Jaye and I went to Kona over Christmas and New Years. Spent a week on the Kona Aggressor (KAII) and the balance of the time bopping around western and southern Hawaii. We had a great trip. I've been trying to get us here on this trip for 2 previous Christmas holidays, but things didn't work out. All you locals and all you SB'ers that offered tons of tips and recommendations - they were all priceless. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
The Boat
The KAII is tired. Our room had mites in the sink the whole trip. The AirCo in our room didn’t work (read: 79 – 80 degrees all day and all night until 4:00 AM when it finally got cool enough to shut the door), the BBQ up top didn’t work, the hot tub up top didn’t work. The boat is tired. Its clean, but its tired. The camera table has 6 outlets… you've got to be kidding me. We had 10 people on the boat – 5 SLR photographers - that's a LOT of adapters and batts to plug in. 2 of us brought our own AC strips (thankfully.) This boat needs a re-think. Its a nice set up, very dive friendly. Actually, seriously dive friendly. Well laid out. Its just tired.
The Boat Trip
The dive plans were solid. Under the circumstances (pounding surf, tons of surge, difficult mooring at prime sites, etc.) the capt'n and crew did the best they could. We were pretty flexible, and they did a great job hunting for and putting us into dive sites that were as safe as could be.
The meals were excellent. Very pleased with the food.
The crew made the trip. Cap’t Jeff was great. The rest of the crew (6 total) were accommodating and attentive. They made the boat trip very special for us.
I did get to shoot maybe a thousand shots with the new rig. I learned so much. That was one of the best parts of the trip. Day by day I could see my shooting adjusting and getting better and better. Picking better subjects, better lens selection, better settings, etc.
Your Nudis are friggen huge. There's not a lot of them, but they're big.
Turtle cleaning stations also rock.
The other guests were nice, and during daylight hours were fun and engaging. At 45 and 40-something, me and Jaye are no spring chickens. We were the youngest guests on the boat. By 9:30 every night, I was the last one on the deck. Me, usually Jaye and some of the crew, basically. This was not a group of party Vikings. I was the only one on the boat to do all dives.
We ended up taking our 7mm suits – glad we did. At the last minute I traded the 3mm for the 7mm, and it was the right decision. I killed an 18W HID bulb on this trip… that stings.
The dive guides were OK. Some were competent and motivated, some not so much. It was an interesting mix, as you’d expect over a holiday such as this. Overall, it was good.
The diving was disappointing. Apart from the rough seas, and the fact we had to cancel 5 of the dives – the bottom line is Kona diving just isn’t that great. Miles of gray hard coral with some sand. Some lava in the mix. Its all about the fish. And there were lots of them. The fish were wonderful, but the topography and landscapes and invert life was disappointing.
The whole Kona Aggressor wasn’t what I was hoping for. It was a fun trip, but on a 1 – 10, it was about a 6. I was looking for better diving, more interesting sites, a better boat, more lively guests and a better time. Other Aggressor trips are probably more enjoyable, as the Kona trip probably pulls an older crowd, etc. It was fun, but I don’t need to do the KAII again.
The Rest Of The Trip
I've only been to Oahu. In 97 me and some friends did a tour (Music) there - had a beach house for 7 days, played all over, etc. It was great. Got to Hilo for a day then, but never seen the rest of the Big Island.
Kona is so mellow. Pounding surf while we were there. Jaye and I spent days in Kailua just walking around. It was so mellow and relaxing - the shops, the farmers market, the museums and churches and sites to see there during the day. Nights at Huggos on the rocks, Torchys, LuLu’s and all that rot. Mornings at Island Lava Java, days on the beach. We drove to South Point and watched the freaks shore fishing for Marlin and Tuna. We drove to K-Bay and hung around and just loved on that place too.
New Years in Kailua was a little nuts. In a very, very good way.
We spent a day and a half in Volcanoes and stayed at Volcano House (I love that place.) We spent time in Hilo (remember the movie “PleasantVille”? Your there in Hilo…
Someone dropped 1950’s small town USA into a jungle paradise. I love Hilo.
We concluded the trip with a drive over the Saddle road and a 7 hour tour to the top of Mauna Kea for sunset, then an a hot chocolate star party at 9400 feet. What a great night.
A zillion pictures, lots of fun. I loved this trip. The diving was a bit of a let down, but the boat trip was fun, the people were great and we loved the Big Island.
Back To My Real World
When we got back (10:30 Tuesday night), I turned around on Wed first Am and flew to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (business… for a week. Oy. Whiplash from a mellow Big Island to Vegas bright lights.
Home again. Diving SoCal a couple of times this week has been great. Weird getting back into the Drysuit. Forgot the inflator hose (of course) the first time out. Redondo Canyon was 54 last night at 85 FSW… a little cooler than my night dives in Kona.
It is good to be home. But I'm smitten with Kailua Kona.
The Boat
The KAII is tired. Our room had mites in the sink the whole trip. The AirCo in our room didn’t work (read: 79 – 80 degrees all day and all night until 4:00 AM when it finally got cool enough to shut the door), the BBQ up top didn’t work, the hot tub up top didn’t work. The boat is tired. Its clean, but its tired. The camera table has 6 outlets… you've got to be kidding me. We had 10 people on the boat – 5 SLR photographers - that's a LOT of adapters and batts to plug in. 2 of us brought our own AC strips (thankfully.) This boat needs a re-think. Its a nice set up, very dive friendly. Actually, seriously dive friendly. Well laid out. Its just tired.
The Boat Trip
The dive plans were solid. Under the circumstances (pounding surf, tons of surge, difficult mooring at prime sites, etc.) the capt'n and crew did the best they could. We were pretty flexible, and they did a great job hunting for and putting us into dive sites that were as safe as could be.
The meals were excellent. Very pleased with the food.
The crew made the trip. Cap’t Jeff was great. The rest of the crew (6 total) were accommodating and attentive. They made the boat trip very special for us.
I did get to shoot maybe a thousand shots with the new rig. I learned so much. That was one of the best parts of the trip. Day by day I could see my shooting adjusting and getting better and better. Picking better subjects, better lens selection, better settings, etc.
Your Nudis are friggen huge. There's not a lot of them, but they're big.
Turtle cleaning stations also rock.
The other guests were nice, and during daylight hours were fun and engaging. At 45 and 40-something, me and Jaye are no spring chickens. We were the youngest guests on the boat. By 9:30 every night, I was the last one on the deck. Me, usually Jaye and some of the crew, basically. This was not a group of party Vikings. I was the only one on the boat to do all dives.
We ended up taking our 7mm suits – glad we did. At the last minute I traded the 3mm for the 7mm, and it was the right decision. I killed an 18W HID bulb on this trip… that stings.
The dive guides were OK. Some were competent and motivated, some not so much. It was an interesting mix, as you’d expect over a holiday such as this. Overall, it was good.
The diving was disappointing. Apart from the rough seas, and the fact we had to cancel 5 of the dives – the bottom line is Kona diving just isn’t that great. Miles of gray hard coral with some sand. Some lava in the mix. Its all about the fish. And there were lots of them. The fish were wonderful, but the topography and landscapes and invert life was disappointing.
The whole Kona Aggressor wasn’t what I was hoping for. It was a fun trip, but on a 1 – 10, it was about a 6. I was looking for better diving, more interesting sites, a better boat, more lively guests and a better time. Other Aggressor trips are probably more enjoyable, as the Kona trip probably pulls an older crowd, etc. It was fun, but I don’t need to do the KAII again.
The Rest Of The Trip
I've only been to Oahu. In 97 me and some friends did a tour (Music) there - had a beach house for 7 days, played all over, etc. It was great. Got to Hilo for a day then, but never seen the rest of the Big Island.
Kona is so mellow. Pounding surf while we were there. Jaye and I spent days in Kailua just walking around. It was so mellow and relaxing - the shops, the farmers market, the museums and churches and sites to see there during the day. Nights at Huggos on the rocks, Torchys, LuLu’s and all that rot. Mornings at Island Lava Java, days on the beach. We drove to South Point and watched the freaks shore fishing for Marlin and Tuna. We drove to K-Bay and hung around and just loved on that place too.
New Years in Kailua was a little nuts. In a very, very good way.
We spent a day and a half in Volcanoes and stayed at Volcano House (I love that place.) We spent time in Hilo (remember the movie “PleasantVille”? Your there in Hilo…
Someone dropped 1950’s small town USA into a jungle paradise. I love Hilo.We concluded the trip with a drive over the Saddle road and a 7 hour tour to the top of Mauna Kea for sunset, then an a hot chocolate star party at 9400 feet. What a great night.
A zillion pictures, lots of fun. I loved this trip. The diving was a bit of a let down, but the boat trip was fun, the people were great and we loved the Big Island.
Back To My Real World
When we got back (10:30 Tuesday night), I turned around on Wed first Am and flew to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (business…
for a week. Oy. Whiplash from a mellow Big Island to Vegas bright lights. Home again. Diving SoCal a couple of times this week has been great. Weird getting back into the Drysuit. Forgot the inflator hose (of course) the first time out. Redondo Canyon was 54 last night at 85 FSW… a little cooler than my night dives in Kona.
It is good to be home. But I'm smitten with Kailua Kona.
