What a trip! We went with Rainbow Scuba (dive master: Ken) and had an amazing dive. He took us all over the inside of the Sea Tiger wreck--through two of its decks, down into the engine room and back out through the helm.
It was awesome. We saw a big turtle inside, a viper eel (looks like something out of a D&D monster manual), crabs with sponges for backpacks, lots of yellow fish, a white and black sea snake. The sea turtle resting inside the wreck was a highlight.
Going inside the wreck through the narrow--and dark--passages that were a door or two removed from the outside was a little scary, but definitely worth it. What an experience.
We also met, Daniel, a fascinating fellow. I'm not sure how much he wants known about himself on the internet, but he struck me as my kind of guy. He dove with a kilt on to try and win some kilt-wearing contest. I have to say, it looked like a nice kilt. Hopefully he'll have some pics and videos put up soon. If you see "Sea Tiger Wreck" or "Pipe" on one of his albums/videos, those are the ones we were on.
On the way to the second dive, we got to hang out with a pod (or three?) of spinner dolphins. Very cute. They were so close to the boat I was afraid we'd hit them. I wanted to jump in and swim with them. Next time.
The second dive wasn't quite as new as the first one, but we did see a whole lot of turtles. They must be used to people, because they don't mind drifting right by us. Critter summary of second dive:
- Big (volley ball size) red frog fish. I was looking right at this guy (from a foot away) and didn't see him until he opened his mouth
- Small (child's fist size) fluorescent frog fish. Very cute. Looked like he belonged in a Pixar movie. They have an expression on their face that makes them look a little disgusted with the world in a kind of curmudgeony way. Adorable.
- Small, spotted shrimp
- Four or so large green turtles. These guys were pretty big. Some sitting on the bottom, some coming down or going up. I sank down with one who was on his way back from a breath and tracked him to the bottom. Very neat.
- A very small white-tipped shark hanging out under a rock. Wouldn't have seen this one if it weren't for the persistence of our dive-master.
Phew!
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