Okay so I had posted about Cape Zanpa awhile back and messed up so it was removed. So here it is again.

Directions: Take Route 58 to Route 6. Turn right on Route 6 and follow until you see signs for Cape Zanpa. The road goes straight and right go straight and follow this road until you come to a parking lot on your right and a lighthouse straight ahead. Park in the parking lot. Once you have parked it will be a good idea to go take a look at the water, Zanpa can get really rough and you could end up getting the worst end of it.Walk as if you are going to the lighthouse. There will be a path to the left of the sidewalk leading to the lighthouse take that path. 

  Once suited up and down to the water we made our way over the sharp and jagged lava rock and jumped in. We made our way down to 90 feet through canyons of reef and some swim throughs or caves I guess you could call them. There are plenty of fish here you may even happen upon a shark or sea turltle neither of which we saw. It got dark during the dive so I am sure I missed a lot but it was a good fun dive. If you are going to dive here just really check out the surf before you get in Cape Maeda is just down the road from here as well. Walk your path before you suit up so you are familiar with because it is pretty rough and some where you wouldn't want to fall with air on your back. Watch your entry and exit as well as even on a calm day the surf can push you up against the rocks.

Facilities; Bathrooms-Yes, Food/Drink-Yes, Parking-Free

This weekend I dove the USS Emmons as part of my deep dive cert. The Emmons is a destroyer that had one of it guns on the rear replaced by some reels for mine sweeping operations. The Emmons was out with its sister ship the Rodman who came under attack by kamikazes. The Emmons started to circle and was hit as well by up to 5 planes on at the fan tail and the rest at the waterline. The crew tried to save their ship to no avail and she was sunk so as not to fall into enemy hands.66 were lost that day and 77 wounded. The Emmons was not found until 1999 and is the only wreck I know of that is shallow enough to dive here besides some fishing boats.

To dive the Emmons you need to be deep certified and it is recommended that you have enriched air as well so you can have more bottom time. We drove up to Nago and met Chuck of North of Nago boat charters. We unloaded our gear and set it up for our first dive and loaded everything on the boat. Before we took off we got a really good background on the ship along with a picture if the ship before it was sunk and a picture of the ship on the bottom. After the brief we loaded up on the boat and headed out into the water. the conditions were perfect, the water was flat and clear, I even saw a ray and we were motoring out. The Emmons is located about one kilometer off of Kouri jima island and has 3 buoy to mark it. The buoy mark the bow, middle and stern of the ship.

Once there we tied off to the buoy at the stern conducted our pre dive checks and entered the water. The plan was to descend down along the bouy line and swim the length of the boat. At the halfway point you should be at 1700 psi to make it to the end of the boat. We descended along the bouy line and at around 60 feet she came into view. Then you realize how big 345 feet is and it just takes your breath away. We leveled off at 120 feet and swan long the length of the ship trying to spot the features pointed out by our boat captain. I was able to spot the guns of course, some depth charges, the hole where a kamikaze hit the bow, and the practice loader. I tried to remember what else he had told us to look for but was to awestruck to recall everything. We made it to the plaque place on here in memory of her crew that fought on the ship.  http://divenorthofnago.com

Alright I know this was here before but somehow it was posted twice. So here we go again. The Toilet Bowl, doesn't conjure up great images by name alone. The toilet bowl name come from the fact that the volcanic tube that collapsed into the ocean and created a bowl shaped bay of sorts. They small bay fills up and empties out as the waves come in and out. Like a toilet bowl. On a good day it isn't that bad but on a rough day you need to be careful and check it out before you dive. 

This site is located on Route 58 in Onna village . You take a right out of Kadena gate 1 and follow Route 58 to Onna village. Once you reach Onna be looking for a fire station and a sign for Manzamo take a left at that light. Follow the road straight into a parking area and look to your left there will be a small road going between the stalls. Take that road and follwo it until you see a tomb or two on nyour left and park. The entry is easy and the most difficult part in making your way through the rock down to the water. Once at the waters edge you will find a shelf that runs aorund the edge of the bowl. You can make your way onto the shelf and do a giant stride or go along the shelf and do the giant stride. 

 Once in the water you snorkel out and drop down. It is down to 100 feet here so be careful and dive within your limits. There a plenty of fish, soft coral, turtles have been seen here and well, eels,clown fish, jellyfish, and calamari as well. The most common dive profile is to snorkel out drop down to depth and swim along the reef to the right. You can go left but there is a fishing shack hence plenty of fishing line to deal with. Visiability is normally 60-70 ft  but I ave seen 100ft plus.  The toilet bowl is a great spot to dive and snorkel as well. Enjoy and have fun,

Carl

  Well this morning I dove at Kadena Steps to finish up my last DPV (diver propulsion vehicle) dive for certification. After a full weekend of diving it was a great way to end it.  I got my Deep Diver, Enriched Air, and DPV specialties done all this weekend. A DPV to haul me around and enjoy the scenery. Kadena steps is located on Route 58 just down the road from Kadena Marina. You take a right out of Gate 1 onto to 58 and follow it down. You will pass the marina and keep going until see a pachinko parlor take a left at that light. Follow the road straight down you will go through one traffic light and come to a T intersection just hang a right and drive down and you will see some really big long concrete steps. Just park along the steps and you are good to go.

  The entry here is failry easy except for the uneven reef and holes they left in the concrete. It is wise to have felt bottom boots on here as well. Entry is somewhat easier at high tide but low tide isn't to bad. You really need to look before you get in the water and see how the waves are because if you go in when it's rough you could get beat up pretty good. You will have to walk about 100 meters or so depending on where you enter. 

  When looking from the shore you can see where it drops it turns from a brown to blue where the reef ends and it drops off. Depth ranges from 10-15 out to say 50- 60 feet. We carried the DPV's out the put our fins on where it dropped off. Once we were all ready we descended until we hit 10 ft and then hit the throttle on the DPV's. We took a left staying along the reef and just motored aound looking at the fish and soft coral. Then we had to stop and do a couple of skills like ride tandem on one DPV. I held on to Mark's tank while he towed me and then we switched and I towed him while he held onto my ankles.

  Once that was done we continued speeding aound up, over and around the various reefs and coral. You almost feel like one of the fish swimming along, we even saw a couple of sea snakes out there. All in all a pretty good dive. There plenty of fish about and a lot of soft coral some lavender in color and some yellow or red to see here. Visiability was 50-60 feet and water temp was 83 degrees. There are some munitions in the area but we didn't see them. If you see them do not touch them at all they are very dagerous. These munitions are left over from the war so they are very unstable and can still kill. Yes I  said kill. Anyway this is a nice dive spot it's close not hard to find and entry and exit are fairly easy. If you have any questions or comments to add let me know. Here are some pics from the dive. The guy in the glasses in Eric Eckman the dive instructor, and Mark is an Advanced student. Enjoy more to come on the Emmons dive and Zanpa later.

Carl