Scuba Blogs Map

I went out with Steve Juarez on the Hawaiian Rafting boat in April to dive the First and Second Cathedrals. We saw a few whales on the way over which is always a plus. We stopped for a while and observed them. Tyler was the dive master and he's was extremely nice and helpful on the boat. Steve is also a very nice man and was very helpful on the dive. He came and got me when I was about to surface to show me the Snow Goddess Nudi he found (he knew I was looking for interesting critters). The dives were quite nice with vis easily 75 feet plus. I didn't find too many nudis but I did see some cool reef fish (my favorite) like the Bandit Angelfish and the Long-nosed Butterflyfish. On the way back we passed Lanai City and saw a pod of dolphins which followed the boat for a while. I took some video on my point and shoot and I will post that later along with some surface shots. Now it's June and the whales are gone which is quite a shame! Whale season is the most interesting time critter-wise (although there was a whale shark sited off Molokini Backwall a few days ago) but the diving is quite nice in the summer. The water is warm, the weather is mild... It's really a nice time... So Maui/Hawaii has something to offer all seasons!

I was using my Nikon 60mm with a Teleconverter 1.4x which seems to make the shots dark and slows down the focus. I really think it destroys the fish portrait characteristics of the 60mm. I have since bought a 105mm Nikon lens and another Woody's Diopter (my last one is somehwere off Tulamben, Bali). I think I may ebay the TC since I'll probably never use it again.

 

Here are my photos.