We drove up to Mahukona County Park which was once a small harbor at the end of a long cattle trail. (and up this trail are many undiscovered coves and put-ins I'm dying to try) The Hawaiian cowboys (paniolos) swam cattle out to barges to ship off island from this spot. I also think there was also a railroad that went south from there to hauled sugar cane away. The park attracts local families to swim and BBQ on the weekends since it is one of the few spots along the coast where you can easily get in and out of the water. There's a campground at this park as well. While not the most interesting lava structure Mahukona, has a good sized reef and is easy to navigate. A good first spot of the day.
We climbed down the ladder from the asphalt pier to find a little bit of surge pushing sand around. I was a little afraid for the viz. We cruised out the sandy channel in between the reefs and followed a big assed chain out to the remains of some sort of mechanical something or other. I've heard its what's left of a boat that sunk but who knows. At about 25' we turned right and headed toward the reef. When we first saw coral I worried less about the crappy viz and more about the total lack of fish! Luckily we kicked a few mins away from the sand channel and the viz got a little better (60' at most and hindered by the lack of sun) and it turned into an aquarium! A leisurely 65 minute dive with a max depth of 42 feet.
None of us had eaten breakfast so I dragged them even further away from Kona to the hippy town of Hawi. 10 minutes away and we were in slightly cooler and wetter climate. Hawi is right were the wet side starts all the north on the Big Island. I had hoped to connect with some of the folks from a local dive shop in Hawi, but they uncharacteristically left to go diving on time. They were supposedly planning to do some exploratory offloading to a dive spot but we found our own fun without them.
After food we cruised down south to Puako where I thought we might go explore some lava tubes at Paniau. But as we passed a friend's house I saw him scurrying across the road. I stopped to talk to him and he suggested that we just get in the water in front of his house. It's an easier entry where he lives and it has the bonus of a hot outdoor shower to rinse off. In my dive log I call the site "Bob's House." Having dove there a few times before I knew my way around, which helps. The viz was even worse than Mahukona. There was so much crap in the water the viz was maybe 40 feet or less. I couldn't see the sand at the end of the reef which was a bummer because I dig the garden eels that live in the sand. I guess when the trade winds stop blowing the vog settles in and the water gets cloudy full of organic gunk. We meandered along the ridge of lava an coral ducking our heads in and under things in 25-30 feet of water. About the time I was getting concerned that we were going to be skunked for morays, Sheahan found a massive green one. I tried to coax it to swim for us but it wouldn't abide. Of course there was a turtle and all the usual suspects of fish to be see. Sheahan took a crapload of photos and hopefully he'll post some here. Another slow moving dive of 61 minutes with a max depth of 46 feet.
I've got a few mins of video of our dives I'll put together at some point. A warning... I still don't know how to hold a video camera still... and I need a light for it.
Thanks to the mcculla's for getting up early on their vacation, diving halfway up the island, and chasing me around the local roads to hang out with me.
-Eric
Olaf! Metal face!
with water and drink it, not snort the powder directly from the packet, right? 
" - Spatman
