Trip Report: Kauai

"Grumman-581" <grumman(five)(eight)(one)@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Gii5f.50$Bf7.42@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> "Greg Mossman" wrote in message news:11lb40lkaqb7e59@corp.supernews.com...
>> Yeah, right. I'm leaving in 2 hours to LAX for an early-morning flight
>> to
>> Kauai.
>
> Damn, can't you find any warm water closer than *that*?

Hawaii is a 5-hour hop, the same distance as the hurricane-battered Atlantic
and Caribbean. I'd rather take my chances in Hawaii.

The Sea of Cortez offers plenty of warm diving opportunities and it's a lot
closer (2-hour flight), but the topside attractions aren't as pleasant to me
since I already live in a desert. I haven't been to Kauai in seven years,
while I was down in Baja just last year. It really all boils down to
whether you're in the mood for mai tais or margaritas.

As for the diving in Kauai, I managed to get in 7 dives over three days of
diving, missing two planned dives due to a bout of oyster poisoning from a
smelly Malpeque I inhaled at the Shula's 347 steakhouse which recently was
installed at the LAX Sheraton. It was a dusk/night dive combo that I really
wanted to do, but I had already spewed half my stomach lining over the
gunwales on the morning dives and sorely needed to recuperate. Janna went
on her own, the first time she's dove at night without me right by her side,
so it was a good confidence builder for her.

Overall, I liked Bubbles Below. Their boat is a bit funky, could use some
more shade, but otherwise a functional dive boat that supposedly carries up
to 8, but we only had 6 on two of the days, and on the first day it was just
Janna, me, and one other diver. Crew consists of two: captain and DM. In
three days, we experienced two captains and three DMs, so it seems that
everyone who works there does so part time. Day two, DM was the owner of
the joint, Linda. She is a walking encyclopedia of fish behavior, so I
definitely felt we got our money's worth on the trip: half the money for the
diving, and the other half for a graduate level marine biology seminar. The
other two days, the DMs were far less seasoned, though Captain Ken made up
for their relative ignorance with his vast knowledge. Dives were all
relatively shallow, reaching no more than 70' to the sand at the deepest,
mainly in the 40-60' range for some good bottom time. Very nice terrain on
some of the dives, others were a bit boring and consisted of large patches
of practically barren rubble as we drifted between reefs.

Water was nice and warm. 79 degrees the first day, 80-81 on days two and
three as a little weather came in and wind-tossed the surf and sprinkled us
with occasional showers. By day three, the wind had picked the seas up
enough so that we were forced to repeat a previous day's site due to its
sheltered location, 20-30 kph with 3-5' seas. Viz also steadily dropped
from the 60' or so on the first day, down to 30'. Days one and three we
dove from a moored boat, but Linda took us drifting from one site to another
for all three dives of day two. The beginning and end points of the drifts
were impressive, but the in-between was a bit monotonous. She even
apologized in advance for one "Mexican drift drive" where we had to do a
little kicking to get where we needed to go. All in all, I liked the dive
op enough to give them repeat business, but only the dives with Linda were
really worth the money they charge. I've heard good things about Fathom
Five, so I'll probably give them a whirl the next time I get out there.

Due to the more northern position relative to the other Hawaiian islands,
and the nutrient-rich runoff from the rainiest mountain on earth, underwater
Kauai is, as the DMs informed us, is a more algae-based ecosystem than a
coral-based one. While there were scattered coral heads full of life, most
of the reefs were covered in algae so they certainly don't present
themselves as nicely as the more pristine reefs of the Big Island. However,
I found the reefs to be much more full of diverse life: lots of little crabs
and shrimps hiding everywhere you looked. A moray of one species or another
could be found every 10 feet or so. And turtles galore. We saw turtles on
every dive, but a few sites were loaded with cleaning stations and sleeping
holes and you'd see 10-15 or more. Unlike the skittish turtles of the
Caribbean, these turtles would lazily sit with eyes half-closed while you
sat next to them in rapt observation.

A few white tips, no rays whatsoever, a couple caves with lionfish in
abundance, a handful of pretty nudibranchs and flatworms I didn't recognize
(the flatworms turned out to be named Magnificent and Fuchsia), lots of
octopi (one or two spotted on most every dive), only one lobster (?!?), and
the usual Hawaiian reef fish of which some 30% or so are endemic all made
for a good time, if not "world-class". Topside, the Sheraton was a
nice-enough place (especially since they upgraded my garden view to a deluxe
oceanfront) albeit with mediocre restaurants, Waimea Canyon was as pretty
and deep as I remember, and I didn't have to dredge up a word of Spanish.
The Mastercard bill will be punishing, as Hawaii ain't exactly the cheapest
place to dive, but I'll make up for it next month by staying at home and
eating cereal for dinner.

"Greg Mossman" wrote in message news:11lsu1l604k88b5@corp.supernews.com...
> Hawaii is a 5-hour hop, the same distance as the hurricane-battered
Atlantic
> and Caribbean. I'd rather take my chances in Hawaii.

Awh, 'ell, I figured that Coz this last week would have been 'bout your
luck...

> By day three, the wind had picked the seas up
> enough so that we were forced to repeat a previous
> day's site due to its sheltered location, 20-30 kph
> with 3-5' seas.

"kph"? kilometers per hour? Whatcha doin', going metric on us? Hell, I
though Hawaii was supposed to be part of the US...

> The Mastercard bill will be punishing, as Hawaii ain't exactly the
cheapest
> place to dive

What do 2-tank dives go for over there?

"Grumman-581" <grumman(five)(eight)(one)@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:z_u7f.26863$GQ.12622@tornado.texas.rr.com...

> Awh, 'ell, I figured that Coz this last week would have been 'bout your
> luck...

I maybe unlucky, but I ain't stupid. Kauai was hit hard by Iwa in Nov '82
and Iniki in Sep '92, so it is overdue for something bad in October and I
was prepared to suffer. But suffering in Hawaii isn't nearly as bad as
suffering in third-world Cozumel, or even third-world Florida, so I decided
I'd rather take my chances there.

> "kph"? kilometers per hour? Whatcha doin', going metric on us? Hell, I
> though Hawaii was supposed to be part of the US...

I thought a knothead like you would understand knots.

>> The Mastercard bill will be punishing, as Hawaii ain't exactly the
> cheapest
>> place to dive
>
> What do 2-tank dives go for over there?

Bubbles charges $110, and they gave us a 20% discount on subsequent days, so
it's not as bad as Maui where Ed Robinson commands $120 and only gives a 10%
discount for three diving days. Nitrox was an additional $12 per tank, so
we only did one nitrox dive a day to compromise safety with the pocketbook.
Depths were such that nitrox wasn't necessary even with 55-minute bottom
times, but I believe it makes a difference on how one feels after the dives,
especially since we had to meet at the boat at 7:15 a.m., it was a 20-minute
drive from the hotel, and I was drinking all sorts of mai-tais, beer, and
wine until late each evening.

But it's not only the diving that costs. Hawaii accomodations are
expensive. The Sheraton was $235 a night for garden view, though that was
an offseason hotel/car package that included an SUV and being off-season, I
had no problem being upgraded with my Starwood frequent-stay status. Food
is pricey. Drinks are pricey. Gas for the guzzling SUV was pricey ($3.15 a
gallon for the cheapest stuff). Airfare wasn't too bad considering the
distance, though. All in all, I'd guess that a Mexico dive vacation with
equivalent-class room and board would run about 40% less and Mexico offers
plenty more options to do it much cheaper than that, i.e. I'd rather eat
cheap tacos than a cheap Hawaiian plate lunch. I hate spam.

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:37:37 -0700, "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com>
wrote:

>"Grumman-581" <grumman(five)(eight)(one)@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:z_u7f.26863$GQ.12622@tornado.texas.rr.com. ..

>..
>> "kph"? kilometers per hour? Whatcha doin', going metric on us? Hell, I
>> though Hawaii was supposed to be part of the US...
>
>I thought a knothead like you would understand knots.
>...

Isn't "knots" in reference to "nautical miles per hour" usually
abbreviated as kn or kt? Anyway, a reference to knots per hour would be
sort of like saying rpm per minute. Strictly speaking, a "knot" is a unit
of speed, a nautical mile is the measure of distance. I don't think I've
ever seen knots as "kph."

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA ghekhuis@earthlink.net
Hell hath no fury like a bird in the hand.

"Galen Hekhuis" <ghekhuis@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7o2tl1diqqo5b53lcf3cck5injgugnjinf@4ax.com...

> Isn't "knots" in reference to "nautical miles per hour" usually
> abbreviated as kn or kt? Anyway, a reference to knots per hour would be
> sort of like saying rpm per minute. Strictly speaking, a "knot" is a unit
> of speed, a nautical mile is the measure of distance. I don't think I've
> ever seen knots as "kph."

That's twice I've had my hat handed to me in the space of a few hours, a new
world's record. Thanks Galen. First kelp and now knots. Heck, I almost
unknowingly typed know for now just then. I shall stay away from words
starting with K today and start on a third cup of coffee to shake off this
jet lag cum hangover.

"Greg Mossman" wrote in message news:11lt2ca2jgptg55@corp.supernews.com...
> I thought a knothead like you would understand knots.

Knots is already a velocity... If the 'k' in 'kph' stood for knots, then you
would be using a measurement for accelleration, not velocity... It would
mean, "nautical miles per hour per hour"... I suspect you must have meant
just plain 'knots' or 'nm/hr'... Of course, 'nm/hr' would normally mean
'nanometers per hour' which would make it a calm wind that you had been
describing...

> Bubbles charges $110, and they gave us a 20% discount on subsequent days,
so
> it's not as bad as Maui where Ed Robinson commands $120 and only gives a
10%
> discount for three diving days.

So, about twice what Coz charges and you didn't even get to meet Wilma...
Doesn't sound all that enchanting...

> But it's not only the diving that costs. Hawaii accomodations are
> expensive. The Sheraton was $235 a night for garden view, though that was
> an offseason hotel/car package that included an SUV and being off-season,
I
> had no problem being upgraded with my Starwood frequent-stay status. Food
> is pricey. Drinks are pricey. Gas for the guzzling SUV was pricey ($3.15
a
> gallon for the cheapest stuff). Airfare wasn't too bad considering the
> distance, though. All in all, I'd guess that a Mexico dive vacation with
> equivalent-class room and board would run about 40% less and Mexico offers
> plenty more options to do it much cheaper than that, i.e. I'd rather eat
> cheap tacos than a cheap Hawaiian plate lunch. I hate spam.

Sound like cheap airfare to get you there and then they start making the
*real* money off of you... For some reason, it kind of sounds like the scam
they have with the ink jet printers...

"Grumman-581" <grumman581@DIE-SPAMMER-SCUM@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5fx7f.28115$GQ.3376@tornado.texas.rr.com...

<snip>

Go ahead and explain why they are called knots in the first place.

Has less than nothing to do with nuatical miles.

"Scott" wrote in message news:0eedndGZx5btOsPeRVn-uA@wavecable.com...
> Go ahead and explain why they are called knots in the first place.
>
> Has less than nothing to do with nuatical miles.

From a historical perspective, it's an interesting coincidence...

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question...ry/q0139.shtml

These days, it's defined that way...

Greg Mossman wrote:

> "Galen Hekhuis" <ghekhuis@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:7o2tl1diqqo5b53lcf3cck5injgugnjinf@4ax.com...
>
>
>>Isn't "knots" in reference to "nautical miles per hour" usually
>>abbreviated as kn or kt? Anyway, a reference to knots per hour would be
>>sort of like saying rpm per minute. Strictly speaking, a "knot" is a unit
>>of speed, a nautical mile is the measure of distance. I don't think I've
>>ever seen knots as "kph."
>
>
> That's twice I've had my hat handed to me in the space of a few hours, a new
> world's record. Thanks Galen. First kelp and now knots. Heck, I almost
> unknowingly typed know for now just then. I shall stay away from words
> starting with K today and start on a third cup of coffee to shake off this
> jet lag cum hangover.
>
>
"cum hangover"? Please, don't share the details
--
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their
neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

"Grumman-581" <grumman581@DIE-SPAMMER-SCUM@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:sJy7f.28132$GQ.754@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> "Scott" wrote in message news:0eedndGZx5btOsPeRVn-uA@wavecable.com...
> > Go ahead and explain why they are called knots in the first place.
> >
> > Has less than nothing to do with nuatical miles.
>
> From a historical perspective, it's an interesting coincidence...
>
> http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question...ry/q0139.shtml
>
> These days, it's defined that way...

In them days the navigator just hoped the knot counter hadnt had his issue
of grog yet...