Diving/Snorkeling

Starfish Date 20100711.0900 D1:

Surf Forecast called for choppy conditions on both East and West sides of Hawai'i today. We decided to go for a drive to check out Diving conditions at End of Road Puako.

It was Fantastic!!!!! It was in just the right position to be sheltered from the brunt of the wind, surf and surge. Although the water wasn't as clear as we have seen it, it was better by far than I was expecting. Almost no noticeable surge either, unless you held still enough for a few minutes and made conscious note of it.

We decided to go south today, and it turned up a new specie or two of Marine life. Due to the lack of surge, I got to enjoy the dive more instead of fighting to keep my position while I was looking at one bit of coral or another. Realizing that without a camera the dive is much more relaxed for me; but oh, the pictures I do not get...

Like the Garden eels at about 60': 'Thick Cotton Ropes' AND Summer Diving as well as Stout Moray posted by Darkerview.com.

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I work at a pre-school ... Well ... In a round-about way, that is... We do try to teach the children to "share" ... Sometimes, maybe they get a little "carried away"?!?!? It's still the best job I can remember working in my experience!

Continuing recovery from an unknown-not-before-dealt-with virus that my immune system was not prepared for, I remained at home while Andy packed up his gear and headed for Puako End of Road dive site

While Andy and others were diving; and I, not having any new underwater photos to post my "WAAAAH" around, watched my favorite prime time shows online and found this video! ... Then linked to this video.

Since none of our usual group had "Slingshots", I sure am GLAD that Andy and our diving group buddies only encountered a few Reef Sharks on their Sunday dive without me... ...


This way to "Disclaimers, propaganda, and defense pitches" -->>>>

Thank you, Kirk, for sending us this photo!

Another new dive spot that we checked out on November 14, 2009. The Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area. We met several friends from Keck that have formed our usual dive group at the end of the old runway (I am sure that we would welcome more divers to go with us). I scoped out the available facilities and noted fresh water showers as well as restrooms that were very conveniently close to the point of the beach where we chose to make our entry. A wonderfully unexpected surprise.

There are two detailed postings at Darkerview.com: "Diving the Old Kona Airport" and "Diving with the Canon G11" including some great photos from the dive. I will try not to reiterate too much of what Andy already posted; and I will certainly post some photos that he has not posted

The entry was a bit slow and cautious with a very rock covered 'floor'; but there was little to no sand around to get in the gear before we entered the water.

The strong surge made it difficult to put on my fins; but with Andy's help, I was geared up and we were on our way. Now we traverse the strong waves while surface swimming to the part of the reef where we wanted to start the dive. Once we submerged, it was very nice and reasonably calm. Only a hint of the strong surge that was on the surface.

The water temperature was brisk when we first got our feet wet; and when we reached the bottom, it was warm enough for much longer than I had anticipated. This made for a long (66 minutes), very enjoyable dive! The Coral structures were very intriguing as we noted soft corals and corals in shapes like mushrooms, and huts as well as the occasional large piece that resembled dinner vegetables! I will be happy to go diving here again!

You bet we will be there!!!!! Since Andy recently found that his camera went for a solo dive expedition without him, he is using my camera for underwater again. That being said, the diving pictures will be his for a while and you can enjoy them on his site at Darkerview.com until I get any posted myself from his collection or I get my camera back

The call came from Blue Wilderness Dive Adventures early in the week to ask if we are interested in helping with the coastal clean-up efforts on Saturday, September 12, 2009. We checked our calendars and responded with a 'Yes!' "Super! Meet us at the Puako boat launch at 7:00am on September 12, 2009!" I must be crazy about diving AND crazy about keeping our waters as clean as we are able? Hmmm...Yep, I am definitely crazy about both of those activities! It is great when they are put together!

We shuttled out to the point at Puako; and 'splash', in we went. We gridded several areas at a decent distance from shore over the reef, and happily found nothing to tote back to the boat. We worked our way in closer and closer to shore, remaining alert to our proximity to a rocky shore in strong surge conditions. Then we began to find the fishing line, and a lot of it off of a popular fishing point. There were many jagged points and crevices that could hang on to a fishing hook or that the smart fish could tangle it around and break free.

A collection of our photographs and video clips to take you diving...at least a virtual experience:

On the Reef from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo.

Yep! Four-Wheel Diving on May 31, 2009 along the North Kohala Coast on the Big Island!

Okay. Maybe the vehicles didn't get wet; but it was quite the road to get to the dive site! Will we make it back up after we have exhausted ourselves in the dive?

Everyone in today's group meets at Kohala Divers at 9:30am and we caravan up the Kohala Coast from there to find our dive spot for today. We're all here! We gather some suggestions from the dive shop personnel and we're off!

Check out one possible: Mmmm...NOPE. Check out next possible: Bump, thump...Mmmm...YIKES! No way! Check out third possible: Watch that first bit off the highway ... umph ... bump ... ka-thump ... Hmmm ... this looks passable. Uh, oh ... didn't see that one coming ... well, hmmm, hey, it wasn't that bad ... Hooray, we are almost there! Ummmm ... how do we get down THAT? Ah ha, there it is ... Whew ... we made it! This is p r e t t y! WOW! Let's gear up and go diving!

FIRST, we scout the area to get familiar with our surroundings and to find the best path of entry that is safest for marine life and for us! Okay, now let's gear up and go diving! Slippery entry where the rocks have a thin layer of alga; but take it slow, one step at a time and the entry is fairly easy. Hmmm, the water is warming up as we move into summer. A little murky close into shore; but looks promising out a bit further on the reef - way out from shore.

Oooooh! Now that is a pod of dolphins - spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris longirostris) that is! My camera was not ready But Andy's was! Check out his Blog entry at DarkerView.com!

Underwater Photography and Fish Identification (AWARE) Dives: our last two dives for our Advanced Open Water (AOW) Certifications are complete through Blue Wilderness Dive Adventures at the Waikoloa Queens' Market Place on Hawaii! We will get our new cards within 90 days

Yikes...we are now AOW Certified! Maybe the next step, after a while, is the "Search and Recovery Diver" dive to see if we can recover the weight pouch that dropped out of my BCD on our Fish ID Dive, the second dive; although, I did better on my air supply on both dives! All-in-all, the whole day was great!

The first dive was our Underwater Photography Dive at Kei Kei Caverns (Horseshoe), Kawaihae Coast, Hawaii. The initial entry was brisk, as it always is this time of year; but once in, it was very nice! I FINALLY heard whale song and it was very melodic and lulling, not to mention Fantastic! However, I was not going to be distracted from the purpose of this dive so I took many photos and a few video clips. Several of my photos are quite decent regardless of my inexperience due to Andy having used the camera on previous dives before the second camera was acquired. It is nice that we both have one now!

Even though the visibility was only about 40 feet, it was a very good dive and there was a lot to see that seemed new since I was viewing it through a photographer's eyes. The dive site was nice, too; although, it is not at the top of my favorites list.

G_O_R_G_E_O_U_S__DAY_ for a dive with friends at Mahukona on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii!

The weather and conditions were near perfect; and the water soooo clear! The trade winds have pretty much cleared the Vog from the Kohala Coast, the temperatures are in the mid-70's and the water is near flat.
Our timing was a little off due to our arrival at almost low tide which only makes the entry/exit a little more challenging since the water is not at dock level; but that did not effect the end result; an excellent dive and I get to have a camera of my own now as well!

Even though the water was quite brisk on entry, I still did not turn away; and after I had been in for a while, it was a very comfortable temperature and then I did not want to get out quickly. This harbor is a great dive spot especially for a relaxed dive just for fun and with friends, it is even better!

We continue our Advanced Open Water (AOW) Certification with a Night Dive at Puako

We descended to about 65 feet to see if the Garden eels were out. They were not but we saw plenty of other ocean night life while our air held out. A Regal slipper lobster, an Eel about 6 six feet long swam around us while we were in a cave and gave us quite a show! As you can see by my picture of the Yellow Tang, there was A LOT of plankton and little worms.

Two more dives to complete (Underwater Photography and Fish ID) and we have our AOW Certifications! Now, if the 'colds' would just quit catching up with me



My Photography and Fish ID dives should have plenty of photos to share when I ever get to complete them

We completed our Bookwork review and quizzing a couple of weekends earlier so Saturday, November 22, 2008, was a day for getting in over our heads and putting two dives for our Advanced Open Water Scuba Certification under our belts

Yes, we completed our Deep Water and Underwater Navigation Dives with Blue Wilderness Dive Adventures Corp. in the Waikoloa Queen's Market Place on the Big Island. Note that Blue Wilderness has recently moved from Kamuela to Waikoloa Queen's Market Place and will be updating their website. Until then, you can call them at their new number: 808-886-0980 to arrange a fun-fllled day or night out on the waters of the Kohala coast!

We are taught in our initial Open Water certification to do our deepest dive first so we didn't have to ask which dive we would do first today. So knowing it would be the Deep Dive first, we went to Ulua Caverns. A beautiful coral, sand and rock terrain and my max depth indicated that I got as deep as 116 feet as I kept an eye on my gages. Although this dive is to test how my body will deal with the greater depth, I didn't feel any issues of Nitrogen Narcosis; but my breathing was less than ideal and I dipped my tank away too quickly - well, at least I didn't hold my breath.

Guess I need to work on the other often heavily encouraged piece of Scuba diving and get myself back in good physical condition. Aerobics here I come! Plus, I need to keep my mind on my conservative breathing while, not instead of, gazing at all the underwater visions. And even at those depths, there were a lot of things to see! I was pleasantly surprised; although, the colors were severely lacking in reds and pictures are hard to 'salvage' to make them decent if you can not get close enough for the flash to do its job. For this reason, I prefer the depths above 60 feet.

So that's where all my 'White Out' went! Oh...no...wait...We actually found this one on our dive at Mahukona Bay when we went for a dive to check out the ship wreck there.