Turtles and Sharks! - Diving Kauai
Since completing my Advanced Open Water three weeks ago, I have been so excited to go on a dive to the depths of the ocean, having the ability to see wrecks and go inside caverns and tunnels, and to just experience so much more than what I could with my Open Water certification. I spent the days working up to our trip to Kauai nagging Bryan, "which dives do you want to go on? what days do you want to go"? Eventually, I had to just say, "let's go!"
We didn't book anything in advance, so on our first, long day in Kauai, we found a little booth at the Po'ipu Shopping Village that had people trying to sell tourists day trips and excursions. The lady we spoke to was extremely nice, and managed to get us a small discount on a dive trip if we agreed to sign up for a 'free' vacation from Diamond Resorts. Timeshares abound! Anyway, as we were talking to this lady, she suggested either a 2-tank or a 3-tank dive. Well, of course the 3-tank dive seemed like a great way for me to get some experience doing more advanced dives!
The dive company we went with was called Seasport Divers, and we arrived shortly after 6:30 am, ready for our dives. After outfitting us with the ever-flattering wetsuits we needed for our dives, our dive master, Debbie, got us set up in the van and drove us to the harbour, where our dive boat was elegantly launched into the crystal clear ocean. By luck and pure chance, Bryan and I had ourselves a private dive boat for the morning - apparently a group of 3 that had booked (and paid) for the excursion just simply decided not to show up. We waited longer than planned to see if they would show up; however, Debbie is the type of person who doesn't put up with any crap, and said we were heading out without them.
Debbie is a math teacher by day at a local high school, but works part-time for Seasport Divers to supplement her horse-racing hobby. Because it is spring break here this week, she happened to be working our dive trip. Debbie is outgoing, bubbly, and so very fun to listen to as she tells stories about her life here on Kauai, living entirely off-grid with her husband and two dogs. She gave us great information about the creatures we saw during our dives and you could see her enthusiasm while underwater as we saw the various living creatures under the sea. The 'hang loose' hand signs, the grins through her scuba mask, and the excited pointing towards fish - you could really tell she loves her (second) job!
Ryan, our captain, was a friendly young guy originally from Indianapolis. He had stories about living on the island along with great advice and opinions on the surf spots, restaurants and activities that Bryan was interested in. He maneuvered our boat like an expert and kept us well fed, treating us like royalty on our quasi-private dive trip!
Three dives in one day - I wasn't sure what to expect. I assumed I would be cold and was worried I wouldn't enjoy the second and third dives after the first due to the temperature. It was chilly outside so early in the morning, with intermittent rain, along with some heavy winds. With my stomach churning with nerves and my worries overtaking my head, I managed to get geared up and jump into the ocean. The initial shock of the cool water was a quick win, but I felt very rushed and uncertain for the first six or seven minutes of the dive as I was told to descend. I was trying to remember my buoyancy skills that Sam worked so hard at with me in Cabo, and I was trying to get used to breathing through my mouth with the regulator. I know now that I would be best to be given 5 minutes on the surface for my first dive just to gather my thoughts and collect myself before descending.
The descent went well and we were off, skimming through the water 90 feet below the surface. Many, many species of fish were around us, swimming in schools and searching for food. This spot was called Icebox, and the purpose was to see spawning sturgeons. As we swam throughout the water, looking for these creatures, out in the distance, I saw something large just hanging out on the bottom of the sea floor. Close to my buddy and Debbie, I wandered over to check out this fish, thinking it would be a big grouper or something. Nope, it was a freaking shark!! A white tip reef shark, to be exact, one that wouldn't hurt me unprovoked, but still...a shark! It was startling, to say the least! We didn't see him again on the dive, but spent a few glorious minutes listening to the humpback whales singing through the water - the high-pitched whine of the whales was something miraculous, another wonder I reflect upon as I remember how thankful I am that I finally picked up this diving thing!
Our second dive was a drift dive, something that concerned me because I had not yet done this officially (though I did experience current in Cabo). This dive was pretty cool, as the current disappeared around certain rock formations only to come out in full force as we rounded a curve. On this dive we saw three more sharks...my scariest experience part of this dive was how Debbie found a small cavern in the rocks and shone her light into it, right onto the body of a reef shark. Bryan went to her right and I went to her left. Well, somehow between the two of them, they woke the shark up and he became annoyed and wanted to leave - he started coming right at me, no matter what I did, he was looking right at me!! I got out of his way, but imagined him being so annoyed that he might swim right up to me and bite me on the arm!
The third dive at Sheraton Caverns was probably the most spectacular dive I have ever experienced so far. The beginning of the dive, Debbie found an eel that came out of his cave and swam away - not something I particularly needed to see, but I find I am becoming more adjusted to the eels the more I see them. I still like them least. We then started diving and swimming through these short tunnels and arches in the rock, with large inlets underneath each. Here, resting in the dark, were these huge sea turtles, fast asleep. In total, I suspect we saw about 40 different turtles on this dive - some sleeping, some trying to swim away, some resting on the sand, and some floating around above us in the sea. We found out that they can't see well, so the best thing to do is to get lower than them so as not to scare them away. They are occasionally so docile that Debbie was able to take us up to one female laying on the floor and scratch her neck!
I did feel bad - one turtle, like the shark, was trying to get away from us and decided to swim directly at me; as I was trying to get lower in the water, he came so close I hit him with my tank! I rolled over to see if he was okay, and there he was, nonchalantly floating directly above me. These beautiful sea creatures are magnificent, so lazy and elegant swimming through the sea - I could have sat down there watching them for hours.
Three dives was a great idea - I felt so much more confident on these dives than ever before, and I am now excited to start looking into more places to dive. My stomach may still become crazy with nerves before my first dive, but I am slowly starting to replace those nerves with excitement and longing.
We didn't book anything in advance, so on our first, long day in Kauai, we found a little booth at the Po'ipu Shopping Village that had people trying to sell tourists day trips and excursions. The lady we spoke to was extremely nice, and managed to get us a small discount on a dive trip if we agreed to sign up for a 'free' vacation from Diamond Resorts. Timeshares abound! Anyway, as we were talking to this lady, she suggested either a 2-tank or a 3-tank dive. Well, of course the 3-tank dive seemed like a great way for me to get some experience doing more advanced dives!
The dive company we went with was called Seasport Divers, and we arrived shortly after 6:30 am, ready for our dives. After outfitting us with the ever-flattering wetsuits we needed for our dives, our dive master, Debbie, got us set up in the van and drove us to the harbour, where our dive boat was elegantly launched into the crystal clear ocean. By luck and pure chance, Bryan and I had ourselves a private dive boat for the morning - apparently a group of 3 that had booked (and paid) for the excursion just simply decided not to show up. We waited longer than planned to see if they would show up; however, Debbie is the type of person who doesn't put up with any crap, and said we were heading out without them.
Debbie is a math teacher by day at a local high school, but works part-time for Seasport Divers to supplement her horse-racing hobby. Because it is spring break here this week, she happened to be working our dive trip. Debbie is outgoing, bubbly, and so very fun to listen to as she tells stories about her life here on Kauai, living entirely off-grid with her husband and two dogs. She gave us great information about the creatures we saw during our dives and you could see her enthusiasm while underwater as we saw the various living creatures under the sea. The 'hang loose' hand signs, the grins through her scuba mask, and the excited pointing towards fish - you could really tell she loves her (second) job!
Ryan, our captain, was a friendly young guy originally from Indianapolis. He had stories about living on the island along with great advice and opinions on the surf spots, restaurants and activities that Bryan was interested in. He maneuvered our boat like an expert and kept us well fed, treating us like royalty on our quasi-private dive trip!
Three dives in one day - I wasn't sure what to expect. I assumed I would be cold and was worried I wouldn't enjoy the second and third dives after the first due to the temperature. It was chilly outside so early in the morning, with intermittent rain, along with some heavy winds. With my stomach churning with nerves and my worries overtaking my head, I managed to get geared up and jump into the ocean. The initial shock of the cool water was a quick win, but I felt very rushed and uncertain for the first six or seven minutes of the dive as I was told to descend. I was trying to remember my buoyancy skills that Sam worked so hard at with me in Cabo, and I was trying to get used to breathing through my mouth with the regulator. I know now that I would be best to be given 5 minutes on the surface for my first dive just to gather my thoughts and collect myself before descending.
The descent went well and we were off, skimming through the water 90 feet below the surface. Many, many species of fish were around us, swimming in schools and searching for food. This spot was called Icebox, and the purpose was to see spawning sturgeons. As we swam throughout the water, looking for these creatures, out in the distance, I saw something large just hanging out on the bottom of the sea floor. Close to my buddy and Debbie, I wandered over to check out this fish, thinking it would be a big grouper or something. Nope, it was a freaking shark!! A white tip reef shark, to be exact, one that wouldn't hurt me unprovoked, but still...a shark! It was startling, to say the least! We didn't see him again on the dive, but spent a few glorious minutes listening to the humpback whales singing through the water - the high-pitched whine of the whales was something miraculous, another wonder I reflect upon as I remember how thankful I am that I finally picked up this diving thing!
Our second dive was a drift dive, something that concerned me because I had not yet done this officially (though I did experience current in Cabo). This dive was pretty cool, as the current disappeared around certain rock formations only to come out in full force as we rounded a curve. On this dive we saw three more sharks...my scariest experience part of this dive was how Debbie found a small cavern in the rocks and shone her light into it, right onto the body of a reef shark. Bryan went to her right and I went to her left. Well, somehow between the two of them, they woke the shark up and he became annoyed and wanted to leave - he started coming right at me, no matter what I did, he was looking right at me!! I got out of his way, but imagined him being so annoyed that he might swim right up to me and bite me on the arm!
The third dive at Sheraton Caverns was probably the most spectacular dive I have ever experienced so far. The beginning of the dive, Debbie found an eel that came out of his cave and swam away - not something I particularly needed to see, but I find I am becoming more adjusted to the eels the more I see them. I still like them least. We then started diving and swimming through these short tunnels and arches in the rock, with large inlets underneath each. Here, resting in the dark, were these huge sea turtles, fast asleep. In total, I suspect we saw about 40 different turtles on this dive - some sleeping, some trying to swim away, some resting on the sand, and some floating around above us in the sea. We found out that they can't see well, so the best thing to do is to get lower than them so as not to scare them away. They are occasionally so docile that Debbie was able to take us up to one female laying on the floor and scratch her neck!
I did feel bad - one turtle, like the shark, was trying to get away from us and decided to swim directly at me; as I was trying to get lower in the water, he came so close I hit him with my tank! I rolled over to see if he was okay, and there he was, nonchalantly floating directly above me. These beautiful sea creatures are magnificent, so lazy and elegant swimming through the sea - I could have sat down there watching them for hours.
Three dives was a great idea - I felt so much more confident on these dives than ever before, and I am now excited to start looking into more places to dive. My stomach may still become crazy with nerves before my first dive, but I am slowly starting to replace those nerves with excitement and longing.
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| One of many sea turtles, hanging out in its cavern. |
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| One species of star fish. |
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| Underside of a star fish. |
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| The shark that the others herded right towards me! |
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| Eel swimming away. |
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| Underwater caverns we swam through. |
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| Sea turtle with our dive master. |
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| This is me in my dive gear. |
Sounds like you have been having lots of fun exploring..enjoy!
ReplyDeleteJen
What an experience Daina! I'll be sure to show this to Mateja and Victoria. They've both been wondering where Auntie Daina has been...swimming with sharks, eels and turtles I'd have to say! :)
ReplyDelete