Search for missing diver covers huge swath of sea

The Honolulu Fire Department planned to continue searching at daybreak Wednesday for a 22-year-old New York City man reported missing during a commercial scuba dive tour Monday about half a mile off Waialae-Kahala.

Matthew Curley was part of a group of 11 customers on an Island Divers excursion that left Hawaii Kai for a dive near a sunken wreckage. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Darwyn Jensen said Curley was on vacation with his family. "Our thoughts are with the family," he said.

The search Tuesday extended from Koko Head to Kaimana Beach. Divers with the fire department searched about two miles underwater as a helicopter scoured the surface up to two miles off shore and firefighters walked the shoreline. Before ending its search at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard had its HC-130 aircraft, the 87-foot cutter Kittiwake and 45-foot rescue boat cover a 799-square mile area over 31 hours of searching, up to 10 miles out.

The Island Divers group assisted with and found a fin similar to one used by Curley in the water Tuesday afternoon, about one mile south-southeast from the dive site, in the direction of the current, said fire Capt. Terry Seelig.

The search was hampered by the surf, which created more white caps, Jensen said. The rough surf also meant that the fire department helicopter had to be diverted to help in rescue work off Waikiki, Wailupe and Hanauma Bay, Seelig said.The fire department postponed its search Tuesday night because of darkness.