Night Manta Ray Dive

I did my night dive tonight to finish my advanced diving certification.  We went diving at Manta Ray Heaven where saw a lot of Manta Rays. You could see up to 20 at a time all by flashlight.  They swoop right by you with there mouth open sucking in plankton.  They get close enough to bump into you on occasion even.  I got bumped in the head twice by them.  They varied from about 6 foot wing span to the biggest being 16 foot across.  There mouths look big enough to crawl into!  Very cool.  Here is a link to a video of what I was doing, although the video isn't mine.
Manta Ray Night Dive Video Link

Sunset at the dive site. 

Here are some pictures I found of the dive I did.  

Drive to W.M. Keck Observatory and Hilo

Drove up to the Keck Observatory.  It is at about 14,000 foot elevation. Then continued on to Hilo and then back to Kona along the north shore.  Pretty drive with lots of climate changes.  From desert and cactus to snow to rain forest.  

 Observatory on the hill top

 Driving the road to the observatory.  Very steep and rough.

 Even saw snow.

 The observatories

 This is the W.M. Keck Observatory

 One of the many extinct volcanoes

Dolphins at Kona

Did two more dives today and a night dive is scheduled for tomorrow.  We had 3 dolphins playing in the wake of our boat, jumping and doing rolls.  Pretty fun to watch!

 You can see its white belly underwater as it is rolling and playing.

 Dive site. Lots of cool lava formations and a big arch to swim through here.

 I want to live in this grass hut!