marpacifica
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Just got done posting some photos from a recent trip to Palau (and other assorted favorite shots from various places over the past year):
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/17314
I dove with Fish 'n Fins the first day, hitting Ngedebus Wall where I saw a 5' long zebra shark (don't know why it's called that -- it's spotted), then a drift dive from Turtle Wall to New Drop Off. Lots of soft corals but very little current so no shark action. Went with Sam's Tours for a visit to Chandelier Cave, Pincher's (night dive) and German Channel. Saw tons of leaf scorpionfish but no mantas at German Channel, and 3 mandarin fish (sorry, no photos) outside of Chandelier Cave. Took some shots of the dive instructor, Jonas, as he had his teeth cleaned by some cleaner shrimp. Chandelier cave was so-so. Glad I did it but didn't find it too impressive. If I had known there were mandarin fish outside I would have just stayed out there the whole time. I was in Palau for business so that's all the dives I could squeeze in. Then headed off to Honolulu and got to go on a two tank dive before work ate up the rest of my week. Hey, if you can get work to "subsidize" your diving obsession, go for it. Dove with Oahu Divers to the Sea Tiger wreck and Kaiser Reef, both just a few minutes outside of the Waikiki Marina. 100+ vis. at the Sea Tiger, which sits in about 120 feet, so just a short dive there. Kaiser Reef was pretty beat up, but there were plenty of butterflyfish that followed you around looking for handhouts. One of them posed while doing a headstand.
Water temps in Palau were 79-81 degrees F, and 73 degrees F in Oahu (BRRRRRR -- I was freezing in my 1 mm).
It was the first real test for my new photo setup -- no leaks in the Aquatica housing but on the test dives a month ago I didn't check a port extension o-ring very well and sprung a small leak. User error, but luckily no camera inside at that time.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/17314
I dove with Fish 'n Fins the first day, hitting Ngedebus Wall where I saw a 5' long zebra shark (don't know why it's called that -- it's spotted), then a drift dive from Turtle Wall to New Drop Off. Lots of soft corals but very little current so no shark action. Went with Sam's Tours for a visit to Chandelier Cave, Pincher's (night dive) and German Channel. Saw tons of leaf scorpionfish but no mantas at German Channel, and 3 mandarin fish (sorry, no photos) outside of Chandelier Cave. Took some shots of the dive instructor, Jonas, as he had his teeth cleaned by some cleaner shrimp. Chandelier cave was so-so. Glad I did it but didn't find it too impressive. If I had known there were mandarin fish outside I would have just stayed out there the whole time. I was in Palau for business so that's all the dives I could squeeze in. Then headed off to Honolulu and got to go on a two tank dive before work ate up the rest of my week. Hey, if you can get work to "subsidize" your diving obsession, go for it. Dove with Oahu Divers to the Sea Tiger wreck and Kaiser Reef, both just a few minutes outside of the Waikiki Marina. 100+ vis. at the Sea Tiger, which sits in about 120 feet, so just a short dive there. Kaiser Reef was pretty beat up, but there were plenty of butterflyfish that followed you around looking for handhouts. One of them posed while doing a headstand.
Water temps in Palau were 79-81 degrees F, and 73 degrees F in Oahu (BRRRRRR -- I was freezing in my 1 mm).
It was the first real test for my new photo setup -- no leaks in the Aquatica housing but on the test dives a month ago I didn't check a port extension o-ring very well and sprung a small leak. User error, but luckily no camera inside at that time.
