Day 3-5 – Hawaii diving

In order to really experience Oahu we drove from the very popular Honolulu to the east and North of the Island. This presented the team with different challenges as we found the weather conditions can change very quickly. One moment the sun would be blazing down the next there is tropical rain pouring. However, as experienced travellers we were always prepared. On fathers day we found ourselves trawling through the many Hawaiian canoe clubs. Eventually after many discussions with a few of the clubs we found the best team on the beach. Speaking to Mark Clunes trainer of the Outrigger Canoe Club he agreed to train me in this great sport in a couple of days. In between then we still had lots on the agenda to see in Oahu.

The next day we were up early to meet Brian at Oahu Dive, an incredibly passionate diver, who really knew the ocean floor of the island like the back of his hand. One of my favourite things to be told is ‘don’t worry about a thing, we will take it from here’ and that is exactly what they did to get us out to the water. It was a different story when we got out, in to the water however. The first dive was around 150ft below sea level and the things we saw were incredible. As always I never want to give too much away so not to ruin the surprise but I have never been on a dive quite like it. What I will say, is that Russ came up from the dive complaining about the smallest graze which, I’m sure, a small cat could have done worse. Take a look for yourself.

Our next adventure took me to the complete opposite end of the scale in a restored WW2 bi-plane. We drove for an hour and a half to the other side of the island to meet Bruce. Used by the airforce for training purposes it really was an uplifting experience. After seeing the whole island from the point of view of the WW2 pilots, we were back on the ground and on the bikes back to Honolulu where the Hawaiian boat race was upon me.

Watch Charley prepare for the Father’s Day race here, see what else the team got up to by checking out the gallery and find out more about the beautiful island of Hawaii here.