Island Dancer II Captain's Reports

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer Captain’s Report
19^th – 26^th May, 2012


ISLAND DANCER II
1300 hrs: we welcomed our guest onboard the M.Y Island Dancer with a big “BulaVvinaka”. Soon as the guesst got onboard they were taken into their cabins and prepared themselves for departure.
Lunch was prepared and we got straight into the intro, then the main engines were started and we departed the pier for Makogai islands.
The weather had overcast and we had rain at times, but moderate seas as we headed to Makogai for our first day of diving.

MAKOGAI ISLAND
20^th May

Smiling Clam
Dive Sites:
Clam Rock
Domino’s
Christine
Half Pipe
We did our check out dive at Clam Rock in a protected area where there was no current and the divers were able to adjust weights and set their B.C.D according to their liking…
Diving on the first day was awesome as our divers were happy to be in the water after sometime. They got to see soft and hard corals, anthias, clown and triggerfish, etc and on top of the bommies we also saw giant clams.

NAMENA ISLAND
21^ST MAY

Sweet Lips
Dive Sites
North Wall
Edie’s Dream 1
Edie’s Dream 2
North Wall
Diving these sites was awesome as guests got to see pelagics on the wall, schools of horse-eyed jacks, barracudas, and thousands of fish life, which is common to Fiji.

NAMENA ISLAND
22^ND May

Dwarf Hawk Fish
Dive Sites:
North Wall
South Passage
Chimneys
Chimney’s Passage
Awesome diving with good visibility and divers got to see nudibranchs, moray eels, garden eels and lots of reef fish, but the visibility at the top of the reef with the light glowing down on the stag horn and table coral was just so beautiful.

WAKAYA ISLAND
23^RD May

Butterfly fish
Dive Sites:
Vau Vai
Ridge wall
Wakaya Pass
Wakaya West Wall
We dropped our divers in a new dive site and they loved the whole reef system because it was so rich and healthy with loads of staghorn coral, whip coral and soft coral. The visibility was so clear and you could see to 80 plus feet.

GAU ISLAND
24^th May

Nigali Shark Alley
Dive Sites:
Jim’s Alley
Nigali Shark Alley
Nigali Shark Alley is one of the best feeds in Fiji because of the aggressiveness of the sharks. Guest are excited during the feed and they have an adrenaline rush during this dive; especially when “Leroy” the grouper and his brothers come in and take a bite of the lunch on offer.

Suva Port (fisheries Lami)
25^th May

Mr. Seasnake
Dive Site
Anthias
Awesome diving this morning as divers make use of the last dive on offer during this trip. They got to see lots of cool stuff as they saw sea snakes, manta’s and thousands of little critters and lots and lots of fish.
After the diving, D.M Moses cleaned the dive gear and dried it out as our guest enjoyed a hot breakfast.
In the evening our traditional B.B.Q was prepared for the guest with chicken, sausage and fish along with potato salad and veggies, etc…yum…yum

SUVA PORT
Saturday 26th
0630 hrs: continental breakfast was prepared for the guest prior to disembarking the vessel.

The watermen of the Island Dancer II bidss farewell to the guest and hoped that they have a safe journey back home to their loved ones and hoped we would meet again someday.


MO BEN JOJI ATAMA CLINTON

---------- Post Merged at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:18 AM ----------

CAPTAIN’S LOG
02nd – 09^th June, 2012.

ISLAND DANCER 2
1300 hrs: we welcomed our guests William, Elaine, Coleen, Sue, Carole, Jeanette, Yergen, Roman and Berth onboard the M.Y Island Dancer with a big bula vinaka.
Soon as the guesst got onboard they were taken into their cabins and prepared themselves for departure.
Lunch was prepared and we got straight into the intro then the main engines were started and we departed the pier for Makogai islands.
The weather had overcast with rain at times, but moderate seas as we headed to Makogai for our first day of diving.

MAKOGAI ISLAND
3^rd June

Critter in Whip Coral
Dive Site:
Clam Rock
Domino’s
Christine
Half Pipe
Divers managed to acclimatize to the diving adjusting weights and checking that their gear is working to their liking. Once they were confident diving Clam Rock we steamed out of the bay to dive the rest of the bommies.
Guests saw soft coral, anthias, sergeant fish, soldier fish and many other critters…

VATU I RA
4^th June

File Fish
Dive Site
Hi-8
Howards Diner
Mellow Yellow
Alacrity
Diving some of these sites are the best Fiji had to offer and the guests enjoyed every bit of the diving. The soft coral, large pelagics and millions of fish life just kept them at awe at the underwater aquarium in the area.

VATU I RA
5^th June

Nudi Branch
Dive Site
Coral Corner
Aquarium
E-6
Today was a special day for Colleen and her boyfriend who got engaged in the cathedral in E-6 as the rest of the divers witnessed this special occasion. That evening the couple enjoyed each other’s company on the back deck sipping wine and watching the sunset…

WAKAYA ISLAND
6^th June

Manta Ray
Dive Site
Vau Vai
Wakaya Wall
Yellow Wall
Blue Ridge
Awesome diving today and we got to see pelagics and thousands of critters. The guests got to see a manta ray, clown fish, blue ribbon eels and many other critters.

GAU ISLAND
7^th June

Nigali Shark Alley
Dive Site
Jim’s Alley
Nigali Shark Alley
Shark feeding at Nigali Passage was top class as guests got to see grey reef sharks in feeding frenzy and “Leroy”, the huge grouper being hand fed with fish head. In the pass there was different schoo’s of fish, schools of horse eyed jacks, barracuda and snapper, etc.

Suva Port (fisheries Lami)
8^th June

Mr. Moray
Dive Site
Anthias
The last dive was awesome and all went well for our divers as they completed the trip. They enjoyed the diving and the crew hoped they enjoyed the trip.
After the diving D.M Moses cleaned the dive gear and dried it out as our guesst had hot breakfast.
In the evening,g B.B.Q was prepared for the guest with chicken, sausage and fish with potato salad and veggies,etc…hum…hum

SUVA PORT
Saturday 09th
0630 hrs: A continental breakfast was prepared for the guests prior to disembarking the vessel.

The watermen of the Island Dancer II bid farewell to the guest and hoped that they have a safe journey back home to their loved ones and hoped we would meet again someday.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

ISLAND DANCER II Captain’s Report June 16 – 23, 2012

We welcomed our guests Gary, Anne, Kara, Jason and Allen all from the United States to this side of the world. As soon as they boarded the vessel we sought out their cabins and got them familiarized with the safety measures onboard. Lunch was prepared and we got straight into the introduction and formal safety briefing; then the main engines were started and we departed the pier for Makogai Islands where we had fine weather traveling for our first day of diving.

MAKOGAI & VATU I RA - 17th & 18^th June
Dive Sites:
Sunday - Clam Rock, Domino’s, Christine and Half Pipe
Monday - Hi- 8, Howard’s Diner, Mellow Yellow and Alacrity
As the sun rose on Makogai Bay the crew prepared dive gear for the guests for the 1^st dive at Clam Rock. The 1^st dive was a check-out dive as our guest checked their weights and buoyancy. There wasn’t any current so the divers took their time exploring the area. Once the divers got confident with the gear we took them out to do some real diving. As always, the diving in Fiji is some of the best in the world for soft coral and heavenly colors. Mellow Yellow and Howard’s Diner were so beautiful, the soft coral opened up to the current and small fish life and critters were darting around the reef and bommie’s as horse eyed jack’s and bigger fish tried to feed on them.





VATU I RA - 19^th & 20^th June
Dive Sites:
Tuesday – Alacrity, Moses Reef, Coral Corner and Sere I
Wednesday - Undeniable 2, Joji’s Reef and Undeniable Main Reef
Another awesome day of diving for our guest as we had fair visibility, colorful soft corals e.g. colors of purple and yellow soft corals hung off the reef sides, a couple of reef sharks cruised the sea bottom as thousands of fish life went about their daily routine.




GAU ISLAND - 21^st & 22^nd June
Dive Sites:
Thursday - Jim’s Alley, Nigali Shark Alley and Nigali Drift
Friday - Anthias
Our guests enjoyed the diving at Jim’s Alley, which is named after the Legendary Jim Church. Visibility was great and they got to see lots of critters and fish life. Our next dive ,the shark feed at Nigali Alley was awesome. As soon as we descended to the bottom of the channel, ‘Leroy, the giant grouper’ was waiting to escort us to the shark feed area. I fed Leroy three huge fish heads, which he gulped down with ease to the divers amazement - and Leroy was still wanting more. The grey reef sharks and vampire snappers also had a field day feeding on the fish heads on offer.



SUVA PORT -Saturday 23^rd
0630 hrs: A continental breakfast was prepared for our guests prior to disembarking the vessel.

The watermen of the Island Dancer II, Mo, Ben, Joji, Atama and Clinton, bids farewell to the guests and hope that they have a safe journey back home to their loved ones and hope we would meet again someday.
…NI SA MOCE…

---------- Post Merged at 05:28 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:19 PM ----------

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report June 23 – July 3, 2012

On behalf of the ship’s Crew I would like to welcome Fred & Marsha, Judith & Richard, Jean & Rich, Michael and Donna onboard the M.Y Island Dancer with a big bula vinaka. As soon as the guests got onboard they were taken to their cabins to settle in and get ready for departure. Lunch was prepared and we got straight into the intro then the main engines were started and we departed the pier for Makogai Island where we commenced our first day of diving

MAKOGAI & NAMENA: 24^th & 25^th June
Dive Sites:
Sunday - Clam Rock and Domino’s
Monday - North Wall, Kansas and Namena Island Bay
Our guests this trip were great folks who wanted to take their diving easy and spend enough time hanging out together, so they were satisfied with doing three dives per day. We tried to squeeze out the best dive sites for them during this 10-day charter. We started off with checkout at Clam Rock and Domino’s…then we travelled to Namena to continue diving at the Marine Park. During this trip we had all our Dive Masters in the water for the safety of our friendly guests. Captain Joji buddied up with Fred, C/E Clinton buddied up with Marsha and the rest of the diver’s got to follow the Mo’.



NAMENA ISLAND: 26^th & 27^th June
Dive Sites:
Tuesday - North Save a Tack , Chimney’s and Namena Bay
Wednesday - North Wall and South Passage
Today we had awesome weather, flat seas and fair visibility. The sun came out rising brightly from the east and we knew that this would be a lovely day of diving. Our divers got to see the resident giant clams, reef sharks, clown triggerfish, pipe fish, trumpet fish and many other critters, etc…the beautiful colors of the sea fans and the soft coral opening up as the current swept along the reef. After diving for the day our guests set down for some beers before they were treated to a succulent meal provided by Chef Ben which they thoroughly enjoyed.



NAMENA & VATU I RA - 28^th & 29t^h June
Dive Sites:
Thursday - Alacrity, Mellow Yellow and Howard’s Diner
Friday - Coral Corner, Moses Reef and Aquarium
After diving Namena we steamed to Vatu I Ra where we have some of the best diving in the South Pacific. Our guests were eager to get in the water and see more of the soft and hard coral, stag horn and table corals down under and the thousands of anthias, butterfly and emperor fish, sergeant majors, spade fish, clown triggerfish, schools of yellow stripped sweet lips, clown fish and anemone, etc.



WAKAYA & GAU ISLAND - 30^th June & 1^st July
Dive Sites:
Saturday - Manta Rock, Wakaya Passage and Domino’s
Sunday - Nigali Shark Alley and Jim’s Alley
Our guests enjoyed diving Wakaya and Gau Island as they got to see huge pelagics like sharks, manta rays, schooling horse eyed jacks, schooling barracudas and “Leroy” the giant grouper and his family.



GAU ISLAND - 2nd July
Dive Site: Monday - Nigali Shark Alley
Shark feeding at Nigali Passage was top class as our guests got to see grey reef sharks in a feeding frenzy and “Leroy”, the huge grouper being hand fed with fish heads…in the pass there were many different schools of fish: schools of horse eyed jacks, barracuda and snapper, etc.



The last dive was a drift through the passage and the current was quite swift. Here the guests got to take pictures for the last time of the resident shark and fishes in the area. When the divers got back onboard the back deck, divemaster Moses cleaned their dive gear and set it out to day as they enjoyed hot breakfast provided by Ben. In the evening a B.B.Q was prepared. Our guests and crew sat together to have a sing-a-long and reminisce the wonderful diving in Fijian waters.

SUVA PORT - 3^rd July
0630 hrs: A continental breakfast was prepared for the guests prior to disembarking the vessel.
We hope that our guests this week appreciated the land, underwater sea life and our Fijian hospitality we have portrayed and they will share it with their friends and loved ones back home.

The watermen of the Island Dancer II, Mo, Ben, Joji, Atama and Clinton bids farewell to everyone and hope that they have a safe journey back home to their loved ones and that we would meet again someday.
…NI SA MOCE…

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report August 11 - 18, 2012
Air temp: 21-26C / 70-79F
Water temp: 27-28C / 80-82F
3mm wet suit

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew, I would like to welcome our guests Richard, Anita, Joe, Sam, Helena, Jean, Mark, Tony, Diana, and Manual with a big “Bula Vinaka”.

1200 midday – Most of our guests arrived onboard and the crew assisted each to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch. While they enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew introduction and safety briefing.

1500hrs – Anita and Richard arrived a little later onboard and we served their lunch on the back deck along with their private crew intro and safety briefing. We departed the jetty and headed to Makogai Island where we would start our first day of diving. We arrived at 0100am in the morning as our guests were enjoying their relaxing sleep in the calm water.

Day 2 - Sunday - Makogai Island
Check out dive – Dominoes / Pinball / Becky’s / Christine’s / Night dive – Joe’s
Our first day of diving was beautiful with bright sunshine, flat calm seas and good visibility as we did our check out dive at Dominoes. Pinball and Becky’s are always the best for both wide and macro photos, as on top of the pinnacle thousands of anthias covering the reef with unicorn fish everywhere. There is a small swim through and soft coral hanging on the sides of the wall. Some of our divers wanted to stay here and not move J

Day 3 - Monday - Namena Island
Chimneys / Black Forest / North Save a Tack / Kansas / Night Dive - Shallow Patch Reef
We woke to another beautiful day of diving with continuing flat seas and a slight current. The current was just right for the soft corals to open up amongst the many different types of anthias fish found on top of the pinnacles. As we slowly descended to the bottom, the amount of reef fishes we saw and the different type of soft coral was phenomenal. A black-spotted sweetlips was amazing with cleaner wrasses around his mouth. There was a red coral trout kindly waiting for his turn to be cleaned up. Garden eels were everywhere on the bottom. This is a fantastic point for some of our divers with big cameras looking for both creatures and big fish.

Day 4 - Tuesday - Namena Island
South Save a Tack was our first dive site today. The weather was beautiful and the sea was nice and calm with a gentle sea breeze of 10 - 15knots. For the first dive we swam through one very large swim through. On the other side the wall was totally full of green soft coral mixed in with big sea fans and black coral. Anita enjoyed snorkeling on top of the reef, as she witnessed the beauty of all the reef fishes with their movements below. Ned’s Head was our next site with anthias, a school of jacks, lionfish, unicorn fish, black surgeonfish and soft coral are everywhere and the divers were impressed! At North Wall we continued with spectacular diving, as this is one of our favorite sites on our charters. Mark, one of our divers, spotted the Hammerhead Shark as everyone else was concentrating on the school of jacks. We also saw five yellow fin tuna hunting close to the wall, a school of jacks and a school of barracuda. There was also one giant grouper just lying on the sand waiting for a choice opportunity to pass by. Namena Point was our final dive today. It is a shallow dive with no current which some of our divers really like. They spotted many interesting creatures in the shallows including octopus, crabs, scorpionfish and a decorator crab.

Day 5 – Wednesday - Bligh Water
Coral Corner /Aquarium / Hi8 / E6
There is no doubt about the diving in the Bligh Water as Sam, Manual, and Helena have been to these areas before. They still agreed after every dive that this is still the best diving, filled with schools of fish that are everywhere and all the many colors of soft coral and black coral.

Day 6 Thursday - Gau
We did our first and second dives today at Nigali Pass. We slowly descend and four grey reef sharks and a few barracudas immediately greeted us. At the bottom we were then surrounded by a larger group of grey reef sharks that began circling us. Resident giant grouper “Leroy” and his partner “Atama” led us to the feeding area. The divers were very excited by “Leroy” as he often moved in very close. While approaching the feeding area some of the guests spotted an eagle ray. After the feeding, divemaster Adam took the leftover food to feed his namesake and spotted three sea snakes in one small hole. As we slowly ascending to the shallows for our safety stop we had a group of jacks swim in very close towards us. Everyone enjoyed the dives.

Our next dive took us to Jim’s Alley, a site that is covered with purple soft corals and red anemones. We spotted nudibranchs, a sea snake, and barracudas. After the dive we started the main engine of the Island Dancer II and headed to Somosomo Village for a land visit. Our guests really enjoyed their time at the village. They were entertained by the village people with a traditional Fijian war dance (meke) and they got to taste and pass around the kava. The village people sang their farewell song as we slowly heading back to the Island Dancer II. What a lovely day with a spectacular shark dive and a village tour followed by a nice Fijian feast for dinner! Delicious!! This was a first for some of our guests who had never tasted traditional Fijian food before. It was also a memorable night for Anita and Richard as we celebrated their wedding anniversary together with them.

Day 7 – Friday - Althias / Nigali Pass
Our final full day we did two dives. We started with an awesome dive at Anthias where we saw many Fijian rare polyclad flatworms and phyllidia nudibranchs. We then did a second shark dive at Nigali Pass giving our guests another excellent opportunity to get some shark photos. Giant grouper “Leroy” and his co-partner “Atama” were still there to entertain us with their friendly behavior. Grey reef sharks and red bass (we normally call them vampire fish) were everywhere in the feeding arena waiting for their turn to come for the food. After the dive we heaved anchor and headed back towards Suva. Divemasters Moses and Adam began rinsing all the dive gear so it would be fresh to pack. Just as we were approaching Suva Passage three humpback whales surprised us surfacing close to the main reef. So we spent almost an hour watching them spinning using their pectoral fins and breaching. WOW - what a fantastic way to end the trip…Amazing!!!!!!! Our final night we had a BBQ on the back deck with our guests, enjoyed a glass of wine or beer, and relaxing.

Suva Port - Saturday
0700am – A hot breakfast was served before our guests disembarking at 0800

Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you again in the future.

From all the crew: Captain Joji, Engineer Clinton, Dive Master Moses, Chef Peni, Steward / Dive Master Adam

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report September 1 – 8, 2012
Air temp: 21-27C / 70-80F
Water temp: 27 – 28C / 80-82F
3mm wet suit - Recommended

The Island Dancer II crew would like to welcome our guests: Fabiola, Burk, Chuck, Stefan, Laura, Lauralai, Bruce with a big ‘Bula Vinaka’.

As our guests this week arrived onboard the crew assisted each to their cabin before Adam and chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch followed by a crew introduction and safety briefing. We departed and headed to Makogai where we would do our first day of diving.

Sunday – Makogai Island
Dive Sites: Clam Rock, Christine’s, Dominoes and Half Pipe
Bright sunny days with 10/15 knots of wind – N/E wind with calm seas. We started our diving at Clam Rock, which is a nice and easy dive as the top of the pinnacle is the home of two giant clams. There are reef fishes and schools of cardinal fish everywhere. At Christine’s the soft coral was amazing with many different colors. A leaf scorpion fish was spotted and a triggerfish was found lying flat on the bottom - we thought it was dead but when we moved in closer we saw that his big eyes were open. Dominoes and Half Pipe are always the best with different types of fish and flat worms, nudibranchs and much more.

Monday – Bligh water
Dive Sites: E6, Coral Corner, Aquarium and Alacrity
What an amazing first dive at E6, We started from the edge of the wall and ended our dive in a large swim thru. The deep side of the wall was full of reef fishes and barracudas, schools of jacks and a school of blue streak fusilier fish. Burk and Chuck came up after this dive and said that “These are the reason why we come to Fiji, the beauty of E6 is amazing”. Everyone agreed and was talking about the soft corals, the huge sea fans and the abundant black coral inside the swim thru. We headed to Coral Corner for the 2^nd dive. Wow!!! Another great dive. It was totally amazing. What an enjoyable drift dive watching millions of anthias fish and listening to the singing of whales was miraculous. We saw white tip sharks, Spanish mackerel, schools of oriental sweetlips, barracudas, black snapper and the reef fishers were everywhere.

Tuesday – Bligh water
Dive Sites: Mellow Yellow, Moses’ Reef, Howard’s Diner, and Hi8
Another beautiful day with bright sunshine and flat seas. We did our first dive at Mellow Yellow and it was another exciting dive as plenty of marine creatures and big fish were discovered on the dive. We saw 3 Spanish mackerel feeding on top of the pinnacle, along with the blue giant trevally and purple queen anthias are everywhere. Clown triggerfish, trumpet fish, sweetlips mixed in with a school of surgeon fish, and scorpion fish were just a few of the things we saw. Moses’ Reef and Howard’s Diner are always fantastic with an incoming current and the exciting part on these dives is you will drift and see the wall of purple soft corals and big sea fans, which are everywhere. We also saw coral trout and schools of jacks and barracudas, along with a school of bumphead wrasse. After the 4^th dive at Hi8 we picked the divers up and headed to Gau Island.

Wednesday – Gau
Dive Sites: Jim’s Alley, Nigali Passage
What a fantastic first dive at Jim’s, Alley. Flat seas and the visibility was amazing. As we jumped in we were greeted by a school of black surgeonfish and a banded sea snake hunting for food. On the top of the reef you can clearly see all the different types of anthias feeding amongst the sleek unicorn fish, schools of damsel fish, red anemone, red and black anemone fish and our divers came up very happy as they enjoyed every moment of the dive. We did our 2^nd and 3rd dive at Nigali Passage -another spectacular dive with many grey reef sharks, zebra shark and schools of jacks and barracudas.

Thursday
Dive Sites: Anthias 1, Nigali Passage
Our first dive today was at Anthias 1. It was another great dive with many creatures roaming around. Brown banded pipefish, banded sea snake, giant clams, along with white tip and grey reef sharks. The Island Dancer II heaved anchor and headed to Nigali Passage for another shark dive. This is the moment our divers have been waiting for - to get up close to many sharks. While we in the feeding area you could look to the surfaced and see thousands and thousands of fish feeding and hunting. It is hard to describe this dive as it blows the mind of every diver every time. What a spectacular dive!

Friday
Dive Sites: Penny’s Rock
Our final day we had are beautiful morning and flat calm seas as we heaved anchor and headed to Penny’s Rock for our first dive. Diving was great with the different types of reef fishes all over the reef. We saw a white tip shark that was accompanied by a giant trevally, groupers, a school of unicorn fish with black surgeonfish, a banded sea snake, and many tomato anemone fish. Our final dive was just outside the main reef wall. This is a nice and easy dive with a beautiful coral garden filled with many hard corals. After the dive we heaved anchor and headed back to Suva. Adam and Moses began rinsing all the dive gear so it would be ready and dry before the next day. We had some big swell on the way back into dock, but our guests really enjoyed the ride. We finished the day with our Friday night cocktail party along with a BBQ on the back deck. Our guests spent their time talking and relaxing with a glass of wine and Fiji beer.

SUVA PORT- Saturday
A continental breakfast was prepared for our guests before disembarking the vessel.

The crew of the Island dancer II
Capt. Joji, C/E Clinton, Dive Master Moses, Chef Penny and Steward Adam, bids farewell to our guests and hope for their safe journey back home to there loved ones and hope we would meet again someday.

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report Oct 6 – 13, 2012

Air temp; 21/27C / 70 – 80F
Water temp; 27-28C / 80 – 82F
3mm wet suit; recommended

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew I would like to welcome our guests with a big bula vinaka… To Linda, Elizabeth, David, Laura, George, Paul, Javier, Rafael, Handspeter and Wild.

Saturday around noon most of our guests arrived onboard and the crew assisted each of them to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch. While the guests enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew intro and safety briefing. Guests Javier and Rafael arrived onboard a little later. We then departed the jetty and headed to Makogai Island where we got ready for our first day of diving.

Sunday - Makogai Island
Dive Sites: Clam Rock / Dominoes / Half Pipe / Christine’s.
Our first day of diving was beautiful and filled with bright sunshine, flat calm seas and good visibility as we did our check out dive at Clam Rock it was really nice and colorful with two giant clams on top of the pinnacle. Our second dive at Dominoes was good for both wide and macro photography as the top of the pinnacle is covered with thousands of anthias fish and there were unicorn fish everywhere! The site had small swim thrus and soft coral hanging on the sides of the wall filled with a multitude of small creatures. We saw hors-eyed jacks, emperor fish, banner fish, pipe fish, Chromodoris kuniei, and many anemone shrimp.

Monday - Namena Island
Dive Sites: North Save a Tack (2) / South Save a Tack / Chimneys
We woke to another beautiful day of diving with flat seas and a very slight current. Anthias fish and tons of fusilier fish were on top of the pinnacles making the site absolutely beautiful. We slowly descended to the bottom where we saw different types of soft coral and black spotted sweetlips. Additionally the hump head banner fish were amazing as they were everywhere, along with red coral trout, unicorn fish, surgeonfish, lion fish, scorpion fish, stone fish, and on the bottom were different types of garden eels. It is so nice to watch them during incoming currents as they poke their heads and bodies up from the sandy bottom.

Tuesday – Namena Island
Dive Sites: North Wall / Schoolhouse / Black Forest / Chimneys
Weather was beautiful and the sea remains nice and calm with a gentle sea breeze of 5-10knts. For our first dive we swam along the edge of the wall. The fantastic thing about this dive was as we swam on the shallow side of the wall and looked to the deep we sighted grey reef sharks cruising along with white tip sharks that were surrounded by a school of barracudas and jacks. Schoolhouse was next and continued another spectacular day of diving. We saw five yellow fin tuna hunting close to the wall. School of jacks and triggerfish and another group of three giant grouper hunting!! Our divers really like these dives as they spotted some interesting creatures in the shallow areas: octopus, crabs, scorpion fish, and decorated crabs were some of the things they mentioned.

Wednesday - Bligh Water
Dive Sites: Mellow Yellow/ Moses Reef / Hi8 / E6
Diving some of these sites shows off the best Fiji has to offer and of course the guests enjoyed every bit of the diving. Soft corals and large sea fans with black coral and different types of reef fishers made the diving spectacular. We saw a school of skipjack tuna along with a school of jacks, a school of parrotfish, and millions of anthias fish. At Moses Reef David was surrounded by a school of bonito tuna and I was able to take a picture of him right in the middle! We also saw a nice sized school of barracudas and the jacks are everywhere…. wow! Hi 8 and E6 are both known for their beautiful soft corals and black corals and today showed them at their best filled with lots of critters and reef fishes.

Thursday - Gau
Dive Sites: Nigali Passage / Jim’s Alley / Anthias
Our drift dive at Nigali Passage is always top-class as our guests got to see grey reef sharks and a school of barracudas. We also saw vampire fish, nudibranchs, triggerfish, and giant grouper… what a beautiful dive!! At Anthias we spotted many critters and much more marine life. We then started the main engine and headed to Somosomo Village for a village visit where our guests were entertained by the village people with the traditional Fijian war dance (meke) and tasting the Fijian traditional drink (kava) which they really enjoyed….

Friday - Gau
Dive Sites: Altheas / Nigali Passage
Our last day we did two dives, concluding with a shark feeding at Nigali Passage. Drifting towards the feeding arena is always fantastic, as you will always meet schools of fish feeding against the current such as jacks, barracudas, midnight snapper, Spanish mackerel and tuna. “Leroy”, Atama’s grouper partner was here again front and center for his spot in the feeding.

Saturday – Suva Port
A continental breakfast was prepared for our guests before disembarking at 0800.
Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you in the future.

Your crew of the Island Dancer II:
Capt. Joji, C/E – Clinton, D/M – Moses, Cook – Peni, Steward – Adam

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Air temp; 21/27C / 70 – 80F
Water temp; 27-28C / 80 – 82F
3mm wet suit; recommended

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew I would like to welcome our entire group of Russian guests as they arrived onboard at 1200midday. Crew assisted each guest to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch. While everyone enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew intro and safety briefing. We then departed the jetty and headed to Makogai Island where we commenced our first day of diving.

Day 2 – Sunday - Makogai Island
Dive Sites: Wakaya
We did our check out dive at Christine’s. Perfect way to start diving as our fellow friends from Russian wanted to prove that Fiji is the capital for soft coral - and is also the place where you can enjoyed watching the big fish like manta rays, hammerhead sharks, turtles, grey reef sharks, white tip sharks, horse eyed jacks, emperor fish and banner fish, pipefish, chromodoris kuniei, anemone shrimp, anthias fish, unicorn fish and much more. They came up after the first dive in awe, but during my afternoon briefing I told them that the best is YET to come!

Day 3 – Monday - Bligh Water
Dive Sites: E6, HI 8,Howards Diner, Alacrity Wall
Partly clouded with gentle breeze, 10/15 knots, diving flat seas and not much current. A school of anthias fish and tons of fusilier fish with unicorn fish mixed in between greeted us. It was amazingly beautiful on top of the pinnacles. We slowly descended to the bottom and the amount of reef fishers we saw continued to grow in numbers. The different types of soft corals were vibrantly colorful and black spotted sweetlips, along with diagonal sweetlips, bumphead wrasse, and banner fish seemed to be everywhere. We also saw red coral trout, surgeonfish, lionfish, scorpion fish, stone fish, and on the bottom were different types of garden eels that were so nice to watch during the incoming current.

Day 4 – Tuesday - Bligh Water
Dive Sites: Alacrity Wall, Coral Corner, Mellow Yellow, Joji’s Reef
Beautiful morning and our divers were eager to get into the water as they’ve heard the stories of Mellow Yellow, but we dove at Alacrity Wall first. Wide angle was the top choice for lenses as the wall was covered with some black coral, twice the size of dinner table!! Humongous!!!!! Next up was Mellow Yellow and our divers were all eager to jump into the water. During the dive we saw lots of fish with different types of soft coral - you name any color and it’s there. On the side of the reef were millions and millions of reef fishers and anthias and our Russian divers came to me and said that they never seen anything like that before!!!! Absolutely beautiful, so they requested if they could do that again which we did…Weather was beautiful and the sea is nice and calm with sea breeze of 5/10knts They all came up happy and said it was another spectacular day of diving. We saw 6 yellow fin tuna hunting close to the wall, school of jacks, triggerfish, and 3 giant grouper hunting!! Some of our divers even spotted some interesting creatures in the shallow areas: octopus, crabs, scorpion fish, and decorator crab.

DAY 5 – Wednesday - Namena Island
Dive Sites: North Wall, Chimneys, Black Forest, North Wall
Diving some of these sites are the best Fiji had to offer and of course the guests enjoyed every bit of the diving amongst the soft coral and large sea fans with black coral. Along with different types of reef fishers we also saw a school of skipjack tuna and a school of parrotfish. The North Wall was totally at its best with good visibility. We saw white tip sharks, grey reef sharks, schools of jack and reef fishers. Our divers really enjoyed spending a lot of time viewing a giant grouper being groomed by the cleaner shrimp.

DAY 6- Thursday – Gau
Dive Sites: Jim’s Alley, Nigali Passage, Nigali Passage, Village Visit
The day started with beautiful bright sunshine with flat seas. Swimming beside the boat was a baby hawksbill turtle. Our guests standing at the back deck with their cups of nice hot coffee also got to watch different types of reef fishers swimming on the surface. For our second dive we did a drift dive at Nigali Passage. This site is always first class and our guests got to see grey reef sharks, school of barracudas, vampire fish, nudibranchs, trigger fish, and giant grouper… what a beautiful dive!! We dropped in for another dive at Nigali Passage. Our guest really like these dive as the visibility was getting better and better before we reached the feeding arena. As we drifted along the passage we spotted many critters and a nice school of barracuda. We also spotted a school of jacks, triggerfish and lots of reef fishers and sharks. There is no doubt about our shark feeding as our divers said that it is one of the best of the best!!!! Afterwards we started the main engine and headed to Somosomo village for a village visits. The guest really enjoyed their time at the village where they were entertained by the village people with the traditional Fijian war dance (meke) and got to taste a Fijian traditional drink (kava).

Day 7 - Friday
Dive Sites: Anthias 1
Our last dives were at Anthias. We were blessed with another day of good visibility, flat calm seas, and little current. Here we saw different types of soft coral, many before you even reached the bottom. Once on the bottom our guests enjoyed watching many different types of gobys, shrimps and garden eels. Schools of anthias and fusilier fish feeding against the current, along with unicorn fish, school of jacks, school of barracudas were also seen. We saw Spanish mackerel, tuna with a hawksbill turtle. Our divers really enjoyed their time with our dive master Moses as he pointed different types of critters and reef fishers…amazing!

Day 8 – Saturday - Suva Port
0700am Continental breakfast was prepared for our guest before disembarking at 0800

Thank you, from all the crew of the Island Dancer II:
Capt. Joji, C/E – Clinton, D/M – Moses, Cook – Peni, Steward – Adam

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Air temp; 21/27C / 70 – 80F
Water temp; 26-28C / 79 – 82F
3mm wet suit; recommended

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew I would like to welcome our guests this week with a big bula vinaka… To Marina, Frank, Gaelle, Cheryl, Jody, Edward, Perry, Krikor and Kurt.

Saturday 1200hrs:midday – Our guests started to arrived onboard and the crew assisted each to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch. While they enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew introduction and safety briefing. We then departed the jetty and headed to Makogai Island where we would commence our first day of diving.

Day 2 – Sunday - Makogai Island & Wakaya
Dive sites: Clam Rock, Wakaya Island
We did our check out dive at Clam Rock and the weather was beautiful with an easterly wind around 10/15 knots. Clam Rock is home to two giant clams and today we had very little current. We saw some very interesting critters on this dive, including different types of nudibranch and other critters. Afterwards we started the main engine and headed to Wakaya Island. We did our 2^nd dive at Wakaya Passage. This site is commonly known for its cleaning station for big fish and it is also the home for the blue ribbon eel. What a wonderful dive, as we saw two blue ribbon eels right under the boat! We also saw lionfish, leaf scorpion fish and the soft coral was simply amazing. It was nice and easy dive, but as we slowly heading to the blue ridge I heard someone shouting and trying to get our attention and when I looked up it was Marina pointing into the deep!!! Huge manta heading towards us ...wow amazing…. Also we saw a blue-spotted tail ray, triggerfish, grey reef shark, white tip shark, scorpion fish, lobster, clown triggerfish, school of barracudas, flasher scorpion fish and different types of nudibranchs. After the 4^th dive we again started the main engine and headed to the blight water.

Day 3 – Monday – Vatu-i-ra
Dive sites: Mellow Yellow, Coral Corner, Howard’s Diner, Aquarium, Alacrity.
It was a beautiful day of diving with flat seas and not much current as we did our first dive at Mellow Yellow Our divers were really amazed with what they saw on this dive as the wall is covered with yellow soft coral everywhere and sea fans. The reef fish and tons of fusilier fish were amazing and the tops of the pinnacles were absolutely beautiful. We saw grey reef sharks, white tip sharks, butterfly fish, black-spotted sweetlips, scorpion fish, and long nose filefish. Mellow Yellow was rated by our guests as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world.

Day 4 – Tuesday –Vatu-i-ra
Dive sites: Moses Reef, E6, HI8, Human Nature.
During our dives today we spotted some interesting creatures in the shallow areas; crabs, scorpion fish, and decorated crab to mention a few. The divers were very enthusiastic about the diving at the Bligh Water and the beauty of the pristine hard coral garden is peppered with magnificent anemones and patches of the common dendronepphthya. Soft coral dominates the shallows reefs and its living sea critters and nudibranchs made our divers watch with amazement. When we got to the boat, they just kept talking of what a wonderful dive it was. We saw a school of jacks, school of barracudas, oriental sweetlips, fire dart fish, long nose filefish, scorpion fish, angle fish, hawk fish, school jacks and barracudas, and leaf scorpion fish. After the 4^th dive we headed to Namena Island.

Day 5 – Wednesday - Namena
Dive sites: Chimneys, North Save A Tack, North Wall, Adam’s Head.
Chimneys rises from 24m to within a few meters of the surface and is endowed with truly astonishing array of soft coral, sea fans, and sheltering coral trout with crinoids hanging on the sea fans, blue spotted stingray, spotted sweetlips, porcelain crab, long nose file fish and much more. We headed to North Save A Tack for the 2^nd and 3^rd dives. North Save A Tack is another world-class dive site suggested by Krikor, which the divers later agreed was true after we came back from the dive. The diving generally starts on the seaward side of the channel where the wall drops into blue water. We descended to the white sandy seafloor that gently slopes down to the top of the wall at 30m. School of barracudas, school of jacks, school of mallet fish, tons of fusilier fish, grey reef sharks, white tips sharks, trigger fish and huge groupers are among the residents at North Wall where we went for our 3^rd dive. Again we had a very good encounter with a wall of fusilier fish and school of banner fish, reef fishers and school of jacks along with school of unicorn fish, school of damselfish, millions of anthias fish, and even a colorful manta shrimp.

Day 6 – Thursday - Namena
Dive sites: Black Forest, North Wall, School House
Black Forest as it is called is a garden of black coral with some the size of a dinner table. When the current is running literally every inch is suffused with a flower like beauty. Here our guests got to see grey reef sharks and a school of barracudas, nudibranchs, triggerfish, and even a giant grouper. What a beautiful dive!! We did our 2^{nd dive} again at North Wall where our guests spotted nudibranchs and many reef fishers with different types of anthias fish. On top of the reef the red anemone and orange finned anemone are everywhere. The highlight of the dive was when we witnessed the grueling attacked by a hump head wrasse, which later killed a sea snake…. Ohhhboy. Our 3^rd dive today was at School House and the heart of this site is the northern part of the reef where the school of fusilier fish blanketed the facing sides of the reef. As we continued down the wall, which was full of colorful soft coral and gorgonian sea fans, we spotted a school of banner fish. On our way to the shallow for our safety stop a huge giant grouper greeted us - what a way to end the dive. But not yet as Moses also found a pygmy seahorse for our guests - “unbelievable”.”

Day 7 – Nigali Passage
Our last day we did one dive at Nigali Passage. Today we woke to another blessing day for diving and shark feeding. This is always a favorite dive and no doubt about that as our divers came up happy. They all mentioned that this is the best way to end the dive trip with school of jacks, school of barracudas, unicorn fish, midnight snapper, vampire snapper with lots of grey reef sharks, white tip and manta ray, trigger fish, flabalina nudibranch and much more.

Suva Port – Farewell
7:00 am: A final hot breakfast was prepared for our guest before they disembarking at 8:00 am.

Thank you very much for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you in the future.
Your crew: Capt. Joji, Chief Engineer – Clinton, Divemaster – Moses, Cook – Peni, Steward – Adam

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report Dec 29, 2012 – Jan 5, 2013
Air temp; 21/27C / 70 – 80Ft
Water temp; 27-28C / 80 – 82F
3mm wet suit; recommended

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew I would like to welcome our guest with a big bula vinaka… To Clark, Rebecca, Victoria and Takae from USA, Nobuko from Japan but resided in Fiji with Bettina, Fred from Germany and Mandy from Australia.
All arrived onboard little after 12:30pm the crew assisted each guest to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a nice hot lunch. While the guest enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew intro and safety briefing. We departed the jetty and headed to Wakaya Island where we commenced our first day of diving.

Day 2 – SUNDAY - Wakaya
Dive sites: Manta Rock, Manta Rock, Wakaya Wall, Blue Ridge, Clam Rock
We had a good start on the first day of diving even though it was a little windy and partly clouded. We had some very experience divers on this trip and all were eager to get into the water. During this dive we saw a school of unicorn fish and the fusilier fish seemed to be everywhere. It was so peaceful descending to the bottom and the many different types of fish that were feeding greeted us when we got there. As we slowly were swimming along the wall, a huge manta swam right towards us and circled around us twice. He left and then came back again and this time stayed a little longer demonstrating his feeding techniques. The closest to the Manta was Victoria and I was able to take a close video of her and the manta.

Our second dive was at Manta Rock again and this dive we put the reef on our right. As we reached the rubble area we again saw another Manta that came close to us. Our third dive was at Wakaya Passage where right under the boat is the home of a blue ribbon eel. As we reached the bottom we immediately spotted one. Adult male ribbon eels are bright and yellow and although ribbon eels are known to be shy, on this dive our guests spent more time with him, as he seemed to enjoy modeling for the photographers. We headed to Vatu I Ra after the night dive. The weather was beautiful with flat seas and lots of stars in the night sky.

Day 3 – MONDAY – Vatu - I - Ra
Dive Sites: Mellow Yellow, Coral Corner, Sere 1, Sere 2
This area still holds some of the best diving, despite the recent cyclone damage to the shallow hard coral gardens. There is still plenty of interesting marine life to observe. A beautiful day dawned with flat seas and not much current. Mellow Yellow was amazing with tons of fusilier fish and lots of reef fishes on top of the pinnacles. As we slowly descended to the bottom, we were in awe of the amount of reef fishes we saw and the different types of soft coral and black spotted sweetlips. Humphead banner fish were amazing, as they were everywhere, along with red coral trout, unicorn fish, surgeonfish, lionfish, scorpion fish, and stonefish. On the bottom we saw different types of garden eels that are so nice to watch during an incoming current. The side of the bommie was covered with yellow soft coral that looked spectacular.

At the dive site Sere 1 we saw large red bunches of sea whips, encrusting sponges and multicolored crinoids. Then on the deep side of the bommie we saw a school of barracudas. After the night dive, we heaved anchor and headed to Namena Island where we arrived at our anchorage 4 hours later.

Day 4 - TUESDAY – Namena Island
Dive Sites: North Wall, Schoolhouse, Black Forest, Chimneys
Today the weather was beautiful and the seas were nice and calm with a slight sea breeze of 5/10knts. Our first dive we swam along the edge of the wall. The fantastic thing about this dive was as we ventured on the shallow side of the wall and looked to the deep we were able to watch the grey reef sharks cruising by. We also saw white tip sharks that were surrounded by school of barracudas and jacks. In the sandy area we saw salt water mallet that were accompanied by a huge bottom dwelling grouper that was roaming the seafloor looking for food.

At Schoolhouse we had another spectacular diving. We saw five yellow fin tuna hunting close to the wall, along with a school of jacks and triggerfish and three giant grouper hunting!! Amongst a school of banner fish and a school of fusilier fish we also saw school of hammerhead sharks! I counted a total of 15 hammerheads cruising along the wall…WOW…what a dive!

Black Forest and Chimneys are awesome sites as there we saw anemones, flame hawkfish, freckled blennies, and swirling basslet.

Day 5 – WEDNESDAY – Namena / Makogai
Dive sites: Coral Heaven, Schoolhouse, Christine’s
Diving on these two sites is the best Fiji had to offer and of course our guests enjoyed every bit of this diving. Soft coral and large sea fan, with black coral and different types of reef fishes, along with a school of jacks, school of parrot fish, millions of anthias fish, and the different types of soft coral with their vibrant colors was amazing. After the second dive we headed to Makogai.

We did our third dive at Christine’s, which is nice with lots of critters and reef fishes. Afterwards the Island Dancer II heaved anchor and headed to Makogai Village for a village visit. We briefed our guest about the Fijian culture and costume for men and woman. The magnificent part was when we headed to the beach to be met by all the village elders and their children who were wearing identical Sulu. They greeted us with a Fijian welcome song. Next they entertained us with the Fijian Meke or ‘war dance’ and our guests had a chance to experience the taste of Fijian kava.

We headed back to the boat and our guests were really surprise to see that on the dinner table was traditional Fijian food: Chicken, Palusami, Fish and pork all cooked in lovo (underneath oven). Delicious!!!!

Day 6 – THURSDAY - Gau
Dive sites: Jim’s Alley, Nigali, Nigali, Peni’s Rock
Jim’s was really great. Lots of small critters were spotted on this dive, as our dive master Moses pointed out his findings to our guests. We also got to see grey reef sharks, a school of barracudas and vampire fish, nudibranchs and triggerfish. What a beautiful dive!!

Day 7 – Beqa Shark Passage
Our last day we did two dives at Beqa. It was another great day for our divers as they enjoyed every moment of it. Our shark dive had no current - and lots of sharks! Bull sharks, lemon sharks, grey reef sharks and nurse sharks with lots of reef fishes and jacks everywhere. On our way back to Suva our divemasters Adam and Moses started rinsing all the dive gear to make it ready before we arrived back in port.

Saturday – Suva Port
A continental breakfast was prepared for our guests before they disembarked at 8 am.

Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you in the future.

Your crew: Capt. Joji, C/E Clinton, D/M Moses, Cook Peni, and Steward Adam













---------- Post added February 7th, 2013 at 03:51 PM ----------

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report Jan 5 – 12, 2013
Air temp – 21/26C
Water temp – 80 / 82C
3mm wet suit

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew, I would like to welcome our guests with a big Bula Vinaka to Vladimir, Victor, Andrey, Nina, Sergey, Olga, Vladmir, Bulgako, Darasova, Oglezneii and Zakhayev.

12:00 midday – Our guests arrived onboard and the crew assisted each to their designated cabin before chef Ben served a nice hot lunch. While they enjoyed their lunch, we did our official crew introductions and safety briefing. We departed the jetty and headed to Wakaya Island where we commenced our first day of diving.

Day 2 – Wakaya
Dive Sites: Manta Rock, Wakaya Wall,
Our first day of diving was beautiful with bright sunshine, flat, calm seas and good visibility. Manta Rock was our first dive site and it is a cleaning station for big fish. During this dive we also saw lots of nudibranchs and flatworms and along the pristine slope was a lot of healthy hard coral growth. We saw an amazing school of brilliant bassets that swirled in the shallows above the bommie, and at 12m we saw a large carpet anemone, lionfish, butterfly fish, yellow fin goatfish and a lone trumpet fish that blended in amongst the sea fans. All the dive sites at Wakaya are always great for both wide and macro photography. Wakaya Wall is the home of a resident blue ribbon eel and today most of our divers had their first encounter with one, and they were all very excited.

Day 3 – Namena Island
Dive sites: Chimneys, Black Forest, North Save a Tack, Kansas, Night Dive
It was another beautiful day of diving flat seas and not much current. The current has to be just right for the soft coral to open up and attract the different types of anthias fish that swim on top of the pinnacles. As we slowly descended to the bottom the amount of reef fishers we saw, and the different type of soft coral was phenomenal. We spied a black spotted sweetlips with cleaner wrasses around his mouth. Waiting his turn to be cleaned was a red coral trout. Black Forest, our next site, is the home of black coral and also the home of a scarlet cleaner shrimp, freckled blennies and swirling bassets that seem to be everywhere.

Day 4 – Namena Island
Dive sites: South Save a Tack, North Wall, Namena Point
The weather continued to be beautiful and the sea remained nice and calm with a gentle sea breeze of 10/15knts. Our first dive we swam through one large swim thru where the wall was totally full of green soft coral. We swam by gig sea fans and black coral, along with a school of jacks, lionfish, unicorn fish, black surgeonfish and beautiful soft coral was everywhere. Our divers were impressed!

Next site was North Wall. This is another spectacular dive sites and it is one of our favorites on these trips as we encounter schools of jacks, school of Spanish mackerel that are usually hunting close to the wall and schools of barracuda. Today we also spotted one giant grouper lying on the sand and waiting for his next meal to pass by and hoping to get lucky. Namena Point was out last dive site today. It is a shallow dive with virtually no current. Many of our divers really like these calm dives as they have the chance to spot some interesting creatures in the shallow areas such as octopus, crab, scorpion fish and even decorator crabs.

Day 5 – Namena and Makogai Island
Dive sites: Schoolhouse, Christine’s
Our first dive was at Schoolhouse and one of the spectacular aspect about diving here is the coral formations in shallow area that are swirling with thousands of orange, pink and red basslet. They were everywhere. We also found a school of masked banner fish, schooling parrotfish, long finned banner fish, an emperor angelfish, and much more.

Day 6 – Gau
Dive sites: Nigali Pass, Jim’s, Anthias
Nigali Pass is one of the best sites and when we slowly descending we were greeted by four grey reef sharks and numerous barracudas. When we reached the bottom we were surrounded by another group of grey reef sharks that circled us a couple of times. Resident giant grouper ‘Leroy’ was also on hand to welcome our divers along with his Island Dancer II crew partner, Ataman. ‘Leroy’ led us right to the feeding area and the divers were very exited about him as he often moved in very close. While approaching the feeding area some of the guest spotted an eagle ray, which swam right passed us. After the feeding D/M Adam took the left over food to feed his namesake and spotted 3 sea snakes in one small hole. As we slowly ascending to the shallows for our safety stop a group of jacks swam right at us.

Day 7
Dive site: Anthias 1
Our last day of diving we did one dive at Anthias. It was really an awesome dive with lots of Fijian rare polyclad flatworm and phyllidia nudibranchs. After the dive we heaved anchor and headed back towards Suva. D/M Moses and Adam started rinsing all the guests’ dive gear so it had a chance to dry before packing. Our final night we had a BBQ on the back deck with our guests enjoying a glass of wine and cold Fiji Bitter!!!

Saturday
After a hot breakfast was served our guest disembarking at 8 am.

Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you in the future.

Your crew: Captain Joji, C/E Clinton, D/M Moses, Chef Peni, Steward Joe

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report Jan 12 – 19, 2013

Air temp – 21/26C
Water temp – 80 / 82F
3mm wet suit

On behalf of the Island Dancer crew I would like to welcome our guests with a big bula vinaka… To all our Russian friends Vladmir S, Anna S, Anna P, Denis, Vladmir T, Oxana, Sergey, Olga, Andrey L, and Andrey N. Everyone arrived onboard and the crew assisted each guest to their designated cabin before chef Ben served a nice welcome lunch. While they enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew intro and safety briefing.

1500hrs – We departed the jetty and headed to Ovalau island and spent the night.

0500hrs: We started up the main engines and departed Ovalau Island for Wakaya to commence our first day of diving.

Day 2 – SUNDAY - Wakaya
Dive Sites: Manta Rock/ Manta Rock/ Wakaya Wall/ Blue Ridge
Our first day of diving was beautiful with bright sunshine, calm seas and good visibility as we jumped in. This site is always the best for both wide and macro lens as on top of the pinnacle thousands of anthias covering the reef and unicorn fish are everywhere. Black coral and soft coral hang on the sides of the wall, which the divers like very much. They seemed to prefer to stay almost in the same spot for most of the dive! We saw a Manta and different types of nudibranchs, clown triggerfish, dogtooth tuna and much more.

Day 3 – MONDAY - Namena Island
Dive Sites: Chimneys/ Black Forest/ North Save a Tack/ Kansas/ Night Dive - Shallow patch reef
We had another beautiful day of diving flat seas and not much current. Actually the current was just right for the soft coral to open up. We encountered different types of anthias fish on top of the pinnacles and as we slowly descended to the bottom, the amount of reef fish we saw and the different type of soft coral was phenomenal. A black spotted sweetlips was amazing to watch with cleaner wrasses around his mouth. There was a red coral trout nearby waiting for his turn to be cleaned up. Garden eels were spotted everywhere on the bottom, but the find of the day was when divemaster Mo found an ornate ghost pipefish!

Day 4 – TUESDAY – Namena Island
Dive Sites: Chimney’s/ Schoolhouse
At Chimney’s the weather was beautiful and the sea was nice and calm with a light sea breeze of 10/15knts. For our first dive we swam through one very large swim thru where the wall at the end was totally filled with green soft coral. We also saw big sea fans and even some black coral.
Schoolhouse was the next site and it was another spectacular dive. The divers saw schooling jacks and schooling barracuda. There even was one giant grouper cruising the sea floor. After the night dive we headed for Vatu I Ra to commence another day of diving

Day 5 - Bligh Water
Dive Sites: Sere 1/ Joji’s Reef
Today we dived these sites and the guests got to see the recent damage done by Cyclone Evan. Even so they really enjoyed the dives as they saw the condition and colors of the hard coral and wonderful fish life and they could imagine how it would have been like before the cyclone.

Day 6 – Gau Island
Dive Sites: Jim’s Alley/ Anthias/ Nigali Shark Alley
As always the best was kept for last and ’Leroy’ the grouper was on hand to take us to the feeding station. Grey reef sharks and vampire fish were constantly circling the divers as they kept their eyes on the prize (fish heads). The divers got to see schooling barracudas and jacks, along with the many groupers and snappers that were sheltered in the rocks. The feeding was frenzied as we saw the sharks gashing with their teeth wide open and it seemed like ‘right in your face’. During all the action Clinton was trying to get his camera to work, but due to all the excitement and adrenaline rush he actually pressed the wrong controls.

After the dives some of the guest got to tour Somosomo Village and learn about Fijian culture and tradition. In the evening we were treated to a lovely Fijian feast with roast chicken, succulent pork, fish and salad.

Day 7 –
Dive Site: Anthias
The last dive as always had lots of reef life with small juvenile fish, parrotfish, sweet lips and even a hawksbill turtle. After the dive we departed for Suva, but along the way we ventured to an isolated beach where everyone got to wind down from the all the diving and wonderful food.

SUVA PORT
Saturday 18^th
A hot breakfast was served at 7 am before our guests disembarked the yacht at 8 am.

Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II and we look forward to diving with you in the future.

Your crew: Adam, Moses, Peni, Clinton, Joji and Atama

 

[Dancer Fleet]

Island Dancer II Captain’s Report April 20 – 27, 2013
“Dive With The Owners Week”

Air temp: 21-26C (70-79F)
Water temp: 27-28C (82-83F)
Recommended 3mm wet suit

On behalf of the Island Dancer II crew I would like to welcome our special guest, Aggressor & Dancer Fleet President Wayne Hasson with a BIG ‘Bula Vinaka’.

As soon as all the guests got onboard the crew assisted each to their designated cabin before chef Ben served them a light lunch. While the guests enjoyed their lunch we did our official crew introductions and safety briefing. Wayne also shared some of his experiences with the guests about his underwater camera techniques and it is a great pleasure to be with him on this trip.

Sunday - Makogai
Dive Sites: Clam Rock, Christine’s, Dominoes, Half Pipe
Our first day of diving was beautiful with bright sunshine and calm seas. Macro life covered the top of the reef and unicorn fish seemed to be everywhere. Both black coral and soft coral was hanging on the sides of the wall making for a quite beautiful setting. We saw a manta and different types of nudibranchs, clown triggerfish, dogtooth tuna and so much more.

Monday – Vatu I Ra
Dive Sites: Mellow Yellow, Howard’s Diner, Sere 1
We had another beautiful day of diving continuing with flat seas. The gentle current was just right for the soft corals to open up. We encountered different types of anthias on top of the pinnacles and the amazing amount of tropical reef fish we saw and the different types of soft coral was phenomenal. Our guests were definitely enjoying themselves today.

Tuesday – Vatu I Ra
Dive Sites: Moses Reef, Hi-8, -6
Our weather remained beautiful and we continued to be blessed with calm seas, but with some current. Moses Reef is a reef well known for his beauty and various types of soft coral, especially the yellow soft coral that grows here almost to the size of a dinner table. We saw many nudibranchs, unicorn fish, oriental sweetlips, schools of jacks, barracudas and much more. Hi-8 and E-6 are two of the most famous sites for this area and are still at their best. Some of our guests would have liked to spend their entire day diving on just these two reefs. In addition to the outstanding soft coral formations we saw bumphead parrotfish, yellowtail wrasse, clown blennies and clown anemone fish.

Wednesday – Namena Island
Today we dived the sites around this area and our guest got to see some of the damage done by Cyclone Evan. The remaining still-spectacular condition of the hard corals and abundant fish life let them imagine how magnificent these sites might have been before the recent damage. Today’s dives were still wonderful and enjoyed by all.

Thursday – Gau Nagali
As always, the best was kept for last…’Leroy’ the friendly resident grouper was on hand to guide us to the marine feeding station. Once we got there the grey reef sharks and vampire fish were constantly circling the divers, even as they kept their eyes on the prize of fish heads. Additionally the divers got to see schooling barracudas and jack, as well as many groupers and snappers that were sheltered in the rocks. The feeding at times (though controlled) was at a frenzy, as we saw the sharks with jaws wide open and gashing teeth going for the bait. During all the action our crewmember Clinton was trying to get his camera to work, but due to all the excitement and adrenaline rush he actually pressed the wrong controls L

After our dives today guests got to tour the local Somosomo Village and learn about Fijian culture and tradition. In the evening everyone was treated to a lovely Fijian feast traditionally prepared with roast chicken, succulent pork, fish and salad.

Friday
Our dive site today was Jim’s Alley. The dive always has lots of marine life like small juvenile fish, parrotfish, sweetlips and a hawksbill turtle. After the dive we departed for Suva and our guests had a chance to clean their gear and pack.

Saturday – Suva Port
A hot breakfast was served before the guest disembarked at 8am.

Thank you to everyone for joining us on board the Island Dancer II. We look forward to diving with you in the future.

Your crew: Captain Joji, Divemaster Mosese, Chef Peni, Steward Adam, and Chief Engineer Clinton