Hawaii Skin Diver The Breath of Freedivers

I know it's a pain in the butt to tow around a float but just wanted to share that during my first year of diving, my friends and I almost got run over by boats a few times. I actually had to pop my head up and yell at a boat once. An old man and lady was on the boat with the lady on the wheel. When I yelled, the man grabbed the wheel and turned the boat at the last minute. Other times I hear the sound of a boat engine, I pop my head up, and had to wave to the boat to turn as they were heading straight towards me and my friends. If my memory serves me correct, a diver was killed just a couple years ago from a boat. Dive safe.

I heard that the DLNR is cracking down on divers who dive w/out a float and flag. I personally feel that when you're divin in a crowded place you should always let other people know where you are. Safety should always be applied to any sport.

Yes DLNR is cracking down on divers without floats. The fine is you have to appear in court and then pay a $75.00 fine! It is important to dive with floats. If you are on a boat, it is good to have a flag also displayed on your boat. I hear of DNLR cracking down on that also. The demensions of the flag have to be something like 14 X 16 inches.

Just be very careful, just because you have a dive flag up near you doesn't mean you are safe. Boat captains aren't always paying attention and some don't even know what the flag means. I have had boats run over the flag and cut the tagline. This happened more than once!!!
Who's going to start cracking down on boats??!! Coast guard. We are very vunerable out there and sometimes waving and yelling go unnoticed.Heads up out there and dive safe!

The ocean is very unpredictable and danger can come from anywhere. Be very aware of catermarans. It travels as fast as motorboats but can't be heard underwater. On one occasion, my kayak was run over broadside while I was diving underwater nearby. All I heard was a whole lot of commotion from the pile of fish I was hunting. I knew something had gone wrong but did not know what. I found my kayak drifting away and by the looks of my torn anchor line, I thought that a large shark or a whale had tangled with it and snapped it. As it turned out, a catamaran full of tourist had run over my kayak. The captain had to tow me back to shore and cancel his tour but was relieved that he did'nt kill me. Also, while diving on the south shore, be aware of the catamarans that operate out of Waikiki Beach. They sail just outside of the reef where the winds are lighter and the water is calmer. Whether a diver is in the water or not, they will not alter their course. Once, I waved my gun in the air to signal to the captain to watch out. It was met by waving tourist and a shaka from the captain, all the while I was swearing in my snorkel. Dive Safe

Waikiki isn't the only place where the boat captains are dangerous, rude and violate the law concerning distance keeping distance from dive flags. Several Leeward coast dive boats regularly drive their boats right up to you / your flag and anchor so that the tourists can snorkel in the area where you're diving. I don't mind the tourists snorkeling nearby but what these boat operators are doing is so very dangerous. An ascending freediver could be killed if not seriously injured. The DLNR and Marine Patrol is right in citing divers without floater flags but they should also focus on the dangerous practices of those tour boats.

Yeah I had some bad experiences with careless boat divers. I had one swear at me to get out of the way and I just waved at him back.

But yeah, especially places like Rockpile and Kaisers (Ilikai) theres alot of canoe people there who just chose not to see the flag...

Be careful and dive safe!

-Nick

I know that this is a thread from the attic but I only saw it recently when I was bored and looking at old threads. I feel that this topic is extremly important and all the new members should see this. This summer I had a job on a 55ft motor/sailing cat. One of the jobs I had as crew was to stand at the bow and be the eyes for the captain. It is really hard for the captain to see stuff in front of the boat because the bow is all the way in the back and theres the mast in his line of vision. We look for smaller boats, kayaks, and of course divers. Once we reach the the NaPali Coast it is very important to look out for kayakers and divers. Some of the other guys say they have had bad experiences with tourboat drivers that dont have any consideration but on our boat the captain would chew us out if they saw a group of kayakers before the bow man. Anyways all the boats snorkel in the same spot and some of the companies do intro scuba tours. The company that does this has a kinda bad tract record such as leaving behind snorkelers and what not. One day during this summer our boat was doing a dinner cruise and passed by the snokel spot about 200yds from the anchored boats and just at that moment one of the intro scuba divers paniced, inflated his bc and shot toward the surface. The dive instructer followed him up and tried to bring him back down but was too late. Keep in mind that the boats have 500hp diesels and 28inch props. Luckly no one was killed but the dive instructer lost his leg and the other guy was badly cut. They were not pulling a flag and were very far from their dive boat. Just something to think about if you dont have a dive flag. Its even more dangerous for freedivers to not carry flags.

Yeah I remember awhile back, I was diving off Alan Davis with my cousin 1 hr. in to our dive I was stringing my catch and I saw a kayac with the outrigger passing 10 ft. away from me and I yelled at them. Theres alot of people without common sence now days. Anyways Aloha and Safe hunting in and out of the water.

almost got run over the other day at kakaako by a damn parasailing boat ...that darn thing was close enough to see the whites of the drivers eyes...plus he ran over my float. the company name is"EXTREME HAWAII", and its a red and white boat with a 17/64 shaft sticking out its hull, nah i wish! boats arent suppose to come closer than a 100 ft right ? after i shouted he just turned an looked then drove off like a bat out of hell...what an a#*! becareful cause we look for them but they dont look for us it seems

Who can you call if the boats come close too you (100ft. from you). Is it a hassle if you make a report? Dunno just askin. Aloha safe hunting

i tried DLNR and the COAST GUARD , all i got was a frikin recording! that just doesnt cut it for me, but i did call the reservation booth for that parasailing co. and asked how many capt. were working the day i almost got run over and the guy sounded pretty upset(disgusted) at whoever was driving, like it happened before..hows that?! how can we do something about the problem sounds like it happens to us divers all the time....dive safe everyone! ,>*)))>{

I will give you the story I received from DAR regarding boating violations. This was told to me personally by a DAR Supervisor. First, merely filing a complaint will not warrant any action. They say that they will investigate, but it's he said/she said. people have filed complaints before, and even provided photos of the violations, but again, they say that there are not enough enforcement officers to follow up. Now, I've never reported anything to a Coast guard person, nor have I really ever spoke to any regarding vioaltions, but maybe they can/will act on something. Especially when it someone working for a company because the CG is supposed to dock their license and fine. Good luck!

Im pretty sure that 100ft is the distance boats HAVE to stay away from a dive flag. I think the Coast Gaurd would be a better option to report to because I know if anything does happen they have to do an investigation. I have a friend on kauai that will not hesitate to put a shaft through a hull if it comes close enough to him. Be careful guys when diving in a area of heavy traffic. Its not a pretty sight when some one gets propped. And rember even in neutral it will still cut you up good.

Since I first wrote this post in April, I had another close encounter on Kauai. I was diving in like 20 feet of water, not too far off shore , and in an area that has hardly any boat traffic. We had our boat anchored and I had my Riffe float and flag. I heard this boat coming, and when I looked up, it was only 20-30 feet away. It was an aluminum bottom boat, the kind the military uses, so I assume it was one of those from Port Allen. Anyhow, there were these military looking guys just looking down at me as if they wanted to see what I had, I just shook my head. The boat was so close, I could see the stainless props as it passed by. I was so tempted to put my shaft in the hull. It appears these guys purposely came to check me out.

When trolling on the boat, it is very hard to see the dive flag and float, especially if you are not looking for it. Last week we were in a boat off the Hilo beakwall, and there were two divers out there with flag and float, I saw them and had to tell my friend driving the boat. There was a canoe race and I'm sure some of the boats came close to the divers. So, don't let your flag and float be a false sense of security. Always look up when you hear a boat coming. If you have a long tagline, it may be safter to pull your float next to your for better visability.

What part of kauai where you on? The military boats out of Pt Allen are pretty big. Like 40ft and above at least. Thats another kinda screwed up thing. Even if they did see you and your dive flag they would not of known if you had a partner that was diving without a flag and was on the bottom right until they started coming towards you.