thevalkyry
Queen of the Turtles
Hey all...
I spent last week on the island of Hawaii (the Big Island) in the state of Hawaii. Due to (yet another) screw up by our favorite mechanics over at American, my plane was so late into Honolulu that I got an overnight I wasnt anticipating. Since I arrived in Kona the next morning too late to catch the dive boat, we took advantage of neing nitrogen-free to go high and drove around the whole island. Hawaii is very topographically diverse and just beautiful. So we hit Volcanoes National Park the first day and saw Kilhuea smoking away. The caldera is really impressive.
We stayed out at Wikoloa Beach at the Marriott (very posh - but my friend was rolling in points). It was weird to be staying so out of the way, but everything is at a remove in Hawaii - it's very rural.
We went on a two tank afternoon/night dive the next night. We were on a largish boat so we did a giant stride - and within 2 minutes encountered Vinny the Manta Ray. He was HUGE!! We were diving with Keller Laros who runs the Manta Ray Research Institute so he knows all their names. The night dive was just about the coolest thing in the world. We had 7 mantas!! So amazing - graceful and clumsy at the same time. Those eyes on the side dont allow them to see what they may be swimming in to so they crash into eachother, brush the top of divers heads, and lift snorkelers out of the water. But it was awesome!
The next 3 days of diving just couldnt live up to all those mantas - we saw turtles and dolphins and shark from the boat, but didnt run into anything way cool while we were actually under the water. But the coral is extensive and the smaller fish and eel are numerous. So there is still stuff to look at. I saw my first frog fish and a devil scorpion fish.
My pix are on Flickr: Kona, Hawaii - a set on Flickr
Water was really variable. I brought a 3 mil shorty and really froze on my first couple of dives. But it got warmer through the week. We dove with Jack's Diving Locker and they have fresh hot water hoses on the boat!! I got really spoiled by getting to hose down after dives.
It was really beautiful - just watch the dates of the Ironman - you really dont want to get tangled up in that traffic. Athletes start showing 2-3 weeks before.
Joe Bob says Check it Out.
I spent last week on the island of Hawaii (the Big Island) in the state of Hawaii. Due to (yet another) screw up by our favorite mechanics over at American, my plane was so late into Honolulu that I got an overnight I wasnt anticipating. Since I arrived in Kona the next morning too late to catch the dive boat, we took advantage of neing nitrogen-free to go high and drove around the whole island. Hawaii is very topographically diverse and just beautiful. So we hit Volcanoes National Park the first day and saw Kilhuea smoking away. The caldera is really impressive.
We stayed out at Wikoloa Beach at the Marriott (very posh - but my friend was rolling in points). It was weird to be staying so out of the way, but everything is at a remove in Hawaii - it's very rural.
We went on a two tank afternoon/night dive the next night. We were on a largish boat so we did a giant stride - and within 2 minutes encountered Vinny the Manta Ray. He was HUGE!! We were diving with Keller Laros who runs the Manta Ray Research Institute so he knows all their names. The night dive was just about the coolest thing in the world. We had 7 mantas!! So amazing - graceful and clumsy at the same time. Those eyes on the side dont allow them to see what they may be swimming in to so they crash into eachother, brush the top of divers heads, and lift snorkelers out of the water. But it was awesome!
The next 3 days of diving just couldnt live up to all those mantas - we saw turtles and dolphins and shark from the boat, but didnt run into anything way cool while we were actually under the water. But the coral is extensive and the smaller fish and eel are numerous. So there is still stuff to look at. I saw my first frog fish and a devil scorpion fish.
My pix are on Flickr: Kona, Hawaii - a set on Flickr
Water was really variable. I brought a 3 mil shorty and really froze on my first couple of dives. But it got warmer through the week. We dove with Jack's Diving Locker and they have fresh hot water hoses on the boat!! I got really spoiled by getting to hose down after dives.
It was really beautiful - just watch the dates of the Ironman - you really dont want to get tangled up in that traffic. Athletes start showing 2-3 weeks before.
Joe Bob says Check it Out.
