Kona, Hawaii
October 12 to 22, 1998

     Kati and I just returned from a 10 day trip to the Kona coast on the Big 
Island of  Hawaii.   We stayed at  the Kona Reef and completed 16 dives.   
     We  booked our trip  through Travel Fever.   Give Debbie  Pell a call at 
707-431-1901 or 707-431-7490 for help with your reservation.   You  can  also 
send Debbie e-mail at TravelFevr@aol.com
     The weather was  perfect.  80-90 degrees with occasional rain that  kept 
the island feeling tropical.   We dove without  exposure suits except for the
one night dive.  Water temperatures were in the low eighties.  I had my 100th
dive.  Check out my dive log.
     Our goal on this trip was to see how economically we could shore dive in 
Hawaii. Tanks, weight rentals, and air fills cost on average $10 per dive per 
person.    We were  very  selective about  boat diving.    The Manta  dive is 
incredible, don't  miss it.   The only  other boat diving we did was with Big 
Island Divers.   There were  only 4 customers, a  Captain, and a Videographer 
on the Big Island Divers trip, and it was fantastic.  Check out the following 
Web Sites by clicking on the logos.

Big Island Divers


Kona Coast Divers


Dick The Diver 



The following is a list of the sites we dove with brief descriptions of the 
highlights.  Kona Coast Diver's and Dick The Diver's web sites do a great job 
explaining these sites and how to get there.  I've listed the sites in a 
north-to-south order.

**Shore Dives**

Mahukona County Beach Park
 -easy to find
 -giant stride entry
 -ladder exit
 -fresh water shower
 -giant chain leads to the wreck
Puako
 -easy to find
 -beach entry
 -turtles/lava tubes
Cresent Beach/Alula Beach (Honokohau Harbor)
 -easy to find
 -tricky short hike over lava
 -beach entry
 -turtles/frog fish
Pahoehoe Beach Park
 -easy to find
 -beach entry/surge and surf
 -fresh water shower
Mile Marker 4
 -easy to find
 -beach entry
 -turtles/lava tubes
Old Warf at Kealakekua Bay
 -easy to find
 -giant stride entry
 -shallow dive/extensive coral growth
Ke'ei
 -not so easy to find
 -giant stride entry
 -deep dive
 -garden eels
Place of Refuge (Honauhau)
 -easy to find
 -giant stride entry
 -lava "steps" at exit
 -healthy corals
 -swim-thru archway
Miloli'i Beach Park
 -not so easy to find
 -rough road
 -giant stride entry
 -ladder exit
 -interesting valleys underwater

**Boat Dives**

Kona Surf, Manta Ray Dive
 -night dive
 -"Manta Madness"
Spaceship
 -turtles
 -swim-thru archway
 -schooling fish
Turtle Pinnacle
 -turtle cleaning station

**Fish and Animals we saw**

Peacock Flounder
Black Durgeon
Eel
Butterflyfish
Green Turtle
Parrotfish
Trumpetfish
Coronetfish
Octopus
Cleaner Wrasse
Banded Shrimp
Nudebranch
Chub
Crab
Manta
Yellow Tang
Triggerfish
Lizardfish
Scorpionfish
Frogfish
Dolphin (while snorkeling)
Peacock Grouper
Goatfish
Filefish
Pufferfish
Damselfish
Hawaiian Seargent
Angelfish
Moorish Idol
Blenny
Surgeonfish
Dragon Wrasse
Red Pipefish