Atlantis Dive Resorts
Registered
Atlantis Azores May 10-17, 2014
Tubbataha Itinerary
Weather: Flat seas with lots of puffy clouds
Water: 80’ish
Air 90’s F
Log Entry by: Capt’ Todd
Mike Johnson is here. The veteran live-aboarder and seasoned Azores regular has brought some of his clan this week from Dolphin Scuba.
Sunday we pulled into Malayan Wreck, joining another vessel (yes, they fixed the second mooring) in flat calm conditions with just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. We encountered limited visibility, giving everyone something to look forward to on our next dives, but everyone still got to thoroughly inspect the M/V Malayan in all her rusty glory.
Monday we arrived at Bird Islet in time to tie up and be in the water at Shark Airport by 7:00 am. Today a really nice current and great visibility prevailed. Rinse, repeat, dive - and this time we saw the ‘Holy Grail of Tubbataha’ on this, our second dive. That’s right we got up close and personal with one of the local whale sharks. Dive three was good, but dive four…well, this might be our greatest whale shark contact EVER here! Three different animals - and they all came within arms length and then some, lingering to be wildly admired by some and photographed by others…
Tuesday. Well the diving was so spectacular at Shark Airport yesterday that Mike decided he wanted to do it again here this morning - Hey, why leave a good thing right? MILK IT! So milk it we did, and we weren’t let down either. We saw numerous dogtooth tunas along with schooling barracudas and jacks on the first dive of the day. Everyone took a break at lunch to visit the Ranger Station and catch a quick visit ashore with ”the guys” and buy some t-shirts (they have XL’s now!). Then it was an afternoon dive at Amos Rock, followed by a night dive led by yours truly.
Wednesday began with a 5:00 am maneuver to Black Rock to get us there by dive #1. A good bit of current gave us what we came for, a lot of “traffic” along the drop off, including an unusually large number of dogtooth tunas. Mike got to check out his favorite site; the wall at T Wreck. We did another run at mid-day, this time to Delsan Wreck where today we saw the “Jacknado”, as well as many tiny Reef Sharks on this dive.
Thursday began back at it again at Delsan Wreck, but with little to no current, it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. But we still saw some dogtooth tunas and some jacks. Triggerfish City was our next dive site where Mike’s skiff saw yet again another whale shark (while the rest of us wish we had as well!) It was a cool dive anyway, with great visibility and the rolling hills of stag horn coral went on and on into the distance. We then moved the Azores a half-mile to SW Wall for the afternoon. Dive three was one of the most pleasurable I’ve had here, with about a two knot current carrying us just over the rolling coral gardens and passing through “neighborhood after neighborhood” of local activity. We could have continued that all afternoon! The night dive at SW Wall was extraordinaire, with lots of macro subjects; including Mike’s discovery of a “pluerobranch” (hint – a type of nudibranch with side gills) – that must be rare because I’ve never heard of it!
Friday dawned and Jessie Beazley Atoll was waiting for us, so we dropped in for a couple of dives. We got lucky and spotted a hammerhead shark, and even both groups got a glimpse of this awesome creature. The visibility was great, and a hearty current made touring the entire site an effortless adventure today. The group completed both dives ahead of schedule in order to reach the dock in time to enjoy a little “shore action” back in town…
Tubbataha Itinerary
Weather: Flat seas with lots of puffy clouds
Water: 80’ish
Air 90’s F
Log Entry by: Capt’ Todd
Mike Johnson is here. The veteran live-aboarder and seasoned Azores regular has brought some of his clan this week from Dolphin Scuba.
Sunday we pulled into Malayan Wreck, joining another vessel (yes, they fixed the second mooring) in flat calm conditions with just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. We encountered limited visibility, giving everyone something to look forward to on our next dives, but everyone still got to thoroughly inspect the M/V Malayan in all her rusty glory.
Monday we arrived at Bird Islet in time to tie up and be in the water at Shark Airport by 7:00 am. Today a really nice current and great visibility prevailed. Rinse, repeat, dive - and this time we saw the ‘Holy Grail of Tubbataha’ on this, our second dive. That’s right we got up close and personal with one of the local whale sharks. Dive three was good, but dive four…well, this might be our greatest whale shark contact EVER here! Three different animals - and they all came within arms length and then some, lingering to be wildly admired by some and photographed by others…
Tuesday. Well the diving was so spectacular at Shark Airport yesterday that Mike decided he wanted to do it again here this morning - Hey, why leave a good thing right? MILK IT! So milk it we did, and we weren’t let down either. We saw numerous dogtooth tunas along with schooling barracudas and jacks on the first dive of the day. Everyone took a break at lunch to visit the Ranger Station and catch a quick visit ashore with ”the guys” and buy some t-shirts (they have XL’s now!). Then it was an afternoon dive at Amos Rock, followed by a night dive led by yours truly.
Wednesday began with a 5:00 am maneuver to Black Rock to get us there by dive #1. A good bit of current gave us what we came for, a lot of “traffic” along the drop off, including an unusually large number of dogtooth tunas. Mike got to check out his favorite site; the wall at T Wreck. We did another run at mid-day, this time to Delsan Wreck where today we saw the “Jacknado”, as well as many tiny Reef Sharks on this dive.
Thursday began back at it again at Delsan Wreck, but with little to no current, it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. But we still saw some dogtooth tunas and some jacks. Triggerfish City was our next dive site where Mike’s skiff saw yet again another whale shark (while the rest of us wish we had as well!) It was a cool dive anyway, with great visibility and the rolling hills of stag horn coral went on and on into the distance. We then moved the Azores a half-mile to SW Wall for the afternoon. Dive three was one of the most pleasurable I’ve had here, with about a two knot current carrying us just over the rolling coral gardens and passing through “neighborhood after neighborhood” of local activity. We could have continued that all afternoon! The night dive at SW Wall was extraordinaire, with lots of macro subjects; including Mike’s discovery of a “pluerobranch” (hint – a type of nudibranch with side gills) – that must be rare because I’ve never heard of it!
Friday dawned and Jessie Beazley Atoll was waiting for us, so we dropped in for a couple of dives. We got lucky and spotted a hammerhead shark, and even both groups got a glimpse of this awesome creature. The visibility was great, and a hearty current made touring the entire site an effortless adventure today. The group completed both dives ahead of schedule in order to reach the dock in time to enjoy a little “shore action” back in town…
