Hawaii Diving

Today we tried a little scuba diving, Hawaii style. We were picked up at our hotel for a dive by our divemaster Bob. We went out with one other student with him on a catamaran, but with about eight other divers led by other instructors. We were a little apprehensive at first because the boat took us out of the harbor, around a point, and straight out from Waikiki Beach a stone's throw from some surfers waiting far out for the big waves. But we were more than pleasantly surprised!

On the first dive, we saw eight different green sea turtles in Turtle Canyon, the name of the dive site. Three were seen swimming, four were sleeping or relaxing on the bottom in coral and one was being nipped at by fish in a cleaning station. We also saw four different moray eels (a first for Kelly) of three different species. We saw two black-speckled white ones that were out of their crevices and being cleaned by small wrasses.

At the second dive site named Horseshoe Key, right outside of the harbor entrance, we saw two more moray eels as well as a four-foot whitetip reef shark under a ledge. Suffice it to say that we were amazed at the number of 'big' animals that we saw, plus the innumerable 'regular' fish that inhabit the reefs. Alan saw tons of triggerfish, which are his favorite.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun and water on Waikiki Beach, as well as the views of the longboard surfing. Some of these surfers are amazing. We saw one couple that would ride the wave in with the girl on the guy's shoulders doing various acrobatic moves as they cruised into shore! Others would ride in groups. We saw one family (dad, mom and very young child) riding a wave, all on the same surfboard, standing in a row! We were amazed.

Tonight, we ate at Fatty's Chinese restaurant, which has about ten total seats for customers. We had an awesome meal, and it cost only two-thirds of what we spent on our margaritas alone last night! We really enjoy the local restaurants, yes for the prices, but mostly for the good food and local spirit.