shark!” Hearing that again today, trip leader Max and I decided on checking out the LCU, often the home of several large whitetip sharks, which like to chill out underneath the wreck at 90 feet. I always call whitetips a ‘great starter shark,’ for first-timers. This is because they are relatively passive, and just ignore us as we inch closer to them for a photo or two. But, to our dismay, there were no sharks today at the LCU! BUT we did see an eagle ray, two frogfish, lots of reef fish, plus a huge spiky sea cucumber! so we were still STOKED after a beautiful dive!

Still on the hunt for sharks, we headed over to Spitting Cave, for a drift at 50 feet, and also a great dive site for sharks! and bingo, we got to see two big whitetips circling each other in one of the many caves along that wall. So congrats to those first time shark-sighters, who were all thoroughly happy about seeing sharks, and not feeling fear, but only a sense of their beauty and their place in the ocean! Spitting Cave is one of my favorites, having dove it 100’s of time, never tiring of the turtles, eels, octopus on the wall, and the big pelagic fish swimming by us, out in the blue! thanks to all for diving safely today! Larry, Max, and Joe.

Pamela finds a frog fish

happy divers green head moray

Training Day — April 23

April 23, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Lauren Smith

Today’s afternoon Sea Fox was full of students ranging from Daniel and Dallas who finished their open water certs today, congratulations guys! Raymond and Pascal working on their Peak performance buoyancy and navigation dives of their advanced open waters. We also had Nate and Amanda working on dives one and two of their open water courses. Keep up the great work guys!

Nate’s giant stride

Buddy Checks

Strung up ready to go down!

Staff:

Captain: Joe
Dive Guide: Pete

Weather Conditions:

Weather: Mostly Sunny
Swell: Moderate
Winds: Moderate-High E Trade Winds

Dive Sites:

Koko Craters
Turtle Canyons AKA Mermaid’s Reef

Dive Conditions:

Visibility: Moderate – Poor
Current: Moderate Koko Head

Marine Life Observed:

Humuhumunukunukuapua`a
Cushion Sea Stars
Blue Dragon Nudibrach
Yellow Margin Morray
White Spotted Eagle Ray
Snowflake Morray
Moorish Idol

New Divers Adventures 4/22

April 22, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Mark Savel

It was a bit windy today out on the water of the southeast side but visibility was wonderful underwater. We had dove Koko Craters for the first dive and had a good 80 ft viz as we got down the line. There were a couple turtles found around the area and reef fish all about the site. We got buzzed by another turtle coming through the site. It was a nice little dive before it was time to head out to the next dive.
For the second dive we dove Turtle Canyons and again had nice viz on the bottom. There was another turtle resting on the bottom right near the mooring. There were reef fish everywhere around the site with wrasses, moorish idols, and parrotfish swimming around the reef. We also found a couple eels and a scorpionfish blending in on the bottom.

Moorish Idol

Potters Angelfish

4/22 Argie-Bargie and then Some Driftin’

April 22, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Kellan Bernhardt

Tuesday – The crew and passengers got together and we went first to the Kahala Barge. On boat we had Sophie, Ian, Troy, Kevin, Colleen, Jon, and Pascal. All super divers, and up for anything. Rough seas and a strong current made jumping in the water a tricky endeavor, but then once under the waves it was nice and calm. Pascal, Sophie and I went right down to the sand at 95 feet and took a look at how the colors change at depth and then we navigated some swim-throughs. We then made our way over to Anglers reef and drifted the wall. I wore a conch like a hat, Sophie brought along a sea chicken, and we saw an enormous moray. You guys were all pro divers, and today was super fun. As always, stay safe.

Pascal Is OK

Sophie and the Sea Chicken

Colleen High Five?

Ian Waves

Troy Drifting Anglers

Weather conditions: Windy 25 kts, Large Swell, Heavy trade winds, Mostly sunny.
Dive sites: Kahala Barge, Angler’s Reef
Dive conditions: Kahala: Strong current, 95ft, 78F; Angler’s: Light westerly current, 35ft, 78F
Marine Life observed: Moray Eels, Pacific Hermit Crab, Horned Helmet Snail
Staff: Captain Kendall; Crew: Parker; Instructors: Kellan

DIVERS LOVE THE CORSAIR AIRPLANE!

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

The Corsair airplane wreck was our divers choice today! This famous dive site is only a short trip on our beloved Sea Fox, and people come from all over the world to dive it! We had beautiful conditions underwater, with mild current and good viz, well over 100 feet! Big waves on the surface did not deter our hardy group and we all had a great dive. Garden eels, schools of fusiliers, and an octopus made it even more special! there is a crocodile snake eel down there, but with only short bottomtime, cuz of the 107 foot depth, I couldn’t find him today! he is well hidden in the sand! Sofie from Norway was working on her Advanced cert, and she was perfect with the math problems i gave her at depth! a great group today, with lots of Aussies joining us – Troy, gerald, and kate, plus Brits vicky and gerry. a special treat was successful TV and Movie actress Pamela Holt, out for fun, plus chris and greg. all great divers who met the Hawaiin waves challenge! 2nd jump was a drift of Fantasy reef, with beautiful conditions. we had a great dive seeing the usual gang of huge turtles, reef fish, hard corals, and swim-throughs. also saw the barracuda that show up occasionally! no whitetip sharks today though, but we had a great day. thanks to all, Larry

Open water training day 4/20

April 21, 2014/in Dive Reports/by Maxine Markert

On this beautiful Easter Sunday we had 6 marvelous open water students and a more than outstanding refresher. Kai, Chun, Tatjuna, Kitzy, Alexander and Daniel all participated in open water training today and nailed it I couldn’t have asked for a group of better listeners and better communicators than these guys. I am proud to say that all of them (with the exception of Daniel who will be finishing Wednesday) are now PADI’s newest open water divers. CONGRATULATIONS! We started out our enthralling Easter with the amazing Koko craters. Knocking out all the skills in a half hour dive, we surfaced and then proceeded to do surface compass navigation, and they all nailed it! After Matt and Jennifer came up from their adventure at Koko’s we proceeded to Turtle Canyons. Getting the pleasure of little baby squirt (baby green sea turtle) we finished up Daniels’ skills for dive number 2 and then we all did our first and last CESA. Thank you all for coming out today Matt and I (Maxine) really enjoyed all of your company and we can not wait for the day you return to dive with us. Hope to see all your smiling faces quite soon. Mahalo.