Capturing the Moment

At the surface read to dive Today I had the rare opportunity to make a dive in a submarine here in Oahu. Atlantis submarines offer a chance to join the exclusive 100foot club without being trained in scuba diving. I was invited to go for a ride along to check out the operation. I have seen this kind of submarine in action over in Maui. While I was scuba diving on the wreck of the Carthaginian this company's sub came and check out the same wreck. I could see the tourists inside snapping photos. Now I had the opportunity to see how the other side feels. It is pretty amazing. Plane wreck seen from the sub YO-257 wreck  The pilot, sitting up in front, does all the maneuvering by sight. He has a giant bubble windshield, and a co-pilot at the rear giving him distances. The narrator for the trip sits up front spouting off information about the underwater area and the fish. The sub deftly moves between quite a few wrecks strewn about the bottom. Old shells of airplanes, a Kore...

Heidi and I signed up with Reef Pirates Dive Shop to go do a deep wreck dive off the coast of Hawaii-kai in Oahu. I had never dove on a plane wreck before so I was very excited. Plus there are always cool critters on wrecks that you just don't see other places. This was no exception! The is a worry about the current at this offshore location so we had to time it right. We descended down the mooring line and the outline of the wreck soon became visible. The right wing was broken and the left wing was buried under the sand but otherwise the wreck is in great condition. The landing gear is still extended from the back of the plane which you can see in the top right picture. Sometimes you can sit in the cockpit and get your picture taken but today a toxic spiny sea urchin had taken up residence right ontop of the pilots seat so that was a no go.   One of the coolest parts of this dive is that the sand surrounding the wreck is filled with rows upon rows of garden eels. Slim, ...