Atlantis Dive Resorts
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Atlantis Azores Captain’s Log May 17 – 24, 2014
Weather: Calm with thunder and lightning storms everywhere! Neat!
Water Temp: 80 F
Air: 80’s-90’s F
Visibility: 25-30 meters
Log Entry by: Capt’ Todd
A mixed group of guests this week, ranging in age from early thirties to “up there”, and from all points on the globe including England, China, Israel, Spain, Germany and the good ol’ USofA.
Tuesday we arrived at Shark Airport amid a pretty good rainstorm, but with zero wind and not a ripple on the surface. The visibility below was remarkable, and a new Whale shark was spotted. This one was larger and had some netting wrapped around its lower tail section and DM Iain said it appeared to have been there for some time. Initial attempts to remove the netting were unsuccessful, however... on dive four it was another story! The same disabled giant approached us again and this time DM Jess was ready! He expertly cut away the offending material as it swam by. I captured the whole un-entanglement on my Go Pro and it’s going on You Tube! Click below to watch it here.
Wednesday began with a dawn arrival at Black Rock that heralded our first of three dives here. Light current prevailed, and the guests were comfortable floating along amid calm conditions. One of those big nasty lightning/thunder cells found us late morning and stayed with us through mid-day. This was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard, accompanied by lightning and rain that made for some exciting hours there. We still managed to get our dives in, as the lightning was brief. Lots of BIG Bump head wrasse were right under the boat acting very aggressive – possibly mating? Combine that with the nesting Yellow Margin Triggerfish and you’ve got some real tension on the reef! It was all very exciting to watch. We pulled into the Ranger Station at lunch and most everybody went ashore. We even saw some baby Black Tip Reef Sharks in the shallows (photo).
Thursday we got lucky and grabbed the popular Delsan Wreck mooring at first light and we dropped in there for the first couple of dives. The big Dogtooth Tuna were present, as well as the Jacks and a lot of sharks. There were even a few Barracuda to throw in for good measure. We then moved the boat after dive four to SW Wall for the evening dive and overnight mooring.
Friday we woke up in place at today’s dive site for a return to SW Wall. Next we tried something a little different for a Friday, and we continued our exploration of the south end of the Tubbataha Atolls. We finished with a “live boat” dive along a stretch of unexplored wall then continued our journey back to port.
Weather: Calm with thunder and lightning storms everywhere! Neat!
Water Temp: 80 F
Air: 80’s-90’s F
Visibility: 25-30 meters
Log Entry by: Capt’ Todd
A mixed group of guests this week, ranging in age from early thirties to “up there”, and from all points on the globe including England, China, Israel, Spain, Germany and the good ol’ USofA.
Tuesday we arrived at Shark Airport amid a pretty good rainstorm, but with zero wind and not a ripple on the surface. The visibility below was remarkable, and a new Whale shark was spotted. This one was larger and had some netting wrapped around its lower tail section and DM Iain said it appeared to have been there for some time. Initial attempts to remove the netting were unsuccessful, however... on dive four it was another story! The same disabled giant approached us again and this time DM Jess was ready! He expertly cut away the offending material as it swam by. I captured the whole un-entanglement on my Go Pro and it’s going on You Tube! Click below to watch it here.
Wednesday began with a dawn arrival at Black Rock that heralded our first of three dives here. Light current prevailed, and the guests were comfortable floating along amid calm conditions. One of those big nasty lightning/thunder cells found us late morning and stayed with us through mid-day. This was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard, accompanied by lightning and rain that made for some exciting hours there. We still managed to get our dives in, as the lightning was brief. Lots of BIG Bump head wrasse were right under the boat acting very aggressive – possibly mating? Combine that with the nesting Yellow Margin Triggerfish and you’ve got some real tension on the reef! It was all very exciting to watch. We pulled into the Ranger Station at lunch and most everybody went ashore. We even saw some baby Black Tip Reef Sharks in the shallows (photo).
Thursday we got lucky and grabbed the popular Delsan Wreck mooring at first light and we dropped in there for the first couple of dives. The big Dogtooth Tuna were present, as well as the Jacks and a lot of sharks. There were even a few Barracuda to throw in for good measure. We then moved the boat after dive four to SW Wall for the evening dive and overnight mooring.
Friday we woke up in place at today’s dive site for a return to SW Wall. Next we tried something a little different for a Friday, and we continued our exploration of the south end of the Tubbataha Atolls. We finished with a “live boat” dive along a stretch of unexplored wall then continued our journey back to port.
