I'm a PADI scuba diving instructor, freelance website developer, aspiring writer, and rum enthusiast running away from the American Dream on paradise islands around the world. I love my life!

Oahu surf report for 27 Feb 2010

Thankfully, the ‘massive’ tsunami that was supposed to slam the Hawaiian Islands following the 8.8 earthquake in Chile never materialized. It was quite a scare getting roused out of bed by blaring alarms and scrambling to find a bus to my friend’s house on a hill overlooking Honolulu. Once there, however, it turned out to be a pristine Hawaiian day with no problems. We cracked beers on the roof top, watched the mass exodus of hundreds of boats from Honolulu harbors into the open ocean, and then watched them all return when the big wave never came.

Ahh, barbecue, booze, and friends… that’s what natural disasters are all about!

Dive No.: 1996
Dive Site: China Walls, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 51ft/15m
Total Time: 45 mins

Air: 200bar – 130 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 130ft/40m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: rash guard, 5mm full wet suit (busted zipper), 3mm shorty, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Easily one of the top ten diving experiences in my life—and I have nearly 2000 dives!

The gentle current from the previous dive had picked up quite a bit. As descended down the gradual slope of the urchin-covered volcanic stone wall, it was evident that we were in for one heck of a ride.

A trio of chill turtles was the first to greet us. They hung with the group for a while, cruising with us as we flew past giant boulders covered in coral splotches, each serving as micro-ecosystems for a host of small fish. The cautious eyes of moray eels and an octopus peered out from between the boulders. Odd-shaped variation of sea urchins lined to stone bottom, interrupted briefly by colorful undulation of divided flatworms. A bulbous frogfish the size of a grapefruit sat carefully concealed between the clumps of coral.

As we continued along the wave-beaten east Oahu walls, the turtles continued to dive bomb the group. I counted eight of everyone’s favorite reptile. Hawaii’s myriad endemic fish were abundant and active. Floating in the steady current, it was like watching a slideshow of “Best of Oahu.”

There are those rare times in a diver’s life when you encounter something so fantastic for the first time that you know—instantly!—that you will never, ever forget that moment. I have been working on an article for my blog called “The Top 10 Of My 2000” in which I describe the ten most mind-blowing moments of my scuba diving career: diving a World War II submarine; doing a no-lights, no-moon night dive; a deep encounter with a hammerhead shark; seeing my first manta ray; finding megalodon shark fossils in low-viz; surviving the most insane drift dive of my life; exploring a sunken oil rig; being stuck inside a wreck with a sand tiger shark; and The Moment when I fell in love with diving.

Well, the next moment on this dive officially made the list.

As we begin heading towards blue water for the safety stop and boat pick-up, I noticed part of the group intensely huddled around a shallow overhang. As I swam towards my divers, they suddenly scurried away. A strange shape slinked out from beneath the ledge, smoothly swimming with slow strokes of its flippers. It was unmistakable what I was seeing: the six-foot silhouette of a Hawaiian monk seal.

I gave out a huge shout in my regulator. I couldn’t believe my luck. An extremely endangered species, there are estimated to be only 150 Hawaiian monk seals left in the Hawaiian islands—and one of them was swimming with me!

The shouts of excitement were the first thing I heard when the group broke the surface. What an amazing dive!!

Dive No.: 1995
Dive Site: Sea Cave, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 74ft/22m
Total Time: 38 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: EANx32
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 100ft/30m
Water: 75F/234
Exposure: rash guard, 5mm full wet suit (busted zipper), 3mm shorty, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Great group of divers: all advanced, independent, and totally stoked for a great dive. Good thing Roger and I delivered!

The sea cave is an impressive sight both above and below the waters. Plunging into the crystal-clear waters, we swam under the arch leading into the cave at 50ft/15m. Schools of yellow tangs swarmed the entrance. A lone turtle, startled by our presence, calmly left her hiding spot inside the cave.

The back of the cave opened into a turbulent washbowl at the surface. Hovering beneath the furious waves, we watched our bubbles spin in violent vortices in the chaos above. After briefly observing the fury at a safe distance, we exited the cave and difted down the wall.

An octopus slithered under a recess, pulsating signals of agitation through the chromatophores in its skin. As we turned to head back towards the boat, a solitary eagle ray glided past the group, barely flexing its blue-and-white spotted wings in the gentle current. As we drifted back, we spotted few more large morays poking out from the crevices.

We hung on the safety stop serenaded by the songs of humpback whales. Just before breaking the surface, another lone turtle—perhaps the same one from the start of the dive—circled our group en route to a breath on the surface.

Dive No.: 1993
Dive Site: Hawaii Loa, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 40ft/12m
Total Time: 26 mins

Air: 200bar – 140 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 80ft/24m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Flatworms everywhere! In my brief time swimming the perimeter of the crater at Hawaii Loa, I spotted half a dozen beautifully colored divided flatworms. Fish life, particularly schools sergeant majors, was noticeably abundant. Several spotted eels poked their heads out from from the coral mounds surrounding the site. Unfortunately, my Open Water students were a bit too nervous to stretch out the dive, so I had to leave this flatworm-infested site prematurely.

Dive No.: 1994
Dive Site: Koko Craters, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 40ft/12m
Total Time: 41 mins

Air: 200bar – 110 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 130ft/40m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

A return to this classic Open Water training site brought everyone’s favorite crowd-pleaser: two super chill turtles cruising in the gentle current. We also found a cleverly-hidden bright yellow frogfish, a well-disguised plumed scorpionfish, two free-swimming eels, and a clumsy porcupinefish.

Dive No.: 1991
Dive Site: Papio Point, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 44ft/13m
Total Time: 30 mins

Air: 200bar – 130 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 100ft/30m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Beautiful shallow reef packed with huge schools of goatfish stretched out like yellow ribbons between the coral heads. Several small eels, two scorpionfish, three brightly colored nudibranchs, and one well-disguised frogfish rounded out the dive. I wish I could have spent more time diving this spot, but when customers are paying I have a obligation to get them back to the boat with plenty of air in their tanks.

Dive No.: 1992
Dive Site: Keily’s Choice, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 40ft/12m
Total Time: 28 mins

Air: 200bar – 130 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 100ft/30m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Very strong current throughout the dive. We started with a ten minute swim against the current out to a shallow pit that turtles frequent for cleaning. Two large wild Hawaiian turtles cautiously approached us as we lay in the pit, one coming mere feet from the group. On the return an incident with a customer caused us to miss the line and turned the dive into an impromptu drift. All was good in the end; Captain Scotty knows how to handle his vessel and keep customers safe.

Dive No.: 1989
Dive Site: Koko Craters, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 38ft/11m
Total Time: 36 mins

Air: 200bar – 140 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 80ft/24m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

What better way to start off an Open Water course than with a super-chill turtle cruising with the group for the first ten minutes? This particular turtle looked so relaxed cruising in the mild current and let my divers approach him within mere feet. I was even able to swim underneath him inverted and gently blow bubbles against him belly without him minding in the least. There were also a handful of snake eels, lizardfish, and pufferfish to point out to my students.

On another note, a basic reminder of Diver’s Etiquette: if you are guiding a dive group, do NOT swim your group through the middle of mine. It’s rude, stupid, and very likely to result in divers from each group getting mixed up. Common courtesy, folks.

Dive No.: 1990
Dive Site: Alex’s Reef, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 40ft/12m
Total Time: 29 mins

Air: 200bar – 150 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 40ft/12m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Mostly a session with my students knocking out their required PADI skills, we at least managed to see one fat moray peeking out from beneath a rocky crevice. Viz was pretty low, so mostly we were treated to the urchin-filled fields that typify the shallows of Oahu.

Dive No.: 1985
Dive Site: Corsair, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 108ft/32m
Total Time: 26 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 63cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 130ft/40m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

The visibility was jaw-dropping on this dive. We could see the entire wreck of the Corsair from the surface. The current was fairly strong; using the line was critical during the 100ft/30m ascent and descent. This WWII wreck was packed full of squirrelfish and soldierfish and surrounded by a vast field of garden eels. A handful of morays peeked out from inside the fuselage. I wish my group hadn’t gone through their air so fast, because I would have loved another couple minutes to peer into the wreck and see all the cool critters hiding inside.

Dive No.: 1986
Dive Site: Anglers, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 45ft/13m
Total Time: 42 mins

Air: 200bar – 110 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 63cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 50ft/15m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Funky currents, lower viz, and difficult group control made this dive a bit less entertaining than I would have liked. A few folks in the group started dropping before I was even in the water and spread out too far to make the first half of the dive worthwhile. Nonetheless, we regrouped, countered the current, and managed to find a few cool eels on the way back to the mooring.

Dive No.: 1987
Dive Site: Koko Craters, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 44ft/13m
Total Time: 39 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 40ft/12m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Turtles, turtles everywhere! There’s no better way to reward a 21-year-old birthday party than by showing her over half a dozen turtles in a dive. Cooey helped me find the fourth crater where a huge cleaning station packed with turtles was hidden. The viz wasn’t great, but good enough that the group of college girls I was guiding could see the large Hawaiian turtles gliding past them. Sadly, a few of the turtles were diseased (see above photo) with a series of growths that are the equivalent of reptilian herpes.

Dive No.: 1988
Dive Site: Koko Craters, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 42ft/12m
Total Time: 44 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 40ft/12m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Another dive on Koko and yep, more turtles. I took the group of girls on a different route and found loads of wonderful macro life, including several nudibranchs, a couple leaf scorpionfish, one free-swimming plumed scorpionfish, some snake eels, and one big fat moray eel. There was even a pesky sergeant major who kept biting my fin every time I took a kick, much to the amusement of my group.

When I left Roatan in October 2009, one of my biggest worries was that I would never get to taste a rum as fine as Flor de Caña again. This sweet Nicaraguan nectar that had graced many a rum and pineapples during my five year Caribbean tenture was a thing to be treasured. The liter that I brought back to the States with me lasted a mere week, and, with the exception of one truly exceptional night in which Lia Barrett and I shared a spectaclar bottle of Flor de Caña Centenario 21, I was never to taste her again.

I tried to compensate for my loss with various other substitutions. Sailor Jerry’s remained my favorite of the commercially available spiced rums, and Captain Morgan’s Private Stock would substitute in a pinch.  I even suffered through Bacardi, but only out of desperation. Still, nothing could compare to the sweet, smooth sensation of sipping a glass of Flor.

When I walked into Aaron’s Dive Shop in Kailua, Oahu, they asked if I knew about the Kraken. Of course I did: mythological super-massive squid capable of destroying entire boats and villanous CGI monster in the second and third Pirate of the Caribbean films. Not that Kraken, they retorted, THE Kraken. I was confused. Do you like rum, they asked. Hell yes!

A few minutes later, an ornately decorated bottle filled with a pitch black liquid emerged and glasses were poured. The scent was the first thing that struck me: sweetly mellow with a hint of vanilla. Then there was the taste— oh, the taste! Light and sweet up front, the darkness settles in to the back of the throat with a slight burn followed by a truly unique spiced aftertaste that bears a hint of cloves. It was easily drinkable without a mixer; in fact, every mixed concoction I have since tried has diminished The Kraken’s glory. I prefer it on the rock with a small splash of water— truly a sipping rum.

At 94 proof, The Kraken Black Spiced Rum will hit you harder than anticipated. I’ve already had two mild hangovers as a result of crackin’ The Kraken, but due to the high quality of ingredients they aftermath was certainly bearable. As far as I can tell, The Kraken is in limited release at the moment (it only arrived on Hawaii in January) but is set for a big international debut later this year. At $21 for a fifth, it’s within the competitive price range of other commercially -available quality spiced rums, but this one easily outstrips the other for pure flavor and drinkability.

Keep an eye out for this awesome rum at a liquor store nearby. Release The Kraken!

Dive No.: 1983
Dive Site: Two Minutes Out, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 52ft/16m
Total Time: 42 mins

Air: 200bar – 130 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 60ft/18m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

My first dive guiding certified divers on Hawaii! This was a gentle cruise around an urchin-covered ledge where many eels poked their heads out from tiny crevices. Two turtles swam in slow circles around the descent line at the start of the dive. I also spotted a tiny leaf scorpionfish, a enormous queen conch, and the pivoting eyes of a mantis shrimp hidden in its hole.

Dive No.: 1984
Dive Site: Turtles, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 42ft/12m
Total Time: 38mins

Air: 200bar – 140 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 50ft/15m – 10ft/3m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

This site lived up to its name with six turtle sightings in less than thirty minutes. One of these gentle reptiles swam in the middle of the group for several minutes. Also sighted: pufferfish, octopus, cornetfish, several eels, and two nudibranchs mating. Surge and the outgoing tide stirred up visibility near the end of the dive, limiting our sight to less than 10ft/3m and forcing the dive to end a bit early.

Dive No.: 1981
Dive Site: Turtle Canyon, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 38ft/11m
Total Time: 38mins

Air: 200bar – 140 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 30ft/10m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

My first Discover Scuba Dive on Oahu. Michael from Germany did a great job with the skills and dived like a natural; one of the easiest DSDs I’ve ever taught. Viz wasn’t great, but we managed to spot a big turtle right off the bat. Lots of slender cornetfish in this area.

Dive No.: 1982
Dive Site: Kokomo Craters, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 35ft/11m
Total Time: 42mins

Air: 140bar – 80 bar
Mix: air
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 80ft/24m
Water: 75F/24C
Exposure: Rash Guard, 5mm full wet suit, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

A second dive for Michael’s DSD under much better conditions. The easy site is marked by three large craters within swimming distance of each other. The first crater had three Hawaiian turtles hiding under the ledge, and another two turtles joined us over the course of the dive. Jana pointed out a small leaf scorpionfish and helped me get my bearings on this popular site.