Capturing the Moment

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...

  Narrowing down what to do on a day off here in Oahu can be a daunting task. There are waterfall hikes, beautiful beaches, historical sites, rainforest, volcanic craters, delicious food, tropical drinks, and of course, the ocean. Surfing, scuba diving, and underwater photography are what really make Hawaii such a special place to live. Almost every day of the year you can head out into the ocean and do any of these three things. If there are big waves in the north you can scuba in the south, if there are high winds in the east I'll head west. On this day I chose to head west and look for the pod of spinner dolphins that often hangs out just off the coast near electric beach.   At first I thought I was out of luck. The conditions were overcast and grey, but flat calm. I could see the dolphins were there and a few snorkelers with them. I hustled to get ready and kicked hard to get out to where the dolphins were. Just as I got to the group of snorkelers the dolphins cru...

Turtle Sunburst On a beautiful sunny morning with slight offshore winds Heidi and I decided to go on a critter hunt at one of our favorite reefs off the west side of Oahu. We used Electric beach as our entry point and hung a left once out in the clear water. We came across some big schools of surgeon fish and tangs which contrasted nicely with the stark white sand. Heidi searching for interesting animals Heidi and her turtle    It had been awhile since Heidi and I had been free diving so we both needed to re-hone our breath holding skills. My short breath holds were evident when we came across our first turtle. But the more I dove the longer I was able to stay down. One turtle surfaced right next to me but for the most part the turtles were chomping away along the bottom eating up the algae. Hawaiian Day Octopus   It is always great hanging with turtles but I get even more amped swimming with octopus, especially if they are too big to find easy hi...

Blue Dragon Nudibranch Small Blue Dragon next to Heidi's pinky finger  Winter is here and the swells are bringing huge waves to our north and west shores here in Oahu. This is great for surfing, we had three huge professional surf events here last month, but can be problematic for scuba diving. Especially if you want to take underwater photos. But, after a bit of a dry spell for us diving here in Oahu, Heidi and I geared up for a shore dive at one of our usual spots called Electric Beach. It got this name because of a huge factory located just across the road from this beach, which has two huge output pipes running out into about 30ft deep water. Cold, deep ocean water used for cooling in the plant is pumped out here creating upwelling and a visible disturbance on the surface. This, and the clouds of fish attracted to this area make it pretty easy to find. Desirable Nudibranch Desirable Nudibranch (Flabellina exoptata)  The real attraction for Heidi and myself...

A pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins Back home on Oahu after near two months of being away I wasted no time in reacquainting myself with some of the more colorful local residents. Pods of spinner dolphins can often be seen playing in the water very close to the shoreline all around the Hawaiian islands. During the day they like to relax in shallow, sandy bays before heading to deeper water at night to find food.  While it is fun to watch spinner dolphins from the shore or from a boat, there is something magical about seeing them underwater. They have a certain grace and curiosity that hints at their intelligence. We can relate to their family grouping and playfulness as well. Knowing how to observe them is very important. I take care not to chase them or frighten them when I take photographs of dolphins. Luckily I can hold my breath for a while so when I know the dolphins are heading my way I can swim down and wait for them with my camera at the ready. That way they don't fee...