Kona HI May 25th through June2
We flew American Airlines from San Jose, CA to Kona, HI via LAX all flights there and back were on time with no lost luggage or other problems.
I paid a lot for our rental car from Thrifty because I opted to get the extra insurance. I do not usually do that when on a business trip but while on vacation I just want to be able to walk away from any issues over a vehicle. We got a brand new Dodge Caliber with only 6 miles on it. The rear seats fold down to make a large cargo area and all of our dive gear, cameras and luggage fit easily. The car performed well enough but has a lousy turning radius for such a small vehicle. A sticker on the dashboard warns you not to get the key wet otherwise the car will not start. Wow do you think they might have thought that through a little. Lets see we have vacationers on a tropical ISLAND. Is it possible they might be getting close to the water? Well you guessed it on the last dive day that key went to 90 feet and two dives. I was the subject of a small roast when I pulled it from my swim suit pocket in front of the other divers and crew. I opened the key and the button battery had imploded with its gooey contents leaking all over. I quickly flushed it out with fresh water and dried it with air from a tank. The battery was not the same size as any of my save a dive spares so I just closed it and tried the key manually to open the car. The door opened without setting off an alarm and whataya know the car started. Evidently the RFID portion of the security system does not need a functioning battery in the key. I soon acquired a proper battery and the other door open/lock functions of the key now worked fine. So no harm no foul.
I booked our trip early in February 2010 and tourism to the island is down so I got a really great price on lodgings (they are renting for about three times what I paid now). We stayed at the Kona Coast Resort in a condo with a king size bed, 2 bathrooms with full showers, a full kitchen with pots, pans, dishes and even a blender for my famous Piña Coladas, washer and dryer, dining room, living room and big screen TV. The tiled patio was furnished and opened out onto a golf course. Wow we really scored on this habitat. I would not hesitate to pay $150.00 a night for this condo.
I did not know before this trip that boat slips in the Kona marina are in such short supply. There is a waiting list of unknown 10s of years to acquire one. Most of the dive operators have to trailer their boats daily. There was never really much of a delay in getting the boat into or out of the water even with one of the two public ramps closed for repairs. The dive operators do this every day so they have it down to a science.
We dove with Sandwich Isle Divers - 5 days of two tank dives. The ride to the dive sites was less than thirty minutes. The visibility was consistent over the entire time at around 85 feet plus. The water temp ranged from a low of 76 º to a high of 80 º . 9 of the 10 dives had little or no current, the last dive was an uphill swim. Surface air temperature was 72 º at night and 84 º during the day. Wind was light with surface swells in the 1 to 2 foot range. Getting out of the boat was easy with a giant stride off the back swim platform and after passing your tank and BC to the deck hand getting back in the boat was moderately easy with a good ladder.
We saw basically two types of bottom terrain in the recreational dive zones: volcanic rock rubble or boulders and reefs of compact coral. Due to the sometimes large and destructive wave action around this part of the island the coral that manages to survive is small and sturdy. Even though it is beautiful in its own right it was not the highlight of the trip. The focus of the trip for me was the tropical fish and the Mantas. I do not know where this number comes from but I seem to recall reading or hearing that there are 680 different fishes around the Hawaiian Islands and that 25% of them are endemic. I did not try to count them; I was in dizzy land just looking at them. Every dive I saw many beautiful fish I have never seen before. Even though I drag my cameras on all of my dive trips I dont like playing photographer you simply miss too much when fiddling with a camera. So I only used my camera on one dive and the video on one other. I inadvertently had the camera set to center load the flash so most of the pictures are no good but the raw footage from the video looks good. I will know better when I have time to edit it. Did I mention how beautiful and colorful the fish here are here?
We did a two tank evening and night Manta dive at a site north of the airport Hoona Bay? not the hotel. We were lucky enough to get to see a Manta up close and personal on the first (still daylight) dive and then there were 5 Mantas that showed up on the night dive. This is one of those dives that is a must do at least once. A professional videographer Martina S. Wing videoed the event with us in it and then takes orders for DVDs at a reasonable price at the boat landing near the public restroom after the dive. She did a nice job and I purchased a copy.
Here is how it played out; 13 boats showed up for the night dive. This is more than the 5 mooring sites in the bay so boats were tied to one another. An estimated 70 snorkelers and 60 divers participated in this one dive. Large banks of lights were placed on a sandy patch on the bottom shining up in the water. Snorkelers also floated banks of lights shining down into the water. Many snorkelers and all of the divers also carried lights which they shined into the water column to attract plankton. Soon the water column was thick with plankton and the mantas arrived for the feast. It is difficult to describe the beauty and grace of these Rays as they glide by just inches above you. They do fantastic loops and barrel turns and other nameless movements with such ease. It is an experience like no other. If you have not done this it belongs on your bucket list. Mantas undersides are white with distinctive markings like finger prints and all of the known Hawaiian Mantas are named. You can go here to learn more about them:
Manta Pacific Research Foundation
And this is a list of the Big Island Mantas:
Manta Pacific Research Foundation : Index of Kona Manta Rays
All 10 of our dives were great with so much to see. One that needs some special mention was a dive into a lava tube known as the Toilet or Suck Back Tube. It gets its name from the fact that if you do not time the surge properly on exiting you will get flushed back into the tube on your attempt to leave. I was following my wife as she missed the timing and got sucked back in. The surge was not very large so that this was not dangerous but it was very funny to see and I had a hard time keeping my regulator in I was laughing so hard.
Sandwich Isle Divers
Hawaii scuba diving | Sandwich Isle Divers, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Steve and Laura Myklebust own and operate a full service dive shop. They can even hydro your dive tank. Laura runs the business and Steve is the primary Captain of the Sandwich Isles dive vessel the Kekona. Steves knowledge of the Reef, Fish and in fact the entire Island is at the Doctorate level. He often quoted the botanical name as well as the common names for many of the fish I described to him after a dive. The Kekona is well maintained and comfortable. Steve limits the onboard divers to six so your personal diving needs are promptly fulfilled. Robert, who dive mastered for us on several days, was well at ease with the task. His knowledge and ability to spot sea life and then talk to you about it after the dive was most enjoyable. Tim and Colton dive mastered for us on other days with the precision of a well trained staff. Tim and Colton share many duties at the shop behind the scenes that contribute so much to this well oiled machine. Tim, who also spotted some rare fish on one of our dives, is an avid collector and practitioner of old dive gear.
This is a copy of a thank you letter I sent to Steve and Laura:
June 5, 2010
Dear Laura and Steve:
I wanted to thank you so much for our recent dive vacation with Sandwich Isle Divers and thought you might like to share this with potential new customers.
Why did we enjoy diving with Sandwich Isle Divers so much?
Steve, Laura, Robert, Tim and Colton, the people behind the business, you are what make the difference between an ordinary dive trip and an extraordinary dive vacation.
It is the gestalt dive experience that sets the Sandwich Isle Divers apart from the crowd. Your pace is slow and easy. Long bottom times are your rule we dove to our level of experience at our pace until our air or no deco time was up. We, my wife and I, were always skillfully attended to. I overheard many single day divers comment about how much they liked the dive pace compared to previous experiences on other boats. I watched as all level of diver from beginners to pros received the careful attention they needed.
You and your staff have given us an extraordinary dive vacation and I do not hesitate to recommend that others experience a dive day with Sandwich Isle Divers, a week or two would even be better.
Mahalo
Ralph A. Dillard Jr. MCSE aka Randy
P.S. I will be posting a more detailed trip report out on ScubaBoard.com in a few days.
Go dive Hawaii.:cool2:
