vogelm755
Registered
due to character limitations needed to split report into two...
Cai – probably best dive due to diverse topography/structures in one dive. Walls, slopes, sandy patches, lots of coral growth; this was a 104 minute dive with no deeper than 44’. Average depth at 24; school of tarpon (40+), school of bonefish, cherubfish (first time for me), black brotula (another first to see this extremely shy fish – a wonder to watch and difficult to photograph – take a look at Humanns reef fish book for the picture, not the best), buffalo trunkfish, massive schools of grunts, turtles, nurse shark (only nurse shark on the trip), fields of anemone (never saw such density of anemones), turtles (5 or so), ocean triggerfish; viz wasn’t great in many areas but in others it was decent; currents and surge were favorable for us and I could see the challenges in diving this site when conditions aren’t as favorable – it is best to have someone who knows the site to guide you as they understand the currents/surges, etc.
Just a Nice Dive (boat) – another beautiful day for diving – no current, surge, waves; southern ray; a lot of soft corals standing in the reef; a nice hard shelled sea slug – need to ID from my pictures;
Monte’s Divi (boat) – we were told that the lone tree on shore isn’t a divi but a red mangrove; 5 squid near the surface as we were returning to the boat – was able to get some decent pictures; saw a larger tiger grouper; nice sized lionfish; a lot of fish activity; more hard than soft corals; nice sand chutes in between the coral
Captain Don’s Reef (boat x2) – wonderful dive; nice combo of soft and hard corals; spotted 2 seahorses; very good visibility; southern rays;
Forest (boat) – the weather was perfect for diving; the bay between KB and mainland was smooth as a mirror. There we no waves, no current, no surge…and bright and sunny. Extremely relaxing/peaceful dive. No Camera and just took in the scenery and fish activity. Nice mixture of corals. For some reason I noted in my log book seeing a spotted trunkfish (not a smooth trunkfish). I may have seen them before but not noted them and I did have to look them up in the Humann book to get its name.
Carl’s Hill (boat) – probably most disappointing dives as the reef seemed to be pretty beat up from Matthew; broken staghorn coral all over the place; small wall – perhaps 60 feet at depth and quite narrow in length; saw 9 lionfish under one large overhang; turtle; spotted drum; large school (60+) of tangs accompanied by one trumpet fish
Sampler (boat) – another picture perfect day for diving – glass like seas (made spotting flying fish very easy), no current and sunny skies; I noted that this is predominately hard corals; seahorse; plenty of Hamlets – barred, butter and black
Cai – probably best dive due to diverse topography/structures in one dive. Walls, slopes, sandy patches, lots of coral growth; this was a 104 minute dive with no deeper than 44’. Average depth at 24; school of tarpon (40+), school of bonefish, cherubfish (first time for me), black brotula (another first to see this extremely shy fish – a wonder to watch and difficult to photograph – take a look at Humanns reef fish book for the picture, not the best), buffalo trunkfish, massive schools of grunts, turtles, nurse shark (only nurse shark on the trip), fields of anemone (never saw such density of anemones), turtles (5 or so), ocean triggerfish; viz wasn’t great in many areas but in others it was decent; currents and surge were favorable for us and I could see the challenges in diving this site when conditions aren’t as favorable – it is best to have someone who knows the site to guide you as they understand the currents/surges, etc.
Just a Nice Dive (boat) – another beautiful day for diving – no current, surge, waves; southern ray; a lot of soft corals standing in the reef; a nice hard shelled sea slug – need to ID from my pictures;
Monte’s Divi (boat) – we were told that the lone tree on shore isn’t a divi but a red mangrove; 5 squid near the surface as we were returning to the boat – was able to get some decent pictures; saw a larger tiger grouper; nice sized lionfish; a lot of fish activity; more hard than soft corals; nice sand chutes in between the coral
Captain Don’s Reef (boat x2) – wonderful dive; nice combo of soft and hard corals; spotted 2 seahorses; very good visibility; southern rays;
Forest (boat) – the weather was perfect for diving; the bay between KB and mainland was smooth as a mirror. There we no waves, no current, no surge…and bright and sunny. Extremely relaxing/peaceful dive. No Camera and just took in the scenery and fish activity. Nice mixture of corals. For some reason I noted in my log book seeing a spotted trunkfish (not a smooth trunkfish). I may have seen them before but not noted them and I did have to look them up in the Humann book to get its name.
Carl’s Hill (boat) – probably most disappointing dives as the reef seemed to be pretty beat up from Matthew; broken staghorn coral all over the place; small wall – perhaps 60 feet at depth and quite narrow in length; saw 9 lionfish under one large overhang; turtle; spotted drum; large school (60+) of tangs accompanied by one trumpet fish
Sampler (boat) – another picture perfect day for diving – glass like seas (made spotting flying fish very easy), no current and sunny skies; I noted that this is predominately hard corals; seahorse; plenty of Hamlets – barred, butter and black
