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.