Wind Dancer Captain's Logs

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Wind Dancer Captain's Log - March 3-13, 2012
Our first week back since Dry Dock began Jan 3, 2012
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Water temp: 77-81 F, 25-27°C


This week our guests came from Germany, USA, Russia and France. Our 34 hour crossing was blessed with excellent weather and a flat sea.

The first dive was at Manuelita shallow then Manuelita deep and as usual, the first hammerheads came close to say hello. The night dive in Manuelita shallow was, as always, spectacular… hundreds of white tip sharks hunting everywhere!! Amazing! The second day we went to Punta Maria where we saw a huge Galapagos Shark swimming against the current. Dirty Rock was even better! Many marble and eagle rays, thousands of white tips, a small school of hammerheads and two big turtles! Something else? Sure! A great dinner was waiting for us aboard the Wind Dancer.
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Can you imagine a better way to start the day than many hammerhead sharks and no current to make the experience even better! We also saw a couple of black tip sharks hunting… unbelievable!
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Not a cloud in the sky on our fourth day in Coco’s and an excellent temperature. The water at Dos Amigos Grande and Dos Amigos Pequeña was 81F- 27°C. Pequena was spectacular….. more than 50 hammerheads in a school and very close!!! We also saw two big Manta Diablos, Devil Rays! In the afternoon we went to Manuelita deep again… and again hammerheads and one big Galapagos shark highlighted our dive. We spent the night in the calm of Chatam Bay.
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We went to Alcyone again and again saw a school of hammerheads and many white tip sharks. In the blue we saw 5 or 6 tunas swimming really fast!! On the evening the night dive was again spectacular and again the white tips sharks were there in Manuelita. Another delicious dinner on the Wind Dancer and time to go to sleep…


Sixth day in the beautiful island of Cocos… The first dive was at Alcyone, and probably one of the best dives of the week. Many hammerheads everywhere!!!!! Amazing!!! We went back to Alcyone for the second dive of the day and we found a really big school of hammerheads at 110 feet!!! Also were there many white tip sharks sleeping in the rocks. The night dive was in Manuelita, a colorful place full of different corals and abundant macro opportunities. For dinner what better than a great BBQ !!


Our last day in Cocos we went to Alcyone and Manuelita and the biggest surprise was waiting for us, a Tiger Shark!!! Yes! And very close to us!


See you next week in Cocos!!
Your Wind Dancer Crew
 
Wind Dancer Captain's Log March 31-April 10, 2012

[h=2]Wind Dancer Captain’s Log April 10, 2012

Water temperature 79-84F 26-29°C
Visibility 50-60 ft[/h]


Good day to everyone on behalf of Wind Dancer crew.
This week we had guests from Italy, Israel, Germany, Spain, France and United Kingdom.The crossing to the Island took us around 36 hours due to the weather but we still made it to the island on time to start with our check-out dive .


In Manuelita shallow, we had our first hammerheads, whitetips and a small school of goat fish. Next two dives were done at Manuelita outside where we also had hammerheads, eagle rays, and a couple of really huge galápagos sharks.
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The second day we went to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock, the first one was very nice with galapagos sharks on the cleaning station which stayed with us for the major part of the dive. The next day we visited Alcyone which was as exciting as usual.


On Thursday we tried Dos Amigos, which offered us a couple of great dives, with rays, sharks, dolphins and all types of different tropical fishes. The next day we went back to Alcyone as conditions where a little rough to get to the south side of the island.
Following day we where able to make it to Dos Amigos, both of the dives were great fun to dive and of course, with our always present hammerheads.
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The last day at the island our guests decided that they wanted to do Alcyone, early morning again.For the second dive one panga dove Dirty Rock and the other chose Dos Amigos. After lunch most of our friends visited Wafer Bay and hiked up to the waterfall. The remaining divers went to Dirty Rock and a dove with tons of hammerheads, eagle rays and a beautiful school of jackfish.


We would like to thank all of our guests for this wonderful dive week in paradise, and on behalf of the Wind Dancer crew, safe diving to all and we hope to see you aboard again very soon.

Captain Mauricio and Wind Dancer Crew
 
Wind Dancer Captain's Log April 14 - 24, 2012

[h=2]Wind Dancer Captain’s Log April 24, 2012 [/h]


Water temp: 83-86 F; 28- 30C Wetsuit: 3-5 mm


This week our guests came from Holland, France, Germany and the United States. Our crossing to the island took around 32 hours.
We started our dive week in Manuelita. Calm water, clear and warm, perfect. We saw our first white tips, marble rays, and one Galapagos shark at the end of the dive…. And it as only the check out dive!!!!!


Afterwards we went to Manuelita Deep . We dropped to about 100 feet where we saw five or six hammerheads letting the fish clean their bodies. We also saw many white tips and one big manta!


Today we dove in Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. The first dive was great, the Galapagos sharks were there at the cleaning station as always.
At Dirty Rock the water temp was about 85 degrees, and you did not have to look far for the sharks Just wait and look into the blue at the school of up to 50 swimming by the cleaning stations ranging in sizes from 3 to 15 feet> None of them with a care in the world that you are there, just doing their daily business, amazing.
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In our third day in paradise we went to Alcyone .. this dive site is in the blue, and in the blue everything happens……. We saw 6 eagle rays mating and many jack fish in big schools.


The third dive of the day was at Pajara and just 5 minutes after we jumped into the water we saw the tiger Shark!!! And it was very big!! At least 4 meters (13 feet)


No clouds in the sky on our fourth day in Cocos and excellent temperature. We went to Dos Amigos Grande and Dos Amigos Pequeña in the morning. At the small one the dive was spectacular….. more than 50 hammerheads in the school and very close!!! We also saw two big Diablo Mantas! Everyone was thrilled! In the afternoon we went to Manuelita deep again… and again hammerheads and one big Galapagos shark on the west side of the rock. We spent the night in Chatam Bay.
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On our last days in the island our divers pick where they want to dive, and they chose Dirty Rock and Manuelita. At Dirty Rock the dive was one of the best of this trip. Hundreds of hammerheads swimming close to us coming from the bottom…. Non stop activity, was great!!!!!!!! In Manuelita we saw more hammerheads and a big tiger Shark, probably more than 4 meters!!!!!!!!


Another spectacular week in Cocos island! Check back for more next week…, Safe dive!!!
Your Wind Dancer Crew
 
Wind Dancer Captain's Report April 28 - May 8, 2012

Wind Dancer Captain’s Report April 28 – May 8, 2012
Water temperature 26-29°C
Visibility 40-60 ft

Good day to everyone on behalf of the Wind Dancer crew from beautiful Costa Rica. This week we had guests from Singapore, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom. The crossing took us around 36 hours and we made it in perfect time to Cocos Island to start with our check-out dive in Manuelita Shallow.
Dropping in we encountered our very first hammerheads, along with white tip sharks and even a small school goat fish. Our next two dives were done at Manuelita Outside where we had more hammerheads, eagle rays and a couple of really huge Galapagos sharks.
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The second day we went to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. We had a very nice dive at Punta Maria where at one point we had up to five Galapago sharks on the cleaning station and they stayed with us for the major part of the dive.
On Thursday we ventured to Alcyone, which offered us a couple of great dives filled with rays, sharks, dolphins and all types of different tropical fishes. The following day we went back to Alcyone by popular demand, as conditions were starting to get a little rough to get to the south side of the island.

The seas improved the next day and we were able to make it to both Dirty Rock & Punta Maria, though there was not as much action on either of these dives; but still they were great dives. This is what happens when you get used to diving in Cocos. The dive where you only see 40 hammerheads becomes a dive with little action for us!
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Our final day in the island our guests decided that they wanted to do Alcyone very early morning so they could dive it twice - again for the second dive. Our last dive was at Manuelita, which is always one of the guests’ and crew’s favorite dives.
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We would like to thank all of our guests for this wonderful week in Cocos diving paradise with us.
On behalf of the Wind Dancer crew we wish safe diving to all our new friends and future guests and are looking forward having you onboard.

PURA VIDA
 
Wind Dancer Captain's Report June 9 - 19, 2012

HAMMERHEADS, TIGER SHARKS AND MANTAS!!!!!!!!
Wind Dancer Captain’s Report: 9-19 JUNE 2012
Water temp: 26|°C
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This week our guests were very international traveling from Germany, United States, Denmark, Spain, India, Argentina, Israel, Italy and El Salvador. After everyone boarded we began our crossing to the island that took around 34hours.
First day. We had our checkout dive at Manuelita Garden. The visibility was not in our favor, but we managed to see quite a bit anyway …. Eagle rays, two hammerheads sharks and many, many marble rays. The second and third dives were at Manuelita again, but this time in the deep side. Manuelita actually has four distinct sides and dives. This time we dove with three Galapagos Sharks and we saw in the blue our first hammerheads…. and it was just our first day in the island….!!!
Second day. This morning me moved the boat from Chatham Bay to Wafer Bay and from this sheltered area we ventured in the dinghies to Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. Both of these sites had some hammerhead action coming in groups of 10 to 15. At Punta Maria we dove with more than 7 Galapagos Sharks..and one Oceanic White tip, and very close to us. The third dive was en Pajara; the perfect place to do a relax dive… beautiful reef coral tables, many lobsters hiding…… and much more!!!!
Third day. Today we went to Alcyone; one of highlights of Cocos and it was an excellent dive. One school of hammerheads, octopus everywhere, marble rays, a spectacular school of jack fish and two big mantas on the surface, snappers, and tunas - everything was there!!!!!! Of course we dove there again for our next dives of the day!!
Fourth day. We dove at Dos Amigos Grande today. The arch was amazing because the visibility was spectacular and the divers with cameras especially had a great time! Many white tip sharks and one black tip shark, hammerheads and many many marble rays. Awesome!!!!!! In the afternoon we dove at Pajara and we saw one huge Tiger Shark!!!!!!!!!! And two times!!!!! It was the first encounter with a tiger shark for most of our divers.
Fifth day. We did three dives; one at Alcyone with lots of hammerheads and yellow fin tunas hunting around and a second dive at Dirty Rock. It was the perfect ending for the trip as we had schools of hammerheads coming close by, dolphins, at least a dozen silky sharks and a school of thousands of trevallies.
Sixth day. We dove at Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. Transparent water, no currents, perfect! We saw three Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria’s pinnacle and one manta in the shallows. In the afternoon we went to Manuelita and again our friends the tiger sharks were they’re waiting for us. This time 3 males!!!!!!!! And again very close….. spectacular!!!!!
Later, again at Manuelita Deep two big dolphins dove with us. They were so close you could touch them with your hand!!!!!!


Last day at the island we did three dives, one at Alcyone with lots of hammerheads and yellow fin tunas hunting around and Dirty Rock for the second dive. We had schools of hammerheads getting close by, dolphins, at least a dozen silky sharks and a school of thousands of trevallies. We went to Dirty Rock for our final dive and we saw more than 50 hammerheads swimming just 1 meter from us! It was the perfect ending for the trip.
Safe Diving to all of you!
Another incredible trip in Cocos Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Wind Dancer Captain’s Report June 23 – July 3, 2012
Water temperature 26-29°C.
Visibility 60-90 ft.

Good day to everyone on behalf of the Wind Dancer crew in beautiful Costa Rica. This week we had guests from the United States and Mexico. The crossing to Cocos Island took us around 35 hours on a perfect, flat sea.

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We made to the island to start with our check-out dive at “Manuelita Shallow”. We had the first few tiger sharks , white tips and a small school goat fish. Our next two dives were done at “Manuelita Outside”, where we had our first hammerheads and a couple of eagle rays.

Tuesday we went to “Punta Maria” and “Dirty Rock”. “Punta Maria” was very nice with Galapago sharks on the cleaning station and they stayed with us for the most part of the dive.

Wednesday we visited “Alcyone” and as usual it was a great great dive!

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On Thursday we dove “Dos Amigos”, which offered us a couple of great dives with rays, sharks and all types of different tropical fishes.

Friday we went back to “Alcyone” as the conditions were a little rough to get to the farther south side of the island.

Saturday we where able to make it to “Dos Amigos” and both of the dives we found some action.

The last day on the island our guests decided that they wanted to do “Alcyone” again in the early morning and we made our final dive at” Manuelita”.

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We would like to thank all of our guests for this wonderfull week of diving in paradise. On behalf of the Wind Dancer crew we wish safe diving to all of you and we hope to see you onboard soon.
 
Wind Dancer Captain’s Report 7 – 17 July 2012
Water temp: 26°C – 79oF

This week our guests came from Japan, England, Argentina, France and the United States. Our crossing to the island took around 34 hours.

First day - We had our check out dive at Manuelita Garden. Today it was really nice and colorful and we saw one red frogfish towards the end of the dive. We also saw the many whitetip sharks resting on the ground and had eagle rays passing by.

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Second day - Today we went to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock in the morning. At our first site of Punta Maria we saw four Galapagos sharks in the pinnacle swimming against the current and many white tips sharks - they were everywhere!!!!!!! At Dirty Rock the dive was even better! With many marble and eagle rays, thousands of white tips and a small school of hammerheads… and at the end of the dive we saw the biggest school of jack fish ever!!!!!!! Did we need anything else? Sure - a spectacular lunch was waiting for us in the ship!

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Third day - When you are going to Alcyone you always know anything and everything can happen there and it was true again! We saw schools of hammerheads and many marble rays. The hammerheads were there swimming around us and following our bubbles even into the blue…. The divers were impressed!

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Fourth day - We went to Dos Amigos Big and Dos Amigos Small. The first dive was like always -great, with the big arch full of life. We even had one manta Diablo. But the second dive, at Dos Amigos Small was spectacular!!! We dove with Galapagos sharks, eagle rays and snappers. There was marine life everywhere… Amazing!!!!!!!

Sixth day - Everyone wanted to go to Alcyone again so we did it and we saw many tunas hunting!!! And the sardines, of course, were swimming fast try to escape!!!! The ground was just full of white tips sharks resting…. Well they are really lazy – Ha, Ha.

Our final night at the island we had a BBQ on the top deck of the Wind Dancer, which was the perfect way to say goodbye to “the most beautiful island on earth” (Jacques Cousteau). Our guests had a nice time eating and laughing into the night with the sky full of stars….

Our last day at the island we did two dives, one at Alcyone and the other one at Dirty Rock. At Alcyone the water temperature was feeling pretty cold down there but it was a good opportunity to again see the white tips sharks hiding from the cold water!!!

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See you soon in the most beautiful island ever!
Safe diving!
 
Enjoying the trip reports. Looking forward to joining you on 15 sept. how much neoprene are people needing just now? 5mm?

cheers

john
 
Tiger Shark and Whale Sharks…. Almost everywhere!!!!!!!!!!
Wind Dancer Captain’s Log 18-28 August 2012
Water temp: 23-27|°C
Wetsuit: 5 mil

This week our guests came from Germany, Luxemburg, Rumania and France. Our crossing to the island took around 33hours.

What week in Cocos!!!!!! We saw everything!!!!!!!...... let me tell you…

We started our week in Coco Island with the check out dive. But the check out dive here might be better than the best dive in other places. We dove with white tips, marble rays and many different fish. Our second dive was also at Manuelita, but on the deep side. Here we found some hammerheads in the sand at around 100 feet, and eagle rays, marble rays, and white tip sharks, and ….. Tiger Shark!! And it was really big - almost 4 meters!!!!! (12 feet)

The third dive was again at Manuelita Deep and guess what…. Whale shark!!! It was a male, maybe 9 meters (20 feet) and it was swimming with us the entire dive!!!!! He was going and coming for more than 30 minutes, amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

Our second day we went to Punta Maria and it was simply incredible. We found a strong current there and that was good because the sharks love to swim against current. We saw more than four Galapagos sharks very close to the pinnacle!!! We were in the bottom, at 25 meters (90 feet) holding onto the rocks just looking around and they appeared - amazing!!!!!!! Then, we went to Dirty Rock, one of the best sites in the island. Here we found our first school of hammerheads, 40 more or less!!!!! What a day! That evening our guests enjoyed a delicious dinner aboard the beautiful Wind Dancer.

Our third day in paradise we went to Alcyone; one of the highlights of Cocos. We saw many marble rays and an enormous school of jack fish swimming very close to us!! We swam right through them, actually “inside” them, spectacular! After a while, another whale shark!!!!!! This one I think was 8 meters (25 ft)!

The water was pretty cold near the bottom because of a thermocline and that’s why the white tips were swimming in big groups far from the ground… they don’t like the cold water!!!!!

We also went to Dos Amigos Grande and Dos Amigos Pequeña one morning. Our dives were good with hammerhead sharks and many white tips!

We went to Alcyone again our fifth day in the island. The water was pretty warm that day, but we still saw a school of hammerheads and many white tip sharks. In the blue we saw 5 or 6 tunas that were swimming past us really fast.
Our sixth day at Cocos we went again to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. We found a strong current in Dirty Rock, and that is why we saw a huge school of jack fish… I don’t know, millions!!!!!! We also saw one manta and an impressive school of hammerheads!!!!!

The last day we went to Alcyone and Punta Maria. I think the marine life knew we are leaving today the island because… first we saw another Whale Shark in Alcyone, plus schools of hammerheads, plus marble rays, plus hundreds of white tips and much more. Then, on the way back to the boat in the dingy we jumped into the water and we swam with dolphins!!!!!!!!! Our final dive in Manuelita Deep we saw Galapagos sharks, hammerheads, eagle rays, white tips, marble rays and, just coming to say good bye… Two Tiger Sharks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See you next week, safe diving!!

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