The coolest thing you ever saw on a dive?

[Papa_Bear]

1. 16ft Great White a few feet below me at Tolcot Shoals!
2. California Gray Whale at County Line. (LA/Ventura)
3. 14ft Tiger Shark in Beqa Lagoon Fiji.
4. 12ft Great Hammerhead at Pinnacles Little San Salvador Bahamas.
5. Pod of wild Dolphins Cozumel. (Being surrounded)
6. Pod of Pilot Whales Little San Salvador
7. 3 Bull Sharks within 2ft at Pacific Harbor Fiji.
8. Goliath Grouper Pacific Harbor Fiji.
9. Giant Sea salp Bahamas.
10. Giant Bait ball at Light House Atoll Belize.
11. Whale Sharks Bay of LA Baja Mex.

Sorry these are my top 11 and some are so close it is impossible to define except in this close order! I am so lucky to have spent 38 years under the sea!

As far as Hawaii I am working on surveying one of King Kamehameha war Sloops that sank in 1797 off Kauai! Hope to have more pictures of it soon.

 

[Bronson]

Jumped off the back of the boat and was greated by a Whale Shark20 feet in Indonesia waters...pretty cool. Or maybe seals playing with us in off Galapogos ....or maybe the school of hammerheads off Sipadan Island...but most of all the next critter i see on my next dive. Love the critters no matter big or small.

 

[wader]

Wow! Lots of great stories and will be in Kona over spring break. My wife and I were in Roatan a few years back and did the shark dive at Cara Cara. Because of a slight warming trend at the time (+1.5 degree) the sharks went down to 200 feet or lower. Our dive guide said no matter and led us on a tour of the pinnacle. It was just the three of us since others did not want to waste their time with no sharks. There is a resident moray there that comes out to feed on the scraps left from the sharks. The DM pulled this rather large eel (about as big as my thigh) into his side and motioned for us to pet it, which we gladly did. I was amazed at the butter soft texture of his skin. It was a great dive with grouper and many other fish. We could see the sharks circling well below us. If you get a chance, this is a great dive, sharks or not.

 

[Thalassamania]

We went back to Ho'okena the next week and were able to repeat almost the same experience, but we went back yesterday (3rd time now) and no joy.

 

[crd_kats]

We went back to Ho'okena the next week and were able to repeat almost the same experience, but we went back yesterday (3 rd time now) and no joy.

Thal, your experiences were the best read. Thanks for sharing.

The coolest thing I ever saw was on my first night dive in Cozumel. There were fourteen of us hovering over my instructor who was "petting" an octopus and watching this creatures eyes go half mast (suggesting he was enjoying it ). It was pretty interesting. I decided to hover above the rest as I was a little nervous and a newby diver, not wanting to run into everyone else, so my line of vision was much wider than everyone else's. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an eel come swimming out from the reef and attack the octopus. I can still "see" the mental image of this cloud of sand and silt totally obsuring my instructor's head and shoulders. All you could see were his torso and legs which were kicking like mad!! Once back on the boat, there wasn't a scratch on him. Lucky bastard.

 

[kanonfodr]

Thal, your experiences were the best read. Thanks for sharing.

The coolest thing I ever saw was on my first night dive in Cozumel. There were fourteen of us hovering over my instructor who was "petting" an octopus and watching this creatures eyes go half mast (suggesting he was enjoying it ). It was pretty interesting. I decided to hover above the rest as I was a little nervous and a newby diver, not wanting to run into everyone else, so my line of vision was much wider than everyone else's. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an eel come swimming out from the reef and attack the octopus. I can still "see" the mental image of this cloud of sand and silt totally obsuring my instructor's head and shoulders. All you could see were his torso and legs which were kicking like mad!! Once back on the boat, there wasn't a scratch on him. Lucky bastard.

Wow...that's got to be quite a sight for a newbie diver. I could only imagine my own reaction to something like that. :dropmouth:

Peace,
Greg

 

[Deadhead 63A1]

My first dive in Hawaii was at Sharks Cove on the North Shore. We swam up to a small cave to check it out and out swims a monk seal. He swam around us for a bit then disappeared. We went just inside the entrance to the cave (it was probably only about 10 feet deep) for about two minutes and the seal was waiting for us when we came out. It swam around us for about another minute or so then took off.

I just assumed this was an average dive in Hawaii but in 20 or so dives over the course of my 5 months there I never did see another. Definitely ranks up there in my list of coolest dives.

The shark dive at Cara a Cara in Roatan that someone mentioned previously is definitely my other favorite.

 

[WoodyLompoc]

Sorry, but mine wasn't in HI, it was in the French Mediteranian. It was my twelve year old's (at the time) face when he surfaced after his "Baptism Dive". I will never forget the look on his face when he yelled to his mom on the boat, "It's paradise down there!".