Two Low Visibility Dives with Beachhopper II , Post Retirement Dives 808, 809 November 16, 2024

Last Saturday, November 16, 2024 I made two dives, together with Guy Foster, with Beachhopper II following several days of rough seas, so the visibility on the two dives was very limited. On the first site, Mr Ed, visibility was only 3 ft and because it is also a deep dive, 70 - 80 ft, it was very dark as well. The second dive was at Tankers Reef, a site that until a few months ago, was an experimental site where divers culled the plague of purple urchins in order to allow Giant Kelp to grow. Happily, some of the Giant Kelp still endures. Visibility was better, it ranged 6 to 12 ft. I used my 7 mm wetsuit on this dive because my DUI drysuit is at Otter Bay Wetsuits for adding knee pads and adding a zipper catch. This was the first time I tried diving with the new deluxe heavy skin from Sharkskin as an underlayer and I was pleased with the additional warmth it provided. Full disclosure, I also used by chemical transition heating pads on each dive and the pads provide noticeable localized warmth for 20 minutes or so. During the dive at Tankers Reef, and this was my first dive on this site, I was delighted to see my first One Spot Fringehead, thanks to Jim Kirkland and Lisa. Photos from these two dives are below. It was dark with only 3 ft of visibility so I was glad I was shooting macro with my Canon 60 mm lens. Below is a Brown Cup Coral, about 3/4 inches across.

Below, a Snub Nose Sculpin:

Strawberry Anemones, each about 1/2 inch across, below:

Gopher Rockfish face shots, below:

Lingcod face shots, below:

I kept my dive very short, about 20 minutes because it was dark, cold, and very limited visibility and decided I'd save some body warmth for the second, hopefully better, dive. This was my first dive at Tankers Reef and it lived up to its reputation as a great site for macro photography. It's a relatively shallow dive, 36 ft, so light was much better as well as about 3 times the visibility range. I saw several different nudibranchs, a small octopus, and my first ever Onespot Fringehead. Below: Tankers Reef still has lines marking its boundaries, here's one of the tags that can be used to tell you where you are along the boundary line.

Various Nudibranchs, below:

Below are a few shots of the small, cooperative octopus I spotted. He was sligtly more than half the size of my spread hand.

I continued to follow the northern boundary line back past Beachhopper's anchor and then I spotted Lisa and Jim with the Onespot Fringehead. Lisa finisthed taking a couple pictures and then turned him over to my shooting. I was nearing the need to end my dive and go back to the anchor, up the anchor line, and do my 3 minute safety stop before running out of air. Below are my favorite shots from my first ever, after 46 years of diving Northern California, Onespot Fringehead, about 6 inches long.

To see the rest of my photos from Tankers Reef, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CtyRr99jJTRCuGK66

Nai'a September 14 - 24, Last Four Days, Sept 20 - 23 October 7, 2024

September 20, 2024 Namena Reserve Woke up with scratch throat and congestion. Weather continues overcast and windy. First Dive was at a memorable (from last trip) site called Kansas. Post retirement dive 799. This site is memorable because the top of the pinnacle is covered with soft coral that looks like fields of wheat. Sudafed worked, no problem with ears or sinuses. Orange Finned Anemonefish with Coral Shrimp, below:

Guy at one of the beautiful look throughs at the Kansas site, below:

Beautiful, dense life throughout the site. Below:

Below: Marauding Bluefin Trevally Jacks

Below: Guy took this picture of me hanging by a line in the strong current, just watching the action.

Skipped second dive to get warm and nurse my cold. I'm definitely far from 100%... Also skipped third dive, it was windy, rough, cloudy and current was expected to continue to be strong so I decided to just do the fourth dive of the day... Grand Central Station, the boat's fourth dive of the day, just my second, post retirement dive #800 . Sudafed continues to work well. Strong Current, hung off with hook, schools of barracuda, Gray Reef Sharks, big beautiful arch, Leopard Ray but not close enough for good picturew Below: Gray Reef Sharks, Dogtooth Tuna, Schools of Barracuda at Grand Central Station

We had a couple people frequently snorkeling on our trip. When they got too close to a nesting site, they had enthusiastic visitors! shades of "The Birds"! Below:

Too wiped out for Kava party, despite two one hour naps during the day and only two dives. In bed and asleep by 8 pm. We were exceptionally well fed on this trip, the following couple of photos are of the form that went around evey day for us to pick which items we want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the next day's boat menu. Below:

September 21 Nine hours of sleep!! First dive, Schoolhouse, an hour later than usual in an effort to get less current. Still breezy weather but we got sunshine again at last! Post retirement dive #801. Dogtooth Tuna, below:

Below: School of Big Eye Trevally Jacks

Drone shots are from Guy, below:

Below: Mighty Righty skiff departing with me, Guy, Richard Sr and Jr, Bela, and Chuck

Guy took this good picture of me:

Guy, back on Nai'a, flew his drone to get this great shot of Bela, Richard Sr and Jr, and I getting shuttled back to Nai'a after surfacing from our dive. Below:

Tetros Dive 802 Tetros is another coral pinnacle, below:

Above: Look at the density of life, look at the clouds of tiny fish, then, there's the beautiful Coral Grouper Below: Another beautiful Coral Grouper

Look at the incredible number of worms inhabiting this big coral head. Below:

Below: Beautiful soft coral in the foreground, Guy in the background, with our diving skiff on the surface above, tracking our bubbles.

Barcheek Trevally, center, Bluefin Trevally to its right, below:

The life on the top of the pinnacle is incredibly dense, below:

Nammalala Night Dive 803 Below are a few shots from the only night dive I made on the trip, largely because of getting sick with an awful cough that got worse with each scuba dive's dry air, so I greatly curtailed my number of dives. Juvenile Green Sea Turtle:

Hermit Crab:

Banded Sea Krait:

September 22

Humann Nature, post retirement dive 804. The site is named after an underwater fish photographer, not a mispelling of human! Descending on the site, you can't help but be awestruck at the beautiful corals and shoals of fish, large and small. Below:

Huge, beautiful school of barracuda:

Swimming into a grotto between the coral pinnacles, I came upon a big beautiful Spiny Lobster, below:

I was able to get into position to get pictures of Guy having his turn with the lobster, below:

Breathtaking beauty at every turn on this site, below:

Scorpionfish, below:

Cat's Meow, post retirement dive 805 Cat's Meow is another gorgeous coral pinnacle, you start the dive deep and end it enjoying the beauty of the top of the pinnacle for your 3 minute safety stop. Below:

Beautiful soft coral, below:

Beautiful Tomato Anemonefish, below:

Beautiful Sea Fan, below:

Guy gets a shot, below:

Pinnacle, post retirement dive 806 Another unbelievable beautiful, rich, dive site. Below: Several shots of a Two Tone Dartfish, the first I've ever photographed, about 4 inches long.

Below: Pacific Double-Saddle Butterflyfish

Beautiful Coral Seascapes, below:

I spotted a fish that was new to me, a Leopard Blenny. I worked hard to try to get a clear picture of it, with very limited success....Below:

I skipped the fourth dive, dry hacking cough and a headache. The dry scuba air makes the cough worse. Ugh, I hate missing wonderful dives like these... September 23 Coral Corner, post retirement dive 807, our last day of diving and, as the dive progressed with my terrible hacking cough getting worse with every breath of dry scuba air, my last dive for the trip, but a very very good dive which included by far my best ever encounter with a large, busily excavating, Titan Triggerfish, which can become very aggressive towards divers and issue painful bites. Below:

A great drone shot of Coral Corner, below:

Crew singing after our last dinner on board:

Our Cruise Directors/Dive Masters Bell and Mike are very professional and worked hard but they were ready to wrap up our diving! Photo by Guy, Below:

Here's the marked up chart for all the stops we made except our final afternoon and evening of cruising back to port:

A great trip, but all good things come to an end, photos by Guy: