Our trip began with a Big Happy St. Patrick’s Day smile, we departed around 16:45 on a fairly windy, but sunny day.  We got off to a good start because within 5 minutes of being outside of the channel we spotted a pod of spinner dolphins. The bouncy dolphins played along the wake of the large and in charge Seafox. We traveled along china walls in hopes of finding Whales once everyone on the buoy got splashed we turned around. Heading back towards Maunalua Bay we went back and forth between the two. Then around 18:15 we spotted our first spout of the day! We hurried over to them within reason of scaring them off. We got a mother and calf swimming in circles just off the starboard side of the boat. After about a half hour of the whales blessing us with their presence the sunset on Diamond head. Leaving us a beautiful halo above the crater of Diamond head. We had an excellent crew for whale watching today and they were all so patience and all extremely excited when we were fortuned with whales and dolphins. We were even lucky enough for the an amazing Hawaiian sunset. Congratulation on no one getting seasick. Thank you for making my job fun and easy, I hope you all choose to come back out again with us again soon.

Weather Conditions: 20 knot Northeast wind, 5 mile visibility.
Captain Joe Crew Maxine

Diving Kahala Barge is always an exercise in conservation.  You don’t want to use too much air down at 90 feet, but there’s always a strong current; which makes everyone swim more than they should.  Which is a lot of exercise.  What to do in this situation…  I like to think back to when I was a kid river rafting with my dad.  In this situation I would bury coals in the sand, and then put my sleeping bag over them to remain warm throughout the night.  Wait, sorry that’s the wrong…  In this situation I would look for the eddies, and hang out there, so as not to fight the current the entire time.  And indeed, that’s what we all did.  Dropping down to 90 feet, we all hid behind the Barge and started the dive that way.  Make sure everyone uses the downline on descent.  Now, what to do for dive two in such a strong current?  Drift it baby!

You can see the octopus ink right below the diver in the beginning.

Weather Conditions: Clear, Sunny Dive Sites: Kahala Barge, Fantasea Reef Dive Conditions: 90ft/45ft, ~30min, 74F water, Strong Strong current Marine Life Observed: Turtles! Fish! Staff: Capt Kendall, Kellan Inst, Crew Parker

What a fantastic day for an afternoon dive! The warm sun and calm seas made for some great visibility and the divers had a an awesome afternoon on Koko Crater and Turtle Canyon.

The conditions were fantastic at Koko Crater, allowing divers to enjoy some of Hawaii’s favorite sea creatures. We shared an afternoon snack time with some friendly fish over by Big Buddha and took a leisurely stroll in the main crater with some green turtles. Divers definitely got some close encounters with some of Hawaii’s favorite animals.

Over at Turtle Canyon, visibility and current were in our favor which allowed us to truly enjoy some of the corals that house many different species of marine animals. With such little current, divers had the chance to swim into some of the shallower parts of the reef and see different schools of fish enjoying the warm waters.

On the way back we all enjoyed the warm weather and the boat came back with another newly certified diver. Congratulations Sarah!

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Conditions: Sunny with a slight breeze.

Clear visibility: 60-70′+

Dive Sites: Koko Crater & Turtle Canyon

Dive Conditions: Koko Crater 70+ vis, max depth 40′, 40min dive time, water temp 75f; Turtle Canyon 60+ vis, max depth 32′, 42min dive time, water temp 76f

Marine life observed: moray eels, octopi, green turtles, puffer fish

Staff: Capt Joe, Instructors Marnie and David, and Crew Max

 

Eager divers and travelers, Camilo and Adriana were a refreshing sight for Davy’s tired instructor eyes.  It was even more refreshing when minutes before the end of our second dive we had an Octopus Rendezvous which set the energy soaring.

Meanwhile back at the ranch,  a hawaiian swimming crab was spotted trying to mind his own business. Epic blue suberite sponge was appreciated and admired.  Thriving inside it’s home at New Barge this yellow margin eel is king of it’s castle. Make way!  Hip hip hooray for New Barge and good luck Camilo on your PADI Dive Master Course. 

Safe Travels and Safe Diving,

Davy

 

Weather Conditions:  NE winds, Sunny day, Seas at 4ft

Dive Site: New Barge and Fantasy Reef

Dive conditions: 100 ft viz, 76 F – getting warmer, slight current

Marine Life: Yellow Margin Morays, Hawaiian Swimming crab, Blue Suberites, and Octopus

Staff: Captain Kendal, Lead Staff Davy, Crew Mia, Bodhi