Archive for the ‘Scuba Diving’ Category

12
Oct 2012

The Caves of Norman Island…

Posted by Steve  >  Sailing, Scuba Diving, Travel
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Our first stop on the trip is Norman Island, where we will anchor for the night at The Bight.

Norman Island is famed for its tales of buried treasure, but the caves off Treasure Point offer a different type of booty for snorkelers. Norman Island has been made famous from the 1883 classic story “Treasure Island” which was written by Robert Louis Stevenson.

A short ride from the Bight, we plan to pick up a National Parks mooring in the morning and snorkel our way over to The Caves.

This is a spectacular snorkeling adventure, with thousands of orange cup coral and red sponge covering the cave walls. The island is equipped with three caves – two large ones and a small one.

Schools of friendly yellow tails, blue tangs and sergeant majors will follow you into the caves

On the entrance into the larger cave in the cent photo above, the walls are covered with cup corals and sea urchins abound just below…

A few years ago, we entered the second of the caves you see above to discover we could swim right through it and come out just about where you see that sandy beach by the yacht at the top of the photo. Bring a flashlight to truly experience the Caves, which shimmer with a pastel coating of orange cup coral and red covering sponge.

A fun way to spend a couple of hours.

6
Oct 2012

Diving or snorkeling at The Indians, BVI.

Posted by Steve  >  Sailing, Scuba Diving
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The Indians are four unique shaped rocky pinnacles in the British Virgin Islands right next to Norman Island. These easy to spot rocky pinnacles rise about sixty feet above the water surface. This unique rock formation has one of the BVI’s best snorkeling and diving with an abundance of coral gardens and many fish. If you look very, very, very close with much imagination the picture of The Indians sorta looks like feathers in an Indians headdress. This is how the cays got their name.

About half a mile north of Norman Island, this location has shallow and deep areas that satisfies both the novice or expert. When the seas are calm, snorkeling is best on the eastern side of The Indians, while the western side features 50 foot drops with elkhorn and brain coral. The BVI National Parks Trust has placed many moorings at The Indians for use.

These rocky formations are quite spectacular when viewed from the 50 foot sandy bottom. The beautiful colors of the lavish corals and sponges contrast with the rocky ledges and steep walls that rise to the surface. The bright sun streaks its rays across the swell and creates some spectacular photo opportunities.

On our previous visit, we anchored where the yacht above is anchored and swam to the left of the yacht and in behind The Indians. This first fifteen minutes of the dive brought us through certainly one of the most lush underwater gardens we had seen in a while. Lots of soft corals. As we swan around the backside of The Indians, the scenery changes as the water got shallower and the coral appeared far more vivid. Halfway around the backside, we came to the rocky formation you see above that looks like an underwater bridge – which is exactly what it is and you can swim through it. It’s a cool little part of the dive experience here.

The you can see the water becomes considerably shallower with lots of little holes to poke around in and at this depth, the dive can last as long as you can make your air last.

We ended our dive by crossing back over through the break between the last two Indians and making our way back to the anchor line of our boat. A great dive or snorkeling experience.

1
Oct 2012

The Chimney, British Virgin Islands

Posted by Steve  >  Sailing, Scuba Diving, Travel
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Tucked into the northern corner of the bay on the western side of Great Dog, The Chimney is really two sites in one.

Directly below the moorings, in 30 to 40 feet of calm protected water, are several massive coral heads rising up from a sand and rubble bottom. This is called the Fish Bowl, so named because of the many friendly fishes abiding here. The yellowtails, sergeant majors, parrotfishes and other fishes have been fed by so many divers that they are conditioned to the sound of Velcro. Open a BC pocket, and zoom, you’ll be surrounded by a mass of finny mouths all looking for a handout.

To find the Chimney we pass through the Fish Bowl and head towards the northern shore of the bay. On this dive make sure to take the time to explore the several canyons and ridges that run parallel to shore. Work your way around the point.

At a depth of around 45 feet or so, cut back and follow a canyon back towards shore. This should lead you under a large beautifully encrusted archway encrusted with cup corals and brightly colored sponges. Once through the arch you’ll enter a steep-walled narrow corridor which ends with two huge rocks almost touching. The narrow slot between these two boulders is The Chimney, so named because of its resemblance to a rock-climbing formation of the same name. Before exiting through the slot take the time to look around at all the marine life on the walls. A dive light will reveal all the brilliant hues and hidden creatures-little shrimp, spotted rock lobster, anemones and a rainbow of sponges. The unusual white sponges adorning the walls resemble wads of chewing gum. If The Chimney slot looks too narrow for you, it is possible to swim out over the top of it. Once through the Chimney there are a couple of canyons along the cliff face worth exploring as you work your way back through the Fish Bowl to your mooring.

There are lots of less visited canyons and rock formations also hidden here. You can also explore the base of the cliff further back into the bay. The bottom is covered with stones rubbed round and smooth from years of rolling in the winter surge. Among these stones is a wealth of tiny marine creatures such as brittle stars, baby flame scallops and an occasional Scorpionfish. This is also an excellent place to snorkel.

10
Jul 2008

Parrotfish

Posted by Steve  >  Conservation, Photography, Scuba Diving
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Parrotfish, which are abundant almost everywhere I have ever dived, are named for their oral dentition, as you can see above.

Their numerous teeth are arranged in a tightly packed mosaic on the external surface of the jaw bones, forming a parrot-like beak which is used to scrape algae from coral and other rocky substrates.

Most of the Parrotfish I have seen have been brightly coloured in shades of blue, green, red and yellow. Although they are considered to be herbivores, parrotfish eat a wide variety of organisms that live on coral reefs and some species may include corals polyps in their diet.

Their feeding activity is important for the production and distribution of coral sands in the reef and can prevent algae from choking coral. Ingested during feeding, coral rock is ground up by their teeth. After they digest this it is excreted as sand thus at times creating small islands and the sandy beaches of the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Maximum sizes vary widely within the family, from 20 cm in the smallest species, such as the green parrotfish to 1.5 m in the largest species, the bumphead Parrotfish.

Parrotfishes are diurnal and stay within shallow waters of no more than about 70 meters in depth. By night they cram themselves into crevices, some species secreting a thick coat of mucus, like a little surrounding bubble. The mucus is thought to mask their scent from nocturnal predators such as the moray eel and may serve to protect the fish from infection by parasites.

At this point, they are fairly easy to spot when night diving and on more than one occasion, I have picked one up and placed it in Yim’s hands and motioned for her to shake it just a bit and the Parrotfish will wake up and swim away, in a bit of a dash.

What’s also interesting is that after a massive die-out of the sea urchins in the Caribbeans, parrotfish now are the main grazers in the area. While underwater, it is often easy to hear Parrotfish before you see them as you can hear them crunching the coral reef. In fact, protecting parrotfish is proposed as a way of saving Caribbean coral reefs from being overgrown with seaweed, since Parrotfish are such productive producers of sand.

2
Nov 2007

The Blue Hole of Belize

Posted by Steve  >  Scuba Diving, Travel
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Approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Belize City lies the almost perfectly circular Blue Hole.

More than 1,000 feet (305 meters) across and some 400 feet (123 meters) deep, the hole is the opening to what was a dry cave system during the Ice Age. When the ice melted and the sea level rose, the caves were flooded, creating what is now a magnet for intrepid divers.

Today the Blue Hole is famed for its sponges, barracuda, corals, angelfish—and a school of sharks often seen patrolling the hole’s edge.

This is on my list of Top Ten Dive Spots in the World.

2
Mar 2007

Anthony’s Key, Roatan.

Posted by Steve  >  Scuba Diving, Travel
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The first time I visited Anthony’s Key was because they had a 48′ Pro Dive boat for sale and I had flown in from Belize to check it out. An agreement was made to purchase it for my dive shop in Belize and I set about spending a couple of days diving.

I’m willing to bet there are very few places in the world that have built as perfect a dive operation as Anthony’s Key.

With 11, yes 11 dedicated dive boats lined up waiting to take you diving to locations as close a merely five minutes away, Anthony’s Key is a divers paradise.

Night dives, shore dives, open water dives, wall dives, dolphin dives… you name it, they’ve thought of it. They are even home to The Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences.

My favorite part of the stay, on my second time back to check on progress on the boat, was the Dolphin Dive, where I actually got to stay in an enclosed but very large pen with a number of dolphins and basically play pitch and catch with some sea kelp.

On my third trip back to pick up the boat and bring it back to Belize, I tried it all. Their night diving, some shore diving, which was simply spectacular less than 100 feet from the Island’s shoreline, wall diving. I loved it… and I loved the key the rooms were on, complete to a t with the Key deer roaming around the property.

Don’t miss this place.

8
Feb 2007

British Virgin Islands

Posted by Steve  >  Sailing, Scuba Diving, Travel
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This is probably our best trip ever… from the moment we landed on Beef Island to being picked up by our wonderful friends, Steuart and Fran and whisked away to their 57 foot Catamaran. The British Virgin Islands are such a civilized place to dive and sail.

The first morning we headed off for The Chimneys. And what a re-introduction to diving it was, after a nine month hiatus.

We anchored the boat at the Ocean’s Edge and slowly entered the water to descend to forty-five feet and head towards a spectacular site called The Chimneys which is, as you guessed it, a chimney-like vent which starts at forty-five feet in a large cavern and ends at the surface as you make you way through a small but comfortable opening ten feet below the surface. The light pierces it and forms a spectacular spotlight effect when you are at the base of the vent. Just Wonderful.

After snorkeling around a while, we also discovered that you could swim through the rocky outcrops above the water and within one of them was a hollow area which was just great as well. A deep pool surrounded by rock and coral engulfs you while inside, but you had better be a fairly strong and confident swimmer.

Later, we lifted anchor and headed off towards The Bitter End Yacht club and anchored off a small island just west of the club for the night.

The next morning, we set sail around the tip of the island and while we had plans to head to Anegeda, we chose to tack off towards the Baths on Virgin Gorda, a simply spectacular spot which is featured on this page to the right.

The Baths are truly amazing. Boulders the size of apartment buildings are leaned up against each other and in the center form a walkway which is incredible as you wander your way through 100 ton boulders perched inches above your head.

Our next stop was the world famous Wreck of The Rhone. Widely regarded as one of the best wreck dives in the Caribbean, the two halves can be dived separately. The Bow lies in 60 ft – 90 feet – divers can swim inside the ships hold and see coral encrustations along with many fish. Diving inside a wreck that has great ambient light is always fun On our first dive, Yim and Fran stayed above the wreck and followed our bubbles through the dive.


Lobsters and crabs apparently often hide inside the wreck. And I mean crabs. I found one that had at least a four foot span.

Outside of the wreck, the foremast and crows nest can be seen along with the boilers, condenser, wrenches and winch.

The stern, often done as the second dive (15 ft-60 ft), shelters lobsters and octopus hiding in the metal work of the boiler gear box housing, the rudder and the propeller. Many fish varieties including Barracuda, Southern Stingrays, Eagle Rays and Turtles live in this National Park area.

We swam through the open area beside the propeller… it’s a great spot to boost a divers confidence in safe conditions.

After leaving The Rhone, we headed down to Peter Island and anchored in a deserted bay for the evenings, snorkeled around watching the rays search for food ten feet down and came on board for some yummy rum drinks.

Next morning, we headed off to the Peter Island Resort and were wowed… Wow. Visit it if you are in the area at least for breakfast.

Then, off to the Caves. Located on the southwest side of Norman Islands, these really are Treasure Caves.

You can swim right inside them and with a flashlight, can easily enjoy the huge colonies of anemones attached to the surface of the openings. It’s a great mornings snorkel trip.

Then out to The Indians.

Three rocky outcrops which reportedly rise 55 feet above the water and 55 feet below. Whether that be accurate or not, this is one great dive and once is not enough. Fran led us on this trip through an underwater garden the likes which are rare today on any dive before heading us back to the base of The Indians.

Swimming along at the base of these slabs of rock closely will reward you with dozens of different soft corals clinging to the surface before you come to a short wide tunnel which we easily swam through and entered another small world.

It’s just a really cool spot. Little caves to enter, tons of fish, huge rocks anchored all around you and beautiful soft coral.

And a maximum bottom depth of 55 feet. What else could you ask for?