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Just two hours underwater in Maui
I especially love the dive holidays where you can leave home in flip-flops and arrive at the dive destination in flip-flops (or slippahs where I went). Los Angeles to Maui is one version of the flip-flops only necessary dive holiday.
I had a short trip ahead of me, three nights, more for personal reasons than diving. Theoretically I could dive three of the days, but realistically probably only one. I did not hesitate though as to whether I should pack my equipment or not. But I have done it so many times that I know if something is missing, because each item has a specific spot in my suitcase or backpack. This includes my camera gear. However, I still had to run through the routine of pre-trip equipment check as it had been over a year since my last dive.
On top of it I had procrastinated, so when it came time to reserve dives with a boat, only one of my three days was available. Although potentially with some extra effort, I would have been able to dive each day from the shore. But I knew the boat I wanted to dive with: Mike Severns.
This group is big on showing you animal behavior rather than running you around underwater showing you a lot of critters. They can find most of what you ask for, for sure, but they would rather show you fewer animals, but ones displaying interesting behavior. Furthermore, some of their people have been there a long time and have their own interesting histories. I have dived with Pauline a few times over the years (although she didn’t remember me) who has her own obsession with nudibranchs inhabiting Hawaiian waters. Her website is called seaslugsofhawaii, and you will hardly notice it, but she carries a small point and shoot to document new critters that she might find. Our other dive guide/instructor, Warren, used to practice dentistry.
Note to self: it is possible to leave your life of logic for “another way of living,” as someone on a dive boat once said to me.
It is a confusing way to start your dive day. A trip out to Molokini requires an early start time in order to avoid the afternoon trade winds that make the sea rough later in the day. We were up in the dark with the moonlight still above us, and flashlights (thank you iPhone) to fill out our consent forms. But the sun showed up before we left the harbor at the small Kihei boat ramp. The opposite of a night dive (and a bit like a Norwegian winter day on the walk to work).
At this time of the year, the search for marine life begins as soon as the boat leaves the breakwater. Humpback whales are in Maui to give birth, court, and breed from perhaps as early as December through April. Some females will begin their journey back to the north, pregnant and without having eaten a thing for their entire time (months) in Maui.
So you are immediately on the look-out for whales spouting, breaching, or just chilling on the surface on the way out to Molokini. At first you think you are imagining the poofs of water vapor here and there, but once you see a body attached to it, a very long graceful one, and a tail, you realize that what you are seeing is real. Our special treat on the way out was a mother and a calf perhaps nursing at the surface.
Hawaiian waters are not necessarily so warm, even in summer. I wasn’t happy to have to put on a 7mm wetsuit so near the equator, but below 26°C is too cold for me in 3 mm. Pauline gave me a straight answer when I asked for the temperature, which was even lower than they expected (20°C). However, 7 kg of weights easily fit into my integrated weight pockets, and I did not need a hood or gloves.
We jumped and made our way down the mooring line to the sandy bottom on the inner side of Molokini. The endemic Hawaiian garden eels as I remembered them welcomed us. Unfortunately with the same behavior as anywhere, it is impossible to approach them before they discreetly disappear into their sandy hole.
You never know what you will find. Maui for sure is different than coral diverse areas like Raja Ampat, but there is always something on a dive I have never seen. Pauline found the blenny (huge, huge blenny by the way; gargantuan I think) that she had described in the dive briefing; the male would be found with the eggs, which would be yellow if recently laid. And near the end of the dive over the coral reef, something caught my eye. Another eye – an octopus which apparently is not commonly seen there. For all of you Incredibles (a.k.a. Indonesian dive guides), I have been paying attention. In between were colorful fish, mostly the Hawaiian version of something I have seen elsewhere.
You never know what you will be obsessed by. The second dive, Wailea Point, was shallower and more of a macro dive. Pauline had told us that baby frog fish were in season (to view of course) and sure enough, she spotted a bright speck of yellow, smaller than her thumbnail, navigating the sandy bottom. Black sea cucumbers looked as if they had just been randomly strewn about. And as anyone knows, they are a unique habitat, especially for crustaceans, that might be called for example, the sea cucumber crab. Once you turn a sea cucumber over, you have to look quickly before the crab/shrimp slips away to the underside of the animal again.
I found myself behind again photographing… sea urchins. Sea urchins? They are everywhere – black ones, red ones, striped ones. It is a real wonder how the pencil urchins develop, but more of a mystery is how do they move around. They look stuck and you wonder, do they develop in the hole you find them in and are lodged there for life, or do they move around somehow despite their large solid spines? Edward Scissorhands underwater went through my mind.
The real magic of these dives though is something that you can not even see. It is what you hear (or you think you hear): humpback whale songs. They still are going through my head, like an ethereal recording playing in a shop selling incense meant to transform you into a peaceful state. A minor inconvenience is that you have to breathe, which makes an obstructive noise over the background of the whale song. I was told that each whale song lasts 20 minutes, and of course you have no idea exactly how many animals you are listening to at any moment. I wish I had tried to make a video of just anything, even the blue, to prove the music was real.
Time (and air) goes fast under water. When you have only two hours to dive, it seems to go even faster. Before I knew it, my time was up, and I had to drag myself, weights and all, up the stairs behind the dive boat. The sun was out from the clouds and hot by then though, and with a few views of spouting whales on the way back, the trip was not over until we reached the shore. A mere test dive day, perhaps, but packed nevertheless.
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TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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