ScubaDiveMaui
Registered
Aloha Everyone,
Just thought I'd post about the wonderful charter Extended Horizons took to Moloka'i last week (4/24). Thanks to the adventurous spirit of the passengers & the favorable conditions, we were able to dive Mokuho'oniki Rock, just off the island of Moloka'i.
For those of you familiar with diving on Maui, I don't have to tell you what a rare treat this was... conditions are rarely calm enough to warrant the crossing from Maui (Lahaina/Kaanapali area)... and boy did it pay off!
Our first dive was at The Pinnacle, which sits in 90 feet of water and levels off in 30 feet. We had flat, calm & clear conditions (150+ ft. visibility) and a fantastic array of marine life on this dive, including bandit angelfish, long nose hawkfish in huge black coral branches, gigantic sponge crabs, lobster, eels, nudibranchs, flat worms... and the list goes on. (did I mention everything seems to get bigger out here?)
After our hour surface interval, we jumped back in at Fish Rain, which is probably the best known dive site at Mokuho'oniki, famous for big critter sightings. Upon entry, we attracted the attention of three amberjacks, who delighted in taunting the divers with cameras. These three individuals zoomed back and forth in front of our lenses for a good 15 minutes, allowing each diver to experience the interaction. Of course we stumbled upon a few large yellow margin morays, a staple on this site... but the volume on the dive was turned way up when we caught sight of our first hammerhead in the distance!!! The dive group was limited to a 90 foot depth range, based on our first dive profile, but we all swam into the blue water for a chance to see more! And our neutral buoyancy efforts were rewarded! Approximately 20 hammerheads in all were sighted in the distance, average size was 8 feet, and most were in roughly 120 feet of water (below us)... the highlight of the dive was a swim-by by a large, 12 foot adult!!!
Not every day at Mokuho'oniki is as calm & rewarding as this one... this dive location deserves and demands large amounts of respect, as wind and swell conditions can be beyond challenging, coupled at times with strong current. Often you honestly don't know what you're going to get, until you're there... But on this day, this dive guide was again grateful to have experienced another of those magical days diving Hawaii's wild side!
Thanks again to our passengers, who had faith & opted to go for the unknown adventure!
Victoria Martocci
Just thought I'd post about the wonderful charter Extended Horizons took to Moloka'i last week (4/24). Thanks to the adventurous spirit of the passengers & the favorable conditions, we were able to dive Mokuho'oniki Rock, just off the island of Moloka'i.
For those of you familiar with diving on Maui, I don't have to tell you what a rare treat this was... conditions are rarely calm enough to warrant the crossing from Maui (Lahaina/Kaanapali area)... and boy did it pay off!
Our first dive was at The Pinnacle, which sits in 90 feet of water and levels off in 30 feet. We had flat, calm & clear conditions (150+ ft. visibility) and a fantastic array of marine life on this dive, including bandit angelfish, long nose hawkfish in huge black coral branches, gigantic sponge crabs, lobster, eels, nudibranchs, flat worms... and the list goes on. (did I mention everything seems to get bigger out here?)
After our hour surface interval, we jumped back in at Fish Rain, which is probably the best known dive site at Mokuho'oniki, famous for big critter sightings. Upon entry, we attracted the attention of three amberjacks, who delighted in taunting the divers with cameras. These three individuals zoomed back and forth in front of our lenses for a good 15 minutes, allowing each diver to experience the interaction. Of course we stumbled upon a few large yellow margin morays, a staple on this site... but the volume on the dive was turned way up when we caught sight of our first hammerhead in the distance!!! The dive group was limited to a 90 foot depth range, based on our first dive profile, but we all swam into the blue water for a chance to see more! And our neutral buoyancy efforts were rewarded! Approximately 20 hammerheads in all were sighted in the distance, average size was 8 feet, and most were in roughly 120 feet of water (below us)... the highlight of the dive was a swim-by by a large, 12 foot adult!!!
Not every day at Mokuho'oniki is as calm & rewarding as this one... this dive location deserves and demands large amounts of respect, as wind and swell conditions can be beyond challenging, coupled at times with strong current. Often you honestly don't know what you're going to get, until you're there... But on this day, this dive guide was again grateful to have experienced another of those magical days diving Hawaii's wild side!
Thanks again to our passengers, who had faith & opted to go for the unknown adventure!
Victoria Martocci
