Kona Aggressor II Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor Captain’s Report March 23-30, 2013

Weather: Mostly Sunny
Air: 70's
Water: 74-76F
Recommended wetsuit: 5mm-7mm

This week we had Jim, Sue, Leslie, Bill, and Ron all from California, Jeff and Tina from Arizona, and Daniel all the way from Switzerland.

Sunday:
Kalakos Arches was the location for the first two dives of the week. Some of the critters our guest saw were Divided Flatworm, Undulated Moray, Fried Egg Nudibranch, (3) Octopus, Baby Frogfish, and a Dragon Wrasse. Garden Eel Cove was to be the next and final stop. On the first two dives our divers saw Hawaiian Knifefish, Garden Eels, Flowery Flounder, Yellow Margin Moray, and a quick fly by of Spinner Dolphins. On the night dive it was all about Mantas. We had in excess of 16 that night all performing beautifully.

Monday:
Meadows was the first dive and for some their first experience with Lava Tubes. Inside James was able to find a Spanish Dancer and a Divided flatworm that seemed to be the highlight of the dive. Driftwood was our next stop. What was the talk on the dive deck afterwards was of a Turtle, Pufferfish, Fantail Filefish, Flame Angel, Whitley’s Boxfish, and a Crown of Thorns vs. a Triton's Trumpet.

Au Au Crater was the final resting spot for the Kona Aggressor Monday. The guests saw Long Handed Lobster, Scrawled Filefish, Red Striped Pipefish, Tear Drop Butterfly Fish, Dragon Wrasse, Spanish Dancer, Turtle, Decoy Scorpionfish, and a Titan Scorpionfish.

Tuesday:
Au Au Crater was so popular yesterday that our guests decided to make it the first dive. They saw a Bandit Angelfish, a very large White Mouthed Moray, Tear Drop Butterflyfish, and Triton's Trumpet “eat” a Crown of Thorns. Neverland was the location for the second dive of the day. The talk afterwards was of a thousand Pyramid Butterflyfish, Bandit Angelfish, Wire Coral Gobies, Tear Drop Butterflyfish, and a White Mouthed Moray. Hive was the next stop and our guests saw a Conger Eel, Dragon Wrasse, Decoy Scorpionfish, and a Fried Egg Nudibranch.

Rob's Reef was our last stop for Tuesday. The highlight for the dives were a Sleepy Sponge crab, Turtle, Sculptured Slipper Lobster, Regal Slipper Lobster Banded and Tufted Spiny Lobster, Decoy Scorpion fish, and a Rainbow Swimmer Crab eating a Spanish Dancer.

Wednesday:
Paradise Pinnacle was our dive spot for our first two dives. Octopus (4), Porcupine Pufferfish, White Mouthed and Dwarf Moray Eels were the highlights. Ridges was the location for our third dive of the day, and for some their favorite spot of the week. The thing our guests remarked about was the cool underwater formations.
Dome was the spot for our last two dives. The highlights were a Turtle, White Tip Reef Shark, lots of Blue Dragon Nudibranches, Dragon and Peacock Razor Wrasse.

Thursday:
Amphitheater was tone the spot for the first two dives. The talk on the dive deck afterwards was Octopus, Undulated Moray, Sphinx Nudibranch, Gold Laced Nudibranch, Red Reef Lobster, Tiger Cowries, Devil Scorpion fish, Fuchsia Flatworm, Giant Porcupinefish, Frogfish, and a red Striped Pipefish. Chimney was the spot for dive three of the day. The highlights were schools of Ring-tailed Wrasse and one female Flame Wrasse.

Manta Ville was the dive spot for our last two dive of the day. What had most divers attention on the first dive was the schools of Raccoon Butterflyfish escorting them around the dive site. The night dive had three Mantas that put on quite the show.

Friday:
Old Airports was the location for the last two dives .The highlight had to be the Humpback Whale song throughout the dives!!!

A big Mahalo from the crew and captain and hope we will see you guys again in the water!!!!

Captain Karl

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report April 6 – 13, 2013

Weather: Sunny mornings, hazy afternoons. Mid 70's most days.
Seas: Calm, slight swell from the Northwest
Water Temp: Still mid 70's
Log Entry by: Capt Todd

Nice cozy group this week! With two "non divers" aboard we found ourselves just five strong, including guide. I've just returned from vacation to mild, calm conditions this week...so nice! We had Sergey and Elena this week from Moscow, Elena electing to be Sergey's onboard rooting section, complete with back rubs when he returned from the sea. Sacramento-ites Jeff and lovely Sandra out for their first trip on the KA II with Sandra not quite ready to be a diver, but willing and able to shadow her hubby from the surface on the snorkel on some dives. Lois, a woman of the world and avid Aggressor client from Philly and last but not least, Cathy, also a world traveler in search of the best dive, from Massachusetts, a welcome returnee from past voyages I might add.

Kalokos Arches started things out Sunday. Everyone checked out just fine. With that taken care of, Karl led them at Pipedreams and found Hawaiian fantail triggerfish at the lower end of the "pipe", as well as an octopus. Garden Eel Cove was calm and spinners and mantas were present for the daylight dives. Cathy found an uncommon red spotted nudibranch and some milkfish, rather uncommon as well.

Monday was cool! Started out at Aquarium. Lois observed a divided flatworm and a scrawled filefish, as well as an octopus. "This guy" saw a big ol' Tiger Shark while tying up at Turtle Pinnacle! Made his day Karl put a horned helmet and a collector urchin "together". A live dive at Kaiwi Point preceded a venture out to deep water for some "Pelagic Magic"

Left our mooring early Tuesday to arrive in time for the 8:00 dive at Meadows. "Yellow Tangs!" exclaimed Cathy (I think she has a thing for those guys). Caught a tiger cowrie out for an unusual stroll for that time of day, and a zebra moray was on the move, also at an odd hour, (normally nocturnal) A live dive at 10:30 off Capt. Cook Monument, where big sunshine and low surge made for beautiful, colorful scenery in the shallows. Saw dragon wrasses there. Headed to Lion's Den at lunch. A little murkier than usual, but everyone still enjoyed the breathtaking topography there. Moved just south to Rob's for the evening, saw some new residents- Conger Eels! on the night dive no less (3)!

Morning run Wednesday to Neverland, with James pointing out bandit angels, some Tinkers butterflys, red striped pipefish and fire coral shrimp. A drift dive next (yes, we had some current!) at Pakalolo Point, where I got to lead and finally check this place out - very nice! Saw two turtles among the many ridges and canyons there. "Da Hive" for "Da Evening".

Thursday A.M we tried a new intriguing spot, off an ancient blown-out caldera near Au Au Crater. Been wondering about this area and now we know...it's spectacular! Long 40' high wall crawling with creatures including a red striped pipefish, long handed lobsters, dragon wrasses, many eels and a baby turtle! Guests decided to name the spot, fittingly, "Caldera Gardens". Paradise Pinnacle was just a couple of minutes north so we decided to stop by. All the "locals" were out. Lunchtime run north to the Red Hill area included a rare sighting of the local population of schooling pelagic hammerheads - quenching Sergey's thirst for some sharks. Don't know what he said in Russian, but it sounded positive! A mother humpback and her calf also made an appearance shortly after, making for a fine lunchtime cruise. Amphitheater was splendid, with a slight surge that made for an easy glide through the lava tube. Evening spent at Mantaville/Keahou Sheraton for an encore Manta experience. Cathy likes to call this place "the salvage center" since she always finds lost items there. This time was no different, several mask/snorkel combos and a nice dive light were recovered! The mantas (3) made a strong appearance for the afternoon/night dives.

Friday started with a drop in on the Naked Lady Wreck and finished with a stroll through Paul Allen's front yard (the reef in front of his humble abode). Thanks everyone for a nice intimate and pleasurable week. And a big "Mahalo" to Jeff for providing the pics this week...

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report April 13 – 20, 2013

Weather: Another sunny mild week!
Water Temp: 77 degrees (warming up!)
Seas: Flat, inviting!
Log Entry by: Captain Todd

Another week ahead, always excited to see who we have out next. This week we begin with crewmember Jarod's dad, J.D, out to check on his son, making sure he's staying out of trouble! Next it's Randall and son Jonathan, from Connecticut. Two lovelies, Kathy and Christine, good friends from L.A. who've been diving Aggressor boats for years, including this one when it was new! And Louis and Stefanie from "Qeebec" round out the group.

Day one we shook down at Aquarium. "Barely a surge" allowed us to enter Suck Em' Ups (my first time!) - now I know what all the fuss was about. Turtle Pinnacle was clear below 20' with a nice octopus hanging at the mooring. After lunch we checked "Chimney", just south of Keahou. DM John's first foray there and he was impressed! Took the ladies for a dive there. Set up at Mantaville for the Manta show; saw one big guy in the afternoon, and four in the evening.

Southbound Monday to "Ridges", then a live dive at Midway, exploring a new area there that had some nice shallow water features including a cave! Paradise Pinnacle after lunch. Christine saw her turtle there. The Hive in the evening. Calm conditions allowed for a thorough examination of the cave. Saw numerous regal slipper lobsters, a conger eel, and get this, a white tip reef shark swept by us in the swim-through on the night dive, his eyes aglow in the dark depths, very eerie!

Tuesday-daybreak, and it's a heading of 180 degrees on the compass (south) as the sun peeks over Mauna Loa - a sight to behold! First stop of the day, Neverland. DM John was feeling especially energetic this morning and took our divers all the way down to the pinnacle and back. I led at Land of Oz, and with no surge we were able to explore the fish-gorged shallows. Lots of neat sculptured rock formations and little caves. Cruised the sand channels and saw some razor wrasses warily eyeing us. Everyone was up for a low-key relaxed afternoon, so we pulled into Manuka Bay for the whole rest of the day, so divers could sit one out and not miss anything. Saw a rare Snowflake Moray (photo) and somehow I spotted a tiny Leaf Scorpionfish (I must be getting good at this).

Wednesday, early risers Christine, Cathy and Randall braved the pre-dawn chill for a dawn dive. The ladies found it most relaxing, comparable to a spa treatment they said! Around the corner we went next, to Catacombs. Zero surge provided John and I the opportunity take the guests farther back into the shallows than we've ever gone. So many little grottos and swim throughs that we lost count, and there seemed to be a nice plump spiny lobster everywhere we turned. A “live dive” at a new location was, in Karl's words "crazy" with walls, pinnacles and a variety of critters, including a green turtle, a dragon wrasse, a rare concentration of schooling 'chocolate dip chromis" (no, I'm not kidding!) and some rarely seen reticulated butterflyfish. After lunch we hopped in for yet another “live dive” (we're on a roll here) before settling in at Au Au Crater for the rest of the day. Guests were, as usual, delighted with what they saw here. Randall and son found a gold-laced nudibranch and a Tom Smith nudibranch. (We’ve been seeing a lot more nudi's lately, maybe because the water is warming up?) and a titan scorpionfish was right there, under the boat.

Next day, Thursday, we started out at Lion's Den and Rob's Reef next door in some of the calmest conditions we've had all year. I was able to take the guests all the way back into the upper lava tube at Rob's (never been back that far!) Motored north at lunch and were joined by some bow-riding bottlenose for a while. Amphitheater provided a nice compliment of nudibranchs for this nudi-hungry bunch. The Pelagic Magic dive was a pleasant experience with calm seas prevailing.

Friday we wrapped up a perfect week with tours of Old Airport (saw a Manta!) and the submarine show at the Predator Wreck. Thanks Louis for the log pictures this week!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report April 20 - 27, 2013

Weather: Holding at "BEAUTIFUL" (mostly sunny, slight afternoon breeze) High 70's
Water Temp: 77 degrees and wanting to climb.
Seas: "Pond-like" conditions most days.
Log Entry by: Capt' Todd

Another intimate group this week. First were the three amigos: Richard, Kirk, and David - who've been diving together for years, with quite a combined amount of experience between them, not to mention some background in dive medicine (that's comforting!). Also on board a VERY nice couple, Gina and her husband Dennis, who were also seasoned divers. With this small group we've got a "one-to- one" crew to guests ratio and we're going to make them feel like they're on their own private charter this week.

Day one we hit Aquariums, a popular day boat dive site where we have to get there early to grab the spot - and for good reason, as it's an easy site with lots to look at; perfect for a "check out dive". We went to Pipedreams next where we took our guests down to the "pipe" where DM Martin was already waiting to show us a long nosed hawkfish (photo). I discovered two beautiful tiger cowries sitting side-by-side (I wonder if they knew the other was there, might have been some hanky-panky going on...) Inside by the wall was a green turtle humming along.

Garden Eel Cove was our next site and here we saw a bit of drama as we encountered a disabled sailboat approaching the rocks. Quick thinking by the ever-ready Aggressor crew had the inflatable launched and along side in no time to assist them in avoiding catastrophe. Turned out that these would be our new friends from Canada on their way back from a 5-year sojourn starting in Maryland and taking them all the way to Australia and Tahiti. Their stop here on the Big Island was just a "respite" as they readied for the last leg to Vancouver. The guests on board all agreed to have them over for dinner after their near disaster that day where the captain held the conversation that night with tales of their voyage, an unexpected treat! The evening show after dinner at Garden Eel Cove consisted of five mantas. More than enough to go around and wow the divers as we had surprisingly few boats this week joining us there.

Monday we hit Turtle Pinnacle where we saw a zebra moray, a big yellow margin and a sleeping turtle. Oh, and a milkfish out in the blue. A live dive at Kaiwe Point followed and we saw a green sea turtle and Karl put a Triton's trumpet and a crown of thorns together (resulting in one less nasty li'l invasive creature!) I guess there's a few humpbacks still around as the divers reported some nice background music on their dive. We scooted down to Meadows at lunch and laid in at the Dome for the evening.

Tuesday we picked up the anchor early and headed south to Lion's Den encountering the calmest conditions ever! The shallows were magnificent as we saw a threadfin butterfly and another turtle! Such a calm day as this warranted an afternoon at The Hive. No crevice went unexplored as we scoured the critter cavern and found a delightful variety of resident creatures including the conger eels, lobsters of all kinds, and a Titan scorpionfish.

Wednesday I felt like doing a live dive (what else is new right?), so we tried a new spot in front of a nice oceanfront house @ Milolii. The residents there were out on their veranda with the binoculars out, probably wondering what we were looking at in their front yard. If they only knew! Two (2) hammerheads and a turtle among other things! They out to go get certified and enjoy the full benefits of living where they do! Next was Tubestrea Tunnel. Calm and inviting, everyone loved it there. Rich even wanted to spend the whole rest of the day there, but we had more to show him! So off to Neverland we went. A blue dragon nudibranch was one of highlights there. Au Au Crater was our spot for the rest of the day. Turtles and an "aggressive" school of butterflyfish made for some afternoon excitement.

We started things Thursday at Paradise Pinnacle and then on to Midway for a late morning live dive. This was my first time closely looking at this place and we explored a very impressive wall on a finger that was 25-30' high with skylights and a small swim through. We saw two juvenile rock mover wrasses (aka dragon wrasses) in the adjacent coral gardens (photo) that was fun. We had lunch in the quiet of Kalekekua Bay where our guests gazed at the Capt' Cook Monument and watched the local band of spinner dolphins put on a show.

On the way to Driftwood I nearly ran over a large tangle of fishnet. I promptly pulled around and retrieved it, only to find a large sargassum frogfish flopping around within! Quickly, we put him in a bucket (with water of course) and we even got some pictures. We then headed to our next dive site where we planned to release him. Well, he wanted nothing to do with that! We got him down to depth (40') and tried to get him outta the bucket and onto some coral. Instead, he headed for the heavens as quickly as his little "feet" could take him. I was left with no choice but to cut off a small piece of the net mess and set him adrift in it. (photo). We wrapped up the day with an afternoon dive at Keahou Bay and a spotted eagle ray sighting, followed by an attempt at a "Pelagic " experience.

Friday, due to spring tides, we had hellacious current at our morning dive site, so what else? A Drift Dive! On the first dive they must have covered a quarter mile as they cruised through numerous dive sites along the way. A real "express tour"!

Good week gang! Thanks David, for this week's log pics.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report April 27 – May 4, 2013

Weather: Still beautiful (had some showers Friday)
Seas: Uneventful (flat, calm)
Water Temp: Reading 77* on the dive computers!
Log Entry by: Capt' Todd

Full boat this week! Time to get hustling. You could feel the energy Saturday afternoon as we took on our excited cargo. It's so nice to run with a full compliment of guests, gets the crew pumped! Michelle and Chris are here, returning guests from a while ago. Robert and Vera (she's taking a Nitrox Course, he's getting a refresher). Jesse, whom I've dove with before on the Nekton Boats when I worked there. Three friends; Brian, Josh and Drew, Brian and Stacey also came aboard from Colorado. "The girls" Nadia and Carrie, only strangers till they boarded, now,” dive buddies" and roommates! And finally, Jason, from ATLANTA, who is determined to get his "Iron Diver" endorsement, (we'll see Drew! you think you have it in ya?)

An impressive Manta count the night before decided where we were diving first-North! Kalokos Arches had a little current, but that didn't faze our new guests. They all turned out to be solid divers. The afternoon at Garden Eel Cove was spent cavorting with the spinner dolphins. Michelle, Chris, and Carrie managed to get close to them on mask and snorkel. And the mantas didn't let us down either, with five in the afternoon and "many" that evening.

Tuesday it was a "Neverland" kind of morning, stopping there first. Martin took his flock of "AOW" students (Brian, Stacey, Josh and Brian) down for their "Deep Adventure Dive", saw the bandit angels, and Martin performed his "Egg Trick" (does Vern know you cooked that egg?). DM John took em' all down at Land of Oz. Everyone loved the sand channels there. An afternoon at Stoney Mesas was a great idea. We saw a turtle and Spanish dancer, among other things. Made camp at Manuka Bay and we saw something unusual, a group of about half a dozen hermit crabs were behaving like anything but "hermits”. They seemed to be having a heated discussion about something-furiously waving their little antennae at each other (hope it wasn't us!) Jason was the ‘Lone Ranger’ that evening. He and Martin saw a short snout scorpionfish, a horned helmet stalking a collector urchin, a jeweled anemone crab and a conger eel!

Wednesday, "dawn patrollers" Michelle, Chris, Brian, Stacey and Jason brought in the new day under water before we left Manuka. They saw an octopus getting ready to call it a night. After a surface interval we jumped in next door at Catacombs. Another perfect day for this place. Flat calm, zero surge opened up all the intricate areas back in the shallows that make this place so amazing. A live dive at Karl's Krazy Spot gave the guests their first shot at a drift dive due to a little current running from the north. Spent the entire afternoon at Au Au Crater. Got Vern (the chef) in the water, working towards his OW Certification. And the night dive was a veritable cornucopia of hungry eels, feasting on a large fish carcass.

Thursday morning we started out at Lion's Den. Jason got a shot of two devil scorpionfish sitting dangerously close to each other (watch out for each other's spines!). A live dive followed where Drew directed us to a place he'd dove years ago, near the City of Refuge. Excellent choice! Beautiful coral gardens out in deeper water, loaded with clouds of small fish, including Hawaiian domino damsels, and inside shallow we were met with a sheer wall 20'-25' high and peppered with swim-throughs and lava tubes (ran head on into a white tipped reef shark in there that so frazzled Brian and Josh that they promptly broke open the bottle of fine whiskey they brought out-no more dives for you guys today!) We all enjoyed lunch at Capt. Cook Monument, and splashed in at Amphitheater later. Keahou Bay and the mantas finished off a beautiful day.

Friday we awoke to a downpour (it never rains in Kona!) but not to worry, we're gonna get wet anyway. First dive was my dive and I wanted a live dive! So we "eenie' meenie' miney' moe'd " it to an area with good prospects just north of town. Turned out to be a winner! Lots and lots of volcanic rock extrusions and a ridgeback slipper lobster just crawling about right there in the open! (Big fella, very rare, only the second one I've seen in the two and a half years I've been here -check out the photo!). Met up with the Atlantis Sub on our last dive and then headed for the pier for lunch.

Jason supplied the photos this week and was also our solo Iron Diver this week (I knew you could do it buddy) AND we have brought four new AOW divers into the world this week - Brian, Stacey, Brian and Josh, not to mention two new Nitrox Divers - Robert and Vera. Nice job there friends!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report May 4 – 11, 2013

Weather: Mostly sunny, high 70's
Seas: Calm, water temp in the mid 70's
Log Entry by Capt' Todd

Gathered our new guests here this week. Newlyweds Matt and Jessie, from "Oz" on a THREE MONTH honeymoon (that's doing it right), Jess is gong for her Open Water certification! And Jennifer and Paul - he’s a lifelong diver and she’s not far behind, (started with her daughter a number of years ago).

Sunday we started out at Aquaruim as usual. Good conditions prevailed for a nice easy checkout dive, and then we moved along to Hoover's Tower for the 2nd dive. As luck would have it, a large Manta was there, getting a good cleaning by the local cleaner wrasses. There were lots of good photo ops as he just hovered right there over a coral head right beneath the boat. The afternoon was spent at Garden Eel Cove and the Mantas were in abundance.

Monday we tried something different and we started with a live dive at the Green Buoy right outside Honokahau Harbor. We've heard rumors of tiger shark sightings in the vicinity, however none were present for us, but we did see some spotted eagle rays and had a nice swim across the navigation channel (beneath the surface of course) and over to the shoreline where coral gardens carpeted the area are a home to a fine scale triggerfish and a Commerson’s frogfish. Late morning we dropped Instructor Karl off at the Kona Pier with Jess to initiate her training with some confined water work there in the lagoon while the rest of us dropped in on "Paul's" (Allen) humble abode and perused the reef in front of his house. After picking up our "student" we steamed south to Mano Point, where I took everyone on a "diveabout" as they say in "Oz"! -Just a cruise across a stretch of unexplored reef south of Keahou Bay, everyone liked that. We ended up our diving day at The Dome and Matt was the sole night diver along with Karl, his guide that night.

We continued our journey south Tuesday beginning at The Dome, then to a live dive at Midway, and then on to Paradise Pinnacle. We made the afternoon and night dives at Au Au Crater. Matt once again was our dedicated night diver. Jessie and our chef Vern finished up the "skills" portion of their certification process here, as there is a nice shallow area of black sand near shore.

Wednesday we headed south to Milolii for a live dive at a spot adjacent to a previous exploratory live dive. My hunch proved worthy as Karl and the bunch were thrilled by "very interesting topography" and saw a large lone manta ray, two large eels and a turtle. Neverland preceded that dive with another turtle sighting and a hammerhead shark cruising a submerged pinnacle! We then decided to spend the whole afternoon at The Hive, the weather and water being just right for the place. Interesting sighting with a male blue boxfish huffing and puffing up near the surface and hanging out with raccoon butterflyfish under the boat. He must have been lost (or thought he was a raccoon butterflyfish) J

Brought the day in Thursday at Lion's Den, followed by a live dive at a new area in front of City of Refuge... magnificent site! Submerged pinnacles in every direction! And lots of arches and overhangs, all in around 40', didn't even get a chance to go in shallow to checkout the wall...next time! A solid new dive site to be sure, one that we will definitely be re-visiting. Did a cruise through Kalekekua Bay during lunch, very picturesque, then on up to Amphitheater. Followed up with Mantaville, where at least six animals showed up.

With Paul and Jennifer flying out that evening (we observe the 24 hour rule), that left just the newlyweds and their personal guide for the two remaining dives on Friday. I obliged on dive one, as their private guide I took them to a special romantic place called "Andy Gump's"- right off an old outhouse out on the point north of town. Jess was like a little kid discovering how to walk. I had a hard time keeping up with her! Must have covered half a mile and left Karl, my relief captain wondering where we went. Finished with a tour of Old Airport/Sharkfin Rock. Matt managed to pull off an Iron Diver Award and Jess is now a Certified Scuba Diver! Thanks Paul for the pics this week, and thanks Jennifer for your infectious laugh all week!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report May 11 – 18, 2013

Weather: Balmy with sunny mornings, clouding up in the afternoon. High 70's
Water: Upper 70's
Seas: Calm, south swell late in the week.
Wetsuit: Still bring a 5 mil, but it's warming up!
Log Entry by: Capt Todd

Filled with anticipation, eight scuba divers were waiting on the pier for us this week. Most have been reading my logs lately and they know the conditions are right! On the roster; Jim and son Danny, from the west coast of Florida (wreck divers for sure), Peggy and Bill, coincidentally from the same area, also seasoned wreck AND cave divers, best buddies from the Canadian Armed Forces - Lorna and Jocelyn, Kate, who left her fiancé ashore in the Bay Area to pursue her passion (says her hubby supports her fully, nice arrangement!) and Bill.

Sunday started out like any other, up to Kalokos Arches in the morning for the check out dive. Yep, they're all on the same page: Experienced! Turtle Pinnacle followed where we saw an unusually large number of peacock groupers -"Roi" as they're called here-invasive species introduced as a food source but developed ciguatera poisoning, now just a gamefish...FYI. Most were hanging in crevices and holes getting "cleaned" by the cleaner wrasses. Garden Eel Cove saw a few mantas in the afternoon and "too many to count" in the evening.

Something a little different on Monday, stopped at the Naked Lady wreck for dive one, gave them a deep dive (100') to start their day. Next was Chimney, a sheer coral strewn wall where we explored the southernmost area of the site and found a large cave and some arches. It was then Meadows after lunch and The Dome for the afternoon/evening dive sites. John led and saw a freckled snake eel, a couple of blue dragon nudibranchs (common at this site) and several lobsters on the night dive.

Tuesday, the morning dive was Midway, followed by Paradise Pinnacle and there are always good remarks about that place. Rob's Reef around the corner after lunch. The Hive had an octopus sighting on the 4:30 pm dive.

Wednesday started with a live dive over at a successful spot off Milolii, where one of our "fussier" Divemasters declared it a prime site the week before. Sure enough, the guests were delighted and we even saw a hammerhead! Peggy, Bill and Divemaster Martin caught sight of an octopus as the rest were on their safety stop. Neverland also surrendered one of its hammerheads for viewing, and of course the pyramid butterflyfish and wire coral blennies were there. Everyone was excited to see Au Au Crater so we made an afternoon of it. Kate found a big day octopus, two big lizardfish, barely perceptible, buried in the black sand, poised for an ambush! Possibly waiting for the tiny cute peacock razor wrasse that was flitting about nearby (we didn't have the heart to wait around for the outcome). The night was alive with activity. Two titan scorpionfish side by side, two lionfish, some swimming crabs and a blue dragon nudibranch, all topped off by a "Night Turtle" sighting.

Thursday it was Lion's Den for the morning opener. Time of day is everything for this site and we like to catch it in the morning as the sunlight streams down the mountainside and into the canyons here. The effect was not lost on this bunch, many happy comments. Made our way north to City of Refuge and dropped in on our new pinnacle filled playground there. Once back onboard the Kona Aggressor we took a swing through Kalekekua Bay for lunch (it's becoming a routine now) into the quiet turquoise lagoon of Cook's Monument. Amphitheater was a little too surgey for the lava tubes so we dove Ridges instead, a nice alternative. James managed to spot a lot for the guests in the many tight little canyons. We then did the "Pelagic Thing" for the evening, it was a soupy delight.

Friday morning we tried the area along the entrance to Honokahau Harbor and saw a spotted eagle ray. We finished with a submarine encounter off Kailua Pier at the Predator Wreck.

Thanks Danny and Peggy for the log pics this week and congrats to father/son “Iron Diver Team” Jim and Danny, and Danny we are looking forward to you coming out and working with us during your holiday breaks from college, hit those books boy!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report May 18 – 25, 2013

Weather: Fair, mild (as usual)
Water: 78 degrees
Seas: South swell
Log Entry by Capt' Todd

We had a big rare south swell this week and had to perform quite a dance getting the Kona Aggressor in to pick up our guests off the pier. This week we have quite a small group as we welcomed Dave, Leoda, Stephen and "lovely Linda" aboard.

Once everyone settled in we headed south straight away. The manta counts were marginal due in part, I would expect, by the swell activity, so we've decided to give them a chance to re-group and catch them at the end of the week. We instead did our first two morning dives at Ridges, which is something new. It was a great place for a check out dive as it's shallow, but interesting. Our new crewmember Adam, a lifelong local of the islands, spotted what he says was one of the biggest porcupinefish he'd ever seen. We then did a long run at lunch to Rob's Reef where calm, pristine conditions warranted staying there all afternoon. With that we were able to perform a thorough inspection of the cave, which revealed a 7-11 crab, a red swivel crab, a yellow margin moray and lots more! The night dive was a carnival of crawlies, including banded coral shrimp, a turtle, marble shrimp, a regal slipper lobster and a glass anemone!

In the morning on Monday we dropped in on Paradise Pinnacle. A spiny cowfish patrolled his realm over in the rubble, and a "camouflaged" peacock flounder blew his cover when he darted off as the group approached. A green lionfish and a long nosed hawkfish were also visited. The Hive was clear as a bell, the mid day sun really lit up the caverns and highlighted the coral gardens. Au Au Crater was a winner for the 4:30pm and night dives. The conger eels were in force (two of them) and a night turtle sighting was noted.

The next morning saw us diving at the blown out Caldera, then on to City of Refuge. Saw a yellow margin moray and a turtle there. We then moved on to Driftwood and spooked two white tip reef sharks in the cave as well as a menacing viper moray. Next we pulled into Mantaville for a mid-week manta encounter. Two showed up, and DM Martin found a new frogfish, and it was a big one!

Wednesday we skipped back south and did a live dive at Chimney. This gave everyone a chance to explore beyond the site and down the really cool wall that is there. Meadows was our next dive site. It was a little surgey, and thus we didn't make it into the swim-throughs, but still saw a dwarf moray, long nosed butterflyfish and a stocky hawkfish. We moved and hung out in Kealakekua Bay for lunch where afterwards David went for a snorkel and checked out where “ol' Capt' Cook breathed his last, before the natives got a hold of him" at the monument there. Incidentally, this is the only British soil located on American soil. After lunch we had two more “live dives” around the Redhill area and both were great with lots of "feeesh"! We then went outside for a Pelagic encounter after dinner. DM James is a big fan of these dives now, ever since he got his fancy new camera.

Thursday we headed north to Kalakos Arches. An octopus, yellow margin moray, and a turtle were the high points. Our afternoon was spent at Garden Eel Cove where we saw two mantas and the local spinner dolphins. The day ended with a night dive at the mooring (something special) and we saw some really cool stuff, including a black leaf scorpionfish, a "parrotfish in a bag" (in its night cocoon) and we startled a resting white tip reef shark!

Friday we did a "float by" at Old Airport in the morning since everyone like the idea of just wandering aimlessly without navigating and having the boat come to them when they surfaced (one of the benefits of a "live dive"!) The Predator Wreck set the stage for the final dive with some interaction between our divers and the hordes of school children aboard the sub.

A congratulatory nod to Leoda for completing dive 200 with us this week and we'll see you out here for # 300 eh?

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report May 25 – June 1, 2013

Weather: So nice this week!
Water: 80 degrees is oh so close!
Seas: Flat calm, whisper of a breeze in the afternoon
Log Entry by: Capt' Todd

"Maui No Ka Oi" part two! Can't believe it's been already a year since we welcomed our friends from Maui last. All dive professionals, they've been like kids before Christmas chatting about this trip on FB as the date has approached (they booked this trip as they got off the boat last year). Along with our beloved returnees: Christine, Lisa, Kelsey, Zack, Keone, Bobby and Barbara, we have some new faces aboard this year: Barbara's hubby John, Lance (Bobby's bud from the mainland), Keone's business partner and drinking buddy Bob, and "familia" Laurel, Richard, and young buck Colin. Okay gang where shall we go first?

How about south right outta the gate! Sunday morning we decided to save the Mantas for last and go the other way. First stop Driftwood. Divemaster (DM) James' choice since he was leading the "checkout" dive. Found a frogfish in the mix there, followed by a stop at Ridges for the late morning immersion. After lunch I led a live dive at City of Refuge, cruised along the inner wall and then out into some stunning meadow-like coral gardens way back in the bay there. Ol' eagle eye Bobby spied an eagle ray. Special request from the "vets" to re-visit Au Au Crater at night, though my intentions were to show the group some different scenery this time around, but some sites just can't be missed! Au Au is one of them. Lance "manned up" for his first ever night dive this night, all went well, in fact I think he's hooked, he did every one there after!

Monday, south bound still! We splashed at the cliffs of Milolii for the first dive; this is becoming one of our premier hammerhead sites, we saw two! We’re "3 for 3" at this site now and Colin swears he saw a seahorse (you never know!) Onward to that unexplored stretch near Manuka Bay, an area rich in lava tubes and caves. Tried a spot that looked juicy. It was a success! Zack and Keone were tickled by all the swim-throughs. After checking out Stoney Mesas, it was decided to "afternoon it" at Manuka Bay, it was calm and very inviting. The night dive gave up the resident "big conger eel", Barbara and John found it, and I think I discovered one of the resident dragon morays - I only got a glimpse of him before he vanished within the finger coral.

Next morning we tried a live dive at Catacombs, GOOD IDEA. Usually plagued by current here, we used it to our advantage and let it whisk us along the entire site and then some. Much more terrain here than we were previously aware of. Next stop Land of Oz, a place that Lisa will forever hold dear in her heart, and she told us so! Lots of sand channels loaded with "shelly" debris for her to sift through, not to mention the rascally razor wrasses that inhabit the place. Popular vote by the "returnees" was a visit to Neverland next, where the hammerheads were,... well nobody saw one, but I know they were there! Night dive at The Hive, everyone was in the cave - humans and creatures alike. It was a party.

Die hard ladies Kelsey and Christine retreated from the "Maui No Ka Oi" inspired nightly festivities the night before and were up EARLY for a dawn dive before we moved the boat to a new spot we're calling "Pagodas" (because there's a pagoda there). Some neat structure lying beneath the surface made this site a keeper. Rob's Reef was as good as it gets with zero surge enabling everyone to explore both sections of cave all the way to the dry room in the very back. For fun we ran outside at lunch and dove a "FAD" (fish aggregation device) offshore for a noon "nugget dive"- 5 minutes hanging in 4200' of water to see what swims by. Just so happened to be a school of pelagic triggerfish and never before seen red and clear striped pipefish on the chain. Next was a drift near City of Refuge again before an afternoon dive at Amphitheater. I dragged them around the whole site, got some exercise! After dinner it was a perfect night for Pelagic Magic - calm, flat, windless...easy!

Thursday morning we made for the north, it's Manta Nite tonite! Started with a live dive at Aquarium. Always wanted to know what lies beyond the point there. We were pleasantly surprised with rich coral gardens and numerous caves and arches along the shore. Next we dropped the gang right at Keahole Point. This is the furthest-most site west along the Kona coast and prone to "swirling water" - "keahole" in Hawaiian! They dove among the big intake pipes supplying the laboratories there, careful not to get too close (SLURP!) After lunch we live dived it at Garden Eel Cove, got to venture beyond our normal parameters there for some new scenery and saw a couple of daytime manta rays. Another live dive at Aerial was next. My first time diving there, though I spotted the place while ascending on Hawaiian Airlines out of KOA once. Fascinating terrain, started out with rolling coral gardens, morphing into jagged deep canyons and then suddenly opening to a vast expanse of black sand, reminded me of the Sahara! A live dive for the nighttime "Manta Mayhem" made this day a first, not one "mooring" dive the entire day. In fact the entire trip saw more live boat diving than we've ever done. This group likes to explore new terrain and that's just what we did.

Friday morning, what else, a live dive! Took them over to the Kaiwe Point area and they wandered through several "day boat" mooring sites. Then I let this rowdy bunch ham it up at the Predator Wreck for the last dive. The girls went "sans" wetsuits, told them to behave themselves around the submarine... Not as many Iron Divers this time around, compared to their last visit. I think this trip was more of a R & R for most of these dive pros.

We did "award" Christine with a newly created "Iron Diver" medallion; she managed to pull off all 27 dives (and still managed to supply the log pics this week!) And in the end, I gave them all a medal, for it was they, who inspired the idea on their last voyage. Keone and Bob also received the coveted "Iron Pillow" award for logging unprecedented amounts of time in the sack, but that's okay guys, you earned it. Thanks for all the help on this trip! Already miss y’all and am looking forward to M.N.O III!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Kona Aggressor II Captain’s Report June 1 – 8, 2013

We started off this week with a checkout dive at Ridges in the Red Hill area south of Kona. Our group of experienced divers had no problems and we were off to a great start. A bird wrasse and spotted puffer were some favorite sightings of the morning. We moved over to Driftwood for the next dive and were lucky to see a pair of leaf scorpion fish and a pair of flame angels. We did the next dive at Mantaville to get our divers familiar with the layout for the manta ray night dive. We had one incredible active manta ray show up after dark that wowed us with back flips and barrel rolls!

Monday morning we did a couple of dives at Amphitheater and explored its lava tubes and ledges. Aside from the great topography, we also spotted a reticulated butterflyfish and an endemic gold-lace nudibranch. During lunch we had a very special encounter with some short-finned pilot whales! These are not animals we normally see and had both the crew and guests in high spirits! We spent the rest of the day at The Hive. The water was calm enough to explore the cave and archway and see some great sea life. Some highlights were a very friendly octopus, some endemic red Hawaiian lionfish, some decoy scorpionfish and a Spanish dancer on the night dive.

Tuesday we headed south to a crew favorite, Neverland where we were greeted by a massive school of pyramid butterflyfish right under the boat. We also got a visit from a green sea turtle and many other species of curious butterflyfish. We spent the afternoon and evening at Au Au Crater. The big attention getter was the six-foot endemic Hawaiian conger eel that was out hunting on the night dive. He almost made us completely forget about the lizardfish, undulated moray, and lobsters that we also saw.

Wednesday morning we cruised over to Lion’s Den to start the day. We were graced by a couple of turtles, as well as a rock mover wrasse and a 7-11 crab. After lunch we moved over to Rob’s Reef for the remainder of the day. The ocean was kind to us and stayed flat enough for us to explore the lava tube that goes into the island and we had a wonderful turtle encounter in the shallows. We also found a puka, or cave, that held an endemic conger eel and a pair of endemic red-stripe pipefish. Score!

Thursday morning we made a short trip over to Paradise Pinnacle, which always delivers. Today was no different, as we encountered an octopus that was out and about, a pair of decorated nudibranchs, and a conger eel being cleaned by a white-striped cleaner shrimp. At lunch we headed back up north to the Red Hill area and did a couple of dives at The Dome. Nudibranchs were on the menu: blue dragon, red-spotted, and trembling to name a few. During dinner we saw a few spinner dolphins as we headed out to the deep for a Pelagic Magic dive. After dark our courageous divers dangled from the boat in deep, deep water and watched plankton migrate to the surface. This is truly a unique dive and was well received by the crowd.

Friday we finished off our week of diving at Kalokos Arches. The ocean bid our divers a big aloha by sending some spinner dolphins right above them during the dive. The divers also got to see a rare Whitley’s boxfish, a pair of endemic millet seed butterflyfish, and watch a yellow-margin moray feed on an octopus. It was a fantastic finish to a perfect week of diving.

A big Mahalo to our divers: Bob and Kathie, Daniel and Debi, Gail, Patty, Jared, and Dave!

Thanks for visiting with us this week.
Captain James and the crew