Black Rock, Dive Video + Bonus relationship advice

My girlfriend and I took a trip to Maui in early June. While on the island I made five shore dives I wish I could I say I had made 15+ dives, but my girlfriend is not a diver, and this was not a dive trip (which I was constantly reminded through out the entire trip).

I have a dog at home, a chocolate lab named Jake. It doesn't take much to make Jake happy; just a ball. In fact, getting the ball is his big "why"; his one goal in life. Jake and I happen to be quite similar. He gets the ball, and I get to dive. The problem is, we both tend to fixate on "ball". My girlfriend, Grace, would constantly have to "correct" me for "getting the ball" (her words). She just wanted to be with me, and I just wanted to...well...do nothing but dive. This conflict of interest caused a tremendous amount of discourse between us through out the entire trip unfortunately. The take away message is - NEVER go on a tropical vacation with your significant other unless he/she is a diver. Go to Europe or something. That bumper sticker that I see at Pacific Wilderness echoed through out my mind the entire trip "My girlfriend says if I go diving one more time she is going to leave. I am sure going to miss her"

Frank, please for the love of God do not link this post to facebook. Grace will eat me alive if she sees my bonus relationship advice.

Anyways, Black Rock was formed long ago when Maui had volcanic activity. It is a lava rock that formation that extends off of north west end of the island, breaking the pattern of gently curving white sandy beaches that lie south of it. As a result, this point receives a current which allows for coral to grow on the lava rocks. Out of the five dives I made on the island, four of them were at Black Rock, and I was never bored. Black Rock bustling with life. Visibility ranged from 25-50 foot depending on the dive. Temp at depth was about 78-80 degrees. Maximum depth was about 35 feet. Maui is the extent of my tropical diving experience, and this is the second time I have visited the Island. The next video I will be posting is my shore dive at Honolua Bay (One of my favorite sites in the world so far).

Here is the video. Filmed on a GoPro Hero2, attached to the top of my Shockwave 3 dive light. Make sure to click HD!

Nice Video.

Very nice video. I look forward to seeing the Honolua Bay video. I really enjoy diving in Maui. We are heading to Kauai and I will get to explore the diving opportunities there after 4th of July. Thanks for sharing.

Charlie, as you know, having a diving girlfriend doesn't guarantee you will stay together.
I made 626 dives with my first wife/dive buddy. We were certified together. We were later divorced.
She had early onset of Alzheimer's and died at 58.
I made three dozen dives with my girlfriend Susan. We later split up. Her idea.
She passed away at 49.
I met Merry seven years ago. We now have 534 dives together and she's healthy.
Maybe you should get Grace to try snorkeling. She might actually want to dive later.

MaxBottomtime:

Charlie, as you know, having a diving girlfriend doesn't guarantee you will stay together.
I made 626 dives with my first wife/dive buddy. We were certified together. We were later divorced.
She had early onset of Alzheimer's and died at 58.
I made three dozen dives with my girlfriend Susan. We later split up. Her idea.
She passed away at 49.
I met Merry seven years ago. We now have 534 dives together and she's healthy.
Maybe you should get Grace to try snorkeling. She might actually want to dive later.

Click to expand...

Wow, that's pretty tragic. For Merry's sake I really hope you two stay together.

We did do some snorkeling. The best times we had on Maui were the two snorkel boats we managed to get on. The first one took us to Molikini and Turtle Town. The second took us to Honolua Bay and Slaughter House. We had a blast on these trips, and I was able to coach her into making some 15 foot free dives. She was really excited because she has a big fear of not being able to equalize (really tight sinuses, doctor told her she probably would not be able to dive without surgery). Obviously if she can get to 15 feet on a fast freedive, she should be able to slowly descend to 60+ feet on a scuba dive. So we are getting there...

But you're right, a scuba girlfriend doesn't guarantee anything. Grace and I are both stubborn and strong willed. We had a scheduling conflict in the beginning of the trip in regards to one of my scuba dives. I might have been a bit bullish about my agenda. From that point on she waged war on my plans to scuba dive, just as a matter of principle.

Maybe you should get an aquarium. You and Grace could cuddle on the couch while you stare longingly into the tank.

My wife is also a diver, but isn't quite as into it as I am. Every vacation we have our mid-trip "quarrel" and it usually revolves around my belief that our lunch is just our surface interval. Neither of us take it personally anymore at this point.

I "solved" the dive / not-dive conflict with my wife on my trip to the Big Island.

It was a business trip, so she stayed home. It was pretty darned weird being there by myself and "in business mode." But by noon the second day, work was done and I took the Friday off and dived through the weekend, with a return flight leaving Monday afternoon.

13 dives and no scheduling / planning conflicts.

Now, if only I could find more occasions to get over to Hawaii (or other tropical locales) on the office's tab!

A "European" vacation will solve nothing. There's the Mediterranean, there's the North Sea, the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the British Channel Island, ad infinitum.

Wouldn't life in general and love be lots easier if relationships didn't require some effort to do maintenance?

My wife is a non-diver and has no interest in ever becoming one. When we travel to places I want to dive I put some effort into making sure she has something to do while I'm out doing my thing. Sometimes that looks like time for her at a spa or on the beach. We also put major effort into enjoying our time together when I'm not out on a dive boat.

Later this month, I'll be meeting my granddaughters (aspiring divers) on Catalina to do some snorkeling. While their grandma won't be out in the water with us, she'll be there on the beach and she'll be having a good time.

I see the humor in advising divers to never take non-diving partners on a tropical vacation to diving locations. I suspect I'd have more relationship issues if I attempted to go without my wife.

Life's short... play hard... and enjoy the relationships you're engaged in!

-Aztinman