I had a great time diving here when I was in Oahu, you were guarunteed to see 3 or more turtles at the site even if you weren`t paying attention. And they were big ones to. We`d usually do the site as the second dive of the day after a deep dive on one of the nearby wrecks (usually the Sea Tiger) It was a nice relaxing site to just wander around and see what you could see.

There were other attractions as well but you had to look harder to find them. We found a resident white tip that slept in the same hole in the reef everytime we went there. You could only see that little fella from the dorsal back. He was about 3 feet long, not big enough to be scary but anyone really want to grab him by the tail to get a good picture of his teeth? Besides, if you really wanted to see teeth, just keep checking the hole for Morays, the were always happy to show them off. Which led to a terrible parody by one of the dive guides on the way back to the marina one day. That`s A Moray, to the tune of That`s Amore. To give you an idea, "When your hands in a hole and something won`t let go, That`s a moray.

I wish the reefs off of Waikiki were in better shape though. The operators blamed the poor condition on hurricanes that had come through in the last 5 years. I would never underestimate mother nature, especially when you know that one of those storms had picked up a wreck and spun it 180 degrees so that it now faces the opposited direction of its sinking. But, and isn`t there always one of those. I saw many practices out there that I thought were detrimental to the reefs. Divers frequently stood or grabbed onto obviously growing sections of reef. The dive guides were religious about protecting the turtles in the area but not so much about the coral. Waikiki sees hundreds of divers every day. The amount of damage that can be done over time with poor practices in this area can really add up and limit recovery from a storm. While the water looks clear and I seldom saw trash, I`m sure that pollution plays a factor in it as well. There are two ports nearby for Honnalulu and Pearl Harbor. I know the military has become more environmentally friendly over the years but it takes a long time to recover from the decades of pollution that a fleet can put out. Some of the turtles had enormous tumors, one looked like his entire head was almost covered with them.

I`m not a rabid environmentalist by a long shot but I do think that individuals can make a difference and that it doesn`t take a great effort to do it. Just be careful where you step, fin or grab.