Aloha,Back to diving again every day for a while... the month has turned into a fairly busy one and June's starting to fill with charters.... plenty of space still on most days.
Here's a shot of a Bandit Angelfish (Apolemichthys arcuatus - the genus on this fish has changed at least twice since I first saw them back in my aquarium shop days). We found this one on Friday. Hawaii only has a very few species of angelfish, and this is by far the largest (reaches 7 inches or so). We saw a pair of them but I couldn't really get any good shots with both of the fish in them. On the Big Island, we typically see them below 60 feet or so, more likely below 80. In the older islands further north, say Kauai and to the northwest, they apparently are shallower and seen more often.
Today the water was very flat and we decided to head south to the Red Hill area for dives. We dove at "Ridges" and "Henry's Cave". Bob led the first dive and I led the second. Good conditions... the water's really warming up the last 2 weeks, it's roughly 76/77 now suddenly. I shed the shorty I was layering with and just went with my full suit and was fine. Out at depth on the edge of the reef we probably had roughly 150 foot of viz. A manta ray swam beneath us as we descended and one of the divers saw two turtles in the distance. Other cool stuff was a pair of Flame Angels, a real good sized (child's fist sized roughly) yellow hairy hermit crab that had taken over a beautiful triton trumpet snail shell, a three foot (pretty small) or so long whitetip reef shark and other goodies. Surprisingly we didn't see much in the way of shrimp or nudibranchs, seems to be the case down south lately when we've been there for some reason, even though both sites appear to be topographically good candidates for them.
Still pretty chilly here in SoCal... but slowly getting warmer.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the water for us!
Will do.
ReplyDeleteHey Steve I just found your blog. I am currently getting my certification in scuba. My husband and parents have a scuba trip planned for Kona in August. I am wondering about wet suits. Should I get one? At least maybe a shorty? My email is careyheat@hotmailcom. You can't reach me by blog because mine is private. If you could let me know what you think I would appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteIf you're diving with a dive operator, they'll have the appropriate wetsuit available. If you're shore diving I'd recommend a full suit (thickness depends on your height/weight/cold tolerance and the temperature at the time) for at least protection against scrapes. I hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteSteve
Steve,
ReplyDeleteComing to Kona tomorrow for 10 days, bringing gear and want to do some good diving 10 - 20 tanks with a good shop. I will be on the west shore north of Kona, I have some recommendations but am always open to suggestions from those who know.
Hi bottom dweller. If you're asking me, gotta recommend my dive operation - Wanna Dive.
ReplyDeleteWe do long dives, offer personal service, carry a max of 6 on the boat and often go out with fewer, try our best not to repeat dives, offer a deli made sandwich or salad on the surface interval, are in no rush, current staff have all been doing this for a decade or more, and I'm sure I left a few things out...
Have fun on your trip, and do get ahold of me if you want to do some diving.
Mahalo,
Steve