Northwest Dive Club

During my first trip to Hawaii in 2018 Pele decided to pay a visit to the Puna District while we were in Hilo, and when I visited Kilauea the ground shook hard enough to close the Jaggar Museum permanently right after I walked out of the gift shop... (very true story!). After a couple months of activity the volcano stopped erupting and I vowed to visit again the next time it woke up. Last December that happened and I was missing my manta friends, so we bought tickets for May, booked a condo in Kona for a week and some hotel rooms around the island, played the Costco rental car re-booking game (and won), and finally got on the plane. Luckily the crater was still glowing and covid restrictions were lifting when we arrived. Kona was great and still pretty quiet post-covid. This wasn't a diving trip but I did a 2 tank trip with Kona Honu and the epic manta night dive with Jacks Diving Locker. Due to being sick right before the trip and some equipment issues my underwater performance was severely lacking but the diving was still enjoyable. We saw a manta at a cleaning station on the Kona Honu trip, and for the night dive we had five mantas for both dives. I had Mr Manta Keller Laros again as the dm and his dad jokes have gotten worse (funnier) the last few years. After Kona, we drove south to visit the green sand beach near south point, drove up for a night in the park to see the lava glow and do some hiking, and then stayed a few nights in Hilo. They had just opened up the main highway through Puna so I got to see the aftermath of the 2018 eruption firsthand. We then went to Waikoloa for the end of the trip and stayed with the tourists at the Hilton while getting a little beach time in before heading home. In addition to the dive trips we did some nice snorkeling at Kua Bay, in Hilo (very underrated!) and at the beaches north of Waikoloa. While Hawaii might not be a bucket list trip with the most vibrant colors, corals or fish, I still love it and can't wait to return.



I spent a lot of time on the lanai of our condo watching the turtles in the tide pools right below.

Very cool! Great shots of waves, lava, eels and mantas! Jess and I still need to make it out there!

WW!! Fantastic report and photos!!! Not sure what is more beautiful topside or underwater?
Merry Fishmas!

Thank you for sharing

Great report! My daughter was there for the eruption as well with her family. Your photos look much better than hers! And glad to hear that Keller is still at it. He is the Manta Man!