Need to find SeaTurtle cleaning and Deep Scattering Night Dive on Big Island

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Thalassamania

Diving Polymath
ScubaBoard Supporter
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Location
On a large pile of smokin' A'a, the most isolated
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I need to find two thing on the Big Island:

  1. A cleaner wrasse station is is dependably frequented by Sea Turtles.
  2. Someone who is diving or taking people out to dive the Deep Scattering Layer at night when it comes up unto shallower water.
Any leads for either would be appreciated.
 
Are you looking for a wrasse station that has turtles nearby, or are you looking for a turtle cleaning station? You can find both at two steps, but I doubt you'll find cleaner wrasses working on turtles. I can't recall having seen that in Kona. Turtles are typically cleaned by surgeonfish.

Anyway, over at two steps, the turtle cleaning station is just ocean side off the first pinnacle to the left of the boat channel, in about 17-23 feet of water, as you are facing outward from the entry point. There are several large lobe corals in the area that have cleaner wrasses that'll be working on surgeons, butterflyfish and the occasional barracuda or crocodile needle fish and such.
 
[...]
[*]Someone who is diving or taking people out to dive the Deep Scattering Layer at night when it comes up unto shallower water. [...]

Contact Matthew D'Avella (LioKai here on ScubaBoard) regarding "pelagic magic" night dives.
 
A cleaner wrasse station dependably frequented by Sea Turtles.

I doubt you'll find cleaner wrasses working on turtles.

While Steve may be right, Thal may also get what he asks for :D

Here is a series of pics from a secret cleaning station on Oahu's North Shore. It is both a turtle cleaning station and a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse station; so this is a cleaner wrasse station that is dependably frequented by turtles :crafty:

242682880_.jpg


242682925_.jpg


242682931_.jpg

I have noticed differences in specific fish behavior from Island to Island but there is probably something similar below the vog :lotsalove:
 
Thanks guys, Matthew's got what we need for the Deep Scattering Layer stuff, now I just need to nail down the turtles.
 
Turtle pinnacle is a cleaning station not far offshore from Jacks Diving Locker.
It was featured in the IMAX Deep Sea 3D, I believe, but I have dove it as well
with the Kona Aggressor and it was awesome!
 
If you need to compare prices on the pelagic night dive, I had a great experience with Big Island Divers. Honaunau is probably your best bet for turtle cleaning stations, but as was mentioned before, the majority of turtle cleaners are yellow and kole tangs, not the cleaner wrasses, although I'm sure a cleaner wrasse wouldn't pass up a turtle with a neat parasite on its back...
 
Hi Thal,

This is a late reply and hopefully you have already found what you are looking for on the Kona side, but if not Leleiwi in Hilo has a large resident turtle population that includes a regular "beauty salon" with multiple turtle cleaning stations, commonly with groups of turtles being cleaned at the same time in an area of the reef about 50 feet square.

However, I don't recall seeing many/any wrasses cleaning the turtles? The turtles are there, the wrasses are there, but can't say I've seen them together. We usually see "kole" cleaning the turtles as in Halemano's pictures above, sometimes yellow tang, or both.

Locating the cleaning station at Leleiwi is easy. From the entry, swim straight out to the drop off, turn right and follow the reef at about 40' depth. After swimming maybe 100 - 150 yards(?) you'll find a large area of sloping reef at 40 - 50' depth with a group of turtles laying on the surface of the coral being cleaned. They are almost always there. Some divers call the spot "turtle city".

The weather over the past several weeks has kept me out of the water here in Hilo, but hopefully with the current calm we've had over the past couple days I'll be able to get back in the water at Leleiwi this weekend, and if so I'll check for wrasses and let you know.

Good luck & Best wishes.

Edit: Bill, the owner of Nautilus Dive Center in Hilo would be the guy to ask about Leleiwi. He has literally thousands of dives there, is a regular "turtle rescuer (from fishing line), and if there is any "wrasse-on-turtle" action going on he'd know about it :D
 
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