A four-star four-tank day!

It was a wonderful day today!

We started out at Turtle Cove, despite not having Peleliu dive permits.  Blessedly it is off season, so they are not too strict.  We didn’t get Peleliu permits this time because of how devastated the reef appeared on our last visit.  It will likely be several years before we go back there again.

That being said, we had a new divemaster today, Antonio, who has been leading dives for the past 8 years.  Tova (FnF owner) employs only Palauan dive guides, making for a culturally aware dive shop that can provide more information than might be expected (i.e. turtle shell cleaning with soft coral).  The DM reminded me a little bit of Mr. Keo - especially his startle response.  It is funny to watch him, he gets entranced by the dive, and then suddenly realizes he has divers behind him.  Four out of five of us are instructors, though, so not too much to worry about.  As long as he keeps the newbie at his side!  We saw a turtle cleaning its shell against the coral (with two remoras on board), a wire coral with up to 10 gobies on it, and a black snapper school.  Unfortunately, the eel we saw last time was not in residence today.

We next went to New Drop Off hoping for another Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but no luck - there was almost no current, definitely  pretty slow for a full moon.  We did see three turtles, lots of ta’ape, a couple of barracuda, and a juvenile bumphead parrotfish.  Being hooked in really did nothing for us, none of the big critters were having anything to do with us on this dive.  When we got on board, I was concerned that I had air trapped in my BCD.  Turns out I did not.  Instead, I had oodles of water in it!  The tear is getting bigger.  I may need to get new wings when we get home (although Wayne mentions that they are now making a woman’s BCD, so I may wind up getting a whole new rigging).

Then we were off to German Channel.  To be honest with you, I don’t have to dive German Channel ever again.  Last year’s five for five sightings of manta rays was unbelieveable.  Astounding.  I just don’t know that we could ever manage that again.  That being said, our companions wanted to do the channel, so we went along.  I simply hoped for some grey reef sharks.  But our luck held (thank you Jodi!), and we saw a lone manta ray at the second cleaning station.  Lovely.  And the same Napoleon wrasse was present, along with dozens and dozens of groupers.  An amazing dive, and I’m glad we didn’t miss it!

We headed in to the shop to get new tanks for our fourth dive, and to wait for the sun to get lower in the sky.  We tried to figure out which wreck we wanted to do as the night dive.  I had voted for Jake Seaplane, but it apparently has been severely damaged (as had the surrounding reef) by Bopha, so the choice swung to Chuyo Maru.  This was the first time diving the Chuyo for me, the second for Wayne.  So I have now hit two new dive sites!  The Hollis finally let me back in, and I descended with it.  I did use my backup compyuter for the first three dives of the day, so please do not fear!  There were lots of interesting shrimp, gunwhales, and lots to explore.  I did not penetrate the wreck, though, as I had never dived it before in daylight, much less the night.  While we were doing our gradual ascent (reminiscent, as Wayne reminds me, of Chuuk) we finally found a longnose hawkfish.  Woo hoo, they are not gone!

After we got back and rinsed gear, we walked (horrors gasped the FnF staff) to Sushi Bar Mito for dinner.  I had hoped to go to Mog Mog tonight, but Wayne was in the mood for Japanese, so we went.  I have to admit, it was quite good.  I had the grilled squid and minute seared fish of some sort, Wayne a sushi combo.  A good find, and we will be able to report positively.  Yummy!  

And it's hit!

Dive 999 brought us to Blue Holes.  We were once again let off the leash by Robin, our DM, and given the opportunity to dive our dive.  We don’t ask for much, just for an hour under water!

We saw the ubiquitous disco clams, a hawksbill turtle and several squarespot anthias on the dive.  The exploration in the cave was unhurried and pleasant, and then we drifted down towards Blue Corner.  Very, very pleasant.  The only bad part was the fact that my mask kept fogging over, and I spent a good part of the dive blowing my nose. The stinging in my eyes was not fun!  I may have to stop using my eye cream until the dive is over, since that may be what was causing the stinging, and for me to make faces.  Making faces does not let you seal your mask!

Dive 1000 started with my primary dive computer telling me I had too much nitrogen in my blood stream.  I was more than a little perplexed - my backup dive computer showed me as in the green, and I dived the same profile as Wayne (same dive computer) and both his computers read thumbs up.  There was a recall notice on the Hollis before we left for Palau, I wonder if this is what caused the recall.

Anyway, we hooked in at the mouth of the channel for about an hour, and then we took off on a seven minute ride through the channel.  We were going at the speed I remembered from my first trip to Palau - it was wonderful.  Since it is grouper mating season, there were groupers all over the channel.  Amazing.  And very few titan triggerfish (yay!)

When we got to the surface, my BC wouldn’t hold air.  I was glad I had dropped to six pounds.  It turns out that there is a hole in the bladder of my travel wings.  Dive Gear Express does not sell bladders, so I will have to contact Dive Rite when we return home.  I think that the bladder was weakened on our Kona dive trip when my SS1 kept hyper inflating the BC.

On our way back to the shop, my hooded vest flew off the boat and sank to the bottom of the lagoon.  :(  Seems like gear failure is a theme this year.  O-rings, hoses, computers, bladders, lost equipment.  Oh well, they are just things.  I’m glad we invest in redundant equipment.

Our final dive of the day was the Helmet Wreck.  The condition of the wreck continues to deteriorate (you almost cannot recognize the helmets as being helmets), and the surveying equipment we saw last summer is still on the wreck, tripod, lines and all.  We searched in vain for the crocodile scorpionfish.  Maybe some other time.  There was a spiny pufferfish and a batfish, so at least some life still exists on the wreck. 

I always feel like I have inhaled dirt after that dive - a shower at the shop is going to be very much appreciated.

We are planning on four dives tomorrow with our British PADI instructor counterparts.  It should be an interesting day - we haven’t done a four tank shore based dive schedule in years.

We headed out to WCTC for benedryl, as both Wayne and I were having difficulty sleeping thanks to the itching of our bug bites.  I expect sleep to be somewhat better tonight.  

The celebratory dinner was at (naturally) the Taj.  I finally had the lobster curry masala - it was magnificent.  The Taj really is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world.  Too bad it takes such a long time to get there.  Robert gave us free t-shirts at the end of our meal, plus a complimentary dessert.  Oh, I think I may explode!  Happy, happy girl.

Inching towards 1000

The first order of business this morning was making sure we were able to check out of the Carolines and secure better accommodations.  Especially since we woke up with a new spate of bug bites all over the parts of our bodies that touched the sheets.  Wayne found and killed a bug in the bed.  He thinks it was fleas.  I think I am dousing the luggage with anti bed bug juice when we get home, and washing all our clothes in hot water.  Thank goodness we didn’t really unpack our bags.

Blessedly, the staff at Fish ’n Fins responded to my voice mail as soon as they were in, and we had reservations secured at the Sea Passion before 8:30 am.  Our bags were packed and ready to go, and we checked out following breakfast.  We had another divemaster join us, Loreen, who regaled us of tales from the 2d ID.  She was a 75B, so she immediately won my allegiance, as my 75B when I was a company commander was the sizzle fashizzle.  

Although the breakfasts were good, they have been somewhat small for diving days.  I think we are in calorie deficit right now despite all our best efforts at the Taj last night.  And the bentos that are made by the staff at FnF.  I am planning on trying a different bento each day in order to figure out which I like the best!

I really am quite impressed with this dive operation. Can’t wait to see the liveaboards when they are back in, which should be this Saturday.

Our first dive today (997!) was Big Drop Off.  We found two of the pipefish that inhabit the red wire coral, but alas, no longnose hawkfish.  Those guys have been in short supply over the past year, I am hoping they were not wiped out by Bopha several years ago.  Given the amount of destruction inflicted upon Peleliu, I can only imagine that it is possible.  We also saw a turtle with a very healthy shell, dozens of rainbow runners, blue and gold fusiliers, and a few square spot anthias.  Nice drift along the wall once we turned around.  I really think Wayne and I could become Palau Ping Pong Dive Instructors at this point.

Our second dive was at Ngerchong Outside.  I had never been there before.  Speaking to the damage Bopha wreaked on Peleliu’s eastern shores, Ngerchong suffered a similar fate.  The dive took us out on a wild ride in the deep blue, where we encountered a few grey reef sharks, and an eagle ray just begging to be photographed.  There was enough out in the blue to make you forget the condition of the reef behind you.  A very enjoyable dive, and the ride in the current was quick and fun.

Two of our fellow divers were interested in a third tank, but we needed to make sure we were checked in at the Sea Passion, so we passed until tomorrow.  But there will be three dives tomorrow, and very possibly on Thursday.  Lupin, the dive cat, agrees with that assessment, provided we furnish her sashimi.

We got to the Sea Passion, and were checked into a Deluxe Ocean View room on the newly renovated second floor.  I have to remember to ask for room 201 in the future - laminate flooring, an organized, efficient bathroom, and a desk!  Of course, the wifi from 3G plus was not working, but they now have an internet lounge.  You hand them your device, they enter the password, and it’s smooth (albeit slow) sailing from there.  It’s frustrating to not have the better, faster 3G Plus wifi network, but it’s a Taiwanese satellite issue.  C’est la vie.

We went to the Fuji restaurant for dinner, first time for me, because the Japanese restaurant under Sam’s was closed.  It was completely empty when we entered, but shortly afterwards a group of 35 came in (Japanese students) and the joint was hopping.  The sashimi was absolutely wonderful, fresh, and tasty.  And the service, despite the large group, was great.  A place to come again.

And we have landed

We got into the airport last night a little bit early.  Staff from Fish ’n Fins was awaiting our arrival, but no one was there from the Carolines to greet us and bring us to the hotel.  When we got in to our cabin, the room was very hot and sweat inducing.  We modestly unpacked (mostly unpacking our dive gear), and finally went to bed.  I fell asleep sometime after midnight, and awoke at 3 am, shivering as the room had finally cooled off.  We wound up staying awake at that point, and getting ourselves ready for breakfast and the dive day.  The view from our cabin was beautiful, and the skies were welcoming our arrival back to Palau.  Howver, we were covered in bites of some sort, not entirely too sure what did it, as I heard no mosquitos last night.  And, as breakfast was served, gnats began to swarm around our little cabin.  We are the only ones here, so I have no idea as to whether or not it happens in the other cabins.

The driver from Fish ’n Fins was early!  We were ready to go, though, so off we went.

We dove with Robin, who is deemed a senior divemaster and expert on local history.  He was very interesting and entertaining during the trip.  As we headed towards Ngemlis Coral Garden (aka Dexter’s Wall), he told us about why the turtles in Palau had such clean shells - apparently they brush up against the soft corals, which scrape any debris off of the shell.  We got to see one in action on the Ngemlis dive!  There were many turtles on the dive, to include a hawksbill and green sea turtle sitting butt to butt.  Plus I got to see my very first leopard shark!!

I want to take a minute to rave about the boat designed by Navot Bornovski (co-owner and marine engineer).  There are rows of seats, each of which has 3 tank slots in front of it.  Divers suit up in their seat, and then roll into the water without having to rush and jockey for position on one of two entry locations.  The ladders are not terribly short, and the larger boats have a railing that goes into the boat, providing more stability.

Loved it.

Our second dive of the day was at an old favorite - Blue Corner.  We timed the dive trip to be between the half moon and full moon this summer so that we could get the good currents on the channel dives, and see big critters.  Unfortunately, Blue Corner didn’t get the memo!  Almost no sharks, and ping pong current (those who have dived w/Joedyn know what I’m talking about).  We did see a lot of jacks, and some really big chevron barracuda, and I was befriended by the Napoleon wrasse after doing the “Gee, do I have an egg?” trick.  We also noticed a lot of feeding anemones on the corner today as well.

Robin was very good to us - we had some novices diving in the boat with us, and he briefed a 45 minute dive at both locations.  I must have made a sad face, because he said that some of us were very experienced, and he would be happy to let us stay down without him to finish up the dive at an hour.  Yay!  All of our divemasters were very good that way, shepherding the inexperienced, and giving those of us with experience a little leeway.  

On our trip home, Robin diverted the travel a big to show us some sea snakes up on dry land - he also admonished us that they might even be in the trees and fall down on top of us.  Ick.

We returned to the Carolines only to discover that they had turned off our air conditioning during the day.  Since our room gets all the afternoon sunlight, you can imagine how hot it was.  Probably over 100 degrees.  And we couldn’t turn on the air conditioning.  It seems that the units are old, and you have to hold the button a long time and press hard.  Even after 2 1/2 hours with the air on, the room had not cooled down.  We decided on the way to dinner to cut our losses, and change hotels.  I called Fish ’n Fins and left a message - after we talked with the front desk.  They were very concerned about us leaving, but we really couldn’t stay there any longer.  We are hoping to get the Sea Passion tomorrow morning.

Dinner was at the Taj - a favorite place of ours.  The favorite place of ours. Robert and his staff were warm and welcoming, and we thoroughly enjoyed our supper. 

Heading back to Palau for post-1L play

Well, here we go again!  This is Wayne’s fifteenth time, and my tenth.  We are going to be diving Well, here we go again!  This is Wayne’s fifteenth time, and my tenth.  We are going to be diving with a different outfit this time, Fish 'n Fins, and we are staying at the Carolines.  We are excited to be trying something new, and will keep you all up to date!with a different outfit this time, Fish 'n Fins, and we are staying at the Carolines.  We are excited to be trying something new, and will keep you all up to date!