I did a two tank dive today along Rainbow Reef in Viani Bay. Ann was going to come but at the last minute a sun sore on her lip split and was bleeding like crazy. Not a good thing to dive with. She instead stayed on a Charisma and made bread! How lucky am I! (Notice that was not a question, but a rhetorical comment)
So, the diving. It was gorgeous even though it was a very overcast and somewhat windy day.
The operator picked us up (Mark and Vicky from Southern Cross came in to the anchorage yesterday afternoon and joined in the diving today) on our boats. That was fun. Just wait for them and they come alongside. You jump aboard and you’re off. They come over from Taveuni-which is a couple miles away across the Somosomo Straight. It was the three of us and a young woman from Calgary (who is a vet student there).
Sea Anoneme and Anenome Fish (the orange guy hiding inside)
The hard and soft corals are amazing.
The soft corals only "come out" when the current is running and they can filter feed from the moving water.
Drifting along "The Wall" with the current.
So there we were…I won’t go into detail about the two dives, but the highlights were:
-Some of the most beautiful hard and soft coral anywhere.
-A smoking fast drift on our second dive past the Purple Wall and the White Wall. Big current, very fast! The soft corals waving in the flow of the current were spectacular.
-The highlight for me; five large mammals-either pilot whales (that’s what the dive operators said they were) or Risso’s Dolphins, which is what my books would suggest. No matter which, they were at least 12 feet long, very curious and came within about 20 feet and took my breath away to see them underwater. I figuratively dropped my jaw (but not with my breathing apparatus in) and the dive guide I was with had to bang on my head and point at my camera to remind me to take a picture. I was so in awe, I completely forgot and was just staring at these stunning creatures.
First these guys checked us out...
Then their friends came over...
Awe inspiring.
I think we’re going to try and dive again on Saturday. This is just such an amazing underwater landscape. In the mean time, tomorrow (Friday) we’re planning on going in to the school during their recess period around 1030. We see the kids getting picked up every day around the bay by longboat around 0730 and then taken home again around 1600. It’s cute to see almost a dozen little ones zooming to school in the open boat and then jumping out and wading over the reef to class.
Man, I always look out into space on the wall and see…… NOTHING!
Well now, how come I didn’t get to zoom to school on a motorboat and wade to the shore on my way? Sure beats a yellow bus trundling along on the roads. And singing 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall.
So…did those undersea creatures come over to you and say, “Take me to your leader?” That must have been why you went all ga ga. Next time you have to have a dive mantra – “Breathe, snap pictures; breathe, snap pictures.” Can’t beat a zen approach to an alien environment. Can’t wait for the pix.
Dive safely. Enjoy the yummy Ann-Bread.