Nimrod Explorer left Lizard Island after introductions and the safety briefing. The first stop was at the famous site, Cod Hole. The site is famous for its huge and friendly Potato Cod (Epinephelus tukula); people sometimes overlook the beauty of the dive site itself which can be seen diving as well as snorkeling. The coral is just beautiful! Visibility this week at Cod Hole was 30m.

After the cod feed at Cod Hole, Captain Trent Thomas took the boat to Lighthouse Bommie for the night dive. On the morning dive at Lighthouse Bommie the divers were visited by a big tawny nurse shark. The second dive of the day was at Acropolis where there is lots of fish and coral life. The third dive was at Two Towers and the last dives on Sunday were at Monolith.

Monday was an exciting day with dives at Steve’s Bommie, Flare Point and Ruby Reef. As the boat was leaving Ruby Reef there were a couple of minke whales swimming near the boat and passengers were able to hold onto the lines on the back of the boat with masks and snorkels to watch the minkes.

Nimrod Explorer got back to Trinity Wharf in Cairns early on Tuesday morning. The water temperature during the week was 25C.

 

If there is one word to describe this trip, it would be “sharks.”  It sounds like everyone had a very exciting week!  During the 15 dives over three days passengers saw a leopard shark, a wobbegong shark, two hammerheads swimming together and two big silver tip sharks who got very close to divers. 

 

Nimrod Explorer visited the dive sites Fantasia Pixie’s Pinnacle and Lighthouse Bommie in the Ribbon Reefs.  They then headed out to Osprey Reef for diving at Raging Horn, Castles, Admiralty, West Wall, Shark Attraction, North Wall and Silver City. 

 

Visibility at all sites was about 20m and the average water temperature is now 25C. 

Take some time on Sunday to consider the affect that the ocean has had on your life and the effect that you have on the ocean. 

 

All guests arrived to Caribbean Explorer II by 3:00pm.  Dinner and the safety briefing were done while the boat was at the marina and at 9:30pm the boat headed out to Saba.  They arrived just after midnight and spent the night at the Custom’s House mooring.  There was a strong current this week, but dives were done at Ladder Labyrinth, Custom House, Ladder Lab, 3^rd Encounter, Tent Wall and Torrens Point.  Half of the group went on the tour to see the beautiful “Unspoiled Queen” of the Caribbean, as Saba is called. 

On Wednesday morning the boat crossed to Statia for a day of diving in the Statia Marine Park.  Dives were done at Double Wreck, Barracuda Reef, Wreck City and the Ledges.  Once everyone was up from the night dive, Caribbean Explorer II headed departed Statia and headed to St. Kitts, arriving just after midnight.  The rest of the week was spent diving at St. Kitts, visiting the sites Paradise Reef, Anchors Away, Taw River and Ye Olde Anchor. 

Visibility over the week was good at most of the dive sights.  The average water temperature was 81F. 

 

 

Caribbean Explorer I headed out with 17 passengers on May 17^th. Their first stop was to Hog Cay Reef off of Long Island for everyone to get used to diving in the Bahamas. After the morning dives they headed out to Conception and dove at Hocus Pocus and Missing Link. They made the crossing to San Salvador and spent all day Monday and Tuesday and half of Wednesday diving at San Salvador. They visited the dive sites Great Cut, Telephone Pole, Pyramid, Sea Garden, Runway 10, Humps, La Crevasse, Hole in the Wall, Double Caves and Blowhole. The boat headed back to Conception amidst some rough seas for the Wednesday afternoon dives at Chutes and Ladders. The Thursday dives were also at Conception at Wedge Point and Grouper Ledge. The week of diving ended with the traditional stop at Shark Reef off of Long Island.

Average water temperature was 77F.

The diving has been great on the Great Barrier Reef, with some particularly good dives at Raging Horn and at Acropolis. 

 

Some of the May critter sightings from Nimrod Explorer:

 

·         A manta ray and three hammerhead sharks at Raging Horn

·         A hammerhead shark on a night dive at Pixie’s Pinnacle

·         A leafy scorpion fish at Jaynem’s Wall

·         At Steve’s Bommie: a stargazer, a black cowrie shell, a white leaf scorpion fish, a silver tip shark, a wobbegong shark and several white tip reef sharks

·         At Lighthouse Bommie: turtles, nudibranchs, an olive sea snake and several long-nose hawkfish

·         At Andy’s Postcard a yellow lacey scorpion fish on the night dive

·         Grey whale sharks

·         White and black tip reef sharks

·         Green Moray Eels

·         Stone fish

 

While moored up for the night at Lizard Island, a male tawny nurse shark visited the boat.  Three guests got into the water to snorkel with him and he swam right up to them!  Sounds very cool!

 

Spinner dolphins love to ride bow waves, and several pods of them have been visiting Nimrod Explorer on a regular basis as the boat moves between dive sites. 

 

The average water temperature has been 25 – 26C.

Tons of frogfish and seahorses have been spotted off of Caribbean Explorer II recently. 

 

The weather in May from St. Maarten to St. Kitts has been relatively good.  The average air temperature is about 80F and the average water temperature has been between 79F and 80F. 

 

As spring and summer approach, the weather in the southern Bahamas is calmer and Caribbean Explorer I has been able to get out to San Salvador on a more regular basis.  The average water temperature is about 77. 

 

However, the warmer water and better weather mean that they are seeing fewer hammerhead sharks – you can decide whether you think that is a good thing or a bad!  Other sightings from Caribbean Explorer I include frogfish, Nassau grouper, yellowtail snapper, turtles, midnight parrotfish, Caribbean reef sharks, southern stingrays, goatfish and grunts. 

The “As the Prop Turns” blog will not likely be updated until Monday, May 19 as I am doing my PADI IDC course.  Please excuse the lapse!

On a beautiful and sunny Saturday morning, the six guests who went on the Osprey trip were joined by eight new guests who flew up to join the boat. Once everyone was on the boat, introductions had been made and the safety briefing was done, Nimrod Explorer left Lizard Island and headed out for some diving. The water temperature was 25-26C over the week.

The first dive site that they visited was Snake Pit. After the dive and lunch, Captain Trent Thomas took the boat to Cod Hole. Along the way they were joined by a pod of spinner dolphins who rode the bow for quite a while! The boat arrived at Cod Hole just after 3pm for an afternoon Cod Feed. Visibility at the dive site was about 20m. The boat remained at the Cod Hole mooring for the night dive, and just past sunset, the pod of dolphins swam by the boat again.

The beautiful weather continued as Nimrod Explorer left Cod Hole early Sunday morning and headed to the site Stepping Stones for the first dive of the day. Once everyone had explored the site, they headed onto Lighthouse Bommie for a second dive and for lunch. The third dive of the day was at Acropolis where a pigmy seahorse was spotted. The last two dives were done at Monolith, named for the impressive coral one can see at the site. The visibility was 20m here as well. After the night dive, the boat headed south for Ribbon Reef #5.

On Monday everyone woke up bright and early for a dawn dive at Jayenems Wall. After breakfast, divers jumped into the water again to explore the site in the bright sunshine. As the boat left Jayenems Wall they were joined by another pod of dolphins who rode the bow all the way to Flare Point. Unfortunately they didn’t stick around for the dive. But I guess you can’t have everything! Three dolphin visits is pretty good! The last dives of the trip were done at the beautiful site, Steve’s Bommie in 25m visibility.

While at Steve’s Bommie, guests and crew completed the Project AWARE Asia Pacific Fish Survey. They recorded all sightings of ten pre-determined fish species including big eye trevally, lionfish, leaf scorpion fish, whitetip reef shark and yellowfin goatfish. The surveys were sent to Project AWARE for inclusion in their database. In recognition of their participation in the survey, all guests received Project AWARE certificates and decals. Thanks to everyone who helped with this monitoring project!

After the surveys at Steve’s Bommie, Nimrod Explorer began the long, but luckily calm, trip back to Cairns. In the morning, after pictures on the bow, everyone said goodbye. Thanks for a great trip everyone!