Near the end of August, as the fall chill began to set into Anchorage, my nephew and I started discussing
where to go on a scuba diving vacation via Facebook Messenger. It came down to Hawaii or the Virgin Islands. I told him to flip a coin: "heads" meant Hawaii, "tails" and we headed to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. He promptly reported "tails" complete with a photograph of the backside of a dime. I joked that he would have to bring his two-tailed coin along for good luck. Unfortunately, two hurricanes after the coin flip determined Hawaii as our destination. While St. Croix advertised it was open for business, the on-island toursit serving infrastructure was still recovering.
I have been to Hawaii, Oahu and the Hawaii's Kona Coast. I seldom revisit a place far away place to dive. For me, there are too many underwater places to go, too many underwater things to see, and too little time left. Lima’s Law of Scuba Travel Utility states that "the total utility--the total satisfaction received from participating in dive travel--is quite high, while marginal utility--the satisfaction gained from travel to a location previously visited—is quite low." Some laws may be meant to be broken.
About three years ago I resolved to start filling the blank
spaces on my world nautical chart by diving more in the Caribbean and Florida Keys. In my geography of water, Bonaire was the place
in that region that had a pin. A trip to the Cayman
Islands in 2016 put in second pin. I do
not count a trip made to the Florida Keys in June 1995 because an active
tropical storm season prevented us diving all but two of the six days planned
in Upper Keys, Middle Keys, and Lower Keys. Why that section of the world? An rekindled interest in treasure lore and history, a desire for warmer water, and less distance to travel. Of course, from Alaska any water is warmer and any place is distant. My passport shows stamps from the most distant reaches of the world with warmer water, starting with the Sea of Cortez in 1998 and continuing to Cocos Island (2002), Galapagos (2004), Oahu (2008), Socorro Island (2010), the Great Barrier Reef (2011), Kona (2013) and Fiji (2017). Trips to Vancouver Island's Pacific Rim National Park (1993), down the Inside Passage from Juneau to Vancouver (2007), and in the Great Lakes (2008) provided the exotic cold water destinations of British Columbia and the Upper Peninsula.- Hawaii was an excellent choice. A short list of what we encountered, in no particular order, will provide a draft Table of Contents for future blogs:
- Coral Die Off and Resillience
- Peak Performance Buoyancy and air consuption
- Hawaiian Lionfish--an endemic species
- Whale shark and a Jonah moment
- Mantas
- Devil's Doorway--beware of what lies beyond, we went back twice just to be sure.
- Team Hei Matau
I have been to Hawaii, Oahu and the Hawaii's Kona Coast. I seldom revisit a place far away place to dive. For me, there are too many underwater places to go, too many underwater things to see, and too little time left. Lima’s Law of Scuba Travel Utility states that "the total utility--the total satisfaction received from participating in dive travel--is quite high, while marginal utility--the satisfaction gained from travel to a location previously visited—is quite low." Some laws may be meant to be broken.
Guess we will have to see what the hurricane season does this year. Predictions foreshadow an active one. We are already planning an Anacapa trip. It would seem I have a new dive buddy to show the old and experience the new. Team Hei Matau.
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