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7 reasons why Minnesota and Hawaii might be more alike than you think…

Number 1. The North Shore

North Shore Kauai, Hanalei Bay

What most of my Minnesotan friends don’t know is that Hawaii’s North Shore is a place of legendary big wave surf, slow-moving island towns, and plenty of Aloha. It’s true, visit any of the Hawaiian islands and you’ll find their North Shores are the mecca of surf culture, adventure sports, and natural island beauty.

Palisade Head, North Shore MN

   Likewise, most of my Hawaiian friends don’t know Minnesota has a rugged northern coastline bordering the largest freshwater lake in the world. When you tell them about the surfers, waterfalls, giant cliffs, and old volcano flows of Lake Superior’s North Shore, their mouths drop open and they laugh at you.

For a great introduction to Lake Superior’s waterfalls and scenery, visit the Superior Trails Website at http://www.superiortrails.com/lakesuperior1.html

Reason 2. Surfing

When champion swimmer Duke Kahanamoku won the Olympics for Hawaii he helped bring attention to Hawaiian surfing. 80 years later,surfing and Hawaii are synonymous with celebrity boardriders maintaining million dollar homes in North Shore Hawaii.

 Attention Hawaii – - Minnesota has winter Lake Superior Surfing!!!  

No joke,  if you think catching winter waves is hard in Hawaii, try surfing 43 degree water in December in Minnesota. When winter storms hit, you’ll find Stony point and the Lester River near Duluth going off. 

Reason 3.  Big People

It’s true, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is also the land of pancake breakfasts, meatball dinners, and 10,000 gigantic scandinavians. Hey, our state even claims to be the home of Paul Bunyan!

Think Hawaii is only home to skinny beach bodies and dainty island people? Think again. Spam-loving Hawaii is the home of football playing Samoans, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and big guys with little guitars.

Our new state slogan? You decide.

Reason number 4.  Flannel

Flannel - join the cultural awakening

Here in Minnesota we love flannel because it’s warm and it makes you feel like a lumberjack.  In fact, when the great flannel shortage of ‘89 hit, I was actually able to trade several highly sought-after flannel shirts to my neighbor Ole Johnson for his brand new snowmobile.

Interestingly enough, I have learned that Ancient Hawaiians wore flannel too.  Why? Because freezing cold ancient surfers invented it.  These noble warriors soon recognized that when the the temperature drops, flannel proves both warm and surprisingly fashionable.

Reason Number 5.  Strange Ethnic Foods

The Loco-Moco.

 Hawaiian food is simple.  The hungrier you are, the better it is.  Why?   Because Hawaii’s ethnic foods were basically invented by working-class dudes with the munchies.

I’m talking about plate lunches here.  Popular with kids, surfers, field-workers, and tourists, if you’re ever in Hawaii, be sure to visit a place called Zippies and order a plate lunch for seven bucks.  I recommend the “loco moco”.   What’s in it?  Two hamburger patties covered with fried eggs and mayonnaise covered                                                 macaroni salad.  Don’t tell your personal trainer about                                         this one.

Viking warriors poisoned their enemies with bad lutefisk.

  Populated by ancestors of Norwegians and Swedes, Minnesota has a bevy of traditional scandinavian dishes that would make the most iron-stomached hawaiian run in fear, lest they be forced to eat various types of disgusting Viking food.

  Lutefisk is the food in question, here.  Growing up in MN, I was tricked into eating this jiggly, jello-textured, fish-flavored food by Norwegian relatives.  Later in life, I learned that Lutefisk is made by drying cod in the sun and then soaking it in barrels of lye (actually an industrial poison).  With this new knowledge, I surmise that when consumed by my viking ancestors, Lutefisk erased their hunger by making them never want to eat again.

That’s it!

With my journey in Oahu done, I’ve packed my bags and headed approximately 4,000 miles back to the North Star State. 

                  Needless to say, my scuba adventures will continue!

You ask: why would anyone in their right mind scuba dive in MN?

Well, I plan to answer that question in the following weeks, so…

Look for updates on:

Exploring Shipwrecks in Lake Superior with Innerspace Scuba Center

Diving MN’s shallow lakes with The Divers Clubhouse 

Underwater artifacts and scuba science

Peace to the People and check out my Twitter Page @scubamatt!

I’ve also included a link to a great video that friend Joakim Hjelm published. The shots and video really sum up what it’s like to scuba here in Oahu.

Thanks for taking the time to look!

New diver Cherylee Chang ducked in to check out this beautiful hawksbill at Spitting Caves. This was her certification dive!

Actually called a "Pustolose Phyllida," this little nudibranch has been accurately described as a "red brain blob" by divers. So cool looking! I found it on Turtle Canyon.

Spring Break Scuba! Pictured left to right: Jim Galendez, Jeff Campbell, Maria Aguayo, Byron Hall, ScubaMatt, Kevin Aune

Check these little guys out! I founde them on "No. 17 Reef" Finding a school is like stumbling upon a yellow, living beachball that's bouncing around underwater. So cool!

Perfectly framed by the classic 1970’s adventure flick “The Deep,” (1977) the tenuous relationship between divers and big eels is always a good topic of scuba conversation.

Dive Instructors in some tourist destinations go as far as to name big eels and give them cut-up hotdogs by hand.

Not me.

Photo Courtesy Hawaii State Fishing Records

Check out this pic from the big Island. I got to talking story with Big Island guitar player Gordon Freitas, and he let me know about this 150 pound Hawaii state record.

The fisherman is his cousin, Kimo Lopes. The eel is over 7 feet long.

Believe me guys, that sh*t will take your hand off!

Something about the usual guidebook description of Hawaiian species of moray eel “Maximum size 4.5 feet”  seems to be wrong here.

“Who are you going to believe,” asks Gordon.  “Scientists who get paid to write books or the people who live next to the reef.”

“Trust the natives!”

Advanced Student David Herzog on DPV

Skillfully operating a diver propulsion vehicle (DPV) is a skill every advanced diver should master.

These “scooters,” as they’re commonly known, are primarily used to transport scuba divers at double or triple their normal speed underwater.

Requiring little effort, DPV divers also use less energy, save air, and are able to survey wider sections of the reef. When divers add Enriched Air Nitrox to the mix, they’re often able to double their bottom time.

P.S. They’re also good for James Bond-style getaways

Check out this video student David Herzog getting AOW certified on DPV with Island Divers Hawaii.

Tags: HI, honolulu, scuba, waikiki

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)

is looking for interesting new divers to appear in their print, online, and media publications.

PADI, I think picking ME (Scuba Matt) is definitely a good choice!

Scuba Matt photo courtesy Larry Benvenuti

Originally from Minnesota, I learned to SCUBA in a cold, freshwater lake.  I was 16 years old and could barely clear my ears! Now, as a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, I live in Honolulu, HI, and teach dozens of students each week. My favorite scuba activities are Drift Diving and Digital Underwater Photography.

Starting my journey as a PADI Pro, I traveled to the beautiful Florida Keys and became a PADI Dive Master at the age of 18. Fascinated by coral reefs, I learned to take  Scouts diving at the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base. Here I truly learned to love the ocean.

Hooked on scuba, I traveled back to Minnesota, donned a dry suit for the first time, and scored a job as a Dive Master near Lake Superior. Talk about getting “Wrecked!” Some of my most exciting dives were to the well-preserved wooden shipwrecks of the “Big Lake.”

Writing the Weekly Dive Report was my next job (along with teaching open water students on the weekend) when I became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and got my next gig as a scuba newspaper reporter in Marathon, FL. Here I worked for over a year writing about the unique people, places, and diving back in the Florida Keys. Hoping to start a journey around the world, I left Florida to document my adventures on Scubamatt.com.

Scuba Matt friends, what do you think? Show your support with some positive comments!

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After my Midwinter  journey to Minnesota, Scuba Matt is now back in action on Oahu!
Check out the newest dive report at Island Divers Hawaii for a mutant sea turtle!

These guys were the most fun I’ve had in weeks!

Thanks for all your hard works Brad, Mike, April, Chad, Pooja, and Missy

P.S. I’ve been looking for this sweet picture for almost two weeks.  It’s a classic Oahu turtle discovery.

- ScubaMatt

I like big seashells. This one had a tenant. I took his picture.

Location: Hawaii Loa Reef

Tiger Cowrie. Roar.

Tags: hawaii, island divers, oahu, scuba

The skilled diver knows how deep to go and calculates his bottom time accordingly while planning for rapidly changing environmental conditions.

Here in Oahu, the task can be as simple as monitoring your bottom timer on a shallow reef dive with 100 foot visibility at slack tide with no current. However,  it can be as hard as a leading a group of 6 divers to a deep shipwreck with ripping currents, limited visibility, and (inevitably) feelings of anxiety coupled by nitrogen narcosis (The rapture of the deep).

I typically run into both situations on a weekly basis.

Here’s a story:

Last week, when debriefing a shaken-up diver who had run short on air during his deep dive, I explained that he now had a firm grasp on his Personal Depth Limit.

All joking aside, I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic in any way, or meanly criticize the guy.  I simply stated the obvious fact that he now better knew how deep he could comfortably go. This, I explained was doubly useful.

“First, you know yourself and what to expect when going deep,” I said. “Second, you can test your limits and someday go beyond them, if you want.”

The diver then explained to me that his mistake had been in thinking that diving an extra 40 feet past the 60 foot open water mark would be a rather insignificant change.

In retrospect, we agreed that what he failed to do was take in consideration the effects of dissolved nitrogen, increased air consumption with depth, and current.

Nitrogen narcosis: Due to the effects of pressurized N02, I mistakenly overexpose my camera while taking a “prove it” picture of my dive computer at 135 feet.

Putting it all together

When divers master their buoyancy and trim, calculate their Surface Air Consumption Rate (SAC rate), they’re already well on the way to a numerical baseline that helps take the guesswork out of scuba while making it safe and fun.

In the same way, finding and testing your personal depth limit is a crucial skill that can improve a diver’s confidence level by establishing a safe maximum depth.

For scuba divers,  it comes down to what my crazy Divemaster friend Perry says to the girls in Waikiki: “Hey baby, it’s all about your comfort level.”