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Dec 23, 2008 |
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We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year 2009;o))
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Nov 30, 2008 |
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They'rrreee back;o)) Lots of Mantas around now, viz not too good with the rains starting, but who cares when the black and white beauties are around, some chilly dives too with 24c at Batu bolong one morning;o( Speaking of BB 6 devil rays swooped in and somersaulted out into the current, quite a few sightings of Eagle rays, as well as 3 huge porcupine rays at Coral Garden, one dive in the north had over 15-20 white tip sharks swimming around in the current with 4 Greys;o) Lots of nice small critters too;o)) Photo of wall to wall fish by Trent Burkholder
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Oct 30, 2008 |
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Huge, huge, dog tooth tunas looming in out of the blue, they really never look happy and their teeth look very sharp, yikes;o) Another Dugong spotted, what a thrill for everyone on the dive;o) Not many Mantas around this month, not sure where they've wandered off to, but they started making the odd appearance by the end of the month, phew;o) But how about 17 dolphins on one dive, squeaking and chirping and rubbing themselves in the sand, wow what an experience;o) Finding quite a few octopus and 4 beautiful tiny yellow and black striped cowries. 4 Black tips on one dive, coming in quite close instead of the usual skittish head for the hills;o)found 2 tiny black ribbon eels, so slim we nearly missed them and a zebra moray swimming from one coral head to another. Tons of fusiliers around with the shepherding trevalies in tow. Photo by Trent Burkholder
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Sep 28, 2008 |
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Yumi's log boook;o)
sept 9th dove coral garden we sat on the sandy bottom watching the garden eels and then there were about 5 white tip reef sharks swimming around above us, we also had 2 mantas swim join us on our dive. we also saw crocodile fish, blue spotted sting ray, groupers, lion fish, snappers, sweet lips, triggers, fusiliers... very nice first dive even had a manta sighting during our safety stop.
second dive, before we even jumped into the water, we saw dolphins, dove with Tono, and was able to see 3 different color pigmy seahorses. it is amazing how easy he makes it look to find those little guys. some of them were really fat, maybe their pregnant?
sept 10 batubolong dove the slope side I got to see turtles and napoleons! 2nd dive was at tatawa kecil saw a poly clad flat worm ( i think) black with a bright pinky orange ring around it, so beautiful. came across a group of batfish, snappers, fusiliers and there was a turtle trying to find a snack.
night dive, right where we were putting on our fins in the water Tono puts his face down and finds a ghost pipe fish. it looked like a long leaf or reed it was so cool literally under our noses. during our dive we saw bumped head parrot fish, octopus hiding in the coral and then we saw a beautiful juvenile bat fish still had the orange ring around him so pretty.
sept 11 full moon dropped into the blue and ended hanging out in the middle of the blue, we were surrounded by fusiliers, giant travally, white tips, greys and a eagle ray even came by to say hello. in the shallows we saw a cute little reindeer wrasse and just before coming up we saw 3 dolphins one was a baby swimming by!!
sept 12 on the way to snapper point you(kath) thought you saw a turtle, but it was a dugong, it was so cool to see its tail come out of the water, what a treat! on the dive we saw milk fish, humpback snappers, a turtle trying to find something to eat he was craving something and was just fumbling along the bottom taking a bite here and there. and then i get to see a huge sausage in the water and its turtle poop, thanks for sharing kath! 2nd dive at batubolong, dave found 3 cowries, they were so big and beautiful as we were leaving the dive site we saw dolphins
sept 13 full moon, into the blue again, Fusiliers, travallies, dog tooth tunas,snappers, white tips, napolean and greys, oh my! we were right in the middle of the hunt. you could see the travallies change to black and the hunger in their eyes. and then the napolean coming in to see what all the fuss is all about, trying to be one of the guys. this time the white tips looked small compared to the travallies. 2nd dive chanel, mantas, and turtles found a little place to sit and watch the mantas. ( got some great pics)
sept14 White sands, the huge alien, i believed he now has a name Oscar the grouch. it was so cute to see him try to scare us away, by popping out of his hole. hanging gardens, mandarin fish, finally! so cool to finally see the mandarin fish and so many of them too!!
sept 15 light house, huge groupers, they're a couple of big boys down there and they trying to find their mate. ( aren't we all, hahaha) they make the white tips look like puppies. saw a yellow pigmy seahorse, so cute! gar fish were above us, we were surrounded by fusiliers again and the travallies and white tips were around too. it was like the sea changed colors when the fusiliers change direction its amazing to see the synchronization.
sept 16 batubolong, no side, my favorite side, except for the water temp was so cold about 24 degrees. there was a white tip just rest on the bottom between 2 rocks while we swam over him and right next to him was a turtle eating. a hawksbill swam right over our heads and was surfacing. and then a manta went by us in the blue. we saw a juvenile yellow tail coris changing into adult, it was half and half, the front was still bright orange and the back was the adult markings. 2nd dive tatawa kecil west side, favorite side. the water was pretty cold here too. tom jones made an appearance, as well as some batfish, black snappers, morays, meyers butterfly fish, and a yellow and blue travallies
sept 17 full moon, into the blue, but this time we had to work, thought i was going to run out of air before i got to wherever we were going, but totally worth it! once we got "there" we just had to hang on and watch, we were in the mix of things, there were white tips, greys, tuna, shark mackeral, giant travallies, and even dolphins. this was a busy dive because we had activity infront of us and behind. the travallies and sharks ( couple of the greys were not only big, but still coming in our direction, kind of creepy) infront and dolphins behind us, so the fusiliers were being chased from all directions, it was amazing to be able to experience something like that. during our surface interval we could see about 3 mantas feeding from the boat. at stingray alley. they hung around long enough for us to jump in the water and see them. this dive we dove 4 areas, cauldron, chanel and coral gardens. it was a little bit of everything. bumped head parrot fish had his family out and about, moray eels, garden eels, velvet mollusk ( forgot the name) then we saw a group of batfish, hawksbill turtle, whitetip and thru the channel we went as our dive came to an end we were greeted by another manta and a group of about 10 or so barracudas!
sept 18 airstrip, so amazing to see so many mantas and they were so big. like seeing a huge big rug. we got so close you could see the curiosity in their eyes. one of the mantas we saw looked a pregnant. one had a crook in its tail, another had a very short tail. (starting to be able to tell them apart, maybe you should start documenting them) any ways they were huge and beautiful to see! next dive orange garden, from the surface you could see the reflections from the fusiliers, flashes of blue, there were so many of them. there was a shark mackeral and travallies swimming around and a blk tip too. an eagle ray made an appearance and a banded pipe fish.
sept 19 last day of diving,boo hoo... went to crystal rock and dove into the blue!! this time there even more fusiliers than the last few times it was amazing. at certain times, i couldn't see kath because there were so many fish, talk about being lost in a crowd. there were so many fusiliers, the way they swam in synch was watching the color of the water change from bright blue to grey and dark. the hunt was on today i was just hoping not to get in the way it was like seeing bullets flying at you when the travallies, white tips, shark mackerel made there move it was just amazing to witness the fusiliers move.
last dive, was at cauldron, my ears weren't doing so great, but still had a great dive, got to say good bye to the napoleons, batfish, bumped head parrot fish, snappers, white tips, and and the other little guys. and on our way into labuan bajo the dolphins came by to say good bye.
thanks for the memories!!
love, yumi
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Aug 09, 2008 |
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Welcome to our new Divemaster Tono, originally from Sulawesi so he's used to spotting the critters, he's already found us a new place for Pygmy seahorses and a beautiful clown anglerfish;o) Huge Napoleons at Lighthouse and a Giant black frog fish found at Coral Garden, with Mantas checking us out, a bamboo shark, white tip sharks and a school of Giant trevally it was a nice welcome to August;o)
Quite a few Grey sharks now and spotting sea snakes regularly, a new Nudibranch found at Snapper point;o) with a nice group of Chevron barracuda in the shallows. Dolphins again, this time with a baby.
Windy, water Temp 27c, Viz 25mts
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Jul 20, 2008 |
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Huge Honeycomb whipray spotted in Coral garden, first time we've ever seen one;o) Dolphins have paid a visit on the dives 3 times this month, so beautiful to see. Still quite a few mantas about and a 20 minute showing yesterday with two feeding in the current, lots of shark action at full moon. Sea snakes around with a huge one looking for dinner at Batu bolong. Schools of fusiliers everywhere and of course with their following of Giant and blue fin trevallys. Viz 20-30 mts. Temp 27c. Windy.
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May 22, 2008 |
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Papaya nudibranch? never heard of it, well here she is, 3 found at the airstrip, but first one goes to Nina, thanks to Christian for the photo. Lovely dives at Cannibal and Nurdins spirit down south for more incredible nudis and a lovely wee black frog fish with brown spots and white toenails. 2 teeny pygmy seahorses and lots of Mandarin fish to be found, nice reindeer wrasse at full moon. Very nice visibility now and the schools of fish are just beautiful. A few sea snakes around the reefs, 5 cuttle fish in the shallows of orange grove putting on a wonderful show. Huge Cowtail ray in Coral Garden and quite a few black tips in the Hanging Gardens, a lot of pickhandle barracudas and the biggest Great barracuda getting cleaned at Crystal rock, he was massive! Still seeing a couple of Mantas at some sites;o)
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Apr 25, 2008 |
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The visibility is really good, the water is getting warmer and the seas flat, what more could you ask for,oh and lots of fishes;o)) Pod of dolphins came down to visit us at lighthouse, so nice;o) 2 cute yellow painted frog fish at snapper point, more barracudas around the sites, pygmy seahorses and teeny yellow box fish, 3 beautiful eagle rays on a fantastic dive at slack tide at full moon, shoals of fish everywhere;o) Check out the site below for photos of diving with us;o)
http://www.globalexplorer.nl/index.php/pictures/?album=11&gallery=25
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Mar 06, 2008 |
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Devil rays seem to be the order of the day at the moment, beautiful school of them at Snapper point, single one at Batu bolong and 2 tiny babies checking us out at Coral Garden;o) Viz getting better every day, still getting quite a bit of rain late afternoon and night, so all the islands are very green;o) Happy Birthday Vincent, nice birthday dive with the Mantas;o))
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Feb 29, 2008 |
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Dugong spotted at Coral garden, all the divers getting a great view, until with 3 flicks of her tail she was gone, very special moment, happy divers especially Elaine (haggis);o)) Octopus out and about on the reefs, pink hairy squat lobsters, mandarin fish, black tip sharks, white tips and big male napoleaons flashing their shades of green trying to impress the females, so funny to watch;o) Cuttle fish laying their eggs in the coral, what an honour to be able to watch that;o) We had a conga line of 8 mantas fly over our heads just missing us, wow very impressive. Bamboo sharks sneaking about, 9 white tips doing the same conga after a very annoyed looking female shark at Full moon, then we turned and there were 8 white tips resting on the bottom, what a dive;o))
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