Keri and Jeremy's little side adventure!

Disclaimer: This is a really long post and I don't have time to post pictures atm...so they will come soon. =) Mahalo!
 
So while the rest of the family went to Pearl Harbor and the likes, Jeremy and I decided to go to the Big Island to go on a Manta Ray Night Dive!

Let me start off with the night before we flew off.
I wake up in the morning at like 2:30am or something similar to that and my phone won't stop buzzing and dad is running around the room and there's this beeping sound. Yeah, turns out the hotel had a fire drill. Who the heck has a fire drill at 2:30am in a hotel full of ppl?!? Haha, anyways, we didn't hear it really at all and so we slept through most of it. My phone buzzing was because Baby was trying to call me from the lobby to see where we are. Apparently the other room all went down like good citizens and our room was dead asleep. Yay for more fire alarm adventures!! The funny thing is that we were at the same hotel chain as the one in Niagara when the other fire alarm went off! Haha. I told dad we probably shouldn't stay there anymore on any other vacations! Lol.

Anyway, so after all that, we woke up early and headed to the airport, where there was another fire alarm going off at our gate, but since everyone was minding their own business I realized they were just testing the systems. I've been fire alarm-ed out this summer and it's only been a month!

The flight was super short and we were able to see all the other islands on the way which was really cool. Jeremy goes, "I could've taken a boat to all these other islands!!"

The Big Island is very desolate looking compared to Oahu. I guess it's just more volcano-y. Kona's airport is the first that I've seen that is open-air. There really isn't a real building. It was slightly weird, but cool.

We had decided earlier that we didn't want to rent a car for just one night...which was a big mistake. We calculated later that it would've been cheaper to rent a car, and a lot easier for us.

So off we went in a taxi that took us to our hotel. Thankfully they let us do an early check-in. We decided to walk around a bit to check the area out....yeah....we walked a lot that day in just a matter of a few hours. Jeremy and I both got each other lost which led us to: jay-walking a bunch of times and almost getting hit, trying out L&L Drive-In, a local fast-food place, trying to find a scooter place and walking all over creation including up and down many hills, going to the "beach" which was super small since it's a very rocky coast, watching an old guy try to paddleboard and failing, walking around being touristy and talking for 20 mins to a store owner named Misty b/c she talked our ear off but gave us great tips, and trying out a local coffee/ice cream place.
After that we decided to walk to the dive shop to check it out and also b/c we had to sign some waiver papers. That's when I got us lost. Well, more like I put the wrong address in and we ended up in the middle of no where...and then finally ending up at a Target of all places. Hahaha. So we finally figured out the correct location and we def jumped a few walls to get there.

After we signed a few papers we were told to meet the crew at the marina...which was super far. And we hadn't gotten our stuff from the hotel since we had been lost for awhile. So thankfully there was an Australian couple, Jared and Melanie, in the shop that had a similar dilemma and we discovered we both were staying at the same hotel. So we decided to share a taxi, which helped a lot.
We jetted back to the hotel, getting a bit lost along the way, finding out they had dived the same place we always go to in Malaysia, and making a pit stop to gather some things at the ABC store. No one had remembered to bring the map of where we needed to go, so it was a bit tense in the taxi with everyone hoping that the taxi driver knew where he was going like he said he did.
Made it in once piece to the dock and sat around while the crew got our weights in order and everyone's equipment. Some of these ppl were hard-core with all their gear and everything. Sigh. I need my own set, even though it's super expensive and heavy to drag around.
The boat was pretty nice and bigger than I'm used to, which was good b/c there was like 19 guests and 5 crew members. The crew was super nice and helpful which was very relieving. We all had our own designated spots where our tanks were and we ours was towards the back of the boat.
We went about 15 mins away to our first dive spot and we all geared up.
Ok, this is where I rant about how I abhor wetsuits, esp thick ones. We had to wear 5mm wetsuits b/c the water was a bit chilly. Do you know how difficult it is to move in those things?! It's like a freaking spacesuit!! Haha. And plus you can't pee whenever you want!! LOL. I'm used to just a simple rashguard and boardshorts. But, alas, it was too cold, so I was in the end grateful for the thick wetsuit, even though it was annoying as all get-out.
Anyway, moving on.
So we got to our first dive site which was near some huge rocks with the water crashing on them...which was a little disconcerting. We were split into three groups, or teams after our dive briefing by one of the crew members...either Bo or JC. I can't remember. We were with Team Nico. Woot woot! He's a super cool guy from CO who live in Australia for a bit to get certified as an instructor and then has been at Kona for the past 8 months. We all were required to sit at the back of the boat on these little metal seats to put on our gear and then we did a stride-entry, which basically means you take a giant step into the water.
The dive was a bit boring since there wasn't a whole lot to see, although Jeremy was super slow and I kept on having to wait for him. =.=
There were some fish/schools of fish and lots of eels and hard coral. But other than that, there wasn't anything more. I was thrown off but the wave surge b/c it felt like a current pull in one direction, but then it would push you in the opposite direction a few seconds later. Towards the end of the dive, Jeremy had to go up since he had used a lot of air in his BCD trying to become neutrally buoyant which was hard for him since they made him overweight. I still had a ton of air left so I stayed down with Nico. Apparently there's only one type of eel that eats sea urchins...so Nico took out his dive knife and cut open a sea urchin that was near the eel and it proceeded to eat it...which is the first time I've ever seen something like that. Haha. It was pretty cool. Nico got a barb stuck in his nail because of it too...which made me appreciate it even more. Lol.

We headed off to the south to go find manta rays after everyone was present and accounted for. Apparently they had been having a dry spell the past few days at the northern area where they usually take ppl to see a ton of manta rays. So they decided to play it safe and go to the southern point where they knew a few of the rays hung out every night.
When we got there, there were about 5 or 6 boats already anchored there and by dusk there were about 7 or 8 I think. We all chilled out a bit until the last possible minute so we didn't use up all our air. There were probably close to 75 ppl in the water which included both divers and snorkelers. There were bright lights everywhere in the darkness trying to attract plankton, which in turn would attract the mantas since that's what they like to eat. We were probably one of the last to get in the water and we all descended with our flashlights into the unknown. We were about to settle down in an area where everyone else was until one of our divemasters made us all get up and go to a different area. After we each found our own little niche amongst the coral we waited...well not for long b/c in a few moments Jeremy tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up. There was a huge manta ray just gliding around like it owned the place. I cannot describe to you how exhilarating that was to finally see a manta ray!!
We stayed down there for about 45 mins just gaping at the graceful, beautiful creatures eating and doing flips. There were three mantas that were feeding around us, Lefty, who's left cephalic lobe is paralyzed and is one the oldest mantas they've knows about, Mango, and another manta I can't remember the name of. They came so close that many of us had to duck in order to not be hit by them. It was so tempting to just reach up and touch them, but we weren't allowed to since they have a protective mucous covering their body. The cameraman almost got hit a bunch of times since he had huge lights attached to his video camera. Haha. Besides the bright lights in my face, hanging on to the coral for dear life, and having a big butt in my face half of the time, it was one of the most exciting dives I've been on, a close second to the dive where I saw a huge school of hammerhead sharks. ;)
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. So we all begrudgingly ascended into the cool night. Ok, actually I was colder under the water than out of it since I hadn't been moving a lot down there.
I sat on the side of the boat where one of the guests decided to strike up a conversation with me...until I decided to go look for Jeremy who hadn't felt well after coming out of the water due to getting seasick easily. So I looked all over for him, even going up to the top deck to as the captain and Nico...and discovered he was laying out on the front of the boat, where I couldn't see him. Haha. So I went down to check on him and he was doing better, thankfully. 
Got back to shore, unloaded, and chatted with Jared and Melanie while we waited for our taxi. Such a great night!!! I failed to mention that this was Jeremy and my first dive together!! Haha. It only took us 6 years....only. Haha.
Guess what we watched while getting ready for bed? Shark Stories. Or something to that extent on the Natl. Geo. channel. =)

The next morning we ran around town again being all touristy and stuff. Stopped off at the dive shop to get a shirt, the market place that was almost desolate b/c all the vendors still hadn't come, went and was super touristy at Hilo Hatties, and then dropped off at a beachside restaurant to have a late breakfast before we had to catch our flight back to Oahu.

When we got back we went to a dive shop so that my uncle could get the rubber needed for his speargun. =.=
Lol. And then we went to this sketchy but LEGIT Korean restaurant in the middle nowhere. So good!
Oh, and I can't forget the AMAZING udon place that we went to later that night. We watched them hand make their noodles! And the line was out the door the whole time we were there. Amazing!!! Ok. I need to stop with the food.

And this is super long. Sorry. =)