First and foremost, I must tip my hat to Tova and her staff at Fish ’n Fins. The service (and the bentos!) was excellent, and the dive guides treated us with respect and courtesy. They made us feel welcome and very comfortable.
Tova returned today from a dive show in California, and was excited for us to come and visit Ocean Hunter I and III on Saturday. We are looking forward to the visit. If it is anything at all like the website shows, I think both would be very comfortable dive platforms. We have provided supplies for both during the course of the week (our dive guides brought items out to the liveaboards), and the staff on the liveaboards rewarded us with chocolate. :)
Our first dive returned us to Blue Holes. Our diving companions wanted to dive the Temple of Doom (a cave at the bottom of the Holes). I have not yet overcome claustrophobia to the point of being able to be in a dark, covered room where I cannot see the exit, so Wayne joined me in an extended surveyal of the Holes. I finally got a good disco clam shot! When the boys returned from the Temple, we drifted out in the blue towards Blue Corner. We were joined by my BF the Napoleon wrasse, and we then got to fly across the top of the Corner. The divers hooked in below seemed to look at us with awe. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
The last dive of the trip for us was a return to Ulong Channel. We were pleasantly surprised with a huge school of Jacks, but there were really no sharks to be seen at the mouth. After a long 40 minutes waiting for something to happen, we took off down the channel. It was slow go drifting until we reached the lettuce coral, and then the rocket ride commenced. At about an hour of bottom time, Wayne deployed the sausage and we were up after a safety stop. What a wonderful way to end the trip. Thank you Antonio for suggesting that we do a channel as our last dive!
We got back, cleaned our gear (mirazyme rocks!), and indulged in a plate of tuna sashimi and some beer. I cannot wait to come back to this dive shop, regardless of whether it is on one of the Ocean Hunters, or it is land based. They were wonderful here, and they truly understand what it is to be a service agency. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Dinner was at the Taj, alas no Mog Mog this trip. Maybe next time. Because you KNOW we are eating there again tomorrow night.
