11 April 2014-
Today we're doing the biggest, coolest dives we've done yet (okay…maybe Mark's dive with the whale sharks might be on the same par). We're going to head to Apo Reef! It's a national park – underwater – which hasn't been fished for over a decade. That means that there should be an abundance of corals and fish. Annika and I are a wee bit nervous because the dive master, Marvin, told us there was a chance to see hammerhead sharks. (!!!!!) I can handle the little black-tip reef sharks we've seen swimming along the house reef but I'll admit I'm nervous about seeing other sharks. Eeep! Marvin also said that the reef sharks love eating cuttle fish. He also said that cuttle fish will often swim near divers to act as protection against the sharks. So…if you see a bunch of cuttle fish swimming quickly – chances are they're being chased by shark!
A little more info on Apo Reef on Wikipedia.
We got up super duper early (hey, aren't we on vacation??? So that means getting up at 6:30am??? Yikes!). They say it's a THREE-HOUR boat ride to the reef. Eep! That means getting up even earlier than we'd like to, eating a quick breakfast before boarding. Ready to go?
Marvin, our dive master today, said we're going to try and squeeze in three dives today. That means about 45 minutes for the first day, one hour resting on the boat, then dive number 2…and then lunch followed finally by the third and last dive.
Marvin is diving with us – there are three other divers with us but they're going with a different diving guide (we're going to stay shallower with Annika). The first thing we saw when we went down? These Bumphead Parrotfish:
I know the photo doesn't necessarily put them into scale but they're BIG. And poor Annika was terrified of them! However, parrotfish are CORAL eaters. We finally got her to calm down. Whew!
There was a *REALLY* strong current here – it was almost impossible to swim against it. And I'm not sure if these photos show the immense fish, coral and other sea creatures – the diversity was Other Worldly. Truly breath-taking!
Hello, Mr. Sea Turtle!
Annika and me… Annika clutched our hands very tightly at first because we saw a few white-tipped reef sharks down the wall. Oh, did I mention the Wall? The reef had a very sharp, approximately 30m drop-off. I couldn't see the bottom of it! We just swam along the top edge but we could see fish swimming down below us. We even got to see a tuna!
We're all okay!Mark:
Hello, Mr. Sea Turtle #2:
Finally, a calm Annika:
Watching the sea turtle munching away:
And, we're up! We took a quick, one-hour break and then it's time to head back down. We're in a slightly different location and *thank goodness* the current isn't as strong at this location:
Ah, I'm the one with the bright yellow watch/dive computer:
Yes, that's The Wall. No, that isn't the photo turned on its side. It really is a wall that keeps going and going and going down into the deep, dark ocean:Yes, the fish appear to be pointed downwards:
We saw several white-tip reef sharks. They're very similar to the black-tip reef sharks…They're not very big (thank goodness!!!!!) Some of them had hitch-hikers following them:
Another shark:
Mark, Marvin and I did the third dive alone. None of the other divers was up to it (one was sea-sick, one had an ear infection, Annika was tired, and I'm not sure why the last one didn't want to go). It was a quick dive in the shallow (you start your day diving in the deepest part and go shallower on subsequent dives).
I seriously wish the photos clearly showed the amazing colors of all the fish and corals we saw. It was FANTASTIC!!!!
Now we've got a three hour boat ride back to Club Paradise. I ended up snoozing on one of the make-shift cots on the netting of one of the outriggers. The water was constantly coming up and splashing us so we couldn't sit on the benches without getting soaked. Mark and the girls moved to the front of the boat to attempt warming up and staying dry.
Hi, Mark!Whew…it was a very long and tiring day. Time for sandwiches, drinks and BED!!!!! Tomorrow we have to leave this gorgeous place.