emttim
Contributor
Me and Kathy just wrapped up our last day of diving with Gabe and Drew today. Oh man, whoever said that there isn't much to see diving Hawaii is either on crack or should have booked their trip with Kaimana Divers. We both agree that this is the best diving we've had so far. Here's a general break down. Forgot to mention previously, for those who aren't familiar with where Kaimana Divers is, this trip report is for Oahu.
Btw, here's a legend:
Dive # - Dive Site - Notes
2/24
Dive #1 - Sea Tiger - This is a freighter wreck sitting at about 90-100 feet. About 80' of vis, very well-preserved wreck with lots of fish life around it. Saw sea turtles, green moray eels, spotted boxfish, pennant butterflyfish, Hawaiian sergeants, island goatfish, moorish idol (Gill!), bullethead parrotfish, regal parrotfish, bluestripe snapper, convict tang and pacific trumpetfish. Definitely a great way to start our vacation.
Dive #2 - Turtle Canyon - As Drew rightly said, this is one of those dive sites that actually has (a lot) what it's named after. I think we saw like a dozen sea turtles on this dive. We even saw a spotted eagle ray at one point. About 40' of vis, the reef itself was 40-60 feet deep. For fish, we saw basically the same species as we did on the first dive. I think part of this is because I was too lazy to try to remember any other species I might have seen but eh well what can you do.
Dive #3 - Turtle Canyon - We did 4 dives in one day, since we were taking the next day off for our wedding (which was at sunset and about as low key as it could have gotten), so we did another dive at the same site. Shockingly, we saw lots of sea turtles again.
plenty of great photo ops, especially since we swam right over one. On this dive, we also found a whitemouth moray in a hole near the anchor line. Also saw a speckled scorpionfish. Vis was about the same.
Dive #4 - Nautilus Reef - This reef had a lot of variety of marine life, including white-tip reef sharks, and was about 40-60' deep with 60' of vis. Drew found us the aforementioned sharks hiding under a reef as well as a leaf scorpionfish later on. The sharks were hard as hell to see but still cool. Also IDed black triggerfish in addition to the other species noted above on this dive.
2/26
Dive #5 - Corsair - This is probably the coolest wreck of the trip. WW2 Corsair that was ditched circa 1960s in the ocean, settling about 107' deep. Vis was 100'...so uh, yeah, could see the wreck the moment we splashed. How's that for vis? Outside the right wing being broken off, it was completely intact. Speaking of the right wing, found an octopus under it, so good times. Mild current, not too bad...saw moorish idol, saddle wrasse, black triggerfish, big longnose butterflyfish, bluestripe snapper, yellow tang, goldring surgeonfish, Hawaiian garden eels (lots of these guys in the sand), yellowfin goatfish and even saw a greater amberjack. Epic wreck dive. Many thanks to Gabe supplying EAN32 so we could stay down for 31 minutes at that depth.
Dive #6 - Fantasy Reef - This reef pretty much lives up to its name. About 60' deep and 60' of vis. This reef was noteworthy for a lot of great coral, and also a little arch you could swim through. For species, saw moorish idol, saddle wrasse, black triggerfish, lei triggerfish, sea turtles, goldring surgeonfish, yellow tang, speckled scorpionfish, convict tang, Indo-Pacific sergeant and ember parrotfish. We also found a fried egg nudibranch, and on the way back, we even saw some humpback whales above water.
2/27
Dive #7 - Mahi - This wreck is in about 80-100' of water and vis was 100'. Pretty cool freighter wreck, few spots on the deck where you could swim through a couple open passageways. Lot of fish life here. The best part was the herd of spotted eagle rays off the port side, about a dozen or so, which was about halfway through the dive. One even broke off and swam right by Kathy for a photo shoot, was fantastic. A lot of the fish species was the same, new IDs were bird wrasse, fourspot butterflyfish, raccoon butterflyfish, pinktail triggerfish and orangeband surgeonfish.
Dive #8 - Makaha Caverns - This site was the most badass reef I've ever seen in my life. Lava tubes, small caverns and arches to swim through, sea turtles, octopus, schools of triggerfish and mackerel...what more could you ask for? About 40-60' deep and 60' of vis. New IDs were milletseed butterflyfish, mackerel scad, wedgetail triggerfish, whitebar surgeonfish, Hawaiian squirrelfish (inside one of the tubes), manybar goatfish and blacklip butterflyfish. Had a great 1+ hour dive on this one.
2/28
Dive #9 - Sea Tiger - We returned to the Sea Tiger for this dive. Vis was about 60' this time. We saw the huge resident sea turtle near the stern this time around and spotted another green moray peeking out of a hole. New IDs were pyramid butterflyfish, yellowfin surgeonfish, ornate butterflyfish, and on the surface, a pod of spinner dolphins. Great dive and nice long bottom time again thanks to nitrox.
Dive #10 - The Pipe - This was a great site for our last dive. For those of you who have dived in Monterey, this is kind of like a tropical version of the Metridium Fields...swim along a pipe, which has lots of life on it, then at the end there's your reef. We did our own thing on this dive, so we could take it slow, since the navigation was so easy. Saw lots of morays on this dive, including a yellowmargined moray, lots of fish, lots of coral and even saw a longspine porcupinefish, a couple Tiger flatworms and a few new fish like the teardrop butterflyfish.
All in all, I'd say Hawaiian diving has me hooked. Since we live in Silicon Valley, the airfare here is ridiculously cheap and the diving kicks the hell out of the Caribbean in a lot of ways. It's nice not having to go through customs. Gabe & Drew run a great dive op...very friendly, very laid-back, helped a lot with picking us up from our hotel room and dropping us off after the dives, picked great boat charters that took us to some awesome dive sites and overall made it a 5-star trip for diving. I can see why everyone on SB recommends them...I do too!
My Dive Logbook
Btw, here's a legend:
Dive # - Dive Site - Notes
2/24
Dive #1 - Sea Tiger - This is a freighter wreck sitting at about 90-100 feet. About 80' of vis, very well-preserved wreck with lots of fish life around it. Saw sea turtles, green moray eels, spotted boxfish, pennant butterflyfish, Hawaiian sergeants, island goatfish, moorish idol (Gill!), bullethead parrotfish, regal parrotfish, bluestripe snapper, convict tang and pacific trumpetfish. Definitely a great way to start our vacation.
Dive #2 - Turtle Canyon - As Drew rightly said, this is one of those dive sites that actually has (a lot) what it's named after. I think we saw like a dozen sea turtles on this dive. We even saw a spotted eagle ray at one point. About 40' of vis, the reef itself was 40-60 feet deep. For fish, we saw basically the same species as we did on the first dive. I think part of this is because I was too lazy to try to remember any other species I might have seen but eh well what can you do.
Dive #3 - Turtle Canyon - We did 4 dives in one day, since we were taking the next day off for our wedding (which was at sunset and about as low key as it could have gotten), so we did another dive at the same site. Shockingly, we saw lots of sea turtles again.
plenty of great photo ops, especially since we swam right over one. On this dive, we also found a whitemouth moray in a hole near the anchor line. Also saw a speckled scorpionfish. Vis was about the same.Dive #4 - Nautilus Reef - This reef had a lot of variety of marine life, including white-tip reef sharks, and was about 40-60' deep with 60' of vis. Drew found us the aforementioned sharks hiding under a reef as well as a leaf scorpionfish later on. The sharks were hard as hell to see but still cool. Also IDed black triggerfish in addition to the other species noted above on this dive.
2/26
Dive #5 - Corsair - This is probably the coolest wreck of the trip. WW2 Corsair that was ditched circa 1960s in the ocean, settling about 107' deep. Vis was 100'...so uh, yeah, could see the wreck the moment we splashed. How's that for vis?
Outside the right wing being broken off, it was completely intact. Speaking of the right wing, found an octopus under it, so good times. Mild current, not too bad...saw moorish idol, saddle wrasse, black triggerfish, big longnose butterflyfish, bluestripe snapper, yellow tang, goldring surgeonfish, Hawaiian garden eels (lots of these guys in the sand), yellowfin goatfish and even saw a greater amberjack. Epic wreck dive. Many thanks to Gabe supplying EAN32 so we could stay down for 31 minutes at that depth.Dive #6 - Fantasy Reef - This reef pretty much lives up to its name. About 60' deep and 60' of vis. This reef was noteworthy for a lot of great coral, and also a little arch you could swim through. For species, saw moorish idol, saddle wrasse, black triggerfish, lei triggerfish, sea turtles, goldring surgeonfish, yellow tang, speckled scorpionfish, convict tang, Indo-Pacific sergeant and ember parrotfish. We also found a fried egg nudibranch, and on the way back, we even saw some humpback whales above water.
2/27
Dive #7 - Mahi - This wreck is in about 80-100' of water and vis was 100'. Pretty cool freighter wreck, few spots on the deck where you could swim through a couple open passageways. Lot of fish life here. The best part was the herd of spotted eagle rays off the port side, about a dozen or so, which was about halfway through the dive. One even broke off and swam right by Kathy for a photo shoot, was fantastic. A lot of the fish species was the same, new IDs were bird wrasse, fourspot butterflyfish, raccoon butterflyfish, pinktail triggerfish and orangeband surgeonfish.
Dive #8 - Makaha Caverns - This site was the most badass reef I've ever seen in my life. Lava tubes, small caverns and arches to swim through, sea turtles, octopus, schools of triggerfish and mackerel...what more could you ask for? About 40-60' deep and 60' of vis. New IDs were milletseed butterflyfish, mackerel scad, wedgetail triggerfish, whitebar surgeonfish, Hawaiian squirrelfish (inside one of the tubes), manybar goatfish and blacklip butterflyfish. Had a great 1+ hour dive on this one.
2/28
Dive #9 - Sea Tiger - We returned to the Sea Tiger for this dive. Vis was about 60' this time. We saw the huge resident sea turtle near the stern this time around and spotted another green moray peeking out of a hole. New IDs were pyramid butterflyfish, yellowfin surgeonfish, ornate butterflyfish, and on the surface, a pod of spinner dolphins. Great dive and nice long bottom time again thanks to nitrox.
Dive #10 - The Pipe - This was a great site for our last dive. For those of you who have dived in Monterey, this is kind of like a tropical version of the Metridium Fields...swim along a pipe, which has lots of life on it, then at the end there's your reef. We did our own thing on this dive, so we could take it slow, since the navigation was so easy. Saw lots of morays on this dive, including a yellowmargined moray, lots of fish, lots of coral and even saw a longspine porcupinefish, a couple Tiger flatworms and a few new fish like the teardrop butterflyfish.
All in all, I'd say Hawaiian diving has me hooked. Since we live in Silicon Valley, the airfare here is ridiculously cheap and the diving kicks the hell out of the Caribbean in a lot of ways. It's nice not having to go through customs. Gabe & Drew run a great dive op...very friendly, very laid-back, helped a lot with picking us up from our hotel room and dropping us off after the dives, picked great boat charters that took us to some awesome dive sites and overall made it a 5-star trip for diving. I can see why everyone on SB recommends them...I do too!
My Dive Logbook
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