ktkt
Contributor
I'm back home after a few days of great diving with Kaimana Divers. I did most of my 11 dives with Drew, who was totally perfect for me. He goes nice and slow, he found me lots of great critters, and he was excited when I found him some critters 
Off the south side, I got to see the Sea Tiger, the YO-257, Turtle Canyon (three times, but I'm not complaining!) Horseshoe, and Nautilus. On the west shore, the Mahi and some lava caverns, plus a deep water night dive.
Thursday, I had Drew to myself, which was awesome. The boat was kind of so-so (forget the name). There were a couple small groups besides us, and in the morning, also a pack of Japanese divers. We just did our own thing, but on the second dive, there was a sort of hilarious experience. We had basically wrapped up and were poking around near the line before ascending. Nobody around, and then out of the blue, wham, the pack of divers has taken over the whole line. No problems with it, but it was amazing to see them move as this big blob.
Friday morning, Drew and I dove with a really grumpy guy. Drew was very nice/professional/helpful with him, even though I was secretly rolling my eyes the whole time. Luckily, underwater Mr. Grouch kept to our nice relaxed pace, and the dives were good. Different boat from yesterday - set up a bit better, better snacks, not crowded.
Friday afternoon, I dove with Liv and a couple of intro/discover scuba divers. I was not too thrilled with the fact that I had been scheduled with them, but it all turned out fine. They were actually pretty decent in the water, and Liv and I kept diving for a bit after she escorted them back up the line, so my dives weren't cut short. Liv was super fun, but she's on the move a bit more than I like. I'm into lots of stopping/hovering to stare and study. Same boat as the morning, but we also packed about 20 snorkelers on, which was kind of annoying. We dropped them off between our first and second afternoon dives.
Saturday morning's adventure was heading out west to Waianae with Drew and Christine (who seems to be new, but super cool), plus one more visitor. It was pouring when we left Waikiki, but the clouds parted for us once we made it further west. Great dives, and I liked this boat best of all (South Seas 2?).
Saturday night, it was out to Waianae again, this time with Liv (and a few more divers) for a blackwater night dive. That was kind of a crazy experience; definitely glad I tried it. We went in tethered to the boat while it was drifting over water about 1800ft deep (I think). I saw some super crazy little critters (a couple of which snuck in some tiny stings, but I basically never make it out of a dive trip without something zapping me). I thought being tied to the boat would be really weird, but I adjusted very quickly.
Some general notes: water was about 72-75F most of the time. The boats are on some super tight schedules here, and surface intervals were shorter than I'd like (usually ~30min), especially after the wrecks at 80-100ft.
Highlights: singing humpbacks, plus a little guy breaching off in the distance during a surface interval! Turtle cleaning station, searching for baby flounders, teeny tiny scorpionfish, octopuses, a rockmover wrasse, gorgeous tiny nudibranchs, swimming morays, white tips, eagle rays, and a barracuda way bigger than I thought barracudas could get.
Would definitely do it again (and Drew, if you want to come on vacation with me any time...), but I'd ask more questions about the boats and such next time.
Off the south side, I got to see the Sea Tiger, the YO-257, Turtle Canyon (three times, but I'm not complaining!) Horseshoe, and Nautilus. On the west shore, the Mahi and some lava caverns, plus a deep water night dive.Thursday, I had Drew to myself, which was awesome. The boat was kind of so-so (forget the name). There were a couple small groups besides us, and in the morning, also a pack of Japanese divers. We just did our own thing, but on the second dive, there was a sort of hilarious experience. We had basically wrapped up and were poking around near the line before ascending. Nobody around, and then out of the blue, wham, the pack of divers has taken over the whole line. No problems with it, but it was amazing to see them move as this big blob.
Friday morning, Drew and I dove with a really grumpy guy. Drew was very nice/professional/helpful with him, even though I was secretly rolling my eyes the whole time. Luckily, underwater Mr. Grouch kept to our nice relaxed pace, and the dives were good. Different boat from yesterday - set up a bit better, better snacks, not crowded.
Friday afternoon, I dove with Liv and a couple of intro/discover scuba divers. I was not too thrilled with the fact that I had been scheduled with them, but it all turned out fine. They were actually pretty decent in the water, and Liv and I kept diving for a bit after she escorted them back up the line, so my dives weren't cut short. Liv was super fun, but she's on the move a bit more than I like. I'm into lots of stopping/hovering to stare and study. Same boat as the morning, but we also packed about 20 snorkelers on, which was kind of annoying. We dropped them off between our first and second afternoon dives.
Saturday morning's adventure was heading out west to Waianae with Drew and Christine (who seems to be new, but super cool), plus one more visitor. It was pouring when we left Waikiki, but the clouds parted for us once we made it further west. Great dives, and I liked this boat best of all (South Seas 2?).
Saturday night, it was out to Waianae again, this time with Liv (and a few more divers) for a blackwater night dive. That was kind of a crazy experience; definitely glad I tried it. We went in tethered to the boat while it was drifting over water about 1800ft deep (I think). I saw some super crazy little critters (a couple of which snuck in some tiny stings, but I basically never make it out of a dive trip without something zapping me). I thought being tied to the boat would be really weird, but I adjusted very quickly.
Some general notes: water was about 72-75F most of the time. The boats are on some super tight schedules here, and surface intervals were shorter than I'd like (usually ~30min), especially after the wrecks at 80-100ft.
Highlights: singing humpbacks, plus a little guy breaching off in the distance during a surface interval! Turtle cleaning station, searching for baby flounders, teeny tiny scorpionfish, octopuses, a rockmover wrasse, gorgeous tiny nudibranchs, swimming morays, white tips, eagle rays, and a barracuda way bigger than I thought barracudas could get.
Would definitely do it again (and Drew, if you want to come on vacation with me any time...), but I'd ask more questions about the boats and such next time.
