NW_DiverDude
Contributor
Greetings all,
Great overall dive trip to Oahu. It rained almost every day on the island but most of my time was spent on and under the water so other than some reduced visability - no worries!!!
Day 1, February 28th:
Flight from Portland, OR to Honolulu (delayed 4 hrs)
Dive Operator: Reef Pirates Diving, located in Hawaii Kai
Reef Pirates caters to all levels of divers but for a couple of die-hard advanced divers like Chris and I, this operator really fit our needs. They have the fastest boat around and only take out a maximum number of 6 divers at any time. The hard bottom Zodiac with twin 150HP outboards is a blast to speed around in.
Day 2, March 1st (late start after such a late arrival):
Dive #1, The YO-257 and the San Pedro wrecks. Vis was <50' and the current was wicked strong at about 4 knots. Pretty cool ship - sure wish vis had been better. I did take 1 interesting photo of Chris looking up at a turtle as it cruised over the YO (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48304/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
I have delt with some pretty significant currents in the Pacific Northwest but I sure did not expect anything like this in a popular diving spot off of Oahu. Due to the wildly strong current, no more dives today.
Day 3, March 2nd
Dive #2, Kahala Barge wreck. Strong Makapu current again. Convinced DM to execute as a drift dive which worked much better. Vis was <45'. Did not see much on or around this wreck. Did hear whale songs in the distance - quite a nice addition to the underwater atmosphere.
Dive #3, Fantasy Reef. Shallower "reef" dive, pretty nice, lots of fish, several eels, found 2 different octopus. The first octopus was very curious and when it emerged from it's puka, it was very clingy - first on the DM's hand, then arm, then head. Here is just 1 of several photos:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48306/cat/500/ppuser/35608
The 2nd octopus was quite small as seen in this photo where it is clinging to my hand (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48331/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
Once again we could hear whales "singing" in the background throughout much of the dive - cool!
Dive #4, New Barge wreck. We dove this as a drift dive which again worked well with the strong current. Next to the ship there was an obvious cleaning station where I witnessed 2 large sea turtles getting the once over by a variety of fish. I took several photos but this one tells the story pretty clearly: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48308/cat/500/ppuser/35608
Again, whale songs in the background.
Dive #5, a "secret site" that I will call TandT. We did a drift dive across a large area with cement pilings and tires, which is obviously intended to be an artificial reef. There were many, many fish and a couple eels but nothing else of interest. More whale songs...
Day 4, March 3rd
Dive #6, The Corsair plane wreck. Reletively deep dive with a maximum depth of 107' registered on my computer. Vis was only so-so at <45' so photography was severely impacted. This photo gives some perspective to the plane, it's size, and the vis: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48328/cat/500/ppuser/35608
And yet again, whale songs...
Dive #7, Fantasy Reef (2nd time). We enjoyed this site enough the first time to make a 2nd trip since we needed a shallow dive any way. We rode a mild current across the site, playing with Damsel fish guarding thier territories and checking out numerous eels along the way. Very relaxing dive.
Dive #8, Sea Cave. We headed over to the base of Lanai Point for a wall dive and to check out the Sea Cave dive site. Vis was ~40'. The sloping wall was quite interesting with some nice coral outcroppings, lots of fish and eels, and 1 white tipped reef shark resting under a ledge. The whale songs were so loud during this dive I routinely peered into the deep ocean expecting to see a whale or two cruising by but I never did see any underwater.
Dive #9, Koko Craters. This was our 4th dive of the day so we did a shallow "reef" dive. Vis was barely 30' and the reef was badly damaged. In spite of this, I did manage to capture a decent photo of a male Spotted Trunkfish which took alot of time and a lot of patience (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48332/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
Day 5, March 4th
Dive #10, Sea Tiger wreck. Deep dive with a max depth recorded at 123'. It was obviously a nice wreck but with vis at barely 30', I was fairly disappointed. Had vis been around 100' this would be an awesome dive. Great swim throughs, lots of diversity. A single spotted eagle ray cruised around the perimeter of the ship but vis was too poor to get a photo.
Dive #11, Baby Barge. This was a nice, smaller wreck with nice swim throughs and more life than seen at New Barge. Several turtles and a pair of large eels mostly exposed under a nearby ledge. Vis was around 50' or so.
Day 6, March 5th
Dive #12, Spitting Cave. Back out to the Lanai Point area. Considered a wall dive but the slope was pretty mild. Lots of eels, a couple Devil Scorpionfish, and a Frogfish. Not as nice a dive as Sea Cave - many, many fishing weights litter the sea floor.
Dive #13, Anglers Reef. Our customary shallow 2nd dive. Nice litle reef, lots of fish and more eels than anywhere else. Saw Whitemouth Morays, Yellowmargin Morays, a Stout Moray, an Undulated Moray, a Giant Moray, and even an elusive Tiger Moray. Pretty cool stuff!
Dive #14, Fantasy Reef. Went along with a student during his checkout dive. Three times at this site is one time too many. Everything was quite familiar by now, even at <40' vis..
Dive #15, Hawaii Loa.
Shallow horseshoe shaped reef. Finally, reasonably good vis at ~70'. Interesting topography. One rather young turtle (~12" dia): http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48343/cat/500/ppuser/35608
Heard whales singing again for the first time in seeveral dives. On boat ride back to the marina, watched a mother whale and her calf breaching the surface in reletively shallow water.
Day 7, March 6th
Dive #16, ??? (can not remember the name of the site). Good vis. but not very memorable.
Dive #17, LST wreck. 100' vis, now were talking! This ship is resting upside down and my max depth was 91'. Observed and photographed 1 White Tipped Reef shark that was lounging inside of the wreck. Lots of eels in nearby cement piling debris field. Listened to whale songs not too far off in the distance.
Dive #18, Koko Craters (twilight/night dive). Wanted to dive Anglers Reef but vis. was less than 30' so we tried Koko Craters. Vis was a good 80' to start the dive but dropped significantly less than half way into the dive. Did not see very much activity on this badly damaged reef. Sure wish the vis had been good at Anglers...
Day 8, March 7th
Dive #19, The Corsair plane wreck (2nd time). With 100'+ visabilty, we returned to the Corsair. I personally wanted to go back to the Sea Tiger but was out voted by a count of 3-to-1. Bummer. Anyway, the photo op was certainly better this time and I was able to lay on the sea floor out away from the plane and watch thousands of Garden Eels slowly appear from their hideaways. Very nice.
Dive #20, Baboons Nose. Back to the Lanai Point area for our last wall dive of the trip. The topography certainly lends itself to large palagics cruising past the wall but we did not see any during our dive. Several turtles and eels and as each of our dives in this area before, loud whale songs for our listening pleasure.
Dive #21, Baby Barge. Back to this wreck but this time we only breifly visited the wreck before cruising along the terrace style reef structure that extends away from the wreck. Lots of turtles. Found a couple White Tipped Reef sharks in a cavern where I captured some video as they "paced" back and forth.
Dive #22, Turtle Canyon. With our nitrogen loading really high, we made our last dive of the trip at Turtle Canyon where we never exceeded a depth of 37'. Vis started out at 60' but steadily decreased to around 20'. Since vis was not that good half way into the dive I spent alot of time looking at macro life subjects but while peering up at one point, I found my self looking straight at a Hammerhead shark a mere 15' or so away. He was emerging from the "soup" and caught me off guard. By the time I realized what I was seeing, and by the time the shark decided that I was of no interest (I think), he turned and disappeared back into the darkness. WOW - what a heart pumping event that was. Had the vis been good I probably would have followed him at a distance but as poor as vis was, I decided to get my self back to the boat moaring to alert the other divers that were about to ascend to their safety stop. Once topside, they said that my eyes were as big as saucers when I was giving them the underwater symbols for a big Hammerhead shark. What a way to end the dive trip.
Day 9, March 8th
No diving as we were flying out later in the day. Took a drive around the East end of the Island and up to the North shore. From what I could see the scenery was pretty nice but like most of the week, it was pooring rain. Caught the flight out with no issues. Arrived in Portland the next morning where we were welcomed by snow. Boy do I miss Hawaii already, rain and all...
Aloha,
Ray
Great overall dive trip to Oahu. It rained almost every day on the island but most of my time was spent on and under the water so other than some reduced visability - no worries!!!
Day 1, February 28th:
Flight from Portland, OR to Honolulu (delayed 4 hrs)
Dive Operator: Reef Pirates Diving, located in Hawaii Kai
Reef Pirates caters to all levels of divers but for a couple of die-hard advanced divers like Chris and I, this operator really fit our needs. They have the fastest boat around and only take out a maximum number of 6 divers at any time. The hard bottom Zodiac with twin 150HP outboards is a blast to speed around in.
Day 2, March 1st (late start after such a late arrival):
Dive #1, The YO-257 and the San Pedro wrecks. Vis was <50' and the current was wicked strong at about 4 knots. Pretty cool ship - sure wish vis had been better. I did take 1 interesting photo of Chris looking up at a turtle as it cruised over the YO (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48304/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
I have delt with some pretty significant currents in the Pacific Northwest but I sure did not expect anything like this in a popular diving spot off of Oahu. Due to the wildly strong current, no more dives today.
Day 3, March 2nd
Dive #2, Kahala Barge wreck. Strong Makapu current again. Convinced DM to execute as a drift dive which worked much better. Vis was <45'. Did not see much on or around this wreck. Did hear whale songs in the distance - quite a nice addition to the underwater atmosphere.
Dive #3, Fantasy Reef. Shallower "reef" dive, pretty nice, lots of fish, several eels, found 2 different octopus. The first octopus was very curious and when it emerged from it's puka, it was very clingy - first on the DM's hand, then arm, then head. Here is just 1 of several photos:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48306/cat/500/ppuser/35608
The 2nd octopus was quite small as seen in this photo where it is clinging to my hand (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48331/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
Once again we could hear whales "singing" in the background throughout much of the dive - cool!
Dive #4, New Barge wreck. We dove this as a drift dive which again worked well with the strong current. Next to the ship there was an obvious cleaning station where I witnessed 2 large sea turtles getting the once over by a variety of fish. I took several photos but this one tells the story pretty clearly: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48308/cat/500/ppuser/35608
Again, whale songs in the background.
Dive #5, a "secret site" that I will call TandT. We did a drift dive across a large area with cement pilings and tires, which is obviously intended to be an artificial reef. There were many, many fish and a couple eels but nothing else of interest. More whale songs...
Day 4, March 3rd
Dive #6, The Corsair plane wreck. Reletively deep dive with a maximum depth of 107' registered on my computer. Vis was only so-so at <45' so photography was severely impacted. This photo gives some perspective to the plane, it's size, and the vis: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48328/cat/500/ppuser/35608
And yet again, whale songs...
Dive #7, Fantasy Reef (2nd time). We enjoyed this site enough the first time to make a 2nd trip since we needed a shallow dive any way. We rode a mild current across the site, playing with Damsel fish guarding thier territories and checking out numerous eels along the way. Very relaxing dive.
Dive #8, Sea Cave. We headed over to the base of Lanai Point for a wall dive and to check out the Sea Cave dive site. Vis was ~40'. The sloping wall was quite interesting with some nice coral outcroppings, lots of fish and eels, and 1 white tipped reef shark resting under a ledge. The whale songs were so loud during this dive I routinely peered into the deep ocean expecting to see a whale or two cruising by but I never did see any underwater.
Dive #9, Koko Craters. This was our 4th dive of the day so we did a shallow "reef" dive. Vis was barely 30' and the reef was badly damaged. In spite of this, I did manage to capture a decent photo of a male Spotted Trunkfish which took alot of time and a lot of patience (http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48332/cat/500/ppuser/35608)
Day 5, March 4th
Dive #10, Sea Tiger wreck. Deep dive with a max depth recorded at 123'. It was obviously a nice wreck but with vis at barely 30', I was fairly disappointed. Had vis been around 100' this would be an awesome dive. Great swim throughs, lots of diversity. A single spotted eagle ray cruised around the perimeter of the ship but vis was too poor to get a photo.
Dive #11, Baby Barge. This was a nice, smaller wreck with nice swim throughs and more life than seen at New Barge. Several turtles and a pair of large eels mostly exposed under a nearby ledge. Vis was around 50' or so.
Day 6, March 5th
Dive #12, Spitting Cave. Back out to the Lanai Point area. Considered a wall dive but the slope was pretty mild. Lots of eels, a couple Devil Scorpionfish, and a Frogfish. Not as nice a dive as Sea Cave - many, many fishing weights litter the sea floor.
Dive #13, Anglers Reef. Our customary shallow 2nd dive. Nice litle reef, lots of fish and more eels than anywhere else. Saw Whitemouth Morays, Yellowmargin Morays, a Stout Moray, an Undulated Moray, a Giant Moray, and even an elusive Tiger Moray. Pretty cool stuff!
Dive #14, Fantasy Reef. Went along with a student during his checkout dive. Three times at this site is one time too many. Everything was quite familiar by now, even at <40' vis..
Dive #15, Hawaii Loa.
Shallow horseshoe shaped reef. Finally, reasonably good vis at ~70'. Interesting topography. One rather young turtle (~12" dia): http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/48343/cat/500/ppuser/35608
Heard whales singing again for the first time in seeveral dives. On boat ride back to the marina, watched a mother whale and her calf breaching the surface in reletively shallow water.
Day 7, March 6th
Dive #16, ??? (can not remember the name of the site). Good vis. but not very memorable.
Dive #17, LST wreck. 100' vis, now were talking! This ship is resting upside down and my max depth was 91'. Observed and photographed 1 White Tipped Reef shark that was lounging inside of the wreck. Lots of eels in nearby cement piling debris field. Listened to whale songs not too far off in the distance.
Dive #18, Koko Craters (twilight/night dive). Wanted to dive Anglers Reef but vis. was less than 30' so we tried Koko Craters. Vis was a good 80' to start the dive but dropped significantly less than half way into the dive. Did not see very much activity on this badly damaged reef. Sure wish the vis had been good at Anglers...
Day 8, March 7th
Dive #19, The Corsair plane wreck (2nd time). With 100'+ visabilty, we returned to the Corsair. I personally wanted to go back to the Sea Tiger but was out voted by a count of 3-to-1. Bummer. Anyway, the photo op was certainly better this time and I was able to lay on the sea floor out away from the plane and watch thousands of Garden Eels slowly appear from their hideaways. Very nice.
Dive #20, Baboons Nose. Back to the Lanai Point area for our last wall dive of the trip. The topography certainly lends itself to large palagics cruising past the wall but we did not see any during our dive. Several turtles and eels and as each of our dives in this area before, loud whale songs for our listening pleasure.
Dive #21, Baby Barge. Back to this wreck but this time we only breifly visited the wreck before cruising along the terrace style reef structure that extends away from the wreck. Lots of turtles. Found a couple White Tipped Reef sharks in a cavern where I captured some video as they "paced" back and forth.
Dive #22, Turtle Canyon. With our nitrogen loading really high, we made our last dive of the trip at Turtle Canyon where we never exceeded a depth of 37'. Vis started out at 60' but steadily decreased to around 20'. Since vis was not that good half way into the dive I spent alot of time looking at macro life subjects but while peering up at one point, I found my self looking straight at a Hammerhead shark a mere 15' or so away. He was emerging from the "soup" and caught me off guard. By the time I realized what I was seeing, and by the time the shark decided that I was of no interest (I think), he turned and disappeared back into the darkness. WOW - what a heart pumping event that was. Had the vis been good I probably would have followed him at a distance but as poor as vis was, I decided to get my self back to the boat moaring to alert the other divers that were about to ascend to their safety stop. Once topside, they said that my eyes were as big as saucers when I was giving them the underwater symbols for a big Hammerhead shark. What a way to end the dive trip.
Day 9, March 8th
No diving as we were flying out later in the day. Took a drive around the East end of the Island and up to the North shore. From what I could see the scenery was pretty nice but like most of the week, it was pooring rain. Caught the flight out with no issues. Arrived in Portland the next morning where we were welcomed by snow. Boy do I miss Hawaii already, rain and all...
Aloha,
Ray
