Capturing the Moment

   During his Hawaii visit Hunter wanted to not just get some diving in, but go deeper than ever before. So we signed up for an advanced shipwreck dive off of Oahu's southern coast. We decided to tackled the wreck of the Sea Tiger. Here is the online description of the dive:  "One of our favorite wreck dives on the south side!  The Sea Tiger is 168 ft of artificial reef, sunk in 1999.  An amazing array of marine life is already taking advantage of this ship, including squirrelfish and filefish, morays, endangered green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays and reef sharks.  The main deck sits at around 80 feet, while the hull hits the sand at about 127 ft. The ship was originally named Yun Fong Seong No. 303, the ship was apprehended by the Honolulu Harbor Police carrying 93 illegal Chinese immigrants and became legend as Hawaii’s largest seizure of illegal immigrants.  The name Sea Tiger came from one of the ship’s later owners, a Vietnamese...

  After driving along the coast, soaking in sun rays on the beach, and scuba diving under the waves, I wanted to show Hunter and Gloria a different side of Hawaii, so off into the jungle we went. A fun mile long hike through the dense rainforest behind Manoa Valley was our choice and it turned out to be a good one. We walked by sites where filming for Jurassic Park, Hunger Games, and Lost occurred, thru a dense jungle, only a couple of miles from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.   It hadn't rained for a few days so the falls themselves were just a trickle, but I had never seen the pool at the bottom so clear. Getting her late in the afternoon also allowed us to have the falls pretty much all to ourselves. Chalk up another beautiful side of Oahu.

Gloria, Hunter, and Heidi suited up   My good friend Hunter his new fiancee, Gloria, flew to Hawaii for a visit so we have been adventuring around the island non stop. A full island tour with stops for cliff jumping, (farmed) shrimp eating, wave watching, and taste testing was just the beginning. Day two we ventured out to the less visited West side of the island to do a little underwater exploring. Hunter got SCUBA certified during his first visit out to Hawaii so we always try to fit in a bunch of dives while he is here.   We picked a beautiful day to go diving at our favorite west side spot called Electric Beach. The only problem was when we pulled up I realized we should have brought surf boards instead of scuba tanks. It is a relatively shallow dive, about 20ft, and the waves looked way bigger than the forecast called for. But not to be deterred we strapped on our tanks and kicked out through the breaking waves near the beach.    Things were looking g...

  One of the coolest things we were able to do on this recent trip to the Big Island was to get permission to hike way up through private Parker Ranch lands to the very back top of Waipio Valley. We started off in the hills overlooking Waimea. Then on foot we followed a water irrigation road for a few miles. The dense forest up here was filled with the sounds of birds and the snow covered peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Load dominated the horizon.   We passed by one bigger stream on our way to the top but everywhere else looked like a high elevation bog. Then, all of a sudden, the view opened up into a breathtaking scene of Waipio Valley like I had never seen it before. There was a sheer drop to the bottom of the crater where waterfalls cascaded down and collected in one big stream meandering thru the valley floor. Heidi, Susie, and Becky I'o, the Hawaiian Hawk!   As we stood taking in the view a lone bird of prey flew not too high above us. It could only ...

Kilauea Volcano The Kilauea Iki Crater hike   After a long driving day from Kona to the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii the gang slipped into the hot tub at the Kilauea Lodge.We finished the day with a glowing dinner at the Volcano House. A visit from Heidi's parents all the way from Vermont sparked this getaway for Heidi and I to the Big Island. Us four, along with local legend Dave P., Becky, Leslie, and John set out to experience as much of the volcano national park as we could. It even turned out to be a surprise free National Park weekend because of presidents day! Must be a sign of good things to come. Active vent Descent into the crater   The lodge we were staying at was first class all the way, from the hot tub to the private fireplace in each room. A symphony of bird noise erupted each morning out our window as the endemic honeycreepers called in the new day. Streaks of bright red darted from treetop to treetop through the o'hea tree's. Th...

First step is the hardest?   My good friend Phoebe was in town for a few days so I thought I would start her Oahu vacation off with a challenge, the infamous stairs of the Koko Crater hike. Over a thousand stairs heading up an old tramway translates to some calf burning, lung busting exercise that stays with you for a while. But the view from the top is totally worth it. Luckily this morning was cool but still clear and beautiful. Triumph   From the top of Koko Crater we could see across the Kaiwi Channel to Molokai, down to Hanauma Bay, and out to Diamond Head and Waikiki. Cactus hint at the dry climate although the rainforested tops of the Ko'olau range can be seen in the distance. We strained to look for whales in the calm morning waters of the Pacific but none could be seen. From Hanauma Bay to Diamond Head   Usually when you get to the summit on a hike like this the hard part is over. However, on the Koko Crater hike, the fun has just started. Musc...