January 2005

Good visibility at the beginning of the month but later it turned bad.

Normally during the month of January we have good visibility but I guess the Tsunami and

especially the torrential rains we had afterwards turned the sea into a pea soup.

 

January 2006

Overall we had great visibility and lot's to see during this month.

Although this is the rainy season, we often had rain only at night and sunny weather during the day.

The water temperature went up quickly and at the end of the month we enjoyed a 29 degrees Celcius.

We had some rough seas for a couple of days, this is when we made our dives from the sheltered area in Victoria.

Sometimes you get lucky and see something that you do not see very often. The Mantis Schrimp is one of these animals that you do not see on every dive. And here at Cap Matoopa I saw 2 of them together. But the next time I visited the same spot they were not there anymore.

Whale Shark at Shark Bank

Seychelles Anemone Fish at L'ilot

Beacon Island 2006

We had good visibility, and saw lot's of stuff during the dives we made here. There were several Black Spotted Stingrays, Hawksbill Turtles, a real Giant Grouper she must have been close to 2 meters long, Leaf Fishes, Napoleon Wrasses, Eagle Rays, Several kinds of Moray Eels, Schooling Fusiliers, Seychelles Anemonefish, and then all the usual reef fishes, we really made some great dives here.

Hovering like us divers,

a Hawksbill Turtle at Aquarium

Visibility was good and there was lot's to see, turtles, schooling Silver Batfish, Giant Sweetlips, Eagle Rays, and lot's more. The diving was great at this site.

L'ilot 2005

Visibility okay mostly but murky at some spots, and the current was often quite strong. Hawksbill turtles were there several times, a giant moray was hanging out at a different spot than usual. We saw humphead parrot fish on several occasions. And white tip reef sharks, swimming around and under rocks.

The pictures below are from the dives we made at L'ilot.

Everything was there, Black Spotted Stingrays, the Great Barracuda's, a Whiptail Stingray, Lobsters, Eagle Rays, real big Bearded Scorpionfish, and we saw this huge big Giant Grouper at the end of the dive, on the way up we also saw two Mobula Rays. All all of that in great visibility.

Shark Bank 2005

Good visibility, strong current. WHALE SHARKS are there, we saw several of them before we went into the water. During the dive we saw an octopus, fantasea stingray, two huge big marbled stingrays and a smaller one. We also saw a flatback turtle which is very uncommon, and a humphead parrotfish. And finally we saw a whale shark swimming away from us then another one that came right towards us, a very big one. Later during the dive we saw another one playing in the bubbles of another group of divers and then another one came from behind us just before we surfaced. We made another dive there on the same day and again saw the whale sharks and everything else.

The pictures below are from the dives we made at Chuckles.

Grouper by Sunset Rocks

Striped Jack at Chuckles

A couple of hours after our dive at Shark Bank, Gilly called me and told me that fisherman caught a big fish. I went with him to have a look and saw they caught this huge grouper. The same type and about the same size we had seen a couple of hours earlier at Shark Bank. I suspected this was the one. I was wrong. The fisherman had caught the grouper at the Wreck of the Ennerdale (and we often see several of these big groupers there during our dives there), and told that he first caught a bigger one, too big to haul into his little fishing boat, and later he caught this smaller one which is about 2 meters long!

Chuckles 2006

 

This site is one of the best sites around. There is always lot's to see but the current can be strong at times.

We had some great dives here, with many Lobsters, and many different types of Moray Eels. There also were many Striped Jacks,

Lionfish, a Black Spotted Stingray, the File Fish below can be seen around the rocks with a good amount of soft and hard corals.

 

Chuckles 2005

Good visibility and not too much current. We had a wonderful dive at this beautiful site where soft corals cover the rocks,

and where there is always plenty to see. Several lobsters, scorpion fish, some Seychelles anemone fish, schooling fusiliers, sweet lips,

a nurse shark and many colorful reef fishes around the rocks. We saw 3 WHALE SHARKS while snorkeling after the dive just off Chuckles.

 

Light House 2006

 

We had some really wonderful dives here. There was good visibility and surprising stuff to see. Many Black Spotted Stingrays, couple of Leaf Fish at the usual rocks and the schooling Big Eye Jacks. And we saw Surgeon Fish spawning. It can be seen on the picture left in the middle. In turn groups of females and groups of males shoot up together and releases they eggs into the water. The eggs can be seen as a white cloud in the upper right corner.

Aquarium 2006

 

Night dives are often forgotten about, but are often the most interesting to do.

The beautiful Spanish Dancer on the 1st picture below can be seen on virtually every night dive.

But the Sea Hare on the 2nd picture is not that often seen. The Parrotfish are sleeping with the eyes

wide open, as they have no eyelids. And lobsters can be seen by the dozen.

Aquarium 2005

At the beginning of the month the surface was green but after the first 2 meters the water was clear.

All the murky fresh water that came from the mountains ran into sea and was still floating on top of the sea water.

We had a nice dive with much fish. A fat stone fish was sitting under a coral head. During one of the dives we saw a lobster eating a snail

from a shell and during another dive with saw the hawksbill turtle who comes around often. This time she was particularly funny.

First she was hovering with her fins tucked underneath her above the coral, later she went up to each of us and had a good look,

allowed us to stroke her and after a long while she went away.

Harrison Rocks 2006

This is ones of the sites we visit only when the sea is rough in Beau Vallon. So we move and dive from the sheltered Victoria. We had fairly good visibility here. And we got some pretty good things to see too. There was a huge big Stone Fish, many schooling Soldier Fish, some Schooling Jacks too, a big Moray Eel, and some Lionfish.

L'ilot Rocks 2006

We had a day with good visibility and a fair current, this is often a good sign for big fish, we were not that lucky this time, but we did have a very nice dive here. The moment we jumped in we saw this school of Batfish, and then several big Groupers, and then there is always lot's of Schooling Snappers. Moray Eels, and the Seychelles Anemone Fish to be seen, and all that in a very nice underwater scenery of granite rocks with good soft coral growth.

Jackpot 2006

We found this dive site sometimes during the last year. And it is a great site with lot's of soft coral, and lot's of fish. There is a school of batfish always hanging out there, many schooling snappers, many Skunk Anemone Fish and Anemones. And there is also always some big fish to be seen, Stingrays, and Sharks, and all that in a beautiful rocky underwater landscape.

The Ennerdale Wreck 2006

We do not always have the opportunity to go to the Ennerdale, as seas can be rough, especially during the month of January. But this year the sea was exceptionally calm, and as normal for this time of the year there was good visibility. We got to see a Black Spotted Stingray right at the start, there were also schooling Yellowtail Jacks, and on top of the wreck schooling Yellowtail Barracuda's and a small Bull Shark. As well as some huge big Moray Eels, Hawksbill Turtles, and an Eagle Ray.