So today is the last day of diving, boo! Another good nights sleep then breakfast with the gang. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. Needed to break out the suntan lotion, nice! We ate breakfast and got our stuff ready to head over to Sam's. Siksei got to the hotel early again for us so we took a ride and got our dive gear ready on the boat. Since we had rinsed all our gear and got everything ready from the night before, we got to hang out at Sam's for a short bit before heading out to our first dive, another wreck. We decided to stay a bit closer to Sam's as the water was still really rough and just wanted to have a relaxing day so we went about 15 minutes out to the Bouy 6 Wreck/Lighthouse Channel.
I got a few group pics while on our way out and even a couple of me with the crew, Siskei, J5 and Arson. The Bouy 6 Wreck which was a wreck of a fishing boat turned into a vessel during the war. There were lots of Sea Fans, Fromia Starfish, Tiger Cowries, interesting Nudibranchs, lots of pretty Basket Starfish, Tomato Clowns, Crown of Thorns Starfish etc. As we finished with the wreck and made our way along the Lighthouse Channel, we were greeted by a Remora in search for a host. It kept swimming up close to each of us checking us out and wondering why we didn't look like their usual hosts. I guess it didn't care too much as it attached itself to Andy's leg and really scared him since it got close to swimming right up his shorts! Melanie, Jim and I were watching the whole thing as Andy was checking out some coral and once Andy realized what was going on, he allowed the Remora to hang around for a bit. It then swam around again and I was trying to get it to attach to me but it found Melanie more appealing. It settled on her leg and stayed there for quite a bit, so cool! Finally it was time for us to surface so we said our goodbuys to the Remora and got back on the boat. Since we were so close to Sam's we just headed back there for our surface interval and layed out to finally take advantage of the sun as we weren't sure how long it was going to last. We took just over an hour surface interval then headed out to our second wreck, the Amatsu Maru.
a sunny morning
dive buddies: me, Andy, Melanie, Jim, Joe
the crew: Arson, me, Siksei, J5
Fromia Starfish
checking out the wreck
a cool Nudibranch species
can you spot the Leaf Fish?
a Longnose Hawkfish on a Sea Fan
a Basket Star
a curious Remora checking out Andy
now it's after Melanie
Clarkii Clowns in a Carpet Anemone
Crown of Thorns Starfish
a rock full of Basket Stars
Amatsu Maru Wreck, also called the Black Coral Wreck, was a Japanese Navy fleet repair ship from the war. It is a huge ship and would take a few days of diving to safely examine the whole wreck. We only did a small portion on our dive. Not many corals are along this wreck but there were some very curious Batfish hanging around us. Saw lots of Sea Fans, Mushrooms, Goniopora, huge Lobophyllias, Bubble and Pearl Corals, some small Gobies and Blennies but mainly just checked out the structure of the wreck since it wasn't overgrown in coral. I didn't penetrate this wreck though i easily could have. I tried to stay shallower since we had done a deep dive on our first dive and this one got pretty deep. We got to the bow were Jim and Melanie stretched out like the scene from Titanic, "I'm the king of the world!" scene. Again since this wreck was only minutes from Sam's, we headed back there to get some lunch and more sun.
Our Daily Schedule
The Amatsu Maru
the sun came out for a short bit :)
Mel and Jim catching some rays
Bottom Time Bar & Grill
catching some rays
gear
pool's open!
green Bubble Coral
Goniopora coral
curious Batfish
Lobophyllia coral
Hairy Mushrooms
Melanie and Jim, "I'm the king of the...Ocean!"
Jim and Melanie planned to dive Chandelier Caves since Melanie hasn't been here before. Jim has been here twice 10 yrs ago and 8 yrs ago so he as seen it plenty and I dove it last year and earlier this trip. Andy, Joe and I were going to sit out but then Andy decided to try out Joe's video camera. Joe and I then decided to come along and just hang out outside the cave entrance and search for macro-critters like Mandarins, Pipefish, Seahorses etc. I didn't come across much at all but some really beautiful Chalice and Pectinia coral. I even came across a tiny Filefish and some Green Linkia Stars. After about half an hour we got back on board and back again to Sam's but stayed all geared up to dive along the dock in search for more Mandarins since we didn't see any at Chandalier Caves. Sam's dock is the best place to see them and within minutes, they were all over the place. Lots of Pipefish, Mandarins, Urchins, Clams, Blennies, Damsels, Crocodilefish and some Butterflies. I came across the same Long Spine Urchin in pretty much the same spot as I did last year. It looked exactly the same except there were no Cardinalfish schooling in its spines, just a couple Damsels. I spent about 20 minutes along the dock wall then got out, rinsed off and started drying while enjoying a Mai Tai and some popcorn.
Nitrox Rocks!
a Linkia Star
Pectinia Coral
Filefish
Blue Linkia Starfish
Fromia Starfish
Close up of a Deresa Clam
Little Spotted Sharpnose Puffer
Pipefish and Mandarin Dragonet
Joe and I had planned to do a night dive so i could finish up my specialty but Jim, Mel and Andy all were done so they got all their gear rinsed and hung up to dry before packing. I just left mine on the boat since I was going out again in a few hours. Arson, Siksei and J5 met us at about 6:45pm to head out to the Chuyo Maru for our night dive. We were not going to go down to the whole wreck, just stay up on the two masts which were down about 50'. I have to admit i was slightly nervous but much more comfortable now that i have done a couple night dives and Siksei is a great guide. So we made our way down the line and on to the furthest mast. I got to see the same Clownfish sleeping in their anemones, lots of huge Banded Coral Shrimp, Arrow Crabs and other big crabs, lots of smaller Cleaner (Paracleminies) Shrimps, sleeping Groupers and Angels and corals with their feeding tentacles out. The Sun Corals were neat to finally see all open up and bright beautiful yellows. We decided to move on to the closer mast that we had passed when we first got in off the boat. Just makes for a better profile dive to start further and make our way back. Again i saw lots of large and small shrimps and cool crabs. I was pointing a few critters out to Siksei when he started flashing his light over one spot and "whoo whooing" through his regulator. He grabbed my shoulders and gave me that excited shake and took my hand to give me a high five. It took me a few seconds to become as excited as he was when i realized what he had pointed out was a huge gorgeous Frogfish! I even almost went to hold on to it as i was pointing some critters out to him. Siksei was extremely excited as that same Frogfish was found there about 2 yrs ago during the day and hasn't been seen since. I got a lot of pictures and wish i could have gotten some of Siksei's face as you could tell he was just beside himself on such a great find! We decided to dive the Chuyo Maru over the Helmut Wreck since both Joe and I already did the Helmut Wreck as our night dive last year and Siksei had never dove the Chuyo at night before, so it would be a first for each of us. An awesome choice it was and a great find to end our diving on. Once we got back on the boat Siksei was still all excided and shouting out to J5 who did not dive with us and Arson our captain that we saw the Frogfish. I showed them the pics and they were so excited. Word quickly got around and i showed quite a few people some pics once we got back to Sam's and even the next day. Jim, Mel and Andy were still there waiting on us and helped us get all our gear out of the boat, rinsed and hung up since it was getting late. Melanie and Jim went back to the hotel while Andy, Joe, Siksei and I had beer. I then, packed all my gear up got a ride back to the hotel and started packing. I hung up my wet diving gear to dry overnight and the next day before packing it, showered and went to bed! What a great but exhausting day!
a large Arrow Crab
Sun Coral opened up to feed
Cinnamon Clowns sleeping (saw them on the day dive)
tiny Cleaner Shrimp
a Banded Coral Shrimp
a really cool crab
another big Arrow Crab
a large Banded Coral Shrimp
the awesome find, a Frogfish!
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