svbeachhouse

Category: 2011 Blog

  • Bay of Islands – Mbvatu Harbor & \”Back to Matangi\”……

    Dear F&F, July 28th – August 4th….

    We upped anchor around 9 am for the 8 mile trip to Mbvatu Harbor just around the point to take the hike up to the top for the overview of the Bay of Islands.

    We had previously entered our lovely anchoring spot over a shallow reef at high tide. Well, yours truly didn\’t check the tide and when we attempted to leave by the same route we \”kissed\” the reef with the starboard dagger board. I was look out and it was my mistake. Anja was following directions at the helm. I came back to the helm and she lifted the daggerboard and we quickly drifted off. Disaster averted! Very small scrape on the bottom of the board, \”no harm, no foul\” as they say in basketball.

    We motored around to Mbvatu Harbor and picked up the mooring that was there. Just one. A very protected harbor, but difficult to anchor in as it\’s just deep right up to the sides. We went ashore for the hike over to the Bay of Islands and quickly found a lovely set of very nice wood stairs to get us to the top of the plateau. (See photo gallery).

    From there we wandered around a bit until we found a local who was so nice, he actually took us to the over look which was quite a bit out of his way. The views were spectacular, (see photo gallery). We spent an uneventful night at Mbvatu and decided the next day to take advantage of the lovely sailing conditions and head back toward Matangi Island. Despite the fact we could have gone to the southern Lau. It was losing appeal as the diving might be seriously compromised by the recency of Cyclone Thomas and the anchorages and charts didn\’t seem that appealing.

    We had a lovely sail for most of the day and arrived back at Matangi Island resort as it was getting dark. The winds had just quit and the anchoring spot we had before put us very close to two boats from the resort on moorings. We had to re-anchor twice during the night, once we got right next to one of the boats. The last time we anchored, was okay, but then the wind started to come up strong from the North. Our anchor was stuck good the next morning and Anja and I dove it out. Our primary lift bag tore, but we had plenty of small ones for the assist. As we wanted to stay on try the dive at Shark City, we moved to Qmena Island 4 miles to the West. Here we met s/v \”Equinimity\” with Roger and Sally aboard. We were in a lovely protected area, but then it started to RAIN!….

    The gals went snorkeling in the weather breaks and we also met Rick Van Veen, a conservation biologist. He was erradicating unwanted \”American Iguanas\” from the island. His normal job is protecting iguana\’s in Jamaica. He does this project for the Fijian Govt. and may come back next year. We met him the day before he was to leave Navivivi Village. He\’d become a bit of a local celebrity to the villagers and when we went to do our Sevusevu ceremony the next day, they had \”Chief Rick\” perform it. (See photo gallery). The villagers were lovely, we wished Rick a good trip (he has relatives in Chicago and was headed there!).

    We gave up on \”Shark City\” and decided we would head to Wayevu back on Taveuni for fuel and shopping tomorrow… Stay tuned.

    Scott with Anja and Sandrine

  • Bay of Islands…..Diving…..

    Dear F&F, July 28th – 30th

    We moved the boat back to the \”Bay of Islands\” where we had briefly traveled through on the way to Dalconi Village. It is a limestone group of small islets that is very similar (on a smaller scale) to the \”Rock Islands\” of Palau. I have vivid memories of the Rock Islands where on our honeymoon, Cindy and I swam in Jelly Fish lake. Unbeknownst to us at the time, there were also salt water crocodiles in Jelly Fish lake!

    The limestone islands are heavily eroded from the constant action of waves, current and tide. They look like large rock mushrooms. Navigation amongst them is very tricky.

    We found two ideal anchorages and tucked in for the expected heavy southeaster to arrive over the next few days. We had made arrangements with Sam & Shaz of s/v \”Yanti Parazi\”. ASIDE: The boat name sounds Italian doesn\’t it? Trust me it\’s not! I got the story from Sam – you\’ll have to ask me, I\’m not going to write it here.

    Sam & Shaz (Shaz is a Kiwi/OZ nickname for Sharon) arrived with \”Ba\” the local fisheries researcher as well as \”Samo\” and our driver. They were going to take us diving on the north side of the outer reef area near the pass entrance.

    Ba had to do some fish counts of a particular type of grouper so for the first site, we went to his research area. It was deep, but interesting. Anja found a lovely nudibranch (sea snail) with electric yellow and black about 2 1/2\” long (7 cm). The second dive was just Anja, Shaz and me. Shaz was doing very well, it was only her 8th open water dive.

    This time we had two curious white tip reef sharks whom Anja sort of played with the entire dive. They\’d come close, she\’d sort of chase after them and this little game of tag went on and on. The site was Trigger Rock (Thank you Angela for identifying it for me!).

    \”Trigger Rock\” so named as to the plethora of trigger fish was in somewhat better shape than the first reef. Cyclone Thomas two years ago apparently beat the Lau Group up pretty good and the reefs looked it. So we saw the \”clown triggers\”, the white tip reef sharks and lots of other usual suspects. The vis was a bit stirred up by Fijian standards, but quite good relative to anyone else\’s!

    After a lovely day\’s diving, we were treated to trips to the \”Underwater Cave\” and \”Garre Ni Bosa\” (The Cave of the Gods).

    The limestone in the Bay of Islands is soft and over the centuries lovely chambers have been created in the stone. The \”Garre Ni Bosa\” (Cave of the Gods) was the most interesting. A very short swim of about 3 feet (1 meter) got us into a 60 foot high (20 meter) by 80 foot long (26 meter) chamber. It had high cathedral like ceilings with stalactites. The light in the afternoon was perfect and it gave the feeling that the \”Gods\” (if not crazy) we\’re having an artistic day when this natural beauty was created. The \”underwater cave\” required a short 10 foot swim (3 meter) to enter. The water was very calm and still. The chamber was perhaps 10 feet (3 meters) high and 15 feet (5 meters) by 50 feet (15 meters). The water was about 20 feet (6.5 meters) deep. The water color was a beautiful light blue from the afternoon light coming in through the entrance. There was a bit of positive pressure to the ears as the tide was rising against the sealed chamber.

    There were apparently other caves including the \”lovers\” cave and the \”signature\” cave. The signature cave was right next to the boat, so we did that on our own. The signature cave is so called as it\’s easy to get into and over the eons of time people have carved their names and initials into the rock walls. We didn\’t. The lovers cave was a bit more challenging, but aren\’t all loves?… Very sharp rocks. It would definitely require mats to partake of it\’s legendary name.

    After a day of peace to ourselves, s/v \”Kira\” and s/v \”Mandalla\” anchored in the cove next to us. Sandrine had her second \”experience dive\” with me. Anja and Sandrine did some major kayaking around the cove. We\’ll move to Mbvatu Bay soon and hike up to the overlook of this bay. The bay is only a half mile away as the crow flies but perhaps 7 miles by boat as we must negotiate/navigate around the bays and islands. The photos should be stunning. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine

  • Sevu-sevu at Dalconi Village…..

    Dear F&F, July 25th-27th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

    Dalconi Village Anchorage (Pronounced Dalthoni)

    We arrived with s/v \”Kira\” at Dalconi Villages large anchorage. S/V \”Kira\” with Detlaff and Beata aboard have been coming to this island for three years. We also came upon Sam & Shaz on s/v Yani Paratzi out of Florida by way of New York. Shaz is a nickname for Sharon in Kiwi and OZ. Who knew? Apparently, one should be careful about saying the name of Sam\’s boat very fast in Hebrew as it means something nasty. I\’ll never tell!…:-)

    We went ashore and were greeted by \”Samo\” and his lovely wife whose name I can\’t pronounce. We were taken to the home of the Assistant Village Chief. Here, we sat on the floor with \”Aroni\” and his Father by the same name. We presented our Yangona (Kava) and were officially accepted into the village. We now could ask for anything and of course they too could ask for anything. The ceremony was…\”ceremonial\”. A bunch of words in Fijian, a bunch of clapping and then we sort of interviewed each other. Lovely all in all. We went to Samo\’s friends house where the official visitors book was kept and \”Serelli\” gave us a detailed explanation of the Fijian politics surrounding the permit process to the Lau.

    So here\’s the long version. Apparently, a \”chief\” who is related to the Tongan Royal Family, was taking all the cash for the permits and pocketing it. He ran off Tonga once he was discovered. Here he is being protected by the Royal Family. The Fijians want him back for stealing the money. The Tongan/Fijian guy is of course now denouncing the Fijian Military Government as a bunch of thugs. If he were to return to Fiji, we\’ve been told they\’d shoot him on sight. The Fijians and the Tongans are having a bunch of \”issues\” between the two nations but have no fear, the Kiwi\’s and the Aussie\’s won\’t let any of this get out of hand. So this is more than just a bunch of \”jungle political stuff\”. The locals in the Lau of course were not seeing any of the \”economic redevelopment money\” and were upset. They told the Prime Minister of Fiji they wanted to raise the fees about 1000%. The PM told them no way, the tourists (almost all from yachts) won\’t come at all and that will defeat your purpose. AND, the PM is right. They only get 10-20 boats per year here. The permit process has apparently been abandoned even though they issued us one. No fees were charged, but our permit said the local villages could impose a fee which would be negotiable. Apparently, Dalconi is the only village that has ever directly charged a fee. It was about 75 USD for the entire season. We paid it. Another boat refused to pay it. He left. So, the village wants tourism, but will have to walk a bit of a tight rope to benefit from it. They would like the permit process to be abandoned in favor of a local fee. They also want a Customs office on Vanua Balavu and make it a port of entry which makes incredible sense if you see the sailing logistics of Fiji. It would bring at least 100-150 boats here a year if that were to happen.

    So, stay tuned. Who knows what the outcome will be. In the meanwhile, it\’s a beautiful island with lovely people. We hope to do some diving with the local \”Fisheries Man\” named \”Ba\” tomorrow or the next day. We will move the boat to the \”Bay of Islands\” which we saw when we arrived. It is simply stunning to see. KIT, Scott with Sandrine and Anja

  • Taveuni and the \”Far Side of the World\”……

    Dear F&F, July 22nd-23rd

    We upped anchor early in the morning for the short 1 hour run to Mateui Anchorage at Taveuni Island. We were optimistic about getting a taxi to fuel up by Jerry Can, go to the market and find someone with a fax machine to finally get our \”Lau Permit\” sent to us from the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu. We finally had gotten the word that the Lau Council had been issued our permit the night before.

    We anchored at Matuei Anchorage on Taveuni (Fiji\’s third largest island) and luckily found a taxi waiting at the \”new wharf\”. He and one of his mates did all the above errands for us and we were off to the north end of the island\’s \”Nasalesale\” anchorage by 2:30 p.m. Before we left however, we had our taxi driver take us to a fairly unique spot on the planet \”Aqua-Marine\” AKA: \”Earth\”.

    The actual International Dateline rarely runs through land. However, the 180th meridian of longitude where the Eastern and Western Hemispheres meet, exactly one half way round the world from Greenwich, England runs right through Taveuni Island. Except for the far East Coast of Russia and one of it\’s islands as well as Antarctica, there is nowhere else the the \”true\” dateline runs over land.

    We of course took photos as the two different places where it is well marked. They will be put in the Photo Gallery as soon as I\’ve decent internet.

    Nasalesale was a lovely spot where we took a taxi and then did the hike to the Tavaroa (if memory serves) waterfalls. There are three falls and the lowest one has been used in many movies over the years and might be quite recognizable. I got lazy and introspective and just hung out at the lowest fall. Sandrine and Anja did the entire hike in a fast two and a half hours.

    We were lucky enough to catch the perfect arc of a rainbow with s/v Migration at the anchorage. Photo to be posted soon. We\’ll be off to Matangi Island resort tomorrow with s/v \”Migration\” to do some diving and decide if we will go north or directly to the Northern Lau Group\’s, \”Vanua Balavu\” in the Exploring Islands. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

  • Matangi Island….Diving…..

    Dear F&F, July 23rd – 24th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere). Despite the \”true dateline\” being in Fiji, politically the entire group is in the Eastern Hemisphere\’s time zone. Both Tonga and Fiji want to be in the same hemisphere as their major supporters, Australia & New Zealand, so they\’ve \”Gerrymandered\” the dateline to suit.

    We upped anchor for the one and half hour motor to Matangi Island\’s \”Honeymoon Cove\”. The island is privately owned, has a dive operation and the anchorage we went to with s/v \”Migration\” is used as a remote day trip for the honeymooners to be alone at from the local Matangi Island Resort. We were just part of the scenery as far as they were concerned. It was a beautiful spot and I\’ll post photos when I\’ve internet.

    We decided to do a dive right off the point of the bay and Jeff, Carolyn, Bruce, Alene, Anja & I did the dive. It was lovely, a beautiful reef. Some of the damage from the cyclone that came through here two years ago was evident. Overall however, it was a great dive. We said goodbye to s/v \”Migration\” as they left to go back to Taveuni for the night and we stayed at the lovely Honeymoon Cove, having it all to ourselves.

    A local dive guide came by and we made arrangements to go to \”Noel\’s Wall\” and the \”Yellow Wall\” the next day. These are two of the signature dive sites of Matangi/Laucala Islands. Laucala was formerly owned by Malcolm Forbes and is now owned by the owner of \”Red Bull\”. It is the most exclusive and expensive resort in the entire nation of Fiji. We heard rooms start around 4,000.00 USD/night. YIKES.

    We did the dives the next day and were very impressed. \”Noel\’s Wall\” reminded me of Palau and somewhat of the \”White Wall\” without the density of soft corals, but the reef went on for almost 45 minutes of drift diving. We saw at least 10,000 \”Rainbow Runners\” in various stages of development. Two very nice and close up schools of chevron barracuda as well as all the usual reef suspects, white tip reef sharks and some of the nicest hard corals I\’ve seen since Mopelia & Maupiti in French Polynesia.

    We\’ve decided to use the remnant of a strong Northerly wind tomorrow to head toward \”Vanua Balavu\” in the Exploring Islands of the Northern Lau Group. If we come back to the Western part of Fiji through this area again, we will hope to do \”Shark City\” where the name speaks for itself. Lions and Tigers and Bulls \”oh my!\”….:) Stay tuned! KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine

  • Bula from Vanua Balavu, Northern Lau Group…..

    Dear F&F, July 26th-27th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere). Despite actually being back in the Western Hemisphere, we\’re politically in the Eastern Hemisphere. Welcome to Fiji!

    We thought we were in for a \”downwindjoyride\” to the Northern Lau for the 50 mile sail. However, we got a one day too late start and the wind went poof. We motored the entire way, yuk!

    As we approached Vanua Balavu, it reminded me very much of our approach to the Tuamotus in 2009. Ironically, we had just left s/v \”Migration\” at Matangi Island and the Tuamotu Archipellago is where Cindy and I first met Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” at that time.

    I was very anxious upon arrival here as I was pretty sure the charts wouldn\’t be right on. They weren\’t! The charts were done from surveys of \”yesteryear\”, before the days of GPS accuracy. It is still amazing to me that they were only a quarter of a mile off. We have a device on our electronic chart plotter that let\’s us \”slide\” the charts to the correct position once we are on site. For the most part, it worked pretty well, but the scale of the chart here is slightly off as well, so a WATCHFUL eye is critical as well as daylight only navigation. We came through the outer reef at 1:30 p.m and worked our way through the \”Bay of Islands\”. (Stories to follow!).

    We found the German monohull, \”Kira of Celle\” out of Cuxhaven, Germany anchored in the \”Bay\”. They spoke perfect English and despite having a native German speaker aboard in Anja, we did the entire \”hi how are you?\” in \”Beach House\’s\” native tongue. Detleff and Beata had been here two years in a row and had us follow them to the main village of Dalconi, 4 miles further past the Bay of Islands. We\’ll anchor there for the night and \”check in\” with the local village Chief where we will have our first \”sevusevu\” experience. This is giving the ceremonial gift of Kava to the Chief, whereupon we will be accepted for life as locals of the village of Dalconi.

    Stay tuned! KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine

  • Taveuni and the \”Far Side of the World\”……

    Dear F&F, July 22nd-23rd

    We upped anchor early in the morning for the short 1 hour run to Mateui Anchorage at Taveuni Island. We were optimistic about getting a taxi to fuel up by Jerry Can, go to the market and find someone with a fax machine to finally get our \”Lau Permit\” sent to us from the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu. We finally had gotten the word that the Lau Council had been issued our permit the night before.

    We anchored at Matuei Anchorage on Taveuni (Fiji\’s third largest island) and luckily found a taxi waiting at the \”new wharf\”. He and one of his mates did all the above errands for us and we were off to the north end of the island\’s \”Nasalesale\” anchorage by 2:30 p.m. Before we left however, we had our taxi driver take us to a fairly unique spot on the planet \”Aqua-Marine\” AKA: \”Earth\”.

    The actual International Dateline rarely runs through land. However, the 180th meridian of longitude where the Eastern and Western Hemispheres meet, exactly one half way round the world from Greenwich, England runs right through Taveuni Island. Except for the far East Coast of Russia and one of it\’s islands as well as Antarctica, there is nowhere else the the \”true\” dateline runs over land.

    We of course took photos as the two different places where it is well marked. They will be put in the Photo Gallery as soon as I\’ve decent internet.

    Nasalesale was a lovely spot where we took a taxi and then did the hike to the Tavaroa (if memory serves) waterfalls. There are three falls and the lowest one has been used in many movies over the years and might be quite recognizable. I got lazy and introspective and just hung out at the lowest fall. Sandrine and Anja did the entire hike in a fast two and a half hours.

    We were lucky enough to catch the perfect arc of a rainbow with s/v Migration at the anchorage. Photo to be posted soon. We\’ll be off to Matangi Island resort tomorrow with s/v \”Migration\” to do some diving and decide if we will go north or directly to the Northern Lau Group\’s, \”Vanua Balavu\” in the Exploring Islands. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

  • More Viani Bay & Diving……

    Dear F&F, July 14th-19th

    s/v \”Migration\” came into the anchorage and with they and s/v \”Quickstar\” as neighbors, it was a bit like old home week. We spent the next several days either anchoring out or doing \”live\” boat dives with Jack and our friends. One day we did some diving with Glenn, Cindy and Abbie off m/v \”Mystery Ship\”, including Glenn & Cindy\’s first dive at the White Wall. A very exciting spot.

    On our last night at Viani Bay, Jack and local friends had a dinner for we cruisers and we got to sign his visitors book. I looked back over the years and saw many boats and friends. Including s/v \”Lazy Bones\”, Gayle and Jeff from Marina del Rey and s/v \”Quiet One\”, Dawn and her former husband out of the UK who I\’d met in Auckland.

    The dinner was great fun and we got to know other boats better; a good time had by all. The next morning, Jack came by and wished us well. We think there\’s a pretty fair chance we might be back this way again. Diving at \”The Zoo\”, \”The Cabbage Patch\”, \”The Purple Wall\”, \”The Ledge\” and of course, \”The White Wall\” were pretty impressive, very close and could all be easily done again and again.

    We brought the boat over for the one hour trip to Taveuni Island, Fiji\’s third largest island. That will be the subject of our next \”Ship\’s Log\”…. Stay tuned. KIT, Scott with Anja and Sandrine

    Lots of photos to post when I get good internet.

  • Savusavu to Viani Bay. Our first dive at \”The White Wall\”…..

    Dear F&F, July 12th – 14th

    We decided to do a dive with Koro Sun, the local dive operator in Savusavu. The experience of diving with hammer head sharks was new for Anja, but I also never tire of the wonder of looking at these prehistoric animals up close and personal. Peter came along with us and it was his first \”hammer\” encounter as well. Anja said they looked \”cute\”. We saw a few dozen in the blue water right off the Koro Sun resort. They came within 30 feet of us, it was a memorable day.

    We continued to \”wait\” for our permit to go to the Lau Group of Eastern Fiji. It just got more comical as the wait went on.

    Having decided we could wait for \”Gudot\” forever, we upped anchor and headed the 40 miles East to Viani Bay. Viani Bay is world famous in the diving world, especially for it\’s signature site on the \”Rainbow Reef\” called \”The White Wall\”.

    We knew friends Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” would be arriving soon too, so it all seemed to come together as we left for Viani Bay.

    As I changed our itinerary to go to Western Fiji first from New Zealand and then head to Eastern Fiji, the winds of course were against us and yes indeed we motored again, the entire 40 miles.

    When we arrived in Viani Bay, Jack Fisher met us and put us on one of his two moorings. Jack is Fijian by way of English descent. He has had six wives and would be happy to have you as his next wife should you be interested. However I am referring to the female population of my readers amongst you!

    Jack doesn\’t dive, but makes most of his livelihood by guiding divers to \”his\” sites. There is a local dive shop in the next bay, but at about 25-40.00$ per day US for the whole boat load of divers, it\’s hard to beat this local knowledge with a stick! Jack brought us to our first encounter (there would be six, yes it\’s that good) with the White Wall and wanted us to anchor in a nearby alcove on the outside of the reef. Well, I\’m not sure what Jack expected me to say, but if we had anchored where he wanted us too, I\’m not sure \”Beach House\” would have been beached shortly thereafter. We did \”live boat\” diving with Jack at the helm. He dropped Anja, Peter and me off over the buoy and the fun began!

    The White Wall is SPECTACULAR. The surge on top of the reef was pretty exciting (we were just outside the surf line and it was pretty calm!). The dive begins on top of a beautiful reef and from there you go into a \”swim thorough\” from 40 feet down to 70 feet. The swim through is a long wide tunnel with Lion Fish, White Tip reef sharks, black coral, sea fans, purple coral and a plethora of marine life. Once out the lower exit of the swim through, you make a left turn and go down to 95-120 feet and the fun begins. The current starts to push you along a vertical wall that is about 300 feet high. A football size field of densely packed white soft corals is the highlight of this \”drift\” dive. Not lasting too long, it\’s simply spectacular. Everything and anything can be seen on the \”Wall\” and in some cases, large schools of barracuda and other pelagic\’s as well. At the end of the wall, there is a swim through at 65 feet which you can go back up to the top of the reef and do a second lap. Anja and I got familiar enough with the site to be able to do three laps without ever hitting the \”deco\” meter on our dive computers. I did not take any underwater stills as I was being dive guide/instructor as much as \”diver\” at this particular site. I did take some video, but it\’s gee whiz stuff, not gonna make it to the website.

    More to follow…. Scott with Anja and Sandrine.

  • Savusavu to Viani Bay. Our first dive at \”The White Wall\”…..

    Dear F&F, July 12th – 14th

    We decided to do a dive with Koro Sun, the local dive operator in Savusavu. The experience of diving with hammer head sharks was new for Anja, but I also never tire of the wonder of looking at these prehistoric animals up close and personal. Peter came along with us and it was his first \”hammer\” encounter as well. Anja said they looked \”cute\”. We saw a few dozen in the blue water right off the Koro Sun resort. They came within 30 feet of us, it was a memorable day.

    We continued to \”wait\” for our permit to go to the Lau Group of Eastern Fiji. It just got more comical as the wait went on.

    Having decided we could wait for \”Gudot\” forever, we upped anchor and headed the 40 miles East to Viani Bay. Viani Bay is world famous in the diving world, especially for it\’s signature site on the \”Rainbow Reef\” called \”The White Wall\”.

    We knew friends Bruce and Alene on s/v \”Migration\” would be arriving soon too, so it all seemed to come together as we left for Viani Bay.

    As I changed our itinerary to go to Western Fiji first from New Zealand and then head to Eastern Fiji, the winds of course were against us and yes indeed we motored again, the entire 40 miles.

    When we arrived in Viani Bay, Jack Fisher met us and put us on one of his two moorings. Jack is Fijian by way of English descent. He has had six wives and would be happy to have you as his next wife should you be interested. However I am referring to the female population of my readers amongst you!

    Jack doesn\’t dive, but makes most of his livelihood by guiding divers to \”his\” sites. There is a local dive shop in the next bay, but at about 25-40.00$ per day US for the whole boat load of divers, it\’s hard to beat this local knowledge with a stick! Jack brought us to our first encounter (there would be six, yes it\’s that good) with the White Wall and wanted us to anchor in a nearby alcove on the outside of the reef. Well, I\’m not sure what Jack expected me to say, but if we had anchored where he wanted us too, I\’m not sure \”Beach House\” would have been beached shortly thereafter. We did \”live boat\” diving with Jack at the helm. He dropped Anja, Peter and me off over the buoy and the fun began!

    The White Wall is SPECTACULAR. The surge on top of the reef was pretty exciting (we were just outside the surf line and it was pretty calm!). The dive begins on top of a beautiful reef and from there you go into a \”swim thorough\” from 40 feet down to 70 feet. The swim through is a long wide tunnel with Lion Fish, White Tip reef sharks, black coral, sea fans, purple coral and a plethora of marine life. Once out the lower exit of the swim through, you make a left turn and go down to 95-120 feet and the fun begins. The current starts to push you along a vertical wall that is about 300 feet high. A football size field of densely packed white soft corals is the highlight of this \”drift\” dive. Not lasting too long, it\’s simply spectacular. Everything and anything can be seen on the \”Wall\” and in some cases, large schools of barracuda and other pelagic\’s as well. At the end of the wall, there is a swim through at 65 feet which you can go back up to the top of the reef and do a second lap. Anja and I got familiar enough with the site to be able to do three laps without ever hitting the \”deco\” meter on our dive computers. I did not take any underwater stills as I was being dive guide/instructor as much as \”diver\” at this particular site. I did take some video, but it\’s gee whiz stuff, not gonna make it to the website.

    More to follow…. Scott with Anja and Sandrine.