Kauai Dive Report - May 25 2002-May 28, 2002
My family & I had the pleasure of scoring a week of timeshare from one of the nephews this year [YEA!!!] - That and 160000 frequent flyer miles and what seems to be about that many calls to American Airlines - - and were off to Kauai!
Im just going to deal with the Dives we took in this report - Im also going to write a similar one about our snorkeling - and merely offer tourist observations when people ask or it seems appropriate to comment!
First out - I spent a fair amount of time reading all the tourist books & websites [Including my two favorite dive boards!] and had targeted Bubbles Below as the operator that is roundly praised by just about everyone. What I didnt catch on to is that you just about have to make a reservation before hitting the island to be able to dive with them [It might just be that I was there over Memorial Day weekend]. Anyway - coming in nearly as well recommended in the guidebook was Mana Divers - - - I ended up SO PLEASED with these guys that I did all three of the dives I did with them - and that was breaking my original plan {to do primarily shore diving and do a lot of that - and to take one [1] boat dive as sort of a treat! }
Pleased for me includes: Lots of service, knowledgeable folks checking and double-checking your equipment as well as all of theirs. - - Good boat & area briefing before we even left the dock, not too much & not too little either - a serious ecological and biological component to both the briefing and in the conversations I had routinely. - - - and they ran the dive so that the newest of the divers were quite comfortable and returned safely while my boys & I were able to use our whole tanks and ascend some time later with the divemaster.
Downside: Diving in Hawaii is EXPENSIVE - - -The operators all run pretty similar - but a rental costs about what I think a shore dive would normally go for elsewhere [40-50$] the shore dive was similarly related to a boat dive elsewhere [~75$] AND it hit me for nearly $100 for every boat entry!!!! - - - Oh well - Im on vacation - I get the Free dives at home!
Dive Day 1: 2-tank Boat dive from Port Arthur - - Ken {Captain}, Francisco {DiveMaster}
Dive 1: Cup Coral Cathedral - - a lava/coral head with a large swim-through , cup coral and flat plate coral - 60 ft vis - Francisco is just amazing at spotting interesting life, pointing it out to everybody AND remembering it when you get back to the boat [Is my age showing ????] Saw a number of spiney lobsters, a couple of Crown of Thorns, several moray eels - whitemouth & yellow marginal - Fran pointed out the Domino Damselfish [a endemic species to Kauai] and the Banded Angelfish [a relic species] near the end of the dive, he hunted down 2 octopus - one of them escaped pretty quick, the other of them - I got to hold & get suckered a little bit!, weird feeling! at the very end of the dive, he pointed out a zebra flatworm - oddlooking but VERY pretty!
Air: 80F, Water: 78F 73 feet for 47 minutes
Dive 2: Hale o honu [likely misspelled] - House of the Turtles - - - another lava/coral head - This is a resting place & cleaning station for the green sea turtles AND THEY WERE EVERYWHERE. Probably saw 30-40 individuals throughout the dive, a couple of times 5-8 all in the same area and almost all the time there was one in sight! - WOW. In addition to the turtles - there was a whitetip shark and a very impressive school of Hellers Baracuda that cruised through. I also noted finding shrimp inside the coral a several sea urchin - both black and white&black. The special extra for me is that we spotted a Frogfish! - I trid to get my son to take a picture, but he choose not to cause it just looks like a rock @#$%^&*()
Air 85, Water 78 64 feet for 54 minutes
Dive Day 2: 2-tank Shore Dive off Koloa Landing - - - Robbie {DiveMaster]
Im back on my original plan - getting an orientation dive so that the boys & I can shore dive every day - - best laid plans.........
Dive 1: Koloa Landing is an old boat launch - rocky shore which goes to sandy bottom pretty quickly as you go out - you can tour right or left along the lava from there - The wave action was a little more than we cared for [~2 feet] - stirred up the sand & lowered the vis to maybe 30 feet. Also gave me a bit of a time on my first entry.
I dont have nearly the notes from these dives. - - Our quest on this dive was the moray eels - we saw a number, mostly yellow mouth and yellow fringe morays. We were looking for a rare little one that sort of looks like a dragon - but didnt see him! - Also saw two more turtles and a big ugly crab!
Air: 85F, Water 78F - - - 45 feet for 39 minutes
Dive 2: Koloa Landing - Left turn!
Similar dive, this time I took note of trumpet & coronet fish, surgeon fish, LOTs of bluestripe yellowfin - - and the very blue, cute boxfish.
Air & Water similar - 47 feet for 49 minutes
At this time I am moved to buy - Hawaiis Fishes - A guide for Snorklers Divers & Aquarists by John Hoover - - - - There are way too many different fishies cruising by to comprehend and in particular, to remember, them all!
But - - heres where my plans change - my dive partners for all those planned shore dives [teenaged boys] - they decided to try surfing - - - that became their plan for the rest of the vacation - except - Weve GOT to do a night dive! - - - so that was it.......
Dive Day 3: Night Dive - another boat dive out of Port Arthur - Ken [Captain} - Robbie [DiveMaster] and ____________ [ DiveMaster] - and the 3 of us only!!
We cruised by a dive site called Camp 1 with a view of a sugar plantation where hundreds were killed by a tsunami decades past - - - The current was a little strong there - so we moved on back to Hale o Honu. Watched the sun set past Niihau - and off we go!
The turtles were mostly gone this dive [only saw 3 or 4!] - so the large attraction was the morays, they were out & moving around - saw several of all of the species and a really BIG white marginal! - - - A most interesting cave filled with lobsters [Yum] - - - Fish: similar to the others, but now I know a little more about them! - Yellow Tang, Common Longnose butterflyfish, Moroccan Idol [or perhaps the Pennant Butterflyfish] - A LARGE boxfish - and a number more of smaller versions of the ugly crab.
The treat: - A Spanish Dancer Nudibranch - Once more I got to hold it briefly and definitely admire it as we returned it to its place!
61 feet for 41 minutes - - - - cooler air, but the waters the same!
BTW - I was DMing in Lake Travis a week after my return - need I tell you it was not nearly as enjoyable as it was before!
My family & I had the pleasure of scoring a week of timeshare from one of the nephews this year [YEA!!!] - That and 160000 frequent flyer miles and what seems to be about that many calls to American Airlines - - and were off to Kauai!
Im just going to deal with the Dives we took in this report - Im also going to write a similar one about our snorkeling - and merely offer tourist observations when people ask or it seems appropriate to comment!
First out - I spent a fair amount of time reading all the tourist books & websites [Including my two favorite dive boards!] and had targeted Bubbles Below as the operator that is roundly praised by just about everyone. What I didnt catch on to is that you just about have to make a reservation before hitting the island to be able to dive with them [It might just be that I was there over Memorial Day weekend]. Anyway - coming in nearly as well recommended in the guidebook was Mana Divers - - - I ended up SO PLEASED with these guys that I did all three of the dives I did with them - and that was breaking my original plan {to do primarily shore diving and do a lot of that - and to take one [1] boat dive as sort of a treat! }
Pleased for me includes: Lots of service, knowledgeable folks checking and double-checking your equipment as well as all of theirs. - - Good boat & area briefing before we even left the dock, not too much & not too little either - a serious ecological and biological component to both the briefing and in the conversations I had routinely. - - - and they ran the dive so that the newest of the divers were quite comfortable and returned safely while my boys & I were able to use our whole tanks and ascend some time later with the divemaster.
Downside: Diving in Hawaii is EXPENSIVE - - -The operators all run pretty similar - but a rental costs about what I think a shore dive would normally go for elsewhere [40-50$] the shore dive was similarly related to a boat dive elsewhere [~75$] AND it hit me for nearly $100 for every boat entry!!!! - - - Oh well - Im on vacation - I get the Free dives at home!
Dive Day 1: 2-tank Boat dive from Port Arthur - - Ken {Captain}, Francisco {DiveMaster}
Dive 1: Cup Coral Cathedral - - a lava/coral head with a large swim-through , cup coral and flat plate coral - 60 ft vis - Francisco is just amazing at spotting interesting life, pointing it out to everybody AND remembering it when you get back to the boat [Is my age showing ????] Saw a number of spiney lobsters, a couple of Crown of Thorns, several moray eels - whitemouth & yellow marginal - Fran pointed out the Domino Damselfish [a endemic species to Kauai] and the Banded Angelfish [a relic species] near the end of the dive, he hunted down 2 octopus - one of them escaped pretty quick, the other of them - I got to hold & get suckered a little bit!, weird feeling! at the very end of the dive, he pointed out a zebra flatworm - oddlooking but VERY pretty!
Air: 80F, Water: 78F 73 feet for 47 minutes
Dive 2: Hale o honu [likely misspelled] - House of the Turtles - - - another lava/coral head - This is a resting place & cleaning station for the green sea turtles AND THEY WERE EVERYWHERE. Probably saw 30-40 individuals throughout the dive, a couple of times 5-8 all in the same area and almost all the time there was one in sight! - WOW. In addition to the turtles - there was a whitetip shark and a very impressive school of Hellers Baracuda that cruised through. I also noted finding shrimp inside the coral a several sea urchin - both black and white&black. The special extra for me is that we spotted a Frogfish! - I trid to get my son to take a picture, but he choose not to cause it just looks like a rock @#$%^&*()
Air 85, Water 78 64 feet for 54 minutes
Dive Day 2: 2-tank Shore Dive off Koloa Landing - - - Robbie {DiveMaster]
Im back on my original plan - getting an orientation dive so that the boys & I can shore dive every day - - best laid plans.........
Dive 1: Koloa Landing is an old boat launch - rocky shore which goes to sandy bottom pretty quickly as you go out - you can tour right or left along the lava from there - The wave action was a little more than we cared for [~2 feet] - stirred up the sand & lowered the vis to maybe 30 feet. Also gave me a bit of a time on my first entry.
I dont have nearly the notes from these dives. - - Our quest on this dive was the moray eels - we saw a number, mostly yellow mouth and yellow fringe morays. We were looking for a rare little one that sort of looks like a dragon - but didnt see him! - Also saw two more turtles and a big ugly crab!
Air: 85F, Water 78F - - - 45 feet for 39 minutes
Dive 2: Koloa Landing - Left turn!
Similar dive, this time I took note of trumpet & coronet fish, surgeon fish, LOTs of bluestripe yellowfin - - and the very blue, cute boxfish.
Air & Water similar - 47 feet for 49 minutes
At this time I am moved to buy - Hawaiis Fishes - A guide for Snorklers Divers & Aquarists by John Hoover - - - - There are way too many different fishies cruising by to comprehend and in particular, to remember, them all!
But - - heres where my plans change - my dive partners for all those planned shore dives [teenaged boys] - they decided to try surfing - - - that became their plan for the rest of the vacation - except - Weve GOT to do a night dive! - - - so that was it.......
Dive Day 3: Night Dive - another boat dive out of Port Arthur - Ken [Captain} - Robbie [DiveMaster] and ____________ [ DiveMaster] - and the 3 of us only!!
We cruised by a dive site called Camp 1 with a view of a sugar plantation where hundreds were killed by a tsunami decades past - - - The current was a little strong there - so we moved on back to Hale o Honu. Watched the sun set past Niihau - and off we go!
The turtles were mostly gone this dive [only saw 3 or 4!] - so the large attraction was the morays, they were out & moving around - saw several of all of the species and a really BIG white marginal! - - - A most interesting cave filled with lobsters [Yum] - - - Fish: similar to the others, but now I know a little more about them! - Yellow Tang, Common Longnose butterflyfish, Moroccan Idol [or perhaps the Pennant Butterflyfish] - A LARGE boxfish - and a number more of smaller versions of the ugly crab.
The treat: - A Spanish Dancer Nudibranch - Once more I got to hold it briefly and definitely admire it as we returned it to its place!
61 feet for 41 minutes - - - - cooler air, but the waters the same!
BTW - I was DMing in Lake Travis a week after my return - need I tell you it was not nearly as enjoyable as it was before!
