Indo dreams

People ask me where is the best place to surf. I tell them it all depends on what you are looking for. I really enjoy the perfection and variety of waves found in Indonesia. I've travelled to various parts of Indo in search of the perfect wave and always have scored. One year we sailed the southern end of Indonesia and came across this exotic high end resort. The guests were surprised to see us and luckily the waves were small or else we probably stop and surf.

Other times we encounter small canoes with local fisherman trying to catch their daily meal. The weather is hot and humid with a unique aroma from the incense burned by the village. This is culture at its core! No such thing as McDonalds, Costco, or Home Depot in this neighborhood.

And the waves are perfect! From 2 ft to 10 ft. you can catch the best waves of your life! We got several groups going out on the ultimate boat trip to the Mentawais this year and a few spots left. One of our guests Damon Schmidt showing us how its done. I got my tickets booked and ready to get barreled in 2012.

Women of the Sea

A few years ago I went to Japan with a group of 18 of us for the opportunity to film legendary Ama divers. It was like going back in time when there was no color tv, no computers or cell phones. Just the simple life of providing for your family. It was one of the most fascinating trips ever and we couldn't believe what happened. Since then, I've waited for the right opportunity to air this episode on Hawaii Skin Diver TV. Last year the Tsunami hit Japan and it was not the right time. Next month is the 1-year anniversary of the tragic event that shook the world and we hope this show will help uplift those who were affected. I have much more to say but will save it for another day...

Celebrating 10 Years

Have you ever gotten butterflies paddling out to a new spot where the waves are going off? Or diving new spots where you don't know what to expect with currents, sharks, etc? Their risks involved in a lot choices we make but something or someone motivates you to try.

After the first ride or wipeout the butterflies subside and the experience of the ride takes over. Its addicting! You are hooked! You must do it again and again.

Then its time to kick out, paddle back, and repeat the process. 10 years ago we took a huge step to start a new business called "RED SEA OCEAN ADVENTURES". It was scary with huge risk involved. I asked millions of questions, prayed for wisdom, sought good advice, then paddled in. Year after year our company has grown and we've seen so many happy people whose dreams have come true. We have met so many cool people along the way and seen strangers become best of friends. Whether you ride the perfect wave, catch your dream fish, or experience a life changing moment it's all worth it. Life is to short to wonder the what ifs and now is the time to try! To all our friends and families who have travelled with us throughout these past 10 years, THANK YOU! The journey has just begun..

Here's a email we received after our last trip which summarized it all...Thanks Matt!

What an awesome and memorable trip! I've been on 5 Red Sea Ocean Adventures and each one has been incredible. I especially enjoyed myself on this one because there was "aunties and uncles" to make it feel like home even though we were far away. Thanks to KB for showing us all why Palau is such a special place. Ceri and my daughter are so jealous after I showed them all the video and photos I took of all the great moments.

Matt

Palau Rocks!

Just started the downloading photo process and we got lots of good shots. From surfing, diving, or sightseeing the action was non-stop. Kekoa Mau got some nice fish like this sweetlips which went into the smoker on the last day. Junior and Kb's dads helped smoke the fish and it was winners!

While the boys finished up their last surf I went for more mu's and had so much fun spearing these fish. The surf was going off and I decided to spend a hour to catch a couple for our party.

But the prized fish in Palau is not the dogtooth, ono, ahi, or mu. It's the Kala! Kala is King and it's equivalent to spearing a 5 lb. kumu. They are smart and know how to run away from you. We needed some for the bbq and got lucky!

Kb and Lalii opened their home and we ate like royalty. Here Kb, is sampling the Kala and check his expression as he eats the best part of the Kala, the fat lining near the stomach. Lalii enjoyed the spicy mu poke we made and couldn't stop eating.

Sulang to all my friends and family in Palau. The Pleasure Island Palau crew rocks and we look forward to our next Red Sea Trip in 2013.

Another Perfect Day In Paradise!

We been so busy waking up at 5:00 am, surfing, diving, touring, home at 7:00 pm, dinner, sleeping by 9:00 pm with no time to upload pictures till now. We got to visit the famous Jellyfish lake and the milky way where you apply this sand that makes you look 10 years younger or a shade lighter on your skin color.

We did some diving shot all kinds of reef fish and did a dive for pelagics and got lucky! Ono, Dogtooths, Uluas were on the target list and thats what we got. The background is at this place called the natural arch which is located in the rock islands.

Perfect waves, nobody out, what else can we ask for?

James got this one long barrel which made his day complete as I shot this 20 shot sequence. Tomorrow another bump is expected so got get some rest for more surfing.

HSDTV Coral Sea premier

New Hawaii Skin Diver TV episode premiers tonight at 8:30 pm on OC16. Our host Merlinda Garma will take you on a journey down under to Australia's Coral Sea as Hawaii Skin Divers hook up with legendary Australian spearfishing champions Rob Torelli and Andy Ruddock.

Keaka Ching, Ken Oakes, and Mike Tripp climb on board the MV Phoenix and target a variety of fish but their focus was to land a nice dogtooth tuna. Lots of hungry sharks made their hunt very challenging! We had lot of fun on this trip and editing the show brought back some great memories. Tell your friends and family to watch and we hope you enjoy the show! Other show times can be seen on our website: http://redseaoceanadventures.com/hsdtv/

Big Surf coming this afternoon up north so gotta finish my work so I can catch a few waves! Have a nice day!

The Perfect Wave

Red Sea Group just returned from a surf trip to Micronesia and stoked out of their mind! Commander Damon Schmidt, Lieutenant Barry Niau, and special forces Terbo and Teddy went undercover to the remote island in Micronesia to find the perfect wave. Their hum-v was out of commission so they drove their tank to the harbor to meet up with our guides.

This place is known for it's 200 ft visibility, tons of fish, and lots to do, oh and did I mention the good food? Here the boys went for a day of fishing.

But they were there to surf and surf is what they got! This place is uncrowded, perfect, hollow, and I can't wait to go there in a few months. Here Barry is setting up for the barrel of his life!

While Damon was right behind him on the next wave getting stand up barrels. You can catch 4 great waves here at Backdoor with 40 guys in the water or you can get 40 awesome waves here with only 4 guys out. You choose...This place is Palau! Welcome home boys and thanks for sharing your pictures!

New Plan + Palau catch

This weekend flew by so fast...where did it go? Surf subsided on the northshore but should be coming up again this week. South shore looking small. My phone plan was due to expire so decided to join the club and got me a iphone. Hope to be able to share more live updates on location with this new gadget.

Damon Schmidt along with Barry Niau and his their friends are having a good time in Palau. Check out this huge coral trout they caught and having for dinner. Surf is looking promising also with new swell marching their way.

HSD47 NOW on NEWSTANDS

HSD47 mag finally hit the newstands! Cover shot by Kirby Fukunaga and many other sick photos of our Red Sea group in action. Here Brent (left) was helping Junior (middle) with this big grouper Kb (right) speared a 100 ft below.

Brent Ching had his dreams come true diving to his personal best depths and spearing his first pelagic fish in addition to many other unique types of species not found in Hawaii. Congratulations Brent on a job well done! We got two more groups already packed up and ready to go back to paradise called Palau. Crystal clear waters, Epic surf, Big fish, and Good Friends is a recipe for success! Get your passport and see you there!

Gaji Lures = Catch Fish

People ask us what lures do we recommend for fishing? Answer: Gaji Lures! Allan Sato has been making these fabulous lures that works every time. We put the lines in for 2 minutes and bam! The port rigger goes off and Ron reels in another great catch. Mahalo to my friends Allan Sato and Dean Imanaka for hooking us up again and again!

Punta Mita Reflections

The other day, Jonathan and I (aka Fred and Barney) got in the flinstone mobile and went for a ride around the town. We didn't get very far, in fact we never moved location except to take this picture.

Our Red Sea Ocean Adventure trip to Punta Mita, Mexico has come to and end and another great experience goes down in the books. As I was enjoying my chocolate ice cream bar reflecting on what we've seen it doesn't get much better than this for blue water hunting.

We got a nice fish on film for another exciting episode of Hawaii Skin Diver Television and great pics for the magazine. We met lots of cool people and got to hang out with old friends. Thank you to our hosts from Punta Mita Expeditions (Sebastian, Ymell, and Bella), our group Jonathan, Corrine, Ron, Jason, and Cathy, all our crew Chilo, Nacho, Rauel, Emmanuel, Chuey, Daniel on board for keeping us safe!

More tuna sightings

Another beautiful day in Mexico! Been burning the midnight oil on both ends diving hard, filming hard, working hard. We have lots of gear but brought the main essentials for targeting certain fish. Water temp in the 80's so 1.5 mil wetsuit is perfect.

Every morning we head down to the harbor on our golf carts and wait for our boat to arrive and we stay out all day. I wake up at 6:30 am, eat a light breakfast, dive till 4 pm, eat lunch, then dive another 1 hour until the captain says it's time to go. Yesterday I made a drop on a heard of tuna "Cows" which took me by surprise. I saw a shadow that seem to be a big fish, dove down and saw this big boy in the distance. Then he swam toward the rest of the pack and I was in awe. I passed on shooting any fish below 100 lbs because I saw the larger ones beyond. They were not feeding and I just so happened to be right there but not close enough to pull my trigger. What a sight to see! I also saw a manta ray with a wingspan about 16-20 ft. Huge! I thought it was the reef but it moved so I dove on it and realized it was a manta ray. What a awesome day of diving!

Heres a shot of some of the local long lining fisherman at the harbor. They tireless work and fish all day to provide for their family. Here you have the very rich and very poor. Not much in the middle class.

We eat out a few times but with this fabulous villa we eat in often. Fresh sashimi, spicy tuna, garlic ahi, rice, nori, and saimin is all we need to make this family happy! Here Jason and Ron was first in line.

First Time Fish

Another awesome day in Punta Mita, Mexico. After gearing up and getting our feet wet the boys were excited to jump in again. Jason Matsumura (left) is super fun guy to hang out with. He's a newbie when it comes to blue water diving, in fact he's never done it before and never shot a pelagic fish...until this trip!

How's this for a first time blue water dive and first time pulling a trigger. Beautiful mahi mahi swam up to him and he nailed it! He landed it all by himself and we got it all on film. He was so excited! I was so happy for him.

We take turns diving and fishing and here Corrine is hooked up. We try all sorts of fishing from bottom fishing, jigging, whipping, live bait, and trolling. On this drop she bottom fished and she hooked up to a nice fish.

They call this Kagami in Hawaii and its already in our freezer. They will be bringing these two babies home for Crow to Gyotaku! Get ready to work!

Punta Mita Tuna Cowboy

Hola Amigos! sorry been so busy diving I haven't been able to update our blog. It's been a fun trip here in Punta Mita, Mexico. Hanging out with Jason, Corrine, and Ron (left to right) here in luxury. As I said before this is 5-star diving. Trust me it doesn't get much better than this...

Jonathan Muratsuka also joined us and here he is enjoying his 3rd mojito cocktail upon arriving at our pad. We started the dive the following day and straight away we got 2 nice fish in the boat. Jason landed his first ever pelagic fish (mahi) and Jonathan got his first yellowfin. Both were their personal best fish and they were elated and their dreams came true on the first day.

Here's a shot of Jonathan's big tuna clocking in over 200 lbs. This fish was amazingly powerful and took him over 40 minutes to land it. Inch by inch he pulled it up and by the end of the fight he was exhausted. We got some awesome images but too tired to download everything yet so stay tuned for more. Gotta wake up early tomorrow so good night..zzz

5-Star Diving

As the waves wind down, winds pick up, its time to put away the board and pull out the dive gear. I've been to some really remote places in this world, where there are no airport runways, no clean water, with almost guarantee getting sick. However there is one place that is totally opposite. This place has three 5-star hotels, gated community, good food, and awesome weather.

Last time we dove this rock and it was happening! A perfect pinnacle with loads of fish. You can find reef fish or pelagics. You can dive in the shallow or go deep.

Our guide Sebastian Melani took us to his favorite grounds and got this nice pargo on our last trip.

We visited Sayulita and got to eat the best burritos ever! Great place for family, fun, surf, and dive. This place is Punta Mita, Mexico! Stay tuned for the next Red Sea Ocean Adventure that begins tomorrow!

Calling Doctor Mike

One of the greatest things about my job is meeting new friends. Some people take their friends to the green to go golf, or the bar to drink, I take my friends to the beach to go dive or surf. I had the pleasure to go for a dive with Dr. Michael Tripp. He's been traveling with us on a number of Red Sea dive trips and when he told me he was coming to Hawaii I had to show him around my neck of the woods.

Mike recently went to Mexico and got a load of groupers. He is a great diver and if he's not working he is in the water. We got to see Ono, Rainbow runner, Dolphins, and huge Tiger Shark all in one dive. Thanks Mike for a great day! Next time stay longer!

Another Doctor Michael Wall, went with us on a trip to Mentawais this year and he and I shared some of the best waves of the trip. He had his go pro camera rolling as we surfed on of the best rights in the world. He got caught inside while I took of in front of him. This spot is finicky and doesn't break often. In fact in all my 10 years of traveling here, this is my second time surfing it. A 300 yard plus wave that barrels and is twice the length of Laniakea on a good day. Thanks Mike for sharing this pic with me. Can't wait to go back next year!

NWHI day 18-Final Day

Our final day here in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands has come to and end. We had one more day of diving so we made the most of it till our hands wrinkled, mouth watered, and legs could not kick anymore. We started off in the deep watching our scuba divers and made a few 100 ft drops.

Then we went off to visit another shipwreck, this one with close ties to the story of Moby Dick. The same captain that was on the boat of the Moby Dick story later captained this other boat which sank here. Talk about hard luck. I heard he later gave up whaling/sea faring and became a security guard. The ocean was full of artifacts which was cool to video/photo.

Our dinner was complete with cupcakes and good food and camaraderie.

The crew played a few songs so I decided to capture it on film. Here is our make shift studio with dive lights and all.

It' s been an epic journey and one I will never forget. Life on the sea is what I've dreamed of and the ocean is my playground. Strangers are now friends, work is now play, dreams have become reality! As we set our bow to the east, we head back to our home and know that we have become better stewards of the sea.