Capturing the Moment

Heading to the boat After our first day of diving in the warm, beautiful waters around Mnemba Island the group woke up ready for more today. We decided to head out as a united front today, scuba diving in one large group so everyone could share in the experience. Emperor Anglefish Fire dartfish ( Nemateleotris magnifica )   I wasn't able to bring my big camera setup this trip due to the weight limitations of all the small safari planes, but I did bring Heidi's compact camera, a Canon PowerShot S110 in an underwater housing to record some of the underwater action out here off the coast. All of these pictures were taken with that, and you can see the underwater video capabilities in the previous post . Clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean Fi in her element   We saw many of the same fish and nudibranchs from yesterdays dives, although the schools were even bigger and denser today. A couple of beautiful angelfish showed up as well as a sleeping green sea ...

Jess: Local Knowledge Entry at Koloa Landing, Kauai    For shore diving the south side of Kauai there is one solid option that will satisfy beginners and experts alike.The name of the place is Koloa Landing. Located in between the resorts of Poipu and the famous blow hole, Koloa Landing provides an easy boat ramp access and gravel parking lot right next to the water. My friend Jess has been working as a dive instructor in Kauai so knows the waters pretty well. She agreed to take me out for a crepuscular/night dive to see what kinds of interesting creatures we could find. Potter's Angelfish   After a very easy entry and a short kick out we submerged to a find a large school of blue stripe snapper. Large boulders were strewn about the site with some nice looking coral sporadically among them. It was in and among the coral and crevices that we wanted to search for the rarer species. Leaf Scorpionfish Jeweled Anemone Crab   And fine them we did....

Swim-by on Dive 1 Kona Dive Company   Kona Manta Ray Night Dive Now known as the "#1 Night Dive in the world", the Manta Ray Night Dive in Kona, Hawaii is something not to be missed. It can be done as a snorkel if you are not a certified diver , or as one of the most spectacular scuba dives anywhere on Earth. Diver, Manta, and Bubble Ring     I take people snorkeling here once a week and I still can't get enough. In fact, this dive is one of the first things I looked forward to doing after getting off the boat. It is right up there with grabbing a cold beer (no drinking on the boat), and having a good surf session. People often can't believe that all I want to do after leading people through the Hawaiian Islands for work is to get back in the water.   The crazy thing about this manta dive is that there is no pattern to let you know when there will be lots of manta rays or when there will be none. It doesn't seem to matter about moon phase, cu...

Molokini Crater is hands down one of the best dives out here in Hawaii. And it is big enough to several different dive sites since you can't explore the entire crater all in one dive. Its location has pros and cons. Being about four miles offshore it avoids runoff and suspended sediment that occasionally affects the shoreline of Maui and it is sometime subjected to pretty wild currents which seem to bring in the big fish like sharks. But being that far offshore you have to pay alot to go on a boat dive with one of the many scuba tour companies. mushroom coral Unless you feel up to the challenge! Heidi and I had this planned for days. We rented scuba tanks the night before, loaded the kayak on top of the car, and piled up all our snorkel and camera gear. The next morning we woke bright and early, drove to the kayak put in spot and started out on a beautiful calm day towards Molokini off in the distance. Octopus in old missile shell dwarf moray eel About an hour late...