First Dive Kona, May 9 2010 Sunday

On the way to Honokahao Harbour, I shot this picture. A majestic shot of sunlight filmed through a hole in the clouds exactly over the peak of Kilauea Volcano, and if you squinted very closely, the bright white-hot orb can be seen in the center of that hole.

At the harbour, we entertained ourselves by finding beautiful Moorish Idols and other reef fishes in the harbour, which was rather impressive because the harbour water was crystal clear. It was a very quiet Sunday morning at the harbour, the sun silently climbing up into the sky, radiating blazing heat onto earth and over the white painted boats and small vessels in the harbour. There were over 100s of crafts moored in the harbour, ranging from sloops to sailing catamarans. It was a small-boat harbour though and the largest was probably only 40 foot.

Finally, our boat, the Moana Lu'u, which means "Dive in Open Ocean, pulled up at a rocky bay, and the gear was left to idle, which made the swells and seasickness worse.
To my great regret in the water, halfway through the dive, I was seriously tired out from flopping over like a dead fish, as all my 8lbs were on my left side, so I had torque towards my right, resulting in turning right side up every time I went into neutral buoyance. Irritated thus, I did not enjoy my first dive and could not wait to right this when I surfaced. The underwater world at Kona was, however, very beautiful and different from the coral triangle in South East Asia.

Despite my struggles, I was cheered by the beautifully colored fishes, many of which are rare or not found in the coral triangle in South East Asia. Yellow Tangs were abundant, but I did not see even one clown fish. There were no colourful soft corals, instead the whole floor was littered with rather bland brown massive corals, encrusting corals, and branching corals with colored tips. I also saw bright fire-red pencil urchins for the first time. Small purple anthias in large schools hovered over the corals. Very long green eels came out of their caves to greet us. The water was cold at 23 degrees Celsius, and I was quite glad to get out after 45 minutes.

My second dive after an hour surface interval was a lot better. I had shifted my weight pockets to distribute the weights evenly on both sides and achieving neutral buoyancy this time, I could truly enjoy now. The bottom was only 30-40 feet away, and visibility was more than 50 feet. Lava flow many years ago had created tubes, caves and shelves, under which many marine creatures had made their homes. It was wonderful to swim through sunlight speckled holes and short caves, while the fishes swam with us or darted away at the approach of an exhalation of bubbles.

I saw a juvenile Dragon wrasse for the first time and was amused by the lacy fins surrounding its whole body. I regretted briefly not bringing my camera as a whole eel wrapped around a cave slither slowly out of its protection. Usually, only the head is visible, but this green Moray eel had come right out, all 5 feet of it. It was bright green along its snake-like body, a darker green dorsal fin, with paler yellow lips and rows of sharp teeth in a snapping mouth below its pair of mean small beady black eyes.

Done with the dives, we headed back to the harbour. I was refreshed by the sea water and had enjoyed myself thoroughly. "This is so much better than shopping!" I thought to myself, with a broad grin. Kenon, however, was thoroughly seasick by now and was slumped over his dive gear, still wearing his dive suit and could not open his eyes or speak. I was cured of my nausea once I had eaten my turkey sandwich [and Kenon's as well since he was too nauseaous to eat]. When the boat reached the landing ramp, Kenon jumped onto dry land. The whole boat cheered and one of the other divers shouted, "Kiss the earth, oh, glorious earth!" and everyone laughed.

Leaving most of the gear on the boat for the next dives, we lunched at Bite Me Fish Market and Restaurant located just on the side of the pier. Kenon cheered up considerably, especially after tasting the amazingly good fresh shrimp in macadamia nut oil. We lazed the rest of the day away, strolling on the beach and looking into shop windows, enjoying the sea breeze and the luxury of time, not rushing anywhere, not having an aim.