Day 6 - Monday

We did two boat dives today. The first dive was to Bon Adventure on Klien.

This was a cool coral formation, and my attempemt to get the blue in the picture with the diver.

It didn't work like I wanted it to, but it's still got good color.



Juvenille Spotted Drum


Neat looking sponge


Two Criniods



Next we went to a "secret" spot off of the main island called Kelly's reef. There is no mooring here, but the water was calm, so I liked it. Alex was our guide on this dive and almost as soon as we jumped in, we started seeing cool stuff! First Alex called me over to take a picture of a beautiful criniod "spread eagle".
Then Alex found a giant lobster tucked under a ledge. We also saw two separate sea horses. Alex took the camera and got a great picture of one of them for me. I'm a little over-cautious and don't like to risk getting too close to things. We were crusing along and Alex rang his bells and was pointing to the blue... a spotted eagle ray was cruising past us. He was georgous! Then we came up into the shallows to do some off gassing and were looking around in the staghorn corals and a group of squid paid
us a visit.

Big Lobster


Alex said that it's very unusual to see crinoids spread eagle like this


This is the teenage brother to the spotted drum we saw at Bon Adventure




The only bad thing about this dive is there were about 10 divers, and they would all crowd around when Alex would point something out. The other thing is there was another bad diver. We called her the "Plow". Steve described her as a snake in the grass. She would be right on the reef plowing through the soft corals. It was painful to watch. I almost grabbed her by the tank and pulled her up, but I whimped out. I know I
should have said something to her on board the boat, but I'm too shy, and it's really not my place. I know she broke some stuff though.

Here is a diver frenzy trying to get a look at a seahorse


Besides that, this was one of my favorite dives of the trip!

We came back, had lunch and then did our daily dive on Buddy's reef. We went South a short way again, and saw an awesome cleaning station. Creole wrasse would zoom in one or two at a time, get cleaned up , then zoom out to let another pair in. We paid homage to the seahorse, then went to look for the frogfish. Rob one of the Buddy Dive divemasters was there with a student. We looked and looked for that frogfish. I thought
I found him, and went to get Steve's attention, but then I couldn't find him again. Rob finally found him hiding on the side of some coral.



After this dive, we got cleaned up and headed to the bar for Polars. We were going to go to the Lighthouse Bar and Grill for dinner, but T.C. talked us into to trying Swiss Chalet. I had the beef stroganoff - it has pickles in it which threw me off, but it was good! Steve had the pork tenderloin with mushroom sauce. He LOVED it!
He said this was his favorite meal on the whole trip. It was certianly filling! Afterwards, we went back to rest up for our last day of diving.

Renee, The frogfish is a exellant picture. Looking forward to Part 6!

Hi Renee,

great pictures. I realy like the frogfish.

But next time you see another "plow" diver, don't be shy. While you're still in the water make the diver aware the he/she is destroying precious marine live.

(-: If his/her diving skills don't improve immediately, just pull your knife and make signs like you want to cut his airhose. That usually helps.

I just hate divers that can't control their bouyancy. They should either stay in the swimming pool or on a sandy bottom until they learn it properly.

Sorry for ranting (a bit).

Happy holidays to all,

Peter

Renee--I am really enjoying your report & pics.

Great pictures and report, thanks again Renee!
Keep them coming please

THANKS FOR THE VACATION!!!! I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN THERE ALREADY-------PETE