- Messages
- 567
- Reaction score
- 16
Air Temp 76-80*F
Water Temp 73-75*F
Wet suit 5mm with hood
Visibility 60-100+ft
Entry by: Capt. Mike
Saturday
Aloha and Happy New Year from Kona on the big island of Hawaii!! Our guests this week included our friends from Canada who were Steve, Lisa, Allan, Wendy, Frank and Leanne. Our friends from Germany were Ulrich and Gerlind and our friends from the U.S. included Andrew, Susan, Steve and MaryAnn. We picked everyone up at the Kona pier Saturday afternoon and were looking forward to a fabulous week of diving 2012 onboard the Kona Aggressor II.
Our crew for the week included Capt. Mike, Capt. Todd, chef Grace, Karl, Cliff, and John. After Graces wonderful dinner our guests and crew introduced themselves and we relaxed for the evening. Some stayed up for the New Year and we watched a nice bon fire (ashore) along with the usual antics of Kona town.
Sunday
I piloted us north our usual time and saw a nice blue marlin jump right next to the boat which kind of gave me an idea this was going to be a special cruise. We went to Aquarium where an easy ledge with a big cave opening showed everyone a nice morning of diving. We saw the schooling pennant butterfly fish, a nice octopus and a zebra moray.
Our afternoon and evening dives were found at Garden Eel Cove - home of the famous manta dive. During the afternoon dives we explored the ledge and saw such creatures as the Hawaiian dycullus, a peacock flounder and of course the garden eels. We even saw some four mantas about during the day. Our night dive brought so many mantas it was hard to count. Officially there were 18 this time, but with so many it was hard to keep trackwhat a great night.
Monday
We motored very early and headed south to a great site called Amphitheater. Along the way we saw three beautiful humpback whales making their way. What a great way to start the day. The dive was at a beautiful ledge system with long lava tubes and a huge archway where we saw a blue dragon and an unnamed nudibranch and a tiger cowry.
The afternoon and evening site was a crew favorite called The Hive. The swells rolled in but everyone persevered and did great for these dives. We saw our now resident frog fish and darn it I forgot what name we gave him, but Ill get back to you on this one. The hit of the day was three nice Hammerhead sharks cruising by to give everyone a glimpse at a magnificent animal. The night dive was great with our nocturnal eels like the cusk and conger swimming about.
Tuesday
We started today at a new crew favorite called Catacombs where I finally got to dive and check out the neat formations, swim through caves, pukas and just an all-around cool dive. The currents picked up, but everyone again did fine and seemed to enjoy themselves. A nice white tip reef shark cruised by but did not stay long.
With the northwest swell really kicking up and the window of good weather, we made our way to Southpoint and did one of my favorites called Rainbow Reef. What a neat site this was with loads of fish, good visibility and nice coral over lava formations. We got some great pictures of a shy spotted coral blenny. The remainder of the afternoon and evening was spent at the southernmost dive site called Ladders. Here we moored up right next to a large cliff was our site where giant boulders made great hiding places for all kinds of creatures. Hawaii has so many species of eels and this place was loaded.
Wednesday
We stayed in the Southpoint area this morning and did a great dive called Black Coral Forest. Its a bit of a misnomer but there were nice bushes of black coral down at 100 feet to explore, which usually have the long nose hawk fish, and the tinkers butterfly fish. At the end of our dive while on our safety stop most everyone saw a nice pod of spinner dolphin come by to check us out. Seeing them on scuba is usually quite rare but lately weve seen quite a bit of them. We always hope this will continue.
Our windy weather weve come to expect in Southpoint made its way in so we went over to Pohue Bay for a dive. We have not done this one in a while but everyone enjoyed a really pretty area with beautiful fingers of coral covered lava. By the end of this dive the winds were up to 25 knots or better so we made our way out of Southpoint and went to Manuka Bay. A sheltered bay with beach always gives our divers something great to explore. The surf was really up just to the west of us and we were surprised there werent any surfers taking advantage of the massive tubular waves. Oh well our divers enjoyed themselves on this beautiful site.
Thursday
We motored north this morning to Never Never Land with a nice deep ledge to escape the massive swell. Sometimes there are hammerheads here and this morning we were not disappointed. We also saw the bandit angel fish and the tear drop butterfly fish as well. Our second site was Paradise Pinnacle where the large under water pinnacle gave our divers a unique perspective. We saw the long nose hawk fish and two red striped pipe fish here. Our afternoon and evening site was at Meadows. Here with a nice ledge to explore we came upon another large frog fish, a juvenile dragon wrasse and a strawberry nudibranch.
Friday
We spent our last two dives at Turtle Pinnacle in hopes of seeing the turtle cleaning station. We did see one and enjoyed the two last dives.
The day couldnt have been better for the lunch barbeque on the sundeck. The afternoon was spent relaxing and some even did a little packing. Dinner was on shore this evening as everyone also got a chance to stretch their legs a little.
On behalf of the crew of the Kona Aggressor II, we wish to express our thanks to you all this week and we hoped you enjoyed your experience onboard.
Mahalo, and a Hui Hou!
Water Temp 73-75*F
Wet suit 5mm with hood
Visibility 60-100+ft
Entry by: Capt. Mike
Saturday
Aloha and Happy New Year from Kona on the big island of Hawaii!! Our guests this week included our friends from Canada who were Steve, Lisa, Allan, Wendy, Frank and Leanne. Our friends from Germany were Ulrich and Gerlind and our friends from the U.S. included Andrew, Susan, Steve and MaryAnn. We picked everyone up at the Kona pier Saturday afternoon and were looking forward to a fabulous week of diving 2012 onboard the Kona Aggressor II.
Our crew for the week included Capt. Mike, Capt. Todd, chef Grace, Karl, Cliff, and John. After Graces wonderful dinner our guests and crew introduced themselves and we relaxed for the evening. Some stayed up for the New Year and we watched a nice bon fire (ashore) along with the usual antics of Kona town.
Sunday
I piloted us north our usual time and saw a nice blue marlin jump right next to the boat which kind of gave me an idea this was going to be a special cruise. We went to Aquarium where an easy ledge with a big cave opening showed everyone a nice morning of diving. We saw the schooling pennant butterfly fish, a nice octopus and a zebra moray.
Our afternoon and evening dives were found at Garden Eel Cove - home of the famous manta dive. During the afternoon dives we explored the ledge and saw such creatures as the Hawaiian dycullus, a peacock flounder and of course the garden eels. We even saw some four mantas about during the day. Our night dive brought so many mantas it was hard to count. Officially there were 18 this time, but with so many it was hard to keep trackwhat a great night.
Monday
We motored very early and headed south to a great site called Amphitheater. Along the way we saw three beautiful humpback whales making their way. What a great way to start the day. The dive was at a beautiful ledge system with long lava tubes and a huge archway where we saw a blue dragon and an unnamed nudibranch and a tiger cowry.
The afternoon and evening site was a crew favorite called The Hive. The swells rolled in but everyone persevered and did great for these dives. We saw our now resident frog fish and darn it I forgot what name we gave him, but Ill get back to you on this one. The hit of the day was three nice Hammerhead sharks cruising by to give everyone a glimpse at a magnificent animal. The night dive was great with our nocturnal eels like the cusk and conger swimming about.
Tuesday
We started today at a new crew favorite called Catacombs where I finally got to dive and check out the neat formations, swim through caves, pukas and just an all-around cool dive. The currents picked up, but everyone again did fine and seemed to enjoy themselves. A nice white tip reef shark cruised by but did not stay long.
With the northwest swell really kicking up and the window of good weather, we made our way to Southpoint and did one of my favorites called Rainbow Reef. What a neat site this was with loads of fish, good visibility and nice coral over lava formations. We got some great pictures of a shy spotted coral blenny. The remainder of the afternoon and evening was spent at the southernmost dive site called Ladders. Here we moored up right next to a large cliff was our site where giant boulders made great hiding places for all kinds of creatures. Hawaii has so many species of eels and this place was loaded.
Wednesday
We stayed in the Southpoint area this morning and did a great dive called Black Coral Forest. Its a bit of a misnomer but there were nice bushes of black coral down at 100 feet to explore, which usually have the long nose hawk fish, and the tinkers butterfly fish. At the end of our dive while on our safety stop most everyone saw a nice pod of spinner dolphin come by to check us out. Seeing them on scuba is usually quite rare but lately weve seen quite a bit of them. We always hope this will continue.
Our windy weather weve come to expect in Southpoint made its way in so we went over to Pohue Bay for a dive. We have not done this one in a while but everyone enjoyed a really pretty area with beautiful fingers of coral covered lava. By the end of this dive the winds were up to 25 knots or better so we made our way out of Southpoint and went to Manuka Bay. A sheltered bay with beach always gives our divers something great to explore. The surf was really up just to the west of us and we were surprised there werent any surfers taking advantage of the massive tubular waves. Oh well our divers enjoyed themselves on this beautiful site.
Thursday
We motored north this morning to Never Never Land with a nice deep ledge to escape the massive swell. Sometimes there are hammerheads here and this morning we were not disappointed. We also saw the bandit angel fish and the tear drop butterfly fish as well. Our second site was Paradise Pinnacle where the large under water pinnacle gave our divers a unique perspective. We saw the long nose hawk fish and two red striped pipe fish here. Our afternoon and evening site was at Meadows. Here with a nice ledge to explore we came upon another large frog fish, a juvenile dragon wrasse and a strawberry nudibranch.
Friday
We spent our last two dives at Turtle Pinnacle in hopes of seeing the turtle cleaning station. We did see one and enjoyed the two last dives.
The day couldnt have been better for the lunch barbeque on the sundeck. The afternoon was spent relaxing and some even did a little packing. Dinner was on shore this evening as everyone also got a chance to stretch their legs a little.
On behalf of the crew of the Kona Aggressor II, we wish to express our thanks to you all this week and we hoped you enjoyed your experience onboard.
Mahalo, and a Hui Hou!