Giant Hermit Crab - Cozumel

After two wonderful morning dives on a small fast boat we had decided to take the afternoon cattle boat, something we are usually loathe to do, but this being our last dive day we hated to waste the opportunity for one more dive on Villa Blanca Wall in Cozumel.

Bearded Fireworm

End of the diving week and you enter that time of purgatory; the preflight surface interval.  You cannot dive before your flight and you have every intention of doing one of those interesting things you saw in a  brochure, like hiking remote trails, birdwatching, fishing, museums, you know all that tourist stuff.   So you grab your snorkel gear, head back to the beach and jump in.  Why dry out before you have to?

Mantas of Yap Part 3 - Final Encounters

For two more days we dived the same spot with each successive dive better than the last. It was as if the Mantas were coming to observe us and had asked all their friends to join them. On one dive I counted eleven Mantas and Gordon said he counted twenty-two.

Mantas of Yap Part 2 of 3 - First Encounters

After a 60 minute surface interval and constant reassurance from Gordon that we would see Mantas we did a back roll into our second dive.

Repeating the same procedure we had on our first dive we lay on the bottom staring into the dark water ahead. Waiting what seemed like an eternity I was certain that we would have a repeat of our failed first dive. Suddenly I saw Gordon move to our line of sight and point up toward the coral mounds. Our eyes strained to see what Gordon was pointing at and then a black mass began to slowly and gracefully appear.

Mantas of Yap Part 1 of 3 - First Dive

Gordon pointed to a spot and raised both palms and patted the water in a downward motion. This was my signal that this was my spot and that I was to lie down on the bottom. Lying prone at 76 feet in the middle of Miil Channel at Manta Ridge I felt more like a hunter waiting for prey to amble into our lethal trap than a scuba diver.

Looking to my right Mary was intently willing her eyes to see beyond what was humanly possible. Looking behind me Gordon was hovering with his fin tips barely touching the sand. Giving me the okay sign he pointed two fingers to his eyes and then swept a pointed finger in the direction of the current.

Twilight in the Islands

Twilight is a most enchanting time in the islands; the briefest of moments between the last breath of light and birth pains of darkness. A magical moment where primal urge drives one to waters edge, eyes, and hearts intensely fixated on the yellow orb, as if the mystery has yet to be solved. Reverent silence ensues as shadows flirt with fading light; a final flash signals defeat as the smoldering flame majestically merges with the sea. Darkness is born and night embraces the island.

Web Burrfish - Bizarre But Cool

On top of a sandy ledge near Saba we found this Web Burrfish willing to pose for us.  To describe this fish you would have to use the word bizarre. The piercing iridescent eyes, bright yellow spines with reticulated pattern on it's back and sides make this boxy fish one of my favorite bizarre fish.  And I think you would agree, he is a really cool looking fish!

Students Learn About the Ocean Floor

Through Donorschoose.org Mary and I have had the pleasure to support many projects in our public schools that help to educate children about the oceans of the world.  In partnership with other Ocean bloggers and the Oceans in the Classroom Initiative we have fully funded science projects from ocean floor spreading in Arkansas to invertebrate aquariums in Texas and breaking science news in Michigan.  Kids are learning science of the ocean and we love receiving letters and photos from the children.  Below is an update from Mrs. D's 6th grade class in Arkansas and photos of the children working with their sea floor spreading toolkit.

Dream Maker Octopus

Sama pointed to a cluster of rock at about 60 feet and when I circled around to where he was pointing all I saw was a swarm of wrasses. Looking over at Sama I hunched my shoulders and he pointed again at the spot directly in front of me. That is when I saw it, the outline of the octopus pressed against the rock.

Mary and I were diving from Wananavu, Fiji, at a site called Dream Maker at Thakau Vatu Latha or Sail Rock Reef. Comprised of five large coral heads, with caves and swim-throughs, the site is filled with soft corals called dendronepthia (carnation coral) in bright colors of yellow, purple and pink. On the edges of the site schools of snapper and sharks can be seen swimming against the current.

Peleliu Corner - Adrenaline Rush of Reef Hook Diving

Peleliu Corner is where Peleliu Expressway and Peleliu Cut merge and the ocean currents converge into the most extreme ripping current you will encounter as a diver. There is a reason they call part of this dive Expressway and that is because if you cannot hook in you are most definitely taking an expressway out to open ocean. U.S. Coast Guard approved transponders and safety sausage were required on this dive for good reason.

We had descended along Peleliu Wall down to about 104 feet. Our plan was to follow the wall for part of the dive slowly ascending to the top of the reef. Once we were given the signal by the dive guide we were to pop over the top of the wall as a group and hook in. When it was time to end the dive the dive guide would give us another signal and then, as a group, we would unhook and sail down the plateau out to open ocean where our boat would be waiting.

Upsidedown Jelly

Did you hear the story about the winner of a competition for what was billed the "best job in the world". Ben Southall was stung by a deadly jellyfish, called an irukandji, while getting off a jetski at Hamilton Island in Whitsundays. The bloke beat out 34,000 other people to get this dream job and almost dies from the sting of a jellyfish no bigger than your fingernail. As they say in Australia, no worries, he made out okay and I am sure he is getting his share of shouts at the pub these days.

When you think about jellyfish I bet you picture in your mind a deadly killing machine such as the lethal box jellyfish, Portuguese Man-of-War or the feared irukandji, but you probably never think about the benign upsidedown jellyfish as pictured in the black and white photo above.

Down Draft at Villa Blanca Wall

Villa Blanca Wall is a sloping wall just offshore Cozumel with a ripping current. Before Hurricane Wilma, in 2005, it was peppered with huge sponges and gorgonians. Wilma pretty much wiped these out and covered everything with white sand. This is still a great dive and the changes to the reef don’t seem to have reduced the number of fish and critters, quite the opposite, for some reason there seem to be more.

Mary and I have been diving Cozumel for years and have both fond and frightful memories of Villa Blanca Wall. My most memorable dive there was with a young dive guide that, for some idiotic reason, decided to go against the current. Mind you Cozumel diving is pretty much all drift diving and to go against any strong current, much less one at Villa Blanca Wall, is insane.

Bluespotted Cornetfish

Ascending to the top of the reef, at Alice in Wonderland, Curacao,  I noticed out of the corner of my mask blue spots.  Staying perfectly still were two bluespotted cornetfish just to my left.  I had heard about the bluespotted cornetfish schooling but had never seen more than one at a time so I approached them very slowly expecting them to bolt at any second.  To my amazement they both stayed long enough for me to get some video and a couple of shots.

What really strikes you about the bluespotted cornetfish is how oddly shaped they are.  With a long thin body, bright blue spots and blue stripes and a very long tail that looks like the business end of a foil they definitely are odd-shaped swimmers of the sea.

Star Puffer

Rounding a coral mound on a dive site called Golden Crown in Viti Levu Fiji we spotted a large fish just sitting on the bottom.  We approached it very slowly and got real close but it lay perfectly still, not moving anything not even its eyes.  I was thinking it must be dead or hurt but as I moved closer I noticed the eyes swivel slowly as it followed Mary's movement.  I could not identify the fish so took a series of shots and forgot about the encounter until we got home. 

We discovered later that it was a Star Puffer and it likes to rest on the bottom all day and eat at night.

Waitatavi Bay, Fiji - Surface Interval at the End of the World

Across the Somosomo Straits from Taveuni is the remote beach of FijiFiji at Waitatavi Bay on the island of Vanua Levu. If you dive the famous and spectacular Rainbow Reef you will most likely make a surface interval at this remote paradise. A crescent shaped white sand beach surrounded by palm trees, you could not imagine a more beautiful place to off gas after diving Purple Wall or The Zoo.

Close your eyes and you hear the gentle whisper of waves on the soft sand, the far away melody of tropical birds and gentle rustle of palm fronds. Open your eyes and the sparkling clear water reveals the shallow pristine coral that jumps out at you in a rainbow of colors like jewels under glass. Look over the Straits back toward Taveuni and you see the beautiful mountains of the Garden Island with fluffy cotton white clouds adorning the peaks. Wade in the warm water and clouds of brave little bream dance around you gently pecking at your legs. Take a walk on the sandy white beach and you feel like you have truly arrived at the end of the world.

Now That's Amore! - Octopus Style

Debris of shells and coral at the opening of an old tank was our first clue that an octopus lair was inside.  No telling how many divers had finned right over the tank without spotting the octopus.  Talk about hiding in plain site, she could not have chosen a busier place to set up her nursery, right next to the pier steps where dozens of divers entered and existed each day.  Yet none of the other divers mentioned having seen her and we kept her secret to ourselves.  On each shore dive we would stop to say hello on our way out and upon our return we would peek in to say goodbye.  Of course the octopus could have cared less but it was a fun ritual anyway.

Gibbs Cay with Tim Dunn

Tim had the throttle of the Carolina Skiff wide open as we skipped over the surf weaving in and out of clear turquoise water. As we rounded the south end of the island and hit the eastern trade winds the ride became rougher and we were showered with sea spray. Turning north Tim throttled back and we saw our destination, the uninhabited island of Gibbs Cay.

At the southern most tip of the Bahamas and north of Hispaniola lies the Turks and Caicos Islands. We had spent a week diving with Oasis Divers on Grand Turk and Tim Dunn was our divemaster for most of that week. Tim’s family has been on the island for over 300 years and at one time owned Salt Cay’s Harriott Salt Company that provided about half the salt used in North America. Tim’s family still owns the great white stone house called the “White House” on Salt Cay and Mary and I were thrilled to be given a personal tour of the great house by Tim, but that is a story for another time.

Lovo Feast - Taveuni, Fiji

People often ask me where my favorite dive spot is. It is very difficult to answer that question because each location offers something different or unique. So I cannot honestly say I have a single favorite dive spot but I can say I have a single favorite dive resort and that is Paradise Resort on the Garden Island of Taveuni, Fiji. Owned by Allan and Terri Gortan it is an absolute delight for those of us who are travellers and seek the adventure of remote locations. This is our story of the Lovo Feast at Paradise Resort. While each village and resort has a lovo Feast what made this such a memorable experience, for Mary and me, was the personal attention and openness of the the staff at Paradise. Such joy is rarely found but is in abundance at Paradise Resort.

Cleaning Station

The cleaning station is where fish go to get parasites picked off their body by juvenile fish, small wrasses, gobies or shrimp.  You may see a fish with its head up, fins out and mouth open, this is one typical position to signify that it is ready to be cleaned.  Many times you will see a moray eel or a large grouper sitting motionless, with its mouth open, while a shrimp or cleaner fish cleans the inside of its mouth.  A gentle shake of the grouper or eels head signifies to the cleaner that the cleaning is done and they both part ways, each having gained from the bargain.  One got a free bath and the other a free meal.

Christmas Reef Wreath - Merry Christmas!

Littering the ocean floor around the island of Statia in the Caribbean are numerous anchors some of them dating back hundreds of years.  Many were caught on coral and had to be cut away so the ship could sail.  Some were cut away to free the ship from approaching storms or enemy ships.  Over time these anchors have become encrusted with generations of coral and sponge.