theskull
December 11th, 2008, 09:53 PM
This is the Hawaiian winter season, which means a little rougher seas (surfing season) and a little cooler temps, getting as cool as 70 F at night and 80 F during the day time, although the water is still between 76-78 F.
Our trip started with a minor setback in that our Saturday boat diving charter with Bottom Time Hawaii got cancelled on Friday night due to a lack of customers and concern over rough seas. Anyway, not to be stymied, we drove over to the dive shop headquarters Saturday morning to rent several tanks for shore diving. Rental car full of gear, we headed to the only location that was recommended as safe in the heavy surf of the day, a dive site called “Two Step” at Place of Refuge. We made 2 excellent dives at Two Step, notwithstanding the somewhat difficult surf/surge entry/exits. Dive 1 began just after Noon, lasted 62 minutes, and had a max depth of 87 ft. Following an hour surface interval we got back in for another 40 minutes with a max depth of 104 ft. Visibility was about 30 ft. in the shallow water, with a strong surge that made it difficult to stay off the coral, but conditions improved with the protection of the “wall” once we got down past 30 ft., where vis also improved to about 50 ft. Sightings included a green sea turtle being cleaned by a school of Yellow Tang, Moray Eels, Moorish Idols, and thousands of Urchins. By the time we returned the tanks and got washed up it was time for supper and relaxation.
Sunday’s boat charter was booked up with us, 2 additional certified divers, and a couple doing a Discover SCUBA. We made the first dive just outside the harbor when a pod of dolphins were spotted and we all wanted a chance to dive with them. We did! About 12 dolphins, a Monk Seal, a spotted Eagle Ray, and some more Moray Eels were seen and photographed on this 45 minute dive to a max depth of 94 ft. A little over an hour later we arrived at the second dive site, a shallow cove, where my SO dive buddy got to hold an octopus and then later a Brittle Star, and the entire site was very dense in sealife, an aquarium-like dive that lasted an hour with a max depth of 52 ft. After returning and cleaning up we took a drive to the other side of the island to see the volcano vent, and then went a little further to witness the molten lava splashing into the sea like a mini roaring volcano.
Monday and Tuesday afforded some excellent snorkeling just out the back of our hotel, the Keauhou Outrigger. Then Tuesday eve we went out on the boat for the 2-tank eve/night dive at the world-famous Manta Ray experience location—you guessed it, the Mantas stood us up! Still, we had 2 great dives in a pretty stiff surge, a 48 minute dive to 53 ft. and a 30 minute dive to 47 ft. The unique sightings from these 2 dives included a Leaf Scorpion, a Scorpionfish, a crab, and a Crown of Thorns.
The Hawaiian fish are entirely different from their Carribean cousins, and it is refreshing to see some new faces and fins.
theskull
Our trip started with a minor setback in that our Saturday boat diving charter with Bottom Time Hawaii got cancelled on Friday night due to a lack of customers and concern over rough seas. Anyway, not to be stymied, we drove over to the dive shop headquarters Saturday morning to rent several tanks for shore diving. Rental car full of gear, we headed to the only location that was recommended as safe in the heavy surf of the day, a dive site called “Two Step” at Place of Refuge. We made 2 excellent dives at Two Step, notwithstanding the somewhat difficult surf/surge entry/exits. Dive 1 began just after Noon, lasted 62 minutes, and had a max depth of 87 ft. Following an hour surface interval we got back in for another 40 minutes with a max depth of 104 ft. Visibility was about 30 ft. in the shallow water, with a strong surge that made it difficult to stay off the coral, but conditions improved with the protection of the “wall” once we got down past 30 ft., where vis also improved to about 50 ft. Sightings included a green sea turtle being cleaned by a school of Yellow Tang, Moray Eels, Moorish Idols, and thousands of Urchins. By the time we returned the tanks and got washed up it was time for supper and relaxation.
Sunday’s boat charter was booked up with us, 2 additional certified divers, and a couple doing a Discover SCUBA. We made the first dive just outside the harbor when a pod of dolphins were spotted and we all wanted a chance to dive with them. We did! About 12 dolphins, a Monk Seal, a spotted Eagle Ray, and some more Moray Eels were seen and photographed on this 45 minute dive to a max depth of 94 ft. A little over an hour later we arrived at the second dive site, a shallow cove, where my SO dive buddy got to hold an octopus and then later a Brittle Star, and the entire site was very dense in sealife, an aquarium-like dive that lasted an hour with a max depth of 52 ft. After returning and cleaning up we took a drive to the other side of the island to see the volcano vent, and then went a little further to witness the molten lava splashing into the sea like a mini roaring volcano.
Monday and Tuesday afforded some excellent snorkeling just out the back of our hotel, the Keauhou Outrigger. Then Tuesday eve we went out on the boat for the 2-tank eve/night dive at the world-famous Manta Ray experience location—you guessed it, the Mantas stood us up! Still, we had 2 great dives in a pretty stiff surge, a 48 minute dive to 53 ft. and a 30 minute dive to 47 ft. The unique sightings from these 2 dives included a Leaf Scorpion, a Scorpionfish, a crab, and a Crown of Thorns.
The Hawaiian fish are entirely different from their Carribean cousins, and it is refreshing to see some new faces and fins.
theskull