Carib Dancer Captain's Logs

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain’s Report May 12 – 19, 2012
Water Temperature 78-81 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended

On May 12, 2012, the Carib Dancer started it’s first of many wonderful dive charters throughout the Bahamas. On board this first cruise leaving Nassau headed to the Exuma ‘s were Makia, Michelle, Linda, Elvira & Udo, Rebekah & Zachary, Carol, Julie, Christine, Mark, Michael and John.

Leaving Nassau our first dive site was The Blue Hole. A deep hole going to depths of close to 200 feet surrounded by shallow sand and spotted coral heads. We saw stingrays, Caribbean reef sharks and many small creatures around the spotted coral heads. This was an excellent way to start off the first two dives. After diving The Blue Hole we made our way South to the Exuma Islands. Just off Highborne Cay there’s a beautiful shallow reef call Basketstar Reef; named for the numerous basket stars that can be seen during a night dive. However during the day it’s a colorful reef with schools of jacks, snappers, angelfish, nurse sharks and this week - one of the largest loggerhead turtles that I’ve ever seen. This was an excellent afternoon and night dive.

Monday our dive was on Shroud Wall with a couple of Caribbean reef sharks among the colorful whip coral and sponges that were spawning. The afternoon was spent at Crack Coral Head. This very high profile coral head looks like it has a large crack through the center. Swim thru’s, angelfish, lobsters, crabs, octopus and schools of snappers were on hand to entertain us.

Tuesday our first dive was Pillar Wall. Just before getting to the wall we swam over medium to high profile long coral ridges surrounded by sand and inside the ridges we found lobsters, crabs, eels and lots of small cleaner fish. Swimming over the wall we found colorful sea whips, sponges and even a Caribbean reef shark or two. The afternoon and night were on a shallow reef called Barracuda Shoals, which is named for the very large great barracuda that stayed under the Carib Dancer the entire time we dove these shallow coral heads. We spent our time finding puffer fish, wrasses, school of grunts and some nice channel clinging crabs.

Wednesday morning we made the short ride back out into the Exuma Sound for another easy wall dive. Our choice this morning was Jewfish Wall. We knew this was going to be good when a spotted moray eel greeted us at the bottom of the mooring line by swimming out in the open. This gave a few guests an excellent chance to get some wonderful picture of the eel. Here we enjoyed swim thru’s, ledges and an array of hard and soft corals. One swim thru was about 80 feet long starting at 50 feet and exiting over the wall at 95 feet. Two dives here wasn’t enough, we may just have to come back.

Hammerhead Gulch was the afternoon and night dive. We had lots of soft corals, small tropical fish and a nice small turtle to swim along side. This dive site is located between a few small islands, which make it an excellent place to play for several hours.

Thursday morning and back to Pillar Wall. This was such a nice dive in the first part of the week we did another dive off the wall. After swimming along side a school of Atlantic spadefish, looking at countless Caribbean spiny lobsters and brittle sea stars on colorful sponges that lets no forget that colorful wall.

We next made our way over to the Wreck of the Austin Smith. A few small Caribbean reef sharks along with other creatures both on and around the wreck made for a good time. In the afternoon we made our way over to Dog Rocks aka Church Wall. Here’s one of those special dive sites that you could spend all day on. Just under the Carib Dancer we have an array of soft corals to photograph and only a few feet from our mooring pin is a beautiful wall with lots of swim thru’s. You never know what you will see here: lobsters, large channel clinging crabs, a loggerhead turtle or a spotted eagle ray swimming just over our head. This night dive was one of the best that I have done in a very long time. Amazing colors is all I can say.

After a very peaceful night with flat calm seas we enjoyed a pre dawn dive again on Dog Rocks - Church Wall. Like the night dive last night colors jump out at us and as the sun rose we enjoyed watch this beautiful reef come alive. Small schools of fish waking up, lobsters and crabs looking for a place to hide and just as we started to head back to the boat two large spotted eagle rays swam just over our heads. This was an excellent place to finish a wonderful week of diving in the Bahamas.

It has been over three years since I last visited the Exuma’s Islands. Just as I remember from before this is a very special place; both underwater and topside and it definitely feels good to be back in the Bahamas. We would to thank our guests for sharing this special inaugural trip with the crew of the Carib Dancer.

Crew for this special charter was Captain Dennis, Instructor Craig, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Jason and the Best Chef Anna.

 

[H2O Gal]

Thanks for the trip report--we look forward to diving with y'all in August!

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain's Report May 19 - 26, 2012

Water Temperature 78-81 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended


Early Sunday morning the Carib Dancer departed it’s homeport for its 2^nd charter in the Bahamas. The weather conditions were excellent with little wind and calm seas. We knew it was going to be an excellent trip, as we left the dock I saw a small Eagle Ray jump out of the water in front of the bow. After a short trip we dropped anchor on a sandy bottom near a beautiful shallow reef called Periwinkle Reef. A colorful reef with a nice sandy bottom for everyone to check weights, equipment and just swim around getting use to being underwater again. Swimming along with lots of soft corals, colorful sponges and a few Queen Angelfish made the time underwater go fast. Next we made our way to the Blue Hole. Just on the inside rim of the hole it was covered with an array of tropical fish plus we saw a few rays and small sharks near the hole. Our last stop of the day was Barracuda Shoals, which has scattered coral heads covered with marine life. This was our sunset dive and as we were in the water we were able to watch the daytime marine life look for a place to rest and the nighttime creatures come to play.

Monday morning our first wall dive was Black Tip Wall. The reef on the edge of the wall is awesome. The variety of soft corals and hard corals made for some good photos. As I was slowly making my way down to start my dive and check our mooring a small Eagle Ray swam 40 feet in front of me making its way to the wall, which was only 60 feet away. We had a few swim thru’s we could explore. Along the wall we took pictures and videos of Bright Yellow Tube Sponges, Olive Green Branching Tube Sponges and Black Coral Branches. With the swim thru’s, variety of coral and Eagle Rays you cannot go wrong diving Black Tip Wall. For the afternoon and night dive we headed south to the dive site Three Peaks. Because Three Peaks in inside the Exuma Park, all the marine life is larger. Larger Lobsters and a very large Nurse Shark swam within a few feet of us along with large Black, Nassau and Tiger Groupers and swimming near by Caribbean Reef Sharks.

Tuesday: Danger Reef was our morning dive site. As we pulled up to the morning several Caribbean Reef Sharks swam right up to the dive platform. This dive site is covered with high profile coral heads. These coral heads are covered with both hard and soft corals again because we are inside the Exuma Land & Sea Park there is no collecting of anything underwater or on land. No fishing or shell collecting, which for us divers, it means Bigger Marine Life to take pictures and video while they swim just inches away. Next on the list of Exuma Park Dive Sites was Jeep Reef. Jeep Reef is a shallow colorful reef. We can only dive here when the tide permits and when we do it is beautiful. We had several Lobsters walking out in the open among several schools of tropical fish and part of an old Jeep; there’s the Jeep Reef part. It’s covered with colorful sponges and Soft Corals. Because the tide was changing we made our way back to Danger Reef for the night dive. Our Caribbean Reef Sharks were there to greet us again as we pulled up to the mooring. Night diving is special, the dive light just brings out more true colors then we see during the day.
Wednesday morning we departed the Exuma Land and Sea Park and made our way back North. Our dive site was Basketstar Reef. Medium profile corals and shallow water made for lots to see and long bottom times. Lobsters, Stingrays, Trumpetfish, Pufferfish, Spotted Moray Eels and a cute little Turtle were just a few of the creatures we enjoyed while diving Basketstar. Our last dive site of the day was Hammerhead Gulch. Like several of the dive sites in the Exumas it’s very tidal. However, because it’s tidal the fresh supply of water keeps the reef very healthy, which makes for some amazing pictures of Brain Corals, Star Corals, Sponges and a garden of Soft Corals.

Thursday was a wall dive on Pillar Wall. Our mooring line is only about 50 feet from the wonderful wall. Just under the mooring line for the 2^nd week in a row was a small Spotted Eel. There are several mounts of medium to high profile coral with white sand between the coral heads. We had huge Caribbean Spiny Lobster walking on top of the reef and in the sandy areas. As I swam over the wall a Nassau Grouper followed close by to see where I was headed. Inside of some of the large yellow tube sponges we found Brittle Stars just next to the Arrow Crabs. Our afternoon was the Wreck of the Austin Smith. As soon as I was near the reef next to the wreck I had my eyes of several Pederson Shrimp. Just off the bow of the Austin Smith was a small Porcupine Fish. While looking at a Neck Crab on the bow a Cero Mackerel swam four feet away. We had a little movement in the seas but the diving was very nice.

Friday due to our weather situation we made our way back to Nassau. However we did stop at the Blue Hole to make another dive. While diving here we saw Sharks, Stingrays, Turtles and a variety of small creatures. It was a very nice way to end the week of diving in the Bahamas.

Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, Instructor Craig, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Jason, Chef Assistant Rachel and the best Chef Anna.

 

[J Easy]

Thanks for the reports. I can't wait to get onboard this Saturday!

 

[J Easy]

I had an absolutely awesome time diving with you guys this past week. Thanks for all the great memories!



Josh

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain's Report June 2 - 9, 2012

[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif][/FONT]
May 26 - June 2, 2012
Water Temperature 78-81 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended



Early Sunday morning the Carib Dancer and it’s guest, Hallie, Renee, Brandi & James, Shay & Leonard, Robert & Valerie, Leslie & Scott and Beth & John departed it’s homeport for a short ride out to our first dive site called Periwinkle. Periwinkle is a very shallow colorful reef, with a max depth of about 20 feet, making it perfect for a checkout dive. We were able to get lots of bottom time while looking at colorful fish and corals. As we did the dive around the reef, the Sargent Majors swam all around us. An array of soft corals and lots of small Christmas Tree Worms to photograph. Next on this Sunday of relaxing diving was Lobster No Lobster. A dive site known for huge lobster that some divers see and others do not was nice for an afternoon and night dives. Yes some saw the big one and others didn’t.


Monday morning and our first wall dive were at a site called Pillar Wall. It’s just a short swim from our mooring line to a stunning wall. This wall has colorful whip coral and sponges and a few Tiger Groupers that was swimming near. Let’s not forget a couple of Caribbean Reef Sharks. Our afternoon and night was spent on BasketStar Reef. BasketStar Reef is one of my favorites to dive especially at night. During of dives here we saw, Rays, Turtles, Lobsters, Crabs and several Octopuses.


Tuesday started on Black Tip Wall, where we enjoyed swim thru’s, Sharks, Schools of Snappers, Jack, plus an amazing wall to swim alone. Then we headed South to the Exuma Park. Our first dive site in the park was 3 Peaks. We enjoyed the Rays, Octopus, Turtles, schools of Tropical fish and clear warm water.


Wednesday morning we moved to a dive site called Danger Reef. Its name isn’t from all the Sharks we see there but from Danger Cay, which is near by. Danger Reef is a high profile coral heads with a diverse type of marine life for everyone to enjoy. Townsend Angelfish, Banded Butterflyfish and Ocean Surgeonfish can easily be seen and photograph. The afternoon was spent on a shallow reef called Jeep Reef. Because of our tides we were only able to do one here, but it was worth the trip. There’s so much color here. We filmed large Lobsters and crabs, small Christmas Tree Worms and Magnificent Feather Dusters. The only way to top that dive was a night dive with Sharks. We had back to Danger Reef for a night with a few Sharks around. Not only sharks but also Amberjacks and Large Black Groupers were swimming next to us. We videotaped, took pictures of and just watched Lobsters chasing each other across the reef and Large Channel Clinging Crabs eating and walking on top of the reef.


Thursday morning was Crack Coral Head. Crack Coral Head is a huge high profile piece of coral that looks like it’s been hit with a hammer and has a large crack down the center. This area has lots of large coral heads that makes it easy for creatures to hide from the divers. And it’s only a short swim to a wonderful wall. However; the swim to the wall on our next dive site was only a few feet. Jewfish wall has swim thru’s, a large almost perfect piece of Brain Coral that makes for an excellent picture. After we made our way to the wreck of the Austin Smith, where we swam with small Caribbean Reef Sharks, saw large Channel Clinging Crabs and Photograph small blennies. Today we did five dives on four different dive sites. The last one of the day was Barracuda Shoals. Yes, we saw a large Barracuda and several small one, and rays, and schools of snappers, grunts and colorful corals.


Friday we did an early sunrise dive. We saw Barracuda Shoals during the day, at night and now we watched the reef come alive. Doing a pre dawn dive is a great way to start the day before breakfast. Our last dive of the week was the Blue Hole. We did see a few sharks but around the rim of the hole was everyone saw the magic. We got up close and personal with lots of small creature, stingrays and schools of fish.


Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, Instructor Craig, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Jason, Chef Rachel.

---------- Post added ----------

Carib Dancer June 9-16, 2012 Charter
Water Temperature 78-81 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended


Saturday afternoon our guests Jason, Michael, Dean, Robert, Carlos, Susan, Nataliya, Anya, Melanie, Andrea, Christian, Sharon & Larry boarded the Carib Dancer and enjoyed a sunset cruise as we left our homeport and sailed away from Nassau towards the Exuma Islands.

Sunday morning we started our first dive of the week at the Blue Hole. Last week several guest said this was the best dive of the week. It was a very good one to start the week. We enjoyed schools of Yellowtail Jacks, French Grunts, Large Groupers and an array of small creatures along the edge of the wall. However the highlight was the 35-40 small Caribbean Reef Sharks that were cruising in and out of the hole - sometime only a few feet from our bubbles. After the shark experience at the Blue Hole we made the trip South to the Exuma Islands.


Our first stop was a dive site called Lobster No Lobster. Some of our guest while making bubbles saw a few of the Big Caribbean Spiny Lobsters and some did not. After enjoying the shallow reef of Lobster No Lobster we made a slow cruise over to Basket Star Reef for a sunset/night dive. This is one of my favorite reefs to dive in the later afternoon or night. Lots of small creatures and well as schools of fish and a turtle or two. During this transition dive we saw and photographed Lobster, Octopus, Porcupine fish and had a small Loggerhead Turtle settle a few feet from us that closed its eyes and started enjoying a nice nap. It’s not that often we can see turtles do that, so it was extra special to enjoy.


Monday we started our dive day on Barracuda Shoals. This shallow reef area is always fun to dive. We enjoyed lots of Angelfish, Butterfly fish, Wrasse, school of Barracuda and Octopus out on top of the reef during the day. Our wall dive was Pillar Wall. This wall is covered with colorful Sea Whips and Sponges. We swam with schools of Gray Snappers and a beautiful Eagle Ray swimming just off the wall. Barracuda Shoals was our night dive. Just like the dive earlier today, but with a few more night creatures.


Tuesday started on the shallow reef of Hammerhead Gulch. Lots of pictures and video was taken of colorful sponges, angelfish, and hard and soft corals. Basket Star Reef was our afternoon site. This reef is one of my favorites; we seem to always see Rays, Puffer fish and Turtles. Our night dive was back at Hammerhead Gulch. WOW!!! Octopus and Glow Worms were the highlight of the night. I’ve only seen Glow Worms in other places and now I see them in the Bahamas. It was like a Magic Ride underwater.


Wednesday our first wall dive was Jewfish Wall. A pair of Porcupine fish swam near and a school of about 40 Atlantic Spadefish was hanging near the mooring line. A beautiful Spotted Eagle Ray and a Lemon Shark was near us as we swam on the wall.


Next up was Danger Reef, which is in the Exuma Park Area. This is a no take zone; so all the marine life is larger. As we pulled up to the mooring several Caribbean Reef Sharks greeted us. The high profile coral here is always fun to swim around. The night dive tonight was on Three Peaks. Everyone enjoyed this relaxing dive with Ballonfish, Cero Mackerel, Rays and Juvenile Spotted Drum.


Thursday morning and our pre-breakfast dive was on Amberjack Reef. It was nice to wake up with Sharks swimming around you. Afterwards we headed to Jeep Reef. Jeep Reef is a very colorful shallow reef and being a very shallow dive site it’s a great place to take underwater pictures and video. The rest of the day and night was spent on Dog Rock and Church Wall. This dive site has it all. Lots of soft and hard corals, colorful sponges, swim thru’s and a beautiful wall.


Friday we stayed and finish the week on Dog Rocks and Church Wall. We just couldn’t get enough of this beautiful wall with Sharks, Eagle Rays, Large Groupers and schools of Horse Eye Jacks, and Snappers just under the boat.


Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Jason, Stewardess Tira and Chef Rachel.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain's Report June 16 - 23, 2012

Carib Dancer: June 16 – 23, 2012
Water Temperature 79-82 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended


Saturday afternoon after everyone boarded the Carib Dancer and its guests departed our home dock at “Elizabeth On Bay” and started the trip out to the Exuma Islands. Our guests this week were Martin, Angela, Xuan, John, Philip, Maria, Peter, Michele, Sandra, Helen and Gus. On the way to the Exumas from Nassau there’s an area called the Yellow Banks. The Yellow Banks is a very shallow area of spotted coral heads that should only be crossed during daylight hours so we anchored for the night just on the outside of the Yellow Banks. It was a stunning night at anchor with a slight breeze and thousands of stars and a perfect way to start our weeklong adventure.

Sunday morning early we pulled anchor and headed across the Yellow Banks for our first dive site called Lobster No Lobster. Shallow water and scattered coral heads made this a perfect dive site for the first dive. During the dive we saw southern stingrays, schools of Creole wrasse and quite a few Caribbean spiny lobsters. After a short ride we suited up again for our next dive site called Barracuda Shoals. I really enjoyed the colors we saw on Barracuda Shoals; filled with bright yellow tube sponges and rough tube sponges that were prevalent in various shades of lavender. We also had a school of snappers and grunts that were swimming along with several queen angelfish.

The early afternoon was the Wreck of the Austin Smith. The “Austin Smith” is covered with small creatures like social feather dusters, bulb tunicates and colorful Christmas tree worms. We were also treated to sightings of several small Caribbean reef sharks and a VERY large nurse shark. For the night dive we headed back to Barracuda Shoals giving us a chance to visit it again in a different light. Again this site proved to me it’s one of the best shallow night dive sites in the Exumas. We enjoyed an extremely colorful reef where looking into the many coral heads we saw lots of red night shrimp, reticulated brittle stars and golden crinoids – and let’s not forget the stingrays, octopus, sharks, spotted slipper and Caribbean spiny lobsters along with several reef squid.

Monday morning was a wall dive on Pillar Wall, where our mooring pin is only about 50 feet away from the wall. We had lots of big stuff - sharks, spotted eagle rays and large groupers to photograph and video. Our afternoon dive was on Black Tip Wall where we enjoyed swim thru’s, small canyons and beautiful clear water. While diving Black Tip Wall we actually did see a Black Tip Shark, along with Caribbean reef sharks, a pair of loggerhead turtles and schools of Atlantic spadefish. The last dive of the day was a night dive on Basketstar Reef, a shallow reef with lots of color. This is always an amazing dive site to shoot pictures and video on because of the variety of color on the reef. Some guests even stayed underwater over 70 minutes while watching the variety of turtles, octopus, squid, sharks, and lots of very, very small creatures coming out to mingle in the evening.

Tuesday’s first dive was a day dives at Basketstar Reef and today we swam with a hawksbill turtle, queen angelfish, cero mackerel, tiger groupers and everyone’s new favorite octopus. Next up was an encore at Black Tip Wall where we again enjoyed going into the swim thru’s and coming out over the wall. As I swim out over the wall and look down the array of colors is an awesome view to take both video and pictures. We finished the day at Hammerhead Gulch, which is a shallow dive in a protected area between several small islands and rocks. There is so much to see here that it was easy to have a 60-70 minute night dive.

Wednesday morning we made our way south into the Exuma Land & Sea Park and enjoyed our first dive at a site called Amberjack Reef. This reef was named after common sightings of several amberjacks while diving here many years ago. Resident Caribbean reef sharks and large black groupers also call this site home and will swim very close to you. It was an excellent way to start a Wednesday seeing the big stuff - Sharks, Groupers and Amberjacks. Unfortunately the wind and seas picked up and we had to cancelled our afternoon and night dive; however we had a great time at the Exuma Land & Sea Park Head Quarters where we did a hike up to Boo Boo Hill. Here we witnessed the powerful blowholes and got to spend some time relaxing on the beach with drinks. You really have to love the Bahamas, no matter what the weather does, there’s always someway to enjoy yourself.

Thursday morning we made the short cruise to Danger Reef. Danger Reef is a high profile reef area that has several Caribbean reef sharks swimming around. Near our mooring line we also swam with a school of Atlantic spadefish that were impressive in their formation. The variety of marine life on Danger Reef is interesting making this always a fun dive site. After everyone returned to the yacht we made our way back north to Hammerhead Gulch, the perfect place to take some up-close photos of the undersea world. We ended the day diving on a site called Flat Rock Reef, which is a shallow reef that’s covered with soft corals and lots of small creatures.

Friday morning we enjoyed a pre-breakfast dive on Barracuda Shoals where we spent time watching the reef creatures wake up among the turtles, sharks and octopus making it was a quite morning. Our last dive of the week was The Blue Hole. We were fortunate, because just like the last few weeks as we entered the Blue Hole multitudes of small Caribbean reef sharks came swimming out of it. Along the rim we also found lots of small creatures – lionfish, eels, and nudibranchs etc. Our guests agreed that the Blue Hole was a great way to end the week.

Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Jason, Stewardess Tira and Chef Rachel.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain’s Report June 23 – 30, 2012
Water Temperature 79-82 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended


Saturday afternoon after everyone boarded, the Carib Dancer and its guest Sandra, Maia, Regina, Barbara, Billy, Melissa, Robert, Susan, Peter, Frank, George, Michele, Charles and Nancy departed our home dock at Elizabeth On Bay and started the trip out to the Exuma Islands. On the way to the Exumas from Nassau there’s an area called the Yellow Banks. The Yellow Banks is a very shallow area of spotted coral heads that should only be crossed during daylight hours. The Carib Dancer anchored for the night just on the outside of the Yellow Banks. It was a stunning night at anchor with a slight breeze and thousands of stars.

Sunday morning early we pulled anchor and headed across the Yellow Banks for our first dive site called Close Mon. Shallow water and scattered coral heads made Close Mon a perfect dive site for the first dive with an incoming tide. During the dive we saw Southern Stingrays, Schools of Creole Wrasse, and Caribbean Spiny Lobsters. After a short ride we suited up for our next dive site called Jewfish Wall. This was our first wall dive of the week. We took some excellent pictures of bright yellow tube sponges and rough tube sponges that were various shades of lavender; a school of snappers and grunts were swimming along with several queen angelfish. The early afternoon was the Wreck of The Austin Smith. The Austin Smith is covered with small creatures, like social feather dusters, bulb tunicates and colorful Christmas tree worms. We were also treated with several small Caribbean reef sharks and a very large nurse shark. The night dive was back on Close Mon where not only did we see several of the usual nighttime creatures, but also a very large hawksbill turtle came by for a close look.

Monday morning was a wall dive on Pillar Wall. Our mooring pin is only about 50 feet away from this wall. We had sharks, eagle rays and large groupers to photograph and video. One of our afternoon dive sites was Flat Rock Reef, a shallow reef with an array of soft corals. We enjoyed hundreds of fish schooling around us while we swam between the shallow reef systems. Next on the afternoon list was Barracuda Shoals. Barracuda Shoals is a very large shallow reef area where a diver can easily spend over an hour underwater. We swam with schools of barracuda, grunts and mackerel that swam within a few feet of our guests. We ended the day back at Flat Rock Reef for the night dive.

Tuesday we started on Blacktip Wall. We always seem to enjoy Blacktip Wall. One of my favorite things to do here is swim about 60 feet away from the wall then look back towards it. Looking back you see a huge beautiful wall, then pick a small spot and swim towards that point. As you do, the wall becomes small in comparison and you can find small little creatures that may live on a sponge that is their entire world. Plus, we were able to swim with a few sharks and beautiful angelfish. After Blacktip Wall we made out way over to Alan’s Cay and had a little beach time playing with the Exuma iguanas. Spending a little time with the resident iguanas is a great way to see just a little of all the Exumas have to offer. Basketstar Reef was next on the bubble making time. This is a beautiful shallow reef that is full of color and marine life, like octopus, turtles, schools of snappers, grunts and queen angelfish that always seen to swim close for pictures. We ended the day on Hammerhead Gulch that produced a wonderful, slow, relaxing, colorful night dive.

Wednesday morning we were in the Exuma Park where all the marine life is bigger; because the park is a “No Take Zone”. Amberjack Reef was our first dive site and as we pulled up to the mooring the sharks immediately swam up to the Carib Dancer. The coral here is high profile, with lots of little creatures inside the reef. While doing our safety stop we had schools of snappers, jacks and a few very large black groupers next to us. We ended the day on 3 Peaks, a shallow dive site where a few people got over 70 minutes of bottom time.

Thursday we started on Jeep Reef. Jeep Reef is a very colorful shallow dive. We swam through numerous schools of grunts and snappers. Queen angelfish were swimming up and posing for the cameras and 8 very large Caribbean lobsters were out and about around one coral head. All this made for very nice video. Our next stop was with the Caribbean reef sharks on Danger Reef. This dive site is wonderful for getting really close up photos of the sharks. They swim within a few feet of us in a very relax mode. Making our way back up north, we next ventured to a dive site called Crack Coral Head. This dive site has large swim thru’s and an awesome wall with colorful sea whips. Again, still heading north, we stopped at Whale Tail, which has one of the coral heads that look like a “Whales Tail”. These coral heads are medium profile with lots of creatures. Our last dive of the day was back on the Wreck of the Austin Smith. The Austin Smith is always a fun night dive, with lots of the small creatures coming out on the wreck at night. The underwater lights we have on the Carib Dancer attract lots of small creatures, which attract small fish, which brings in bigger fish. We had a great show to watch while doing our safety stop.

Friday our pre-breakfast dive was on Dog Rocks/Church Wall. This is always a wonderful dive site, but to have a chance to dive while the reef wakes up is awesome. Big bright elephant ear sponges, protected black coral and beautiful swim thru’s is just part of what makes this one of the best dive sites in the Exumas, if not the entire Caribbean. The highlight of the early morning dive was seeing a lone eagle ray swimming up the wall. We then ventured to Blue Hole for our last dive site of the week and again we had sharks in the hole with us. But even without the seasonal sharks we enjoyed the rays, angelfish, mackerel and an array of other creatures swimming near us.

Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, 1^st Mate Craig, Instructor Jason, Stewardess Tira and Chef Rachel.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer Captain’s Report June 30 – July 7, 2012
Water Temperature 79-82 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended

Saturday afternoon after everyone boarded, the Carib Dancer and our guests Chuck, Angie, Bobbi, John, Kelley, Dana, Ellen, Michael, Cathy, Patty, Jeffrey, John, Bo and Jamie departed its home dock at Elizabeth On Bay and started the trip out to the Exuma Islands. On the way to the Exumas from Nassau there’s an area called the Yellow Banks. The Yellow Banks is a very shallow area of spotted coral heads that should only be crossed during daylight hours. The Carib Dancer anchored for the night just on the outside of the Yellow Banks. It was a stunning night at anchor with a slight breeze, thousands of stars and a very bright moon.

Sunday morning early we pulled anchor and headed across the Yellow Banks for our first dive site called Jewfish Wall. We took some excellent pictures of bright yellow tube sponges and rough tube sponges that were many shades of lavender. Plus, we swam with eagle rays and got up close for some good pictures of Caribbean reef sharks. The early afternoon site was the Wreck of The Austin Smith. The Austin Smith is covered with small creatures, like social feather dusters, bulb tunicates and colorful Christmas tree worms. The night dive on the Austin Smith was “Crab City”. We saw over a dozen channel clinging crabs and countless decorator neck crabs.

Monday morning we traveled north to Dog Rock/Church Wall. This dive site is one of the crews’ favorites. We enjoyed lots of swim thrus and a very colorful wall, sharks, eagle rays, turtles and lots of colorful fish. Close Mon was our afternoon dive site, where we were met with schools of snappers, grunts and enough small creatures to fill any camera’s memory card. Our night dive was on Lobster No Lobster. Most everyone did see some very big Caribbean spiny lobster; however there were a few that said “No Lobster”. Good thing someone took pictures and video of the lobsters.

Tuesday we started on Basketstar Reef. It’s so much fun when you can wake up, step into the water and start the day swimming with a small hawksbill turtle, or swim thru a huge school of gray snappers, and lets not forget about the octopus. Basketstar Reef is colorful, shallow and a great place to start the day. Our wall dive today was Blacktip Wall. We always seem to enjoy Blacktip Wall. On Black Tip Wall we were able to swim with a few sharks, angelfish octopus, turtles, schools of snappers and we even saw a few wahoo. We ended the day on Hammerhead Gulch with wonderful slow, relaxing and colorful afternoon and night dives.

Wednesday morning and the 4^th of July. We were in the Exuma Park where all the marine life is bigger. That’s because the park is a “no take zone”. Amberjack Reef was our first dive site and as we pulled up to the mooring the sharks swam right up to the Carib Dancer. The coral here is high profile with lots of little creatures hiding inside the reef. While doing our safety stop we had schools of snappers, jacks, and a few large black groupers next to us. Jeep Reef was our next dive site. Jeep Reef is a very colorful shallow dive. We swam through schools of grunts and snappers. Because of the colors and array of tropical fish Jeep Reef is a photographer’s “Dream World”.

Thursday our next stop was with the Caribbean reef sharks on Danger Reef. This dive site is wonderful for getting close-up pictures of the sharks. They swim within a few feet of us in a very relax mode. We next began making our way back up north to a dive site called Crack Coral Head. The dive site has large swim thrus and an awesome wall with colorful sea whips. Still heading north we stopped at Whale Tail, named because one of the coral heads look like a whale’s tail. These coral heads are medium profile with lots of creatures. Our last dive site of the day was Pillar Wall. We swam with schools of Atlantic spadefish, large black groupers and horse-eye jacks. Pillar Wall is a very beautiful wall with lots of colorful sponges and whips.

Friday our pre-breakfast dive was on Flat Rock Reef. One of our guest said he saw more fish at this site then any other site he’d been diving on. Our last dive of the week was at the Blue Hole. Again this site turned out to be the best of the week. We swam with lots of sharks, two very large loggerhead turtles, and schools of snappers. The Blue Hole is always a fun dive.

Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, 1^st Mate Craig, Instructor Jason, Steward Roman and Chef Shennell.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Carib Dancer July 7 – 14, 2012
Water Temperature 79-84 F
3 or 5 mm Wet Suit Recommended


Saturday afternoon after everyone boarded, the Carib Dancer and its guests Jimmie, Joe, Joel, Peter, Angela, John, Albert, Andrea, Chris, Pam, Bob and Mark departed the home dock at Elizabeth On Bay and started our trip out to the Exuma Islands. The Carib Dancer anchored for the night just on the outside of the Yellow Banks. It was a very nice night under the stars.

Sunday morning early we pulled anchor and headed across the Yellow Banks for our first dive site Pillar Wall. The top of the reef on Pillar Wall is only about 40 feet and is covered with soft corals. While diving Pillar Wall we saw Sharks, Spotted Eagle Rays, Mackerel and a schools of Atlantic Spadefish near the mooring line. After Pillar Wall we headed north to one of the crews’ favorite dive sites called Dog Rocks/Church Wall. This dive sites offers a little of everything to the diver. We swam through large and small swim thru’s, canyons and enjoyed a very colorful wall covered with sponges and whip corals.

Monday morning we traveled to Jewfish Wall where we swam with large Groupers, Caribbean Reef Sharks, a Spotted Eagle Ray, a Loggerhead Turtle and schools of tropical fish. Our shallow site this day was Flat Rock. Flat Rock is a small shallow dive site that is covered with hard and soft corals. We saw schools of White and Caesar Grunts, Wrasses and Angelfish. Flat Rock is an excellent dive site to shoot macro pictures. We also visited Crab Mountain. It had been a long time since I’d been diving Crab Mountain and after diving it I’m not sure why I stayed away. This is a beautiful site with large swim thru’s and canyons. This dive site is covered with hard and soft corals and we swam off the edge of a huge wall that was covered with marine life. Two dives at Crab Mountain weren’t enough and we will be back to dive this site next week. We have to go back and see the pair of Queen Angelfish that swam within inches of my mask.

Tuesday we started on Black Tip Wall. I don’t think I’ve ever had a disappointing dive on Black Tip Wall. This dive site offers so much with marine life, hard and soft corals, plus Eagle Rays, Sharks, Large Black Groupers and Queen Angelfish that will swim within a few inches of us. We ended the afternoon and night dives on Hammerhead Gulch with wonderful, slow, relaxing, and colorful dives. I spend the first 38 minutes of the dive in the grass area around all the colorful coral heads. The array of creatures we found was great, but the find of the day was several Swallowtail Headshield Slugs with the bright blue, orange and black stripes across their backs.

Photo by Mark Mitchell

Wednesday morning we headed south to the Exuma Land & Sea Park area where all the marine life is bigger, because the park is a no take zone. Amberjack Reef was our first dive site and as we pulled up to the mooring the Sharks swam up to the Carib Dancer. The coral here is high profile with lots of little creatures inside the reef. While doing our safety stop we had schools of snappers, jacks and a few large Black Groupers next to us. Jeep Reef was our next dive site. Jeep Reef is a very colorful shallow dive and we swam through schools of Grunts and Snappers. Because of the colors and array of tropical fish, Jeep Reef is a photographer’s “dream world”. The night dive was on 3 Peaks. 3 Peaks dive site is three large corals heads that are separated by a small sandy area. These coral heads are covered with soft corals and lots of night creatures. At any given time on this site at night we can see Nurse Sharks, Octopus and numerous Black Jacks that following you at night waiting for your night to shine on their next meal. It was a nice relaxing, fun and easy night dive.

Photo by Mark Mitchell

Thursday our next stop was the Caribbean Reef Sharks on Danger Reef. This dive site is wonderful for getting close-up picture of the sharks as they swim within a few feet of us in a very relax mode. Next we began making our way back up north to a dive site called Cracked Coral Head. We enjoyed lots of swim thru’s, a large colorful wall, and just off the mooring line we rediscovered a large Brain Coral Head that was over 6 feet across and in excellent condition. As always the marine life, swim thru’s and the wall made Cracked Coral Head an excellent dive site. The Wreck of the Austin Smith was next for our guests. I enjoy this site mostly for the small creatures that most everyone swims pass. A few slowed down and really enjoyed the small stuff. Our last dive of the day was on Barracuda Shoals. It is amazing what happens to a reef at night. It was a very busy night on the reef with all the night creatures out looking for a little something to eat. While swimming and enjoying the small stuff we also saw a Turtle, Shark and Octopus.

Friday the Blue Hole is always a fun dive. We didn’t see all the sharks like we have been seeing the past several weeks, however we did see schools of fish, Turtles and Stingrays. It was a very nice last dive.

Crew for this Charter was Captain Dennis, 1^st Mate Craig, Engineer Gareth, Instructor Lynn and Chef Anya.