If only I could have seen out of my mask, I think I would have enjoyed it more. But as it was, my mask kept fogging up, obscuring the entire dive, no matter how much I spit into them before hand. It got so bad toward the end of each dive that I was filling and clearing my mask every 10 second just to remove the fog. Mark had issues with his mask as well, except his mask kept leaking.
Corals on the Top of the Bommie
The dive sites themselves are all along a 90 mile coral ring around Beqa Island, which was shaped by an ancient volcano that collapsed into the sea. The dive sites consist mostly of coral bommies, which we have never dove before. These are rock silos whose tops are at 20 ft and whose bottoms are at 50 to 70 feet. At the top of each bommie are shallow hard corals, each of which comprises an apartment complex for tiny neon anthias and dascyllus fish. Along the sides of the bommies hang the soft corals and sea fans, where the lion fish, butterfly fish and parrot fish like to reside. Even lower still, near the sea floor, are the eels and ground hugging gobies and other sand dwelling creatures.
One of the main groups is a 20 person strong dive club from San Diego. With some exceptions, they are not terribly friendly. They are also very well-off, judging by the volume of expensive video cameras bristling with insectoid strobes. The other group is from Moscow. They don't mix with others at all, perhaps due to the language barrier. But they also don't seem to smile very much. At all meals, the dive groups are seated separately at their areas. Mark and I, are seated at the overflow table, where the resort managers, Mark and Sue, try to make their guests feel welcome.
Diver on the Side of the Bommie
We are put on the boat with the San Diegans as part of today's diving. Part of the reason why I didn't enjoy myself is because this group is very, very experienced in diving, and perhaps I felt self-conscious about my own comfort level in the water. These people know their cameras and fish ID inside and out and they are all mostly in their late 40s to 80s. I think we established ourselves as the dive "newbies", which is an unusual position for me since I have a divemaster certification! On the boat ride over, I expressed some nervousness about diving with our brand new BCDs, and mentioned that Mark and I hadn't dove in a year (with a couple of exceptions last month). Maybe that labelled us with the San Diegans.
Even so, I think I surprised the divemasters, and the others on board when I stripped to my bathing suit and was one of the first people to jump in the water. Everyone else wore hoods and wetsuits. The wetsuit that I had brought over was an extra large, and rather than swimming around in a garbage bag, I decided to risk it without a wetsuit. I'm a cold water diver after all!
Life on the Side of the Bommie
Immediately after my first dive was over, I was slightly cold. The water temperature was around 80 deg. F, which can get a little cold when you are in the water for greater than an hour. Also, I came out with stings and itches all over my body. I was later told that this was from the "sea lice" that was floating in the water column (thimble jellyfish). They are so small, I don't recall seeing them at all.
Dive #169 - Soft Coral Plateau
Mina: 80 ft, 1:01 min (weight worn: 4 lbs)
Mark: 80 ft, 0:59 min
Dive highlights:
Black tip reef shark
White tip reef sharks
Jacks
Moorish Idols
Dive #170 - Three Thieves
Mina: 62 ft, 1:08 min.
Mark: 61ft, 1:05 min.
Dive highlights:
Barred Unicorn fish
Ribbon Eel
Indian Lion fish
Black-Blotched Porcupine fish in a cave
Pipe fish
Clown Triggerfish
Barred Snake Moray
Moorish idol
Long fin Banner fish
Leaf Scorpion fish
Dive #171 - Shark Reef
Mina: 54 ft, 1:00 min.
Mark: 54 ft, 1:00 min.
Dive highlights:
Cleaner shrimp
Blue moray eel
Clown fish in anemone
Chromodoris sp. nudibranch
-- Post From My iPhone
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