We Dive Waikiki

So I'm breaking my blog code a little bit here by posting photos that don't include Josie but I thought you might enjoy the photos from our diving trip. (Plus these were the easiest to get posted so I'm starting there.) Just to give you a little bit of background, my dad and I got SCUBA-certified several years ago before Louie & I went to Tonga and this was actually the first time after all those years that we were able to finally go diving together. It's probably important to also note here that your Three Schneiders (plus Grandma) were attacked by some mutant-strand of a stomach/intestinal virus for 24 hours each during our trip. Josie and I were completely bed-ridden Monday, then it skipped a day and attacked Louie the morning of our dives. (The boat captain ended up having to call a cab to come and pick him up from the boat dock parking lot because he thought he just might die if he actually went out on the boat.) So, Louie didn't get to dive with us - which is a shame because as you'll see below these were some incredible dives.

This is just a small sample of our undersea adventure. Check out the full album of SCUBA DIVING PHOTOS by clicking HERE!

Here are Dad & I headed down the line giving the "ok" sign to our divemaster on our way to 40 feet.

As soon as we hit bottom at Pa'awa, Divemaster Adam found an octopus for us to play with. After it expelled a ridiculous amount of ink, it calmed down enough for some great photos. Here's Dad with it in his hand.

And the two of us taking turns with the octopus stuck to our masks (which felt pretty strange I'll admit)... It's good to know there is still beautiful living coral out there, although the population is definitely declining. Here's a large coral head, that housed a huge eel.

The highlight of the dives was definitely the sea turtles. I've always wanted to dive with them, so this was an absolute dream-come-true. We saw two on the first dive and a few more on the second dive (which I went on solo because Dad was having ear-pressure problems). We were unbelievably close to the turtles (although it's a $25,000 fine to touch them).

They are so graceful, peaceful, and friendly.

This little guy actually has a turtle disease that will eventually kill him. It's attacking many of the green sea turtles in Hawaii's waters (this was at Koko Craters) and scientists are busy trying to discover why. Poot little guy!

These are some more photos from the second dive. Since Dad was having ear trouble and the rest of the group that was supposed to go with Adam was seasick, I got a personal dive tour which meant lots of fun playing with the sealife. Here's me with a sea cucumber; Adam wrote "aloha" in the sand.

Here I am with an urchin which felt very tickly on the palm of my hand!

And a beautiful Buddha statue that someone sunk, covered in live coral. Beautiful.

Here I am feeding the fish with a piece of coral.

I'll leave you with this photo of Dad & I "hanging loose" on the way back to the surface. I can't tell you how much fun I had diving with him. I will always remember those moments deep under the water with nothing but the sound of my breathing, looking back over my shoulder to see my dad suspended in the water behind me enjoying the miracle that is the ocean. Thank you so much Daddy-O for instilling a love and appreciation of the ocean in me from such a young age. It's a gift that I hope to pass on to Josie as soon as she is ready.For lots more photos - including many more of the turtles, click here.