Fell Behind Again

(Dive Map Of Yesterday: Resort=red Dive spots=yellow)

(Dive Map Of Today:Resort=red Dive spots=yellow)

            Yesterday definitely did not have the best diving conditions, and I can say for sure that the Boat ride was not a fun one. It was a very rough and wet ride, and certainly not fun. Our original plan was to go to an island 40 minutes away called Fam, but we never quite made it. We ended up around an island called Yeben, which does have some good diving around it, but in the rough water it isn't too fun. Our first dive was meant to be on Nikson's garden, but Armin managed to miss the spot all together, and we ended up on an insignificant little reef with little action on it,  other than two frantic little sharks that were constantly swimming around the reef, some really annoying remoras, one of which sucked onto my leg which is surprisingly painful, and a turtle with one of the annoying remoras on it.

(Sea Turtle and Remora)

            The first dive was not amazing, but still seeing a turtle is always a plus for me so I was not completely disappointed. We then stopped on a little island for a coffee break on an amazing beach, hung around for a little bit, and headed back out on the boat with the goal of actually making Nikson's garden this time. We successfully hit our mark, and I had an amazing dive. I didn't see anything special on this dive, but the coral there is breathtaking. I took some shots, most of which I was working on my basic skills and avoiding being stung by the nasty hydroids.

(Claudia At Nikson's Garden)

(Nikson's Garden)

            After the second dive we stopped at another one of the Yeben islands, which had muck like sand that was very sticky. We had a great lunch on the beach, some curry chicken rice, and fish nuggets. We ate fairly quickly and hung around for a bit before heading out on the next dive, which given the conditions we decided to keep near the island and take a new dive. We went right off the shore of one of the islands, at a spot which had a few little caverns in the ledge. It was not terribly interesting, but Leon and I still found a way to have a bit of fun. I shot a few serious shots, one of which is a bit eerie, a coral filled with little worms, but none the less still a cool shot.

(A Massive Sea Fan)

(Coral With Worms)

            After reaching the end of the living reef, Leon and I got a little board, and started to play around. First off I ditched my fins and started to run up the slope of bombed corals, destroyed by dynamite fishing. Leon of course took my camera and started shooting as I did this.

(Me Getting Bored)

                Leon then started to kick up sand clouds in the water, which he later told me he loves doing. I guess he never really grew up, I guess some of us don't, I don't plan on doing it myself, so I won't judge.

            After kicking up clouds of sand, we found a red sea cucumber, which I took some great shots of, and then it attacked Leon. Very vicious creature the sea cucumber and extremely fast moving.

(After being bitten by a shark you would have thought he had seen the worst, but now killer cucumbers?) 

            The night was amazingly clear, and Leon and I took some shots of the millions of stars that were out and shining, mine came out nicely, but sadly a little bit noisy.

(A wonderful Starry Night)

            Today was a miserable day, so we took the morning off, which meant that I could sleep in. I got up at 11:30 and went to the photo studio, after which we had lunch,and headed to the most magical of dive sites here: The Passage. It was a bot murky, but none the less a good dive. 

(An Electric/Fire Clam At The Passage)