Martha
Contributor
tiggrr, your reports are fantastic! I'm really enjoying each and every update.
Tiggrr and Zaphod go to Bonaire 3/7 - 3/15
- Thread starter tiggrr
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thanks for giving me some vicarious diving.... awsome job Tiggrr and Phil...makes us feel like we are there... can't wait for the pics!
thanksforallthefish
Contributor
keep them coming tig ... oh and does zaphod have "the sunnies"?????
OP
tiggrr
Contributor
I wish I could say we'll have pics but, there are technical issues to work out so, we'll see. Its really odd diving without the camera but, I kinda like it actually. Who am I kidding? I love it no matter what I'm doing!! 
So, we overslept this morning and got to Capt'n Dons around 8am for our first dive. Froze my butt off in my 3mm and bunny beanie. I don't know the names of some of the things we saw but, they are easy to describe. And I don't have my ID book nor do I want to take the time right now to look them up. Let's give a big hooray for Phil!! He is finding and identifying so much after taking the dive with the Naturalist class. Really proud of him. He paid more attention than I did and is even teaching me some. He found a stone crab and a scorpian fish. I spent a lot of time just enjoying the scenery of the thousands of fish getting their day started.
However, my BIG find was a doozy!! Really made my day!! I found it at the top of the wreck between Capt'n Dons and Buddys. It was a juvie of the black fish with the yellow tail and electric blue spots on it. Just a baby skittering around with electric polka dots all over his body.
I've only seen that 1 other time in Grand Cayman. I managed to get a few pics but, we'll see how they turned out.
Next we headed down to Invisibles. A lot of things were going on so, I'm gonna talk about the buddy aspect of diving for a minute. Its the middle of the week and we're working out some kinks. Just some logistics on who should be where and communication. I have to give Phil some huge props. He is a great buddy. Haha and he has trusted me to navigate!! Insane? He could be! He's a Geordie after all.
This was a really fun dive!! Its set up different than the rest of the reefs. There are a bunch of large islands of reef and a 2nd reef further out. It can get really confusing after doing all of the other standard type reefs. No only with direction but, depth as well. I am extremely proud to say that I took us right back to the buoy. Was soo happy about it, I did a happy dance for a bit to the tune "Car Wash" since I had it playing in my head.
That dive Phil saw stacks of trumpet fish and needs the book to identify the rest. The interesting finds for me were 2 different morays and that white spotted snake type eel thingy. The morays were interesting to me because of their colors. The first was white with black spots but, there weren't a lot of spots so he looked kind of albino. The second was completely black. Also found a small anenome with a smaller corkscrew anenome next to it. They had a rather large cleaner shrimp (the brown and white striped body) in it. I tried again to see if it would clean my fingernails. Got the advice on putting hand in sand to brace it and then hold fingers in anenome. He wasn't buying it. I think the shrimp don't like my bunny ears.
Anyhoo, we are off in a bit to Witch's Hut and then, we're doing Salt Pier with one of the dive shops. Will try to come back tonite with an update.
And one more thing....I fell on my left thigh coming out of the Invisibles. For the first time I'm really happy at that 20lbs I gained from quitting smoking this winter. Literally felt like I bounced back up.
So, we overslept this morning and got to Capt'n Dons around 8am for our first dive. Froze my butt off in my 3mm and bunny beanie. I don't know the names of some of the things we saw but, they are easy to describe. And I don't have my ID book nor do I want to take the time right now to look them up. Let's give a big hooray for Phil!! He is finding and identifying so much after taking the dive with the Naturalist class. Really proud of him. He paid more attention than I did and is even teaching me some. He found a stone crab and a scorpian fish. I spent a lot of time just enjoying the scenery of the thousands of fish getting their day started.
However, my BIG find was a doozy!! Really made my day!! I found it at the top of the wreck between Capt'n Dons and Buddys. It was a juvie of the black fish with the yellow tail and electric blue spots on it. Just a baby skittering around with electric polka dots all over his body.
I've only seen that 1 other time in Grand Cayman. I managed to get a few pics but, we'll see how they turned out.
Next we headed down to Invisibles. A lot of things were going on so, I'm gonna talk about the buddy aspect of diving for a minute. Its the middle of the week and we're working out some kinks. Just some logistics on who should be where and communication. I have to give Phil some huge props. He is a great buddy. Haha and he has trusted me to navigate!! Insane? He could be! He's a Geordie after all.
This was a really fun dive!! Its set up different than the rest of the reefs. There are a bunch of large islands of reef and a 2nd reef further out. It can get really confusing after doing all of the other standard type reefs. No only with direction but, depth as well. I am extremely proud to say that I took us right back to the buoy. Was soo happy about it, I did a happy dance for a bit to the tune "Car Wash" since I had it playing in my head.
That dive Phil saw stacks of trumpet fish and needs the book to identify the rest. The interesting finds for me were 2 different morays and that white spotted snake type eel thingy. The morays were interesting to me because of their colors. The first was white with black spots but, there weren't a lot of spots so he looked kind of albino. The second was completely black. Also found a small anenome with a smaller corkscrew anenome next to it. They had a rather large cleaner shrimp (the brown and white striped body) in it. I tried again to see if it would clean my fingernails. Got the advice on putting hand in sand to brace it and then hold fingers in anenome. He wasn't buying it. I think the shrimp don't like my bunny ears.
Anyhoo, we are off in a bit to Witch's Hut and then, we're doing Salt Pier with one of the dive shops. Will try to come back tonite with an update.
And one more thing....I fell on my left thigh coming out of the Invisibles. For the first time I'm really happy at that 20lbs I gained from quitting smoking this winter. Literally felt like I bounced back up.
OP
tiggrr
Contributor
DiveMaven
Contributor
Wow, I hadn't heard that Salt Pier was back open for diving!! I can't wait to hear what you think of it. We did Town Pier as a day dive last year and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately Omar scrubbed the pilings clean, so the only ones left are the ones that were reattached by divers afterward (or so I've heard). Would love to have Salt Pier as an option for our trip, so your report is much appreciated.
Oh yeah, and be careful what type of shrimp you're putting your hand near. Snap Shrimp live in anemonies too and they can split your finger open if they hit you hard enough. Nasty little suckers!
Oh yeah, and be careful what type of shrimp you're putting your hand near. Snap Shrimp live in anemonies too and they can split your finger open if they hit you hard enough. Nasty little suckers!
OP
tiggrr
Contributor
Just got back from Witch's Hut and have a few to kill before our night dive at Salt Pier.
First off, I need to say, it is very weird to not see the larger green morays. In fact, any large morays. Can't shake the feeling that something is missing. There are quite a lot of the tiny spotted and golden tail though.
The surf looked insane and now that I have fallen 4x this week, I was dreading this one from the moment we checked it out. And another thing about that.....EVERY TIME I fall I think of Zendiver. Last time when we were all there, pretty much every time I bit it, he was standing there watching. All by himself in all his muscular glory, watching me flail and stumble all over the place. Ok, so, anyhoo.....there is no buoy for this one and yes!! I did it again!! I brought us back to our EXACT starting point. And we were all over the place. I think I deserve Casablanca tonite now.
So, the dive....Phil dropped a few pounds so, we stayed 40ft and above as a check out dive for him. Phil saw a spotted drum which is always amazing to find. I can't remember the name of what a sargent major turns into when it becomes all blue and is guarding eggs. We spent a little bit of time watching him race up to us all angry, ready to kick some butt. And a lot of time just watching the cleaning stations at work. The cool find of the dive was way up in a crevice of a very large formation of hard coral. It was a lobster the size of my hand, upside down, clinging to the ceiling. Very cool.
SWEEET!! Just got a heads up on a seahorse!! Will let you know how that goes!!!
First off, I need to say, it is very weird to not see the larger green morays. In fact, any large morays. Can't shake the feeling that something is missing. There are quite a lot of the tiny spotted and golden tail though.
The surf looked insane and now that I have fallen 4x this week, I was dreading this one from the moment we checked it out. And another thing about that.....EVERY TIME I fall I think of Zendiver. Last time when we were all there, pretty much every time I bit it, he was standing there watching. All by himself in all his muscular glory, watching me flail and stumble all over the place. Ok, so, anyhoo.....there is no buoy for this one and yes!! I did it again!! I brought us back to our EXACT starting point. And we were all over the place. I think I deserve Casablanca tonite now.
So, the dive....Phil dropped a few pounds so, we stayed 40ft and above as a check out dive for him. Phil saw a spotted drum which is always amazing to find. I can't remember the name of what a sargent major turns into when it becomes all blue and is guarding eggs. We spent a little bit of time watching him race up to us all angry, ready to kick some butt. And a lot of time just watching the cleaning stations at work. The cool find of the dive was way up in a crevice of a very large formation of hard coral. It was a lobster the size of my hand, upside down, clinging to the ceiling. Very cool.
SWEEET!! Just got a heads up on a seahorse!! Will let you know how that goes!!!
OP
tiggrr
Contributor
Its still better than Phil's so, I'm happy.
Honestly, I don't notice any difference. And by the numbers, I'm pretty much the same as I was before.
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