Hawaii in December?

Starting to look at a small ship cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti and might
add some extra days onto the trip...probably on the trip's front end.

Tentatively, we're looking at the Honolulu/ Waikiki beach area, so any
advice for good/bad dive op's in this area would also be appreciated.
However, if the water's below around 72F, I'm disinclined to drag along
the full kit.


TIA,


-hh

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-4235C7.08113818062005@news.giganews.com...
> Starting to look at a small ship cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti and might
> add some extra days onto the trip...probably on the trip's front end.
>
> Tentatively, we're looking at the Honolulu/ Waikiki beach area, so any
> advice for good/bad dive op's in this area would also be appreciated.
> However, if the water's below around 72F, I'm disinclined to drag along
> the full kit.

Not that I don't love Waikiki Beach, as I'm one of the few who actually do,
but why not spend the extra days in Tahiti instead? Specifically, you can
take a 30 minute ferry over to Moorea and dive in much warmer water (it's
summer over there) with big fat chicken-fed lemon sharks and a horde of
blacktips, take in some topless women, and dine on the best seafood buffet
I've ever experienced and I hate buffets (Wednesday nights at the Moorea
Intercontinental).

Otherwise, I suggest e-mailing suds if he hasn't been lurking and gets to
you first.

Are you cruising with Bob?

The average water temperature here, on O'ahu, in December is 77 deg. f. I'm
diving with Waikiki Dive Center this Monday. I'll let you know how they are.
In the winter months here, I wear a shorty to depths of 45'. If the dive is
deeper I use a 6-5-4 wet suit. But, I'm older and enjoy comfort.

http://george001.proimageguide.com/

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-4235C7.08113818062005@news.giganews.c
om...
> Starting to look at a small ship cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti and might
> add some extra days onto the trip...probably on the trip's front end.
>
> Tentatively, we're looking at the Honolulu/ Waikiki beach area, so any
> advice for good/bad dive op's in this area would also be appreciated.
> However, if the water's below around 72F, I'm disinclined to drag along
> the full kit.
>
>
> TIA,
>
>
> -hh

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>
> Not that I don't love Waikiki Beach, as I'm one of the few who actually do,
> but why not spend the extra days in Tahiti instead?

Part of it had been predicated on schedule, but its also on the
availability at a Waikiki hotel at a quite reasonable $106/night.


> Specifically, you can take a 30 minute ferry over to Moorea and
> dive in much warmer water (it's summer over there)...

Hmm. Interesting. We did look briefly at Papeete for what's around,
but we weren't in the mood to just go "cruise ship outlet shopping",
didn't pick up on this ferry to Moorea; thanks.



> Otherwise, I suggest e-mailing suds if he hasn't been lurking and
> gets to you first.

Suds is apparently enjoying himself this weekend with things clearly
more entertaining than USENET


> Are you cruising with Bob?

Bob Beard, from the Oahu Dive Center?


Overall, it should be an interesting cruise...a 295ft ship with only 114
guests max, which is a far cry from behemoth Princess cruise ship types
where the crew alone will be three times that size. Until we get down
near Tahiti, its mostly going to have a wilderness/wildlife focus, with
ports of call at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and several
islands in the Republic of Kiribati ("Line Islands"):

http://www.fws.gov/pacific/pacificis...almyranwr.html
http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_...mas_island.htm
http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/vostok.htm
http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/starbuck.htm
http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/flint.htm


Suffice to say, "a tad off the beaten path".


-hh

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-A0AFEF.07015219062005@news.giganews.com...

> Part of it had been predicated on schedule, but its also on the
> availability at a Waikiki hotel at a quite reasonable $106/night.

Tahiti would probably set you back a bit more, though you should be able to
negotiate a decent rate given that it's the off-season and the Euro is down
against the dollar (which I assume affects the Polynesian Franc).
Unfortunately, moderate-priced accomodations in Tahiti often lack A/C,
something that the odiferous French apparently don't mind since they can't
smell the sweat over the pervasive cigarette smoke.

> Hmm. Interesting. We did look briefly at Papeete for what's around,
> but we weren't in the mood to just go "cruise ship outlet shopping",
> didn't pick up on this ferry to Moorea; thanks.

Air Tahiti will ream you with ridiculous luggage restrictions when traveling
to the other islands. The ferry is a nice way to get around this and Moorea
is quite pleasant. Papeete is a third-world shithole, more like Guayaquil
than Waikiki, though there certainly are nicer places on the island
especially toward the south where Gauguin lived. I admit to not spending
much time in the city. We just spent a night at the Intercontinental before
flying out to Rangiroa the next morning.

But Moorea makes for a scenic circle island drive. You can see the
beautiful bay where they filmed the various Bounty movies and there's a
distillery up in the hills where you can sample some pretty strong and tasty
vanilla and coconut liquors. As it's a decaying volcano, like Kauai, the
green-covered mountains are very rugged and dramatic. And the Tahitians
tend to serve their sashimi with a sweet soy-based dipping sauce, rather
than the Japanese-style soy sauce and wasabi ball that you get in Hawaii.
Great prices on French wines, but the rest of the booze will set you back
far more even than expensive Waikiki.

> Suds is apparently enjoying himself this weekend with things clearly
> more entertaining than USENET

Children? Entertaining, perhaps. But they begin to smell after a while.
Usenet has no odor.

> Bob Beard, from the Oahu Dive Center?

Uh, sure. That's who I mean. I mean average.

> Overall, it should be an interesting cruise...a 295ft ship with only 114
> guests max, which is a far cry from behemoth Princess cruise ship types
> where the crew alone will be three times that size. Until we get down
> near Tahiti, its mostly going to have a wilderness/wildlife focus, with
> ports of call at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and several
> islands in the Republic of Kiribati ("Line Islands"):

> http://www.fws.gov/pacific/pacificis...almyranwr.html
> http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_...mas_island.htm
> http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/vostok.htm
> http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/starbuck.htm
> http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/flint.htm
>
>
> Suffice to say, "a tad off the beaten path".

A tad.

Do you get to dive any of these islands?

"George Pratt" <prattg002@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:

> The average water temperature here, on O'ahu, in December is 77 deg. f. I'm
> diving with Waikiki Dive Center this Monday. I'll let you know how they are.
> In the winter months here, I wear a shorty to depths of 45'. If the dive is
> deeper I use a 6-5-4 wet suit. But, I'm older and enjoy comfort.

Thanks, George. At 77F, its probably time to pick up a chicken vest to
go with with my full 3mm



-hh

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-423BE8.06301320062005@news.giganews.com...

> This was similar to the conclusion we came to...when we did some
> internet research on a destination and what floated to the top was a
> shopping map of town, the idea of taking the dayroom and resting before
> hitting the airport floated to our top.

Did you say airport? Don't get me started on the Papeete airport. No A/C,
hordes of people mobbing the boarding gates with no semblance of order, it
really makes you long for the calm, albeit bland, oasis of Honolulu
International. I mentioned Guayaquil in the last post? At least Guayaquil
has a beautiful modern airport.

> If snorkeling counts, yes. Otherwise, since its not a diving
> liveaboard, and because IIRC 4 of these 5 are completely uninhabited,
> I'd have to "BYO" from Hawaii...which sounds like too much work. In any
> event, I expect the birding to be equal to the Galapagos, so I'll be
> expecting to be spending shore time doing land photography too.

Then I guess snorkeling will have to count. You can still tell people you
dove in those exotic locales, just mumble the word "free". Anyway, not
having to deal with dive and U/W photo gear makes it much more of a vacation
IMO. Diving can be a real hassle sometimes.

I didn't spend much time looking at birds in Tahiti, but I've always been
impressed by the birds of Hawaii, enough so to buy a field guide. And I
certainly took more pictures of birds than fish in the Galapagos, savoring
the ease of topside photography over the PITA of shooting underwater. I'll
look forward to seeing some pictures when you get back.

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>
> Did you say airport? Don't get me started on the Papeete airport. No A/C,
> hordes of people mobbing the boarding gates with no semblance of order, it
> really makes you long for the calm, albeit bland, oasis of Honolulu
> International. I mentioned Guayaquil in the last post? At least Guayaquil
> has a beautiful modern airport.

C'mon Greg...tell us how you really feel

We've been through Guayaquil...as well as CDG...so I can expect the
worst elements of both.



> > If snorkeling counts, yes. Otherwise, since its not a diving
> > liveaboard, and because IIRC 4 of these 5 are completely uninhabited,
> > I'd have to "BYO" from Hawaii...which sounds like too much work. In any
> > event, I expect the birding to be equal to the Galapagos, so I'll be
> > expecting to be spending shore time doing land photography too.
>
> Then I guess snorkeling will have to count. You can still tell people you
> dove in those exotic locales, just mumble the word "free". Anyway, not
> having to deal with dive and U/W photo gear makes it much more of a vacation
> IMO. Diving can be a real hassle sometimes.

It will also depend on the weather upon arrival...it can be hit-or-miss,
since a couple of these have no natural harbors.


> I didn't spend much time looking at birds in Tahiti, but I've always been
> impressed by the birds of Hawaii, enough so to buy a field guide. And I
> certainly took more pictures of birds than fish in the Galapagos, savoring
> the ease of topside photography over the PITA of shooting underwater.

On the Galapagos, I'm really glad that I did 2 cruises there, for the
non-diving liveaboard saw significantly more topside critter life than
the diving liveaboard. Considering the 'hard to get to' factor
(including airports), it IMO really is a waste to only spend but one
week there.

-hh

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-7925A1.08063121062005@news.giganews.com...

> On the Galapagos, I'm really glad that I did 2 cruises there, for the
> non-diving liveaboard saw significantly more topside critter life than
> the diving liveaboard. Considering the 'hard to get to' factor
> (including airports), it IMO really is a waste to only spend but one
> week there.

I'll go back for another diving itinerary, but probably with a different
company so as to hopefully see different stuff topside. That means Peter
Hughes rather than one of the Aggressors, but I do have to say that our boat
(# II) was one of the best liveaboards I've been on to date. The crew
worked their butts off to keep the boat in flawless condition. Nothing
broke down. Everything was delivered as promised (except for the E-6
processing which did piss off the two film photogs aboard and allowed me to
gloat over my digital system). And clean, clean, clean.

But Peter does longer itineraries, up to ten days I believe. I've taken to
traveling with a couple of guys that charter the longer trips and while it's
hell getting away for so long, it is nice to end up with more than five
diving days once you've flown and cruised halfway around the world. Some
non-diving trips sound intriguing, like yours, but that would mean giving up
on diving. I almost look forward to the day when I'm feeble and can no
longer dive and then I won't have worry about giving anything up to travel
to all these other places in the world where diving is difficult or
non-existent. I am finally making my way over to landlocked Europe this
year (Switzerland) before Bush decides to nuke the place, but it's gonna
feel weird hiking around the Alps without a tank on my bank.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
> message
> news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-7925A1.08063121062005@news.giganews.com...
>
>
>>On the Galapagos, I'm really glad that I did 2 cruises there, for the
>>non-diving liveaboard saw significantly more topside critter life than
>>the diving liveaboard. Considering the 'hard to get to' factor
>>(including airports), it IMO really is a waste to only spend but one
>>week there.
>
>
> I'll go back for another diving itinerary, but probably with a different
> company so as to hopefully see different stuff topside. That means Peter
> Hughes rather than one of the Aggressors, but I do have to say that our boat
> (# II) was one of the best liveaboards I've been on to date. The crew
> worked their butts off to keep the boat in flawless condition. Nothing
> broke down. Everything was delivered as promised (except for the E-6
> processing which did piss off the two film photogs aboard and allowed me to
> gloat over my digital system). And clean, clean, clean.
>
> But Peter does longer itineraries, up to ten days I believe. I've taken to
> traveling with a couple of guys that charter the longer trips and while it's
> hell getting away for so long, it is nice to end up with more than five
> diving days once you've flown and cruised halfway around the world. Some
> non-diving trips sound intriguing, like yours, but that would mean giving up
> on diving. I almost look forward to the day when I'm feeble and can no
> longer dive and then I won't have worry about giving anything up to travel
> to all these other places in the world where diving is difficult or
> non-existent. I am finally making my way over to landlocked Europe this
> year (Switzerland) before Bush decides to nuke the place, but it's gonna
> feel weird hiking around the Alps without a tank on my bank.
>
>
There's some interesting river and lake diving in Switzerland...at
altitude of course.