On Wake Island, Living in Hawaii

[Minus21]

Hello Everybody!
I just completed my PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water Courses on Wake Island. I am in the Army and located here at Wake Island for a short period of time, before I go back to my home in Hawaii. I have a couple of priorities from here; 1. Accumulate gear starting with good fins, snorkel and wet suit 2. Obtain a specialty in Photography Diving and potentially Night Diving 3. Find a list of good places/buddies to support my diving when my stint in Hawaii is over and I go back to Houston Texas. I openly welcome suggestions in all three of these areas by the way, especially the diving recommendations in Houston Texas. I don't want to be one of those guys that dives because he is in Hawaii, and doesn't do it anywhere else. I gotta say, I really am enjoying diving. Thanks in advance!

 

[Doubler]

How is diving in "The Alamo of the Pacific"?

There are plenty of good fins out there, Aeris X3, Scubapro Jets and so on. It depends on your preference, I personally hate split fins others love them. You'll get lots of opinions. Get what make you comfortable.

 

[WetBoy101]

Are you coming home to the Big Island?

 

[Sharkbait7]

In Houston, the best diving is probably Mammoth lake (google it, it's a pretty interesting place), although there are a couple of dive parks in the area. Windy point at Lake Travis is also great. Fun place full of nice people and some giant friendly catfish.

 

[Minus21]

Yes, I am coming home to Hawaii, but oahu is where I live. Wake Island diving, so I'm told as it is the only place I've been diving, is 5-star. Every dive I've been on has been 75-150ft vis and full of bright fish, a shark once, huge bump-head parrots eels etc..... Just today I dove a WWII Japanese shipwreck that was sunk during the battle for Wake Island. Pretty incredible!! If you ever have a chance to go for some reason (probably have to be military or military contractor) definitely go, but don't stay too long, this island is small and will make you rip out your hair if you are here for too long!! Sharkbait7....Thanks for the tips!!! I'm going to look those places up. I hope there are some good opportunities to dive in Texas, because I plan on doing as much as I can!!

 

[Sharkbait7]

Minus21, I also strongly recommend volunteering at the Houston Downtown Aquarium. Few people know that you can volunteer to dive events or to clean there, last I checked, they needed divers. We are volunteers at the Texas State Aquarium here in Corpus, and its awesome! The fish are tame and love to interact with the divers, this makes for some really special experiences.

 

[PECO]

Minus21, I also strongly recommend volunteering at the Houston Downtown Aquarium. Few people know that you can volunteer to dive events or to clean there, last I checked, they needed divers. We are volunteers at the Texas State Aquarium here in Corpus, and its awesome! The fish are tame and love to interact with the divers, this makes for some really special experiences.

I like to participate on the events, can you give me an ideas on how to register as a volunteer?

 

[Sharkbait7]

PECO, Just as simple as calling them will get you started. They are going to require a physical and a copy of your dive card and that should be it.

 

[Minus21]

Awesome!! Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely look into it when I finally get over there.

 

[C Payne]

You may be just the person to help me! I too am from Houston and hoping you can help out a fellow Texan!

My husband is a diver and a commercial airline pilot. Several years back he flew a chartered trip of military soldiers to Wake Island and got a Wake Island dive tshirt. It's his favorite in his collection, but desparately needs replaced! I thought it would be simple to go online and order one as a surprise, but no luck!

Any suggestions as to who I might try contacting for a Wake Island diving tshirt?

Appreciate your help!