Hawaii trip report

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DennisW

Contributor
Messages
3,711
Reaction score
31
Location
Sebastian, FL
# of dives
200 - 499
Donna and I left on Friday, June 11, 2004. We arrived that afternoon in Honolulu, Oahu. Nice flights, no problems, that’s the way I like ‘em. We stayed in Waikiki for 3 days just sightseeing and enjoying ourselves. We got to see the parades for the King Kamehameha festival that was going on while we were there. We also were able to see part of the Women’s surfing contest that was going on off Waikiki Beach. Not being a surfer, it was interesting. We took a day trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North side of the island. Very interesting. There were exhibits from all of the Polynesian cultures. It was interesting how similar, yet different they are. We also went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. We saw plenty of Pacific fish and a small Hawksbill turtle. Fun. On Monday morning, we met up with Justleesa for breakfast at Duke’s. It was really nice to meet Lisa and find a new friend.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/673Lisa_DWW_2_sm.jpg

Monday afternoon, we flew to Kona. We stayed at Mara’s Dive B&B. Mara’s is a nice place just the other side of the town of Captain Cook. Unfortunately for traveler’s, Mara is getting out of the B&B business and is going to concentrate on Scuba instruction and dive tours of Pu’uhonau o Honaunau (City of Refuge). That’s where we did our shore dives on June 15, and it was wonderful. I got quite a few pictures some good, some not. Hopefully the posts will work. We dove twice at the City of Refuge, the first was a guided tour by Mara and the second was on our own. By the way, Mara was a lifesaver. I broke a pin on the buckle of my Jet Fins at Hanauma Bay and she had a spare. Sea life I can remember, Green Turtles (5), Ornate Butterflyfish, Lined Butterflyfish, Longnose Butterflyfish, Blackside Hawkfish, Archeye Hawkfish, Fourspot Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, Whitemouth Moray, Yellow Margin Moray, Yellow Tang, Orange Shoulder Surgeon Fish, Goat Fish, Crown of Thorns Sea Star, Cornetfish hanging in the open water (unusual?), lots of Urchins and many more fish I did not try to identify. Dive #1, Max Depth 40 fsw, 45 min, Water Temp 79º F. Dive #2, Max Depth 30 fsw, 40 min.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/673Lined_Butterfly_1_sm.jpg

On June 16 (our 25th anniversary), we dove with Dive Makai charters. Wonderful people and they know how to make you feel at home. They also know the dive sites and give the best briefing I have ever had. I highly recommend them if you dive out of Kona. Matthew, Kendra, and Kay were great. We dove Big Arch first. My only request was that I wanted to see some Nudibranchs. Boy, did Kendra pull that one off. We weren’t in the water for 5 minutes and she was signaling me to come see. I saw 3 different kinds of Nudi’s on this dive, 2 Varicose Nudi’s and two others I don’t remember what kind. One was a pinkish color, about an inch long. The other was a tan or flesh color. The surge was fair and I never got a picture of them, but I did get pictures of the 2 Varicose Nudibranchs. I also saw a Tiger Flatworm. Very cool. We saw a Peacock Flounder (actually Donna saw it and took the camera away from me to take the picture, I never saw it until she pointed the camera at it). We also saw some Moorish Idols, several Whitemouth Morays, a Zebra Moray, and a lot more pacific fish. Matthew led the second dive at Manta Bay. We saw a Grand Trevaly. It was a very big one. After Donna and I got back on the boat, the second group up saw a Manta Ray. Donna and I both jumped in with our masks, but the Manta was gone. Dive #1, Max Depth 86 fsw, 49 min, Water Temp 79º F. Dive #2, Max Depth 63 fsw, 54 min.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/673Varicose_Nudibranch_1_sm.jpg

I won’t bore you with the rest of our trip, but we drove to Hilo via Volcanoes National Park, flew over the active Kilauea vent with Blue Helicopters and saw the lava flow into the sea. We then flew to Maui where we took a bike ride down the side of the Volcano. We also got to meet Jim Spears (Gilligan). Another new friend and wonderful guy. He gave us a great tour of the Kihei side of Maui.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/500/673Dennis_Jim_3_sm.jpg

A wonderful trip and we met two great people from Scubaboard. I missed meeting John Collins (konajc), maybe next time. Or maybe he will visit Virginia

I've posted some pictures in the Gallery, I really like the one of the Green Turtle.
 
Sounds like you had a great trip! Why no diving on Maui? Was that picture taken at Maui Scuba Dogs (the kiosk in front of MDS in Kihei)?
 
Hey Dennis!
Very nice trip report! I'm glad that you both had such a good time. I also enjoyed my morning with you and am looking forward to your next trip out this way, maybe Roger (turtleguy) can make it too. :D
Aloha,
Lisa
PS:
Cornetfish hanging in the open water (unusual?),
Not really THAT unusual....I would say about a 50/50 chance to see one or more on a dive
 
Kris, Donna and I did not plan on diving in Maui. We were only there a day and a half and the timing wasn't right for our flight back home. Besides, this wasn't a dive trip, we just did some diving while we were there. It was a 25th anniversary present to ourselves. Although, next time, I may plan some diving in Maui with Jim. Yes the picture was taken in front of the dive shop with the kiosk in front. Right across the street from Jim's condo.

Lisa, you are always welcome here, too. We even have a guest room for special people that visit us in Williamsburg. There were lot's of Cornetfish hanging in open water around the reef where we did our shore dives. My experience in observing Trumpetfish is that they stay very close to the reef so they can hide. It was unusual to me to see this type of fish hanging horizontally in open water.
 
Aloha Dennis, perhaps we will meet up with you sometime. I was off at work diving, so lets try it again, when you return
aloha Turtleguy
 
Roger, hopefully one day we'll be back to Hawaii to visit and dive some more. Of course, you are included in the welcome to stay at Chalet Wilt in Williamsburg. Sorry we missed you, but I completely understand.
 
Feel free to bore us with the volcano! we were there on the 10th and it was spectacular - I think I enjoyed that more than the diving (though not by much!!!) ;-)
 
Aloha Dennis!
Thanks for the complements! I'm glad you had a good time. And thanks for taking us diving for your annaversary. Kendra, Kay, and I had a wonderful time too.

As for the nudibranchs, you saw a White-Margin Nudibranch (tan), and a Pustulose Phyllidia that we call the "Pink Spot". The Pink Spot looks somewhat green/blue until you shine a light on it. The computer log says that you had a Gold Lace Nudibranch too.

The Giant Trevally was the largest I have ever seen. The eye was HUGE. And don't forget the red stripped Pipe Fish, the female Whitley's Box Fish, and the White Mouth Moray hunting with the Peacock Grouper. "Manta Ray Bay" ROCKS!

Please post about the volcano. Just because we live here doesn't mean that we get to go sight-seeing. I want to hear about it too.

Great to meet you.

Matthew J D'Avella
 
LioKai:
Aloha Dennis!
Thanks for the complements! I'm glad you had a good time. And thanks for taking us diving for your annaversary. Kendra, Kay, and I had a wonderful time too.

As for the nudibranchs, you saw a White-Margin Nudibranch (tan), and a Pustulose Phyllidia that we call the "Pink Spot". The Pink Spot looks somewhat green/blue until you shine a light on it. The computer log says that you had a Gold Lace Nudibranch too.

The Giant Trevally was the largest I have ever seen. The eye was HUGE. And don't forget the red stripped Pipe Fish, the female Whitley's Box Fish, and the White Mouth Moray hunting with the Peacock Grouper. "Manta Ray Bay" ROCKS!

Please post about the volcano. Just because we live here doesn't mean that we get to go sight-seeing. I want to hear about it too.

Great to meet you.

Matthew J D'Avella
That's impressive -- a dive op that logs all the critter sightings for later... or is it just me and this is a normal thing?
 
KrisB:
That's impressive -- a dive op that logs all the critter sightings for later... or is it just me and this is a normal thing?

Our dive site logs are extensive, and go back 18 years on computer, and 10 more years on paper. 28 years of logs total. Compiled since the day we began.
 

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