Today was a great day. Wade and I completed our 49th and 50th dives! It really feels like we are hitting our groove now. We are able to see so much more stuff this time. A lot of the skills have become second nature (monitoring air, depth, time and each other) and allowing us to focus more on looking at all of the cool stuff around us and enjoying the moment. We have the confidence now to go off on our own and have shown we can find our way home :-).
Our first dive site today was Windsock. This location was near a big dock that had support pillars in the water. We saw our first Lionfish of the trip on this dive. They are not popular here as they are an introduced species that eat anything they can get in their mouths. They are quite stunning to look at though! Sadly there was some junk on the bottom on this dive. We saw some big tires and what looked like an entire engine near the dock. Made for a funny photo op but not cool to dump that stuff in the ocean people!
The highlight of this dive for me was getting pictures of Blennys! A Blenny is a TINY (think 1/4” x 1”) little fish that hides in holes in the coral. They are very shy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one completely out of its hiding spot. Today when we were exploring the pillars under the dock I had a really close look at some pretty coral growing there and was delighted to see tiny eyes staring out at me! I spent quite some time trying to get a steady enough shot as the surge was swinging me back and forth. They are super cute and I was so glad some of the shots turned out!
Our second site today and our 50th dive was at Jeannie’s Glory. It was very windy when we got to this location and there was quite a swim to get from the beach to the reef, not to mention the minefield of Urchins we had to navigate getting in and out...but it was worth the effort. Wade and I planned our route and were going to drop down early and swim out across the sandy bottom to the reef (to avoid the stronger current/waves on the surface). We were rewarded with a great octopus sighting! This fellow was quite large but very shy. As soon as we spotted each other he zipped into his hiding spot in the coral. I hovered to take a pic or two then Wade took some video of him. He wasn’t impressed and even spat at Wade...luckily it was just sand and he didn’t get inked! We got the message and left him alone after that :-).
Wade found another cute Blenny in a coral on this dive and I swooped in to take his picture. I love how he looks in his coral maze. We also saw some pretty purple/blue shrimp that we hadn’t seen before and some neat anemones. There was a little turtle that appeared on our way back but he was very shy and didn’t appreciate being followed so I backed off and let him swim on without me. It’s funny how some critters seem to have a bit of supermodel in them (think Angels) and some would prefer if they were invisible! Wade, being the romantic fellow that he is stopped us for a quick 50th dive celebration kiss at 30 feet below. I think Jeff got a picture but I haven’t seen it yet. No long make out sessions allowed when you have to choose between kissing and breathing! LOL
After our dives we met up at Eddie’s next door for lunch then went to tour a bit more of the island. It was a cool drive as we got to see a bird’s eye view of things at a scenic lookout. The roads here leave a bit to be desired...but then again they fit the vehicles we are driving LOL. If our doors stay on and our bumper doesn’t fall off before we have to turn it back in we’ll be lucky!
We are just waiting for the night divers to surface and then we’re heading back to Captain Don’s for dinner again.
Tomorrow is our last day of diving! I can’t believe the week is almost gone already!
Our first dive site today was Windsock. This location was near a big dock that had support pillars in the water. We saw our first Lionfish of the trip on this dive. They are not popular here as they are an introduced species that eat anything they can get in their mouths. They are quite stunning to look at though! Sadly there was some junk on the bottom on this dive. We saw some big tires and what looked like an entire engine near the dock. Made for a funny photo op but not cool to dump that stuff in the ocean people!
The highlight of this dive for me was getting pictures of Blennys! A Blenny is a TINY (think 1/4” x 1”) little fish that hides in holes in the coral. They are very shy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one completely out of its hiding spot. Today when we were exploring the pillars under the dock I had a really close look at some pretty coral growing there and was delighted to see tiny eyes staring out at me! I spent quite some time trying to get a steady enough shot as the surge was swinging me back and forth. They are super cute and I was so glad some of the shots turned out!
Our second site today and our 50th dive was at Jeannie’s Glory. It was very windy when we got to this location and there was quite a swim to get from the beach to the reef, not to mention the minefield of Urchins we had to navigate getting in and out...but it was worth the effort. Wade and I planned our route and were going to drop down early and swim out across the sandy bottom to the reef (to avoid the stronger current/waves on the surface). We were rewarded with a great octopus sighting! This fellow was quite large but very shy. As soon as we spotted each other he zipped into his hiding spot in the coral. I hovered to take a pic or two then Wade took some video of him. He wasn’t impressed and even spat at Wade...luckily it was just sand and he didn’t get inked! We got the message and left him alone after that :-).
Wade found another cute Blenny in a coral on this dive and I swooped in to take his picture. I love how he looks in his coral maze. We also saw some pretty purple/blue shrimp that we hadn’t seen before and some neat anemones. There was a little turtle that appeared on our way back but he was very shy and didn’t appreciate being followed so I backed off and let him swim on without me. It’s funny how some critters seem to have a bit of supermodel in them (think Angels) and some would prefer if they were invisible! Wade, being the romantic fellow that he is stopped us for a quick 50th dive celebration kiss at 30 feet below. I think Jeff got a picture but I haven’t seen it yet. No long make out sessions allowed when you have to choose between kissing and breathing! LOL
After our dives we met up at Eddie’s next door for lunch then went to tour a bit more of the island. It was a cool drive as we got to see a bird’s eye view of things at a scenic lookout. The roads here leave a bit to be desired...but then again they fit the vehicles we are driving LOL. If our doors stay on and our bumper doesn’t fall off before we have to turn it back in we’ll be lucky!
We are just waiting for the night divers to surface and then we’re heading back to Captain Don’s for dinner again.
Tomorrow is our last day of diving! I can’t believe the week is almost gone already!
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