This had to be the best dive day in my life. Ever! Even better than two dives in a row at the nursery in Rongelap. The only word we could possibly use to describe the day was wow.
At first I was worried, Joedyn was still off because his son had a checkup later in morning, and we were assigned to Matsu. But the boat only had 6 divers today rather than 12, so we decided we’d go with the flow. And we were glad we did.
Blue Corner as the first boat - amazing. We were the first boat there, and when we descended, there was absolutely no current on the corner, and the life was teeming. There were sharks, Napoleons, barracuda, jacks, turtles, almost a case of you name it, you see it. Best Blue Corner dive ever!
The second dive was among my least favorite in Palau - Virgin Blue Hole, which is a hole that takes you down about 110 feet before you enter into the blue waters. The entry was unremarkable, but the reef, after we got back up to 30 feet, was quite lovely. I could have dived that for an hour and skipped the hole!
But then came the dive of the day for real - German Channel. We weren’t expecting anything at all, especially after two manta sightings this year. We descended by the first cleaning station, where I was attacked by a dascyllus. After about 10 minutes, we were afraid the whole dive was a bust - no sharks, no mantas, no jacks - but then we went to the bait ball. OMG. 4 manta rays! Going to town on plankton. And Wayne had let me use the housing today, so it was my chance to go for broke taking pictures! I think I shot almost 100. Yee haw! We’re on a winning streak this year!
Dinner was at Palm Bay Bistro. We also made reservations for New Year’s Eve dinner, since we figure that it will be quiet and easy going here rather than hitting the party scene. The menu here continues to get better and better. I’m certain that Wayne will continue to want to come back, no matter where we stay here.
Red Rooster now makes a red and white wine. Somehow, that scares me. Maybe I’ll try it in a few years, kind of like returning to Peleliu.
