Christmas Mantas made an appearance

[Shaka Doug]

Aloha Ohana,

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. We sure did over here on Maui. To top things off, a beautiful pair of Manta Rays made an appearance real close to shore at Ulua Beach yesterday. Visibility was kind of low and there was definitely some plankton in the water. I thought there might be a good chance to see them and sure enough, two 7' wide "devil fish" cruised right up to us several times, mouths wide open, gathering up food and showing off for my camera. It was a breath-taking sight and everyone on my tour was extra thrilled. We had people doing the double shaka, extreme shaka, the super-shaka, even the soon to be patented extreme-super-shaka!! I am so happy I got to be there. I get the feeling they will be around for at least a couple of days. If you get a chance to hit Ulua, keep your eyes peeled for them, just as you get in about 20 feet of water and you make the turn around the rocks. Last year, close to this time, they stuck around for close to a month! They're so cool!

 

[kidspot]

I gotta see if I can get out there in the next few days ... have not seen a manta ... yet ...

Glad you had such a good day diving and welcome home from your travels.

Aloha, Tim

 

[Shaka Doug]

Hi Tim,

The mantas were really cool. I have been trying to post pictures here but for some reason I am unable to. If you'd like to see a sweet shot I took of one of them, check out my BLOG. I hope they will stick around for a while. It was really cool having them swim around us with their mouths wide open!

Oh, and if anyone knows how I can get thumbnails or other pics posted in the forums, please let me know! I did it a couple times last year but now I get a message that I'm over my limit or something like that.

 

[kidspot]

Great photos on your blog ... fun to read too

dunno about posting thumbnails here, I just upload them to my server and link to them in the post...

I got tired of losing pictures in posts when the servers were being upgraded so I just link to them now.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_Sq8XT9mPloM...17-06+Torpedo+Diving+Marti's+Reef+014+600.jpg

 

[divebri]

my buddy and I will be there diving with BandB a week from Friday )Jan. 5) then with Tim at makena landing. I've got a 3/2 full, which should keep me Ok down to about 73-74 degrees.
What are you guys getting for temps lately? I may need to buy a small vest for under the full suit.

 

[kidspot]

my gauge read 79* yesterday - it tends to read a few degrees high though - so probably 77* at the moment.

 

[Shaka Doug]

We've been getting 76 or 77 over here on the south shore. It feels cooler though. Can I interest you in a heated wetsuit???? I'm still wearing my 3/2 full with a rash guard underneath and it's not bad. Remember to flood your suit real good as soon as you enter the water. Your body will heat up the water inside and you will stay warmer longer. It's chilly at first but it will pay off in the long run.

Have fun with B&B! Tell 'em I said "Hey!"

 

[KrisB]

I'd totally say go for the heated suit... my 3mm is getting chilly.

My computer read 73 degrees when we first got in the water today, but by the time we reached our descent point, it was up to 76.

Not sure what's up with that (yes, I let it "settle" before trusting the 73 reading!)

 

[Shaka Doug]

We dove Ulua again yesterday afternoon hoping to see more mantas. No luck with them but we did follow a nice Spotted Eagle Ray around for a minute or two! Vis was much lower then the Landing but it turned out to be a fun and interesting dive anyway. Let's see what shows up today!! I'll be there this afternoon.

 

[kidspot]

KrisB and I tried Ulua this morning (I was hoping for the Mantas) but we were told vis was less than 15 ft, so we tried Wailea beach ... 25ft vis there... Finally ended up back in my "neck o' the woods" at mile marker 14 - beautiful dive, vis was 60-70ft there... but alas no mantas

Hope you had a great dive Doug

Aloha, Tim