Shaka Doug
Contributor
Aloha everyone, Great news that I want to share today! I just figured out that yesterday was my TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of SHAKA DIVERS!! Woo HOOO!
:balloons:
I knew it was coming up but I hadn't really nailed down the date yet. My friends and I were talking yesterday about it so I decided to look it up "officially".
I got my official business license and all my official permits back in Sept. 1998 and yesterday was the anniversary of my first official dive as "Shaka Doug" in the Shaka Divers SCUBABUS! (Hell, I wasn't even "Shaka Doug" back then, just plain old 'Diver Doug' or 'Doug the diver'!) Wow! How time flies. A lot of great things have happened and I've made a ton of dives in the last ten years. By my official log book calculations I've made 3,135 dives in that time. A majority of them all being at the same site, one of my all time favorites, Makena Landing.
I thought it would be fun to do a little research and here is what I found:
Back on Sept. 24th, 1998 I dove Makena Landing with three people from Boston. (One of them lives here on Maui and is still a friend of mine. He got married and stuff and has a kid now. I think he still dives but hasn't been out with me in a long time...anyway...he still has the Boston accent in case you're wondering....) We went 31' and stayed for 51 minutes. We had an excellent dive and saw 4 turtles, 3 eels and two reef sharks in the sand cave. Visibility was 40 -50 feet, water conditions were considered excellent on the surface.
By comparison, I dove Makena Landing yesterday with two people from Kentucky, Sept. 24th, 2008. I had a 30' dive for 55 minutes. Visibility varied but was up to 50 - 60 feet, temp was 81 surface, 78 - 79 throughout dive. We saw only one turtle (unusual to see only one), one eel, an octopus and no sharks. Surface conditons were great...calm and clear sky. Like the dive ten years ago, we didn't make it much beyond the sand cave. It was great to know that I've had the chance to dive this place so many times for so many years. I can only hope and pray that I get ten more years to keep at it.
There is one big, sad part about my dive yesterday, celebrating my ten years. I was witness to the first serious attack on the natural environment there at the Landing. While we were getting ready to gear up and go, we had to watch the heavy machinery destroy old growth kiawe trees and brush just across the street and uphill from the makena Landing parking lot. There was a work crew there and they had a big track-hoe machine. It was loud and obnoxious. It really spoiled the peace and quiet I was used to down there. The private developers are making their mark, going to build seven more mansions for rich people who will probably not even live there (like the house next door, four years old almost and never been occupied!! Ever!! It's still for sale! No one wants it for the price they're asking!!).
It really makes me sad and it makes me mad. A mega rich guy like Everett Dowling comes along and says the noise of kayaks unloading along the roadside is obtrusive to the peace and quiet of his quaint little park. He tries to have the parks department kick them all out. Yet he has no trouble sending in the heavy machinery to sub-divide the area. Now we have lot's of exposed dirt, just right uphill from the reef. If it rains the reef there is in big trouble!!
Here's a couple of videos I shot yesterday. The first is of the land being cleared, the second is to give you an idea of the diving conditions. It will be a tragedy if we lose this site forever. Want to help save this place? PM me and I can tell you some things we are working on.
Heavy Machinery Clears Land for Papa'anui Housing Project, 9/24/08 Makena Landing, Maui, Hawaii
Water conditions at Makena Landing, Sept. 24th, 2008
30-40-50-60' visibility, school of goatfish looking pretty healthy and in good numbers.
I'd like to personally thank all the Scubaboard Members out there who've come to dive with me over the years. I have truly enjoyed meeting each one of you and I'm very happy that you gave me so many reasons to get in the water over and over again. I look forward to meeting many more of you and sharing with you my favorite dive sites and my love for the ocean. I'll be celebrating all month so come on over and let's hang out and have some fun!
Mahalo!
:balloons:I knew it was coming up but I hadn't really nailed down the date yet. My friends and I were talking yesterday about it so I decided to look it up "officially".
I got my official business license and all my official permits back in Sept. 1998 and yesterday was the anniversary of my first official dive as "Shaka Doug" in the Shaka Divers SCUBABUS! (Hell, I wasn't even "Shaka Doug" back then, just plain old 'Diver Doug' or 'Doug the diver'!) Wow! How time flies. A lot of great things have happened and I've made a ton of dives in the last ten years. By my official log book calculations I've made 3,135 dives in that time. A majority of them all being at the same site, one of my all time favorites, Makena Landing.
I thought it would be fun to do a little research and here is what I found:
Back on Sept. 24th, 1998 I dove Makena Landing with three people from Boston. (One of them lives here on Maui and is still a friend of mine. He got married and stuff and has a kid now. I think he still dives but hasn't been out with me in a long time...anyway...he still has the Boston accent in case you're wondering....) We went 31' and stayed for 51 minutes. We had an excellent dive and saw 4 turtles, 3 eels and two reef sharks in the sand cave. Visibility was 40 -50 feet, water conditions were considered excellent on the surface.
By comparison, I dove Makena Landing yesterday with two people from Kentucky, Sept. 24th, 2008. I had a 30' dive for 55 minutes. Visibility varied but was up to 50 - 60 feet, temp was 81 surface, 78 - 79 throughout dive. We saw only one turtle (unusual to see only one), one eel, an octopus and no sharks. Surface conditons were great...calm and clear sky. Like the dive ten years ago, we didn't make it much beyond the sand cave. It was great to know that I've had the chance to dive this place so many times for so many years. I can only hope and pray that I get ten more years to keep at it.
There is one big, sad part about my dive yesterday, celebrating my ten years. I was witness to the first serious attack on the natural environment there at the Landing. While we were getting ready to gear up and go, we had to watch the heavy machinery destroy old growth kiawe trees and brush just across the street and uphill from the makena Landing parking lot. There was a work crew there and they had a big track-hoe machine. It was loud and obnoxious. It really spoiled the peace and quiet I was used to down there. The private developers are making their mark, going to build seven more mansions for rich people who will probably not even live there (like the house next door, four years old almost and never been occupied!! Ever!! It's still for sale! No one wants it for the price they're asking!!).
It really makes me sad and it makes me mad. A mega rich guy like Everett Dowling comes along and says the noise of kayaks unloading along the roadside is obtrusive to the peace and quiet of his quaint little park. He tries to have the parks department kick them all out. Yet he has no trouble sending in the heavy machinery to sub-divide the area. Now we have lot's of exposed dirt, just right uphill from the reef. If it rains the reef there is in big trouble!!
Here's a couple of videos I shot yesterday. The first is of the land being cleared, the second is to give you an idea of the diving conditions. It will be a tragedy if we lose this site forever. Want to help save this place? PM me and I can tell you some things we are working on.
Heavy Machinery Clears Land for Papa'anui Housing Project, 9/24/08 Makena Landing, Maui, Hawaii
Water conditions at Makena Landing, Sept. 24th, 2008
30-40-50-60' visibility, school of goatfish looking pretty healthy and in good numbers.
I'd like to personally thank all the Scubaboard Members out there who've come to dive with me over the years. I have truly enjoyed meeting each one of you and I'm very happy that you gave me so many reasons to get in the water over and over again. I look forward to meeting many more of you and sharing with you my favorite dive sites and my love for the ocean. I'll be celebrating all month so come on over and let's hang out and have some fun!
Mahalo!
