When Andrea returned to Hawaii this time she brought her friend Jillian along with her. Jillian has been working towards her Open Water certification in Edmonton but this would be her first time diving in the ocean. She did a morning of training in a pool with the same Dive Shop that I always use, Island Divers Hawaii. After that I met her in the afternoon to do some real diving.

The first site we went to was Koko Craters. We jumped into the water but wound up having to wait on the surface holding the tow line while the rest of our group got ready to go. It gave me a chance to get some pictures on the surface.

After everyone got in we descended. Jillian descended on the line while I swam around and got some shots.

We descended right on top of a school of big fin squid, which I have never seen before in Hawaii. They were just gently swimming into the current so as to stay stationary. They were so calm I could float right up to them. The closest I got was probably less than two feet away. They're incredibly alien looking.

I also got a video to capture how they move through the water.

We stayed with the squid for quite awhile but eventually moved on and came across a young sea turtle. It seemed to be just drifting in the current without even bothering to orient itself properly.

Here's a shot of Jillian and me when I gave the camera to another diver.

At the end of this dive the divemaster found a small octopus hiding in a little cave. He tried to get it out using his tank bang but didn't have any luck. I always enjoy digging out octopus so I decided to give it a shot too. I reached my hand in and basically "tickled" the octopus until it grabbed my arm. After doing this a few times the octopus grabbed my arm firmly enough for me to pull it out of its cave. After it was out it let go of my arm, inked and swam away before I could get another grip on it. Oh well, there's more where that came from.

After all of that we ascended and got back on board the boat without incident.

Location: Honolulu, Oahu, HI, USA

Dive Number:   57 Bottom Time: 43m Time In: 1:18 p.m. Tank In: Max Depth: 36.00 ft Table Used:

Mix:   Air Safety Stop: 3m Time Out: 2:01 p.m. Tank Out: Average Depth: 26.00 ft Start Pressure Group:

Surface Interval:   End Pressure Group:

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