georgec02
Registered
We recently returned from a family trip in Kauai. Our kids spent 3 days early in the trip getting their scuba certifications and we wanted to dive together as a family and went with Explore Kauai Scuba (@KauaiScuba). We booked an afternoon private charter, because we weren't sure how the kids would do immediately after their certifications and didn't want to slow anyone else down.
- EKS is a fun and professional husband and wife team - Nick was our captain and Jessie was our DM.
- Communication pre-trip was quick and easy with Nick.
- EKS is a small 6-pack operation (we always like smaller) with a fast RHIB out of the Kikialoa Small Boat Harbor near the Waimea side. There's plenty of parking and restrooms in the parking area if needed.
- Gear: I asked them about their gear because they had all Cressi gear and it looked really new, from BCDs to wetsuits and computers - nothing looked remotely worn. Nick mentioned Cressi gives them a good deal, and they turn over their gear almost every year, selling to locals on the island. BCDs were weight-integrated. They even had little touches like SMBs clipped to every BCD (and ensured everyone knew how to use them).
- We dove two sites at Hale O Hanu / Turtle House
- Pre-dive. Usual check-out. Jessie took time to quiz the kids and us on the steps for BWARF and ensure everyone knew how to use the gear, hand signals, etc. Jessie had one of those etch-a-sketch slates to write any critters etc that we saw
- Dive 1:
- Max Depth 60ft, time 48 mins. I finished with about 1100 left of air. We were given the option of surfacing in buddy pairs based on air or together. The kids wanted to surface together as a family, and we were happy to do that.
- We've never been to Kauai before (Oahu, Big Island, Maui) and I've never seen the amount of coral and life that we saw at Hale o Honu
- White Tip Reef Sharks right when we decended
- 2 White Scorpian Leaf Fish
- Hawaiian Lion Fish
- Honu (of course)
- Moral eel, plus others
- 2 Octopi (or is it Octopuses) - Jessie is the Octopus whisperer. She mentioned she'd try to find one for us.
- Nick gave up his jacket for my daughter at the surface interval because her fleece wasn't keeping her warm enough.
- Dive 2:
- Max Depth 40 ft, time 51 minutes. I finished with about 1200 left of air again. Honestly, I was glad we surfaced when we did. I would have loved to stay down longer, but was getting a bit chilly. So, my son going through his air was a good excuse to call it a day.
- We saw a lot of turtles on this dive. Some huge ones were snuggled up under an overhang
- Spotted Cowries
- A ton of coral, eels, and other usual critters
- What will probably be a once in a lifetime view for me was a giant red frog fish swimming by my shoulder. I've never seen a frogfish that big before, and definitely have never seen one swimming. Jessie mentioned before the dive that there were at least two resident frogfish on the reef.
- Thoughts:
- Jessie took her time searching all the cracks and crevices, pointing out sealife and writing names/decriptions on her slate during the dive. She was also great with the kids (and us)
- Given the time of year, the water was a bit on the cooler side. We wore 5mm wetsuits, and Jessie have the kids extra vests to wear to help keep their cores warmer, which also had hoods. It was still a bit chilly for me towards the end of each dive.
- Visibility was pretty good, even though it has been raining on and off all week
- We lucked out, because as we were coming back, the Waimea rivers were beginning to dump into the bay. Jessie mentioned they might not be able to take out charters later that week.
- Again, compared to other Hawaiian islands, Kauai definitely seems to have a huge abundance of coral and sealife
