Buddy for manta dive this Sat?

[mistressmotorsports]

I'm going to be on the Big Island Sat for several days and will be doing the manta dive (plus an afternoon dive on the same boat) with Big Island Divers on Saturday the 10th. I don't have a buddy right now since my wife doesn't dive. Happy to follow the dm around if I need, but it would be more fun to have a buddy and meet some people. If anyone is interested, let me know here or via pm. I only have fifty couple dives, but I've been told by more experienced folks that I'm a good buddy WRT distance, communication, saftey etc.

Mike

 

[friscuba]

Very few of the Big Island operators actually buddy anyone up, especially on that dive, it's more of a 6 person or less buddy group with a leader. You can't have 20 or 30 sets of buddies popping up all over the place looking for the boat they came on. Expect to go straight down under the boat, group up, go to the dive site and kneel. At the end the leader will take the group back to the boat or on a tour on the way back to the boat.

 

[mistressmotorsports]

Thanks for that info. I guess it might be more important for the first dive in the afternoon before the actual manta dive. But, I can certainly buddy with the DM for that, then hang with the group for the mantas.

Mike

 

[mistressmotorsports]

Just a follow up dive report. The two dives with BID were great. First dive at about 4:30 pm saw a few eels, harlequin(sp?) shrimp, etc., but the best was the turtle that came to us. I've seen plenty of turtles, but not one that swam our way before. We were quite aware that we were not to approach turtles. As we were nearing the end of the dive, this one guy, not too large, maybe two feet across in total, swam right into our bubbles. I stayed still, and he swam about a foot or so over my head. Stayed still for a moment in the bubble stream, then did the same thing with the other divers nearby. Maybe he liked the Jacuzi feeling?

Second dive was the manta dive. Even before the start of the "official" part of the dive, the mantas were circling the boat, looping and generally enjoying the plankton feast. We had to be really careful getting in the water so we didn't land on one. I was one of the first few divers in the water, so the mantas decided to hang by my light while the other divers entered. I again stayed still, just hovering while the mantas cruised all over. Got bumped several times by some of the big guys. Once we were all on the bottom, the show really started. We counted 9, all different sizes.

Funny part - the DM would occasionally swim up from behind and check our gauges. Once I felt a tug on my SPG hose, which I assumed to be Luke the DM. Turned out is was a zebra morray (or some kind of similar eel) swimming between my hose and the rest of me. Scared the you know what out of me. The same eel decided to visit most of the divers in the group. The DM was laughing through his reg as he sees that eel there all the time and it never does anything hostile. Funny now, but I jumped about three feet sideways when I saw the thing.

Only suggestion for BID is that they could bring a little more food, maybe some fruit. The half sandwiches were ok for dinner, but a little stingy, I thought. The rest of the operation was top notch, great people and a nice boat. Rental gear was also well maintained and high quality stuff. I almost never rent gear, but since I was only diving one day, I didn't want to lug my stuff all over the island.

Great fun, I would say the manta dive is a "don't miss" dive if anyone goes to the Big Island.

Mike

 

[SharkDZ]

Nice! I still watch my DVDs from two nights of Manta dives. The Eel was probably an Undulated Moray that frequents Garden Eel Cove. If he was "visiting" with us I probably would have never known. I have some video of the "visitor" cruising through the Manta spectators. I guess that's one reason to wear exposure suits. Oh, yeah... said visitor was hanging out in the light crate so our DM/guide had to shoo him out before retrieving it.

 

[Jack'sDivingLocker]

Sometimes the video footage from the manta dive is hysterical. One guy had an eel try to get in his BC. He didn't even know it until we showed him the footage. Classic!

 

[mistressmotorsports]

BTW, what is the name of the cove near the airport where the dive was? I was entering the dive into my logbook and forgot. So, I just wrote "airport," but that's not really correct, is it? Acutally if I get the above correctly, garden Eel Cove is the name, correct me if I'm wrong.

Mike

 

[Teamcasa]

BTW, what is the name of the cove near the airport where the dive was? I was entering the dive into my logbook and forgot. So, I just wrote "airport," but that's not really correct, is it?

Mike

Garden Eel Cove, is what they told me.

I also dove with Big Island Divers, great operation. As for the eels, check out the last 20 sec of this youtube - The eel, "Frank" was very friendly to my lovely bride!

 

[merxlin]

I'll say "Hi" to him for you next week Dave!