jaybob217
Registered
My fiancé and I arrived on the Garden Island late afternoon on 11/29/08. Having already contacted two dive operators, Aquatic Adventures and Fathom Five, we were looking forward to our week on the island. Oh, and we planned to get married also if things fell into place ;-) I had been in touch with Leah (aascubagirl) from Aquatic Adventures on SB so we stopped by their shop on Sunday to say hello. There we met Shawn and Anthony, who we learned would be our guide for our shore dive the next morning.
Shore Dive / Koloa Landing 12/01/08
We met Anthony at Koloa landing around 7:05 a.m. Koloa landing is an old harbor with a grooved cement boat ramp which makes for easy entry (although it can be a little mossy and slick so be careful). We were early and Anthony was already there getting our rental equipment ready. With ten years experience diving Hawaii (specifically Kauai), Anthony knew all the critters we might encounter and did an outstanding job letting us know what to expect on our dive. As we were discussing the morning dive, Anthony noticed a large sea turtle rustling about near our entry point; so he walked us down and pointed her out. It was refreshing to witness how excited Anthony was to see a turtle from the boat ramp. Although the excitement was more like the fondness or respect of an old friend then the childish pee in you pants type. It was immediately apparent he loved this island and his job.
Anthony finished the briefing and we entered as planned. It also must be mentioned that because the large amount of fresh water runoff, Kauai does not have near the coral formations found elsewhere, due to the large amount of algae that grows. The amount of algae does however supply a good amount of food for lots of critters! Anthony did a great job of pointing out all the great species I've listed below (which Anthony kindly entered into my log book, thanks Anthony!), but the highlight of this shore dive was the mating octopus. Apparently they were large for Hawaii and it was especially cool to see them mating. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working this trip so I missed getting any good UW shots. BUT, I did relax and enjoy it that way.
Critters: Dragon Eels, Whitemouth morays, Stout Moray, Turtles, Snowflake Moray, Sgt. Majors (protecting eggs), Flying Ganauard, Peacock Founder, Live Horned Helmet Shell, Devil Scorpion Fish, Leaf Scorpion Fish, Cleaner Shrimp, Sputnik Urchin, Brittle Star, Freckled Snake Eels, Nocturnal Conger Eel, Mated pairs of octopus, Whitleys Boxfish, Endemic Bandit Angel, Endemic Blue Strip Butterfly.
Boat Dives with Fathom Five / Zachs Pocket & Sheraton Caverns 12/04/08
For our boat dives we booked with Fathom Five / Ocean Quest out of Old Koloa Town. Great outfit. We met them at the dive shop at 7:30 to receive our dive briefing from Rob our DM and Troy our Captain. Next we drove ourselves back down to Kukuiula Harbor on the South side just before Spouting Horn (it's only about 5 minutes from the dive shop). Jumped in the boat and off we went. The boat was pretty good size, although it still didn't keep me from getting sea sick. Yes, I use ginger and Bonine tablets but they don't seem to help much. I'm fine until I surface for SI then I always get sick.
Zachs Pocket Depth: 75ft, Bottom Time: 35 min.
Apparently they don't get out to this dive site much due to sea conditions. This day it was fairly calm so Rob our DM decided to give it a shot. The current here was extremely strong and most of us used 1/3 of our air just getting to depth. Didn't see much on this dive due to the strong current (not sure what the current has to do with "seeing" things but... guess I'm just making excuses for not remembering what we saw ;-), lots of fish, a few turtles. I believe it was this site although where we did see a reef shark. OH, and I believe it was this spot where I saw the biggest barracuda I've ever seen! It wasn't the best dive I've ever been on, but hey, you never know unless you try right. At least Rob tried something different instead of taking us to the same place they take everyone. Kudo's to Rob for that!
Sheraton Caverns Depth: 65ft, Bottom Time: 48 min.
Ok, now this site rocks! After I finished "feeding the fish" top side, I descended to catch up with everyone else after our SI. As I caught up with everyone else, I noticed they were extremely interested in something underneath this rock ledge which I couldn't quite see around yet. As I approached, out came this playful Hawaiian Monk Seal and squirted right past me on his way to the surface. That was totally cool! This site features many swim-throughs with tons of turtles napping under ledges, and some with eels watching guard over them (so it looked ;-). I even had several huge turtles bump into me, as if trying to push me out of the way. They're quite friendly and this turned out to be one of my favorite dives of all time. I don't know my fish species that well so I'm not going to try and name them, and after a while you just stop pointing out turtles and cool things to look at. I would recommend this dive site and Fathom Five.
That's pretty much it for our diving, oh, and my fiancé and I did get married on 12/2/08!!! - the day after we saw the mating octopus. ;-)
I'd like to specially thank Leah, Shawn, and Anthony from Aquatic Adventures. On numerous occasions, they mentioned, "call us if you need anything or have any questions about the island, it doesn't even have to do with diving." The hospitality and willingness to help out fellow divers was noticed and appreciated. We immediately felt we had some friends we could call if we need help with anything. Thanks!
We did notice on our CC billing statement once we got back that Fathom Five charged us twice for our dives. Apparently, they do not have any checks and/or balance system with their billing to catch things like that, but once we called them, they immediately credited our account. Honest mistake I believe and they corrected it immediately. I would definitely dive with them again.
Shore Dive / Koloa Landing 12/01/08
We met Anthony at Koloa landing around 7:05 a.m. Koloa landing is an old harbor with a grooved cement boat ramp which makes for easy entry (although it can be a little mossy and slick so be careful). We were early and Anthony was already there getting our rental equipment ready. With ten years experience diving Hawaii (specifically Kauai), Anthony knew all the critters we might encounter and did an outstanding job letting us know what to expect on our dive. As we were discussing the morning dive, Anthony noticed a large sea turtle rustling about near our entry point; so he walked us down and pointed her out. It was refreshing to witness how excited Anthony was to see a turtle from the boat ramp. Although the excitement was more like the fondness or respect of an old friend then the childish pee in you pants type. It was immediately apparent he loved this island and his job.
Anthony finished the briefing and we entered as planned. It also must be mentioned that because the large amount of fresh water runoff, Kauai does not have near the coral formations found elsewhere, due to the large amount of algae that grows. The amount of algae does however supply a good amount of food for lots of critters! Anthony did a great job of pointing out all the great species I've listed below (which Anthony kindly entered into my log book, thanks Anthony!), but the highlight of this shore dive was the mating octopus. Apparently they were large for Hawaii and it was especially cool to see them mating. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working this trip so I missed getting any good UW shots. BUT, I did relax and enjoy it that way.
Critters: Dragon Eels, Whitemouth morays, Stout Moray, Turtles, Snowflake Moray, Sgt. Majors (protecting eggs), Flying Ganauard, Peacock Founder, Live Horned Helmet Shell, Devil Scorpion Fish, Leaf Scorpion Fish, Cleaner Shrimp, Sputnik Urchin, Brittle Star, Freckled Snake Eels, Nocturnal Conger Eel, Mated pairs of octopus, Whitleys Boxfish, Endemic Bandit Angel, Endemic Blue Strip Butterfly.
Boat Dives with Fathom Five / Zachs Pocket & Sheraton Caverns 12/04/08
For our boat dives we booked with Fathom Five / Ocean Quest out of Old Koloa Town. Great outfit. We met them at the dive shop at 7:30 to receive our dive briefing from Rob our DM and Troy our Captain. Next we drove ourselves back down to Kukuiula Harbor on the South side just before Spouting Horn (it's only about 5 minutes from the dive shop). Jumped in the boat and off we went. The boat was pretty good size, although it still didn't keep me from getting sea sick. Yes, I use ginger and Bonine tablets but they don't seem to help much. I'm fine until I surface for SI then I always get sick.
Zachs Pocket Depth: 75ft, Bottom Time: 35 min.
Apparently they don't get out to this dive site much due to sea conditions. This day it was fairly calm so Rob our DM decided to give it a shot. The current here was extremely strong and most of us used 1/3 of our air just getting to depth. Didn't see much on this dive due to the strong current (not sure what the current has to do with "seeing" things but... guess I'm just making excuses for not remembering what we saw ;-), lots of fish, a few turtles. I believe it was this site although where we did see a reef shark. OH, and I believe it was this spot where I saw the biggest barracuda I've ever seen! It wasn't the best dive I've ever been on, but hey, you never know unless you try right. At least Rob tried something different instead of taking us to the same place they take everyone. Kudo's to Rob for that!
Sheraton Caverns Depth: 65ft, Bottom Time: 48 min.
Ok, now this site rocks! After I finished "feeding the fish" top side, I descended to catch up with everyone else after our SI. As I caught up with everyone else, I noticed they were extremely interested in something underneath this rock ledge which I couldn't quite see around yet. As I approached, out came this playful Hawaiian Monk Seal and squirted right past me on his way to the surface. That was totally cool! This site features many swim-throughs with tons of turtles napping under ledges, and some with eels watching guard over them (so it looked ;-). I even had several huge turtles bump into me, as if trying to push me out of the way. They're quite friendly and this turned out to be one of my favorite dives of all time. I don't know my fish species that well so I'm not going to try and name them, and after a while you just stop pointing out turtles and cool things to look at. I would recommend this dive site and Fathom Five.
That's pretty much it for our diving, oh, and my fiancé and I did get married on 12/2/08!!! - the day after we saw the mating octopus. ;-)
I'd like to specially thank Leah, Shawn, and Anthony from Aquatic Adventures. On numerous occasions, they mentioned, "call us if you need anything or have any questions about the island, it doesn't even have to do with diving." The hospitality and willingness to help out fellow divers was noticed and appreciated. We immediately felt we had some friends we could call if we need help with anything. Thanks!
We did notice on our CC billing statement once we got back that Fathom Five charged us twice for our dives. Apparently, they do not have any checks and/or balance system with their billing to catch things like that, but once we called them, they immediately credited our account. Honest mistake I believe and they corrected it immediately. I would definitely dive with them again.
