Slipper Lobster
Tag: Diving
Postcard from the Reef – Bigeye
Postcard from the Reef – Leaf Scorpionfish
Dave spotted it, what appeared as a piece of debris lying in the coral. A closer look showed this ‘debris’ has fins. It is a Leaf Scorpionfish crouching low in the coral. I have seen a few members of this interesting family lately, often challenging to spot.
A Couple Fellows
Postcard from the Reef – Fine-Spined Urchin
A pretty urchin found in a cave. Apparently this is the rule for these urchins, found under rock and rubble when small, larger individuals found in caves or deep crevices with an active aversion to light. Most urchins move pretty slowly, the motion barely perceptible. This echinoderm was moving, tube feet furiously propelling it along the cave roof as it tried to avoid our lights.
Descending
Some Holiday Diving
Boat dives are always a treat. We generally shore dive, where the only costs are the tank fills and a little gas to drive to the site. Many sites along the Kohala Coast are easily reached from shore. There are a number of great sites that are more difficult to reach, sites for which a boat provides a nice alternative. When going with a dive boat you also have the crew to assist in rigging gear and getting in and out. They also provide drinks, snacks and friendly conversation while you wait through a surface interval between dives. A holiday treat? A mutual Christmas gift? Whatever you want to call it, we booked a dive with Denise and Dave from Blue Wilderness for a day of diving.
There were several divers beside Deb and myself. Ben, from London, had left his girlfriend back at the resort for a morning of diving. A family from Saskatchewan was escaping the winter with a couple weeks in Hawai’i and a morning of diving. The wife and daughter were simply snorkeling. The father, an ex-navy diver, was introducing his son Brett to the sport.
Our Blue
Just a fun video for the morning.
Well… Mostly a fun video, there are some serious and somewhat disturbing shots. All for a good cause…
Diving Black Friday
Black Friday, a phrase that brings to mind stores jammed with shoppers seeking the first Christmas sales. Not my idea of fun and something to be completely avoided if at all possible. Better to spend the day where credit cards do not work… Possibly under water?
The plan was to return to O’oma and the dive sites near the popular Pine Trees surfing breaks. The area is very good diving, with many sites and entries to choose from along a half mile of coastline, From OTEC to Kaloko. The area is popular with the dive boats as well, we were dropping into the water mere yards from the moorings used by the Honokohau diving operations. As we prepared for the dive we watched as the boats did as well, we just did it without paying $150 per person. The only disadvantage? We had to walk across 50 yards of pahoehoe lava to get to the lava, not a problem with the very gentle swell of the day. Entry was quite easy with a sheltered shallows available just in from the popular Suck ’em Up cave and dive site.
Postcard from the Reef – Surface
The needle on the air gauge is edging into the red, time to consider the inevitable. I must soon head for the surface, the end of the dive.
For over an hour I have lived in a world so different than the normal human existence. I have navigated in three dimensions, swimming not only down and around obstacles, but over them, sometimes hovering above the terrain. A breath in, maybe a breath out, I fine trim my buoyancy to glide up or down, maneuvering just inches above the coral. A few times in the dive I add or release air from the BCD to trim buoyancy. This is a form of locomotion so very different than walking on land. It is so much like flying that you can not help but to make the comparison.
I have no choice, my tank exhausted, I turn and head upwards. Just below the surface I hit the button, air hisses and the BCD fills, I am soon floating amongst the waves. Removing the regulator I take a first breath of un-bottled air. Looking about, I consider the blue water, the waves and beauty of the moment. It is nice to be back into the world above water. As I swim back to shore I wonder about getting a drink of water, maybe some food for my tired body. How soon can I download the memory card to check the photos? Was that last shot in focus?
There is always another thought… I roll and look downwards to the coral below… How soon will I be back?
