Wojciech Zgola - "My Hawaii": Welcome to Oahu - report + gallery

Already after landing in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, I see the first signs of the presence of attributes of local specificity of the islands. Many of the passengers are given wreaths of flowers around their necks on good morning, and a large sign above the stairs reads “Aloha”. After walking with my luggage towards the airport exit, I encounter Hawaiian women dancing the hula kula dance. Specific music, costumes and movements. Every guest watches and stops for a moment at least. Hot, although it is March, the turn of winter and spring.

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I spend the first evening walking the streets of Honolulu. I hit the most famous Waikiki Beach, watch the surfers, of which there are many. I go to an inferior Mexican restaurant and enjoy a delicious burrito with black beans, which I learned and liked in Cuba.

Diving Centre

Having already checked online for diving opportunities around Oahu, I chose one of the centres located in Honolulu in the south of the island, a short distance from the centre. I dived with Ocean Legends. As it is in the States the most important thing is insurance and right after that licensing. I filled out the standard forms, inquired about how many divers there would be and what the options were for dive sites. I had very little time for the dives themselves, so one day I did 4 dives, including a night dive with sharks, which added to the thrill.

Wrecks

All dives were conducted from a boat. The group consisted of 6 people plus a guide. The first dive early in the morning was on the wreck YO-257, this vessel has quite a rich history. It was built in 1940 and worked as a tanker ship. Its job was to supply the fleet with fuel. It held 200,000 gallons of oil. And although it operated at the front during World War II, it never found itself in the direct line of fire. He also served during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. She was lightly armed with 2 20mm machine guns. As a small ship measuring 53m x 10m x 4m, she was purchased by Atlantis Submarine company of Hawaii in 1988 and sunk as a diving attraction in 1989. She rests in the south, near Honolulu, at a depth of 30 m.

In one dive you can freely circumnavigate the wreck, which of course we do. As an artificial reef it has become a refuge for many animals. We take a look inside, we are on the bridge, we see the chimney and the staircase. As if on its keel, it has been carrying all of 75 years. Weather conditions, waves, a sandy bottom and a group not very familiar with diving “smoke” the object. Visibility reaches 10 metres and the water temperature at the bottom is 25º C.

A wreck that I also visit during my Hawaiian dives is the Seatiger. It lies at 36 m depth and is comparable in size to YO-257. Its dimensions are 51 m x 12 m x 4 m. It stands on a keel on a sandy bottom. The centres here suggest that you do not go below 30 metres depth unless you see a tiger shark or a stingray on the sand, which sometimes happens here. This extends the dive time and allows you to enjoy its delights for longer.

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We dive in at sunset. The moray eels begin to leave their holes to feed. We observe enlarged “scalars” and in hundreds of pieces. You can see that the artificial reef that Sea Tiger has become is full of life. Visibility is 15 metres and the water temperature at the bottom is 25º C.

Reefs

Shallower dives, up to a depth of 15 metres, are made among the local reefs. Quite often we come across whitetip reef sharks. Some of them are quite big. Those seen during the day rest in natural caves, those during night dives actively penetrate various nooks and crannies, glaring at us with their eyes and staying at a distance of a few metres. There is a thrill of excitement, because it is their dinner time. With the respect due to predators and keeping the basic rules of functioning underwater in their natural environment, we observe, watch and enjoy their presence. Moving close to the bottom, both animals and humans pick up bottom sediments and sand. Visibility deteriorates and a “haze” forms in the water. We meet a large turtle, and penetrating the corners of the reef we can search for frogfish. It is full of crabs, trumpetfish, there are sea urchins, angelfish, Moorish idol fish and many others.

Diving signs

A total curiosity is that there is no standard “OK” sign. Yes, tourists who do so will be understood, but both on land and under water the “OK” sign is the ubiquitous “ALOHA” in Hawaii. The three middle fingers are folded, and the little finger and the thumb are straightened, but horizontally (in Europe a telephone call is shown this way, but vertically) and necessarily with a slight shake of the left-upper-bottom and the right-upper-bottom. This is how they greet each other, this is how they greet each other from a distance or through car windows when two buddies pass each other on the road. It is very friendly. The rest of the underwater signs are not different from the norm.

Pearl Harbor

Free time ashore includes lush nature, volcanoes, shops, beaches, whale watching cruises and a variety of pubs. Also worth a visit is the national memorial to the tragic events and reason the United States of America entered World War II, namely Pearl Harbor. Entrance and sightseeing is absolutely free. Order is maintained by older men in uniform. No backpacks or large bags are allowed. There are of course special storerooms and these are paid for.

The memorial is well marked and described and is very well maintained and peaceful. It is located on the historic site of a US Navy military base now combined Navy and Air Force and is named Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam. It is worth remembering that on 7 December 1940, the Japanese Army aviation attacked and destroyed 21 warships and about 260 aircraft. In the water of the bay rests the museum’s monument, namely the destroyer Arizona, over which the Arizona Memorial was built. To visit this place you have to stand in a queue, then board a boat and after a short while you come up to the platform and get on it. We move just above the water, in which we can see the wreck of the Arizona. Some elements are sticking out of the water.

Oahu

Oahu is worth seeing. The people are friendly and relaxed with their characteristic laid-back attitude and genuine smiles. The diving is not bad, but not the best either. It is very interesting to observe especially the natives, passionate surfers. They go to work with their boards on the roof of the car, on a moped sitting directly on the board, on the back of a pickup truck. Immediately after work they drive up to Waikiki beach, take off their suits and change into them to seek out the waves and go wild in the embrace of water, sun and salt. I should add that it can indeed often rain here, and immediately afterwards colourful rainbows show over the ocean and the islands. You can sometimes see them from planes flying between the islands.

I, in any case, am flying to the next island….

Wojciech Zgoła
wojtek@dive-adventure.eu