You Can't Take Pictures with the Lens Cap On

The day was gorgeous. Isaac Parker was diving with me. He earned his open water certification with me in November of 2010. We were late getting to the beach and had to park on the West side of the road. We entered in front of Tower 17 and swam out to the reef at 100 degrees, descended, and swam to the Fish Camp Rocks. I left the lens cap on my camera, however, so I got no pictures. None.

From the Fish Camp Rocks, we swam to the Furry Rock, which is really Pillar Coral with extended polyps. Spent a little time there, then headed out looking for the Big Coral Knoll. We were swimming more or less North at 330 degrees, when Isaac spotted a small Green Sea Turtle. He got my attention and we swam to the turtle. We approached it slowly and cautiously, and I backed off when it looked concerned, but ultimately, we got to swim with it for quite a while. Just wish I had gotten some pictures.

Later, on the way back to the beach, I found a French Angelfish lying on the bottom at a cleaning station. The Angelfish left, but I found one of the shrimp on a sea rod and could have gotten a great picture if I had not left the lens cap on the camera.

Where or Where is the Big Coral Knoll?

Luis wanted to enter the water North of the tower and try to find the Big Coral Knoll, so we did. Look for the Coral Knoll, that is. We did not find it. We found a school of Spadefish and a Hawksbill turtle, but we did not find the Knoll. We swam to the Eastern edge and back without seeing any familiar landmarks.















For our second dive, I wanted to find the Fish Camp Rocks. We know it is roughly South and East of the Big Coral Knoll, so we entered in front of Lifeguard Tower 17 and swam out at 100 degrees. We descended over the reef and continue to swim out at 90 degrees. We missed the Rocks and ended up at the Eastern edge of the reef. It was cold and I was blowing through air. We found a small Green Turtle and an Orange Spotted Filefish, but that was all.

Brian Learns to Dive his New Gear at Tower 17

Brian Putman came with Luis and I to dive the beach this morning. He had all new gear he just purchased at Underseas Sports, so we started by trying to get him properly weighted. He might have been a bit heavy, but he was able to get down and control his buoyancy with his breathing.

We swam East and ran into the Fish Camp Rocks. We then swam 140 degrees to the furry rock, which was only 30 kick cycles away. The water was cold, and my ears had been plugged up all week. I started getting cold. We saw a nurse shark and a Sharptailed Eel, but no turtles.

Buoyancy and Navigation Dives

Our first dive was the buoyancy dive. We spent 20-30 minutes in the cold chop trying to properly weight these girls. We bounced around and swapped out weights before descending to examine trim weighting and swim the hoops. I think we got Mia properly weighted, but Dianne still looked a bit heavy. I demonstrated how I wanted them to run the hoops and Mia did very well. She was slow and methodical. She relied on her breathing to set her buoyancy and she did a good job. In addition to being a little heavy, Dianne had a tendency to blow through the hoops rather than work her buoyancy. While I still had lots of air, I was cold and so were the others. We went back to the beach to warm up before making a navigation dive.






We discussed the use of the compass before getting in the water. We also discussed exactly what we were going to do. We dropped at the pin and immediately the girls were counting kick cycles as they swam out on the line. Once we established the distance covered in a kick cycle, we did an out 'n back for 30 kick cycles. The girls ended up West and South of where they should, probably failing to account for the current. They ran the square, but reduced to 20 kick cycles on a side. This time they came out exactly where they should have.

Next, we went out on the reef. I signaled Mia that she should lead and I would follow, but then she started swimmin ENE, so I took over. We went out to the Eastern edge of the reef. No turtles or eels, and just a few reef fish. I was chilled when we got back.

Night Dive off Tower 17

Mia Cillers emailed me last week about earning her Advanced Open Water certification this weekend. I explained the course and warned her that the weather would really impact our ability to complete the course in only two days, but otherwise encouraged her to come diving. She called this morning while I was diving with Luis and I called her back and arranged to meet this afternoon, get gear and make at least one night dive. It was cold enough that one dive was all we wanted to do.

The wind had died during the late afternoon and we entered calm seas just in front of the lifeguard tower. We swam more or less East, but did not encounter either the rock-with-a-head or the Fish Camp Rocks. We did stumble upon the Little Coral Knoll. The highlight was finding a large Hawksbill Sea Turtle wedged between a couple of large rocks. She was perfectly content to have me shoot the flash. She was safe between the rocks.

We continued on to the Eastern Edge of the reef and went to the sand at 34 feet. I keep hoping to find another Snake Eel poking up through the sand, but not tonight. We did find some larger shrimp on the sand as we made our way back to the beach.

These photos were taken with a 10 MP Intova point and shoot with an automatic flash. I did not take the Canon 5d out this evening since it was the first time I've been diving with Mia in a while.

Finding Fish Camp Rocks

Luis and I met at Tower 17 this morning. There was virtually no wind and the ocean was flat. Luis brought a 6 mm wetsuit and needed additional weight, but he expected to be warm. We entered the water in front of the Tower and descended at the reef, though it was difficult to see the reef. Visibility was terrible on the sand and for the first 30 yards or so onto the reef. Even then, it only opened up to 15 ft or so.

Once on the reef, we headed East. Luis fought the wetsuit and the flag. I was looking for the rock-with-a-head and found the Fish Camp Rocks. Luis had me take his trim weights out so he could put them on this legs in an effort to hold his legs down. We had to surface to communicate, and by the time we were finished and descended, we could not find the Rocks. We swam around and eventually got to them, but it was amazing to me how quickly we lost them and how truly lost they were in the low visibility.

While looking for the Fish Camp Rocks the second time, we found the rock with the long coral shoots. It was slightly East and South of the Fish Camp Rocks.

The East Wind Is Not Your Friend

The beach was busy this afternoon. We had to park North of the 14th Court traffic light, which is also a little North of our mark for the Big Coral Knoll. The winds was probably 5-10 knots from the East and the surf was 2-3 feet. We entered the water and set out at 90 degrees. The visibility was only a few feet on the sand and not much more on the reef. We stopped at several rocks and I got a good shot of some juvenile Sweepers. We missed the knoll, however, and swam to the Eastern Edge of the reef. I watched a Guitar fish swoop down the ledge and head out onto the sand, but I could not follow him in the low visibility.

We spent an hour and a quarter warming up after our first dive before we got back in the water for a second one. We went a little further South along the beach, this time, hoping, again, to swim to the Big Coral Knoll. The wind had died down some and the surf was less, but visibility was about as bad as before and we swam to the Eastern edge of the reef before turning around. We did find a Blue Hamlet at the edge of the reef and I got some nice photos.

We entered in front of Tower 17 and swam out on the 100 degree bearing. Before we got to the reef, I noticed jellies in the water and descended to take some pictures. We both took pictures, then continued swimming on the surface to the reef, where we descended and swam out at 90 degrees, due East. We found some rocks and I headed NNE and found the Big Coral Knoll. Luis was busy taking pictures at the rocks. After drifting across the knoll, I spotted a Green Sea Turtle and started shoot a video. Luis spotted her about the same time, and the turtle was concerned about both of us coming after her, but we backed off and she stuck around. We then headed South, looking for the fish camp rocks, but never found them. I was down to 1000 psi when we headed West to the beach.

Looking for Fish Camp Rocks

As we did Friday afternoon, we entered in front of Tower 17 and swam to the reef before descending. We headed East at 100 degrees, but did not find the fish camp rocks. We swam through a field of moon jellies and got to the Eastern edge of the reef. My camera battery died before we got to the edge. On the way back to the beach, we found a nurse shark, which Luis photographed without disturbing her. After we got to the sand, we found numerous jellies and sea nettles on the bottom, still alive, but unable to get buoyant.

Diving Tower 17 with John and Jake

Even though we spent 15 minutes checking weight at the beginning of the dive, Jake had a 7 mm suit and was light by at least 6 pounds. He had to swim to stay down, and it was wearing him out. About 20 minutes into the dive, I gave him my 4 pounds of removable weights, but he was still light. He blew through his air trying to stay down. John did okay weighted as he was at the beginning.


I tried to swim out at 100 degrees, but Jake was chasing everything he saw. I was lucky to just stay heading East. We missed the Fish Camp Rocks and the Big Coral Knoll. We swam, instead, to the Eastern edge of the reef. We had a pleasant dive and saw a number of eels, including what looked like a Gray Spotted Snake Eel, which was just peeking out of the sand on the Eastern Edge of the reef. I left my camera behind, so the pictures posted here are from Luis, who posts most of his pictures on picasaweb. Check out his albums at https://picasaweb.google.com/105396979767702832997.

On our second dive, we added 6 pounds to Jake and kept John the same. I wanted to get in the water to test the weights before we tried the boat in the morning, so we went back in for a short dive, but ended up at the Eastern edge of the reef. The guys stayed with me and we stayed at 100 degrees, but we still missed the fish camp rocks. Saw a couple of eels, though and a small Green Turtle. We got cold after an hour, but everyone enjoyed the dive.