I was hopeful!

I was so hopeful to see an octopus! I was denied, but thought I spotted one...

From afar off, it looked brown like an octopus.  No joy...a sea cucumber.  These are what some people eat...I would have to be plenty hungry to do so.
But there were plentiful seals:

 Snoozing on the beach....

Snoozing on the island

Swimming! EEK! The lifeguard had said there was a seal in the water, but didn't say where. I understand why they don't (as people not in the know will swim over to look....I'm told they can bite!), but it made it hard to guess, from sea level, where it might be.  I did perform a few circle sweeps, kicking around in a circle to see if it was near me.  But then forgot about it, until I looked up and there it was! I snapped a few photos and swam the other way. That's why you'll never see a true close-up in my blog....i like to leave them alone for the most part.
I did see some of the usual suspects and they are still very pretty:

The male Trunk Fish for example. I love light when it hits part of the subject of the photo.....
There were several Juvenile Rock Mover wrasses

Love the clown face!











A rainbow at sea:

I had to choose: photograph the rainbow or the surfers.  Guess which one won?









Pencil Urchin:

 Maybe this is the day of twins..

I love them for their bright coloration, which disappears, by the way, once you take them out of water....you'll see them on the bottom, pale beige, rolling with the waves.

A blenny...this one stayed still for the camera, perhaps because i was behind it. But it eventually did dart under a rock. They sometimes peek out from holes and then withdraw quickly back into them when they are frightened..
A nice Peacock Flounder did swim into my filming area:

They are pale, but it helps when they move...easier to spot.

Plenty of Snowflake Moray eels.  These poor guys probably get really frightened when people walk around.  If the people only knew...

This Abudefduf was guarding the area between the big pond and the kiddie pond...these are the rocks I sometimes swim over to traverse from one to the other..

 Lizard Fish waiting for prey and hoping no one steps on it...

If you were an inch long, wouldn't the big bad ocean scare you?!
Hawaiian Green Lion Fish:

You can see the sand in the water which impacts the visibility, but still caught some of their lovely colors. Don't touch 'em, though: like their cousins the Scorpion Fish, they pack a poisonous punch on those spines..Unfortunately for my camera, they like to hide and hang upside down on rocks. Makes getting a full photo tough...

 A pretty pair of Moorish Idols

A juvenile Yellow Tail Coris...there is practically nothing similar except shape in this fish and the adult...which has a yellow tail, and blue and green on its body. Oh and spots! Crazy how different the baby is from the adult.

 Snakeshead Cowry

 Christmas Wrasse

 And Christmas Wrasse lurking near a Snowflake Moray eel and Convict Tang. 

Goat fish.  Bottom feeders.....I don't eat them.  But then, when you think about it, I guess everything in the ocean ends up on the bottom...good and bad..

Basket Shell

 I think an Auger shell but I could easily be wrong...I did look it up, but still not sure.

 This crab was occupying the Bubble Shell, darn it!

Hebrew Cone shell, partially buried.

Well, it was a nice dive.  I would prefer to see my #1 all time fave, the octopus, but perhaps tomorrow will hold that treat in store. Thanks for reading! Tell your friends....