Nurse Sharks and Baby Reef Squid off Catamaran Beach

Got to the beach early, but the tank I chose only had 2235 psi. I checked a couple of other tanks then decided to run with the short fill. So I geared up and got in the water.

Swam out to the buoy and descended. Went to the blocks and took some pictures like this Banded Coral Shrimp to the left. Then I headed East, or at least I tried to hold that bearing, but I know that I was getting set to the North. Spotted a little Nurse Shark and got some pictures, then it swam away.












Got this shot of a Christmas Tree worm, then spent some time moving slowly over a sand patch looking for shells.

Also got this shot of what appears to be a Bluestriped Grunt, but lacks the black tail fins.

I got up to the deep end of the pool and turned the dive at 60 minutes or so. Slowly worked my way down to the last dark sand patch and then came East again running out the tank. Came up a couple of times to see where I was, then went to the beach.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 23 feet; dive time was 82 minutes and my RMV rate was 0.43 ft3/minute.



I met Ruth von Spalding as I was headed to the beach for my solo dive. She is a resident and had signed up with Gold Coast Scuba to do her PADI Open Water course. We spoke a bit and I let her know I would do the whole course for $200. We talked a lot and finally, I just had to get in the water. So I bid her good bye and did that, then worried that like so many others, she would not call.

Couldn't get her out of my head and felt like I was all over the place with my breathing, but I settled down and ended up doing okay. Would have liked to have done better, though. Went East from the buoy.



Never saw the Swiss Cheese Reef. Went up to 23 feet of water and turned the dive. Got some pictures of a small Nurse Shark under the reef, then saw the same shark later on the sand flats and got some more pictures.










Spotted the same tiny ink traces in the water as I had during the dive with Dennis. This time I took the time to find the baby squid and must have taken 100 pictures, of which only 2 turned out. This little guy is only about 1/2 inch long and jets about swiftly.

Its difficult to see the baby squid in these photographs, but by cropping them, it's a little easier.






I Hung out on the flats and got down to 300 psi before I went to the beach.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 23 feet; bottom time was 141 minutes and my RMV was 0.34 ft3 / minute

Another 2 1/2 hour solo dive off Catamaran Beach

Got to the beach just after 5:00, only to realize that I had forgotten my dive gear. Yeah. Really. So I had to go back home and packed it up then return to the beach where I discovered that even though I had charged a strobe battery, I had not put that battery on the strobe. So I dove without the camera.

I was a little concerned about making a night dive. I went in and swam slowly NE, then due East. I swam over some patch reef and spotted an octopus pop his head up to see what was going on, then duck back in the reef as I passed. I had 3150 psi and wanted to get to 150 minutes of dive time. I went slowly to the East over some sand flats, some more patch reef, another sand flat and then the Swiss Cheese Reef. Kept moving East and got to 22 feet of water at about 40 minutes. I went to the surface to find I was still South of the yellow condo building, so I turned North and looked for shells on the sand flats up to what I thought would be the Marriott. I went to the surface again to see that I was right, but still a little South of the Marriott.

Got to be 60 minutes dive time and I decided to head back to the beach and look for the swim buoy. Got to the last sand flat and started working my way South. Found an East/West running cable that ran under a large rock/coral head. From there I went West and ended up at the swim buoy. Swam around there and burned my tank down to 300 psi and then headed West to the beach. Came up in 8 feet of water with 152 minutes of dive time.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 23 feet; dive time was 152 minutes and my SAC rate was 0.34 ft3/minute.

Night Diving and a Solo Dive off Catamaran Beach

Got to the beach early and geared up. The tank I chose had only 2500 psi, but I decided to dive it anyway. I got in the water and realized as I was swimming out to the buoy that I had forgotten my primary light. I still had my backup and decided to make the dive with just the one light.

I descended near the buoy. I headed East, except that I frequently caught myself turning to drift with the North current. I spotted two Green Sea Turtles sacked out in different areas on the reef and quickly got pictures and left before the turtles did.


I also spotted an Atlantic Guitarfish, but it was wide awake and moving when I spotted him. I got some pictures.

I swam over a couple of sand flats and then got on the Swiss Cheese Reef. I was down to 1300 psi when I got into 21 feet of water. As it was also 39 minutes, I ascended.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 21 feet; dive time was 39 minutes and my SAC rate was 20.82 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.










When I got to the surface, I was North of the Marriott, so I spent the surface interval swimming South. Seemed like I was making headway through the water, but when I looked over at the Marriott, it seemed like I was right where I started. So I descended to 24 feet of water and swam to the SW. I spotted a Hawksbill Sea Turtle under the patch reef just East of the Swiss Cheese Reef and go some pictures.

I also spotted a second Hawksbill in one of the holes on the Swiss Cheese Reef, but that turtle took off as soon as I spotted it and I did not get any pictures.

I got some shots of a Spotted Spiny Lobster.  I haven't seen many of them in the past few years.  I also got shots of a Smooth Trunkfish and a Scrawled Cowfish, but nothing really striking.

Got this shot of a Pederson Shrimp. I was being a calm as I could but ran out of gas just past the buoy line and came up.



Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 40 minutes and my RMV was 0.46 ft3/minute.







I had not really warmed up during my 85 minute surface interval, but nonetheless geared up and got back in the water. I swam out to the swim buoy and descended. I spotted the little stingray swimming nearby. I quickly got some pictures, but I couldn't tell if he was looking for a place to sleep or scrounging for food. He kept moving and headed away once I started flashing the strobe.

I continued at a slow pace up to the Swiss Cheese Reef and then headed North with the current. As usual, there were a lot of reef fish, but nothing special.
I went past the umbrella stands and turned East to the sand flat. There, I headed South looking for shells. Found a Gaudy Natica, but it was a small one. Poked my head up at an hour and was between Bahia Mar and the yellow condo building to the North.

I headed WSW past the swiss cheese reef and spent some time searching for shells on the sand flat, which was where I got this shot of a Spotted Eagle Ray.  There were actually two of them, but they were moving pretty quickly and not too close to me.  I was lucky to get this shot.



I headed West to the beach, but stopped East of the buoy line. I ran my tank down to 250 psi and then swam in to surface in 6 feet of water just South of Tower 4. Nice dive, but 137 minutes is not nearly as long as the 155 minutes for yesterday's dive.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 137 minutes and my RMV was 0.38 ft3/minute.

Solo Dive at Sunrise

Woke up in plenty of time to get to the beach, I just didn't want to. So I took the dog for a walk and finished the pictures from yesterday. Then I decided to go make a solo dive just after sunrise.

Got to the beach and had to park on the West side of the North-bound lane. Geared up and got in a little after sunrise. Swam to the buoy then descended and headed North along a patch reef, moving slowly and taking my time while looking for some landmark that might make it easier to find the swim buoy underwater. I didn't find anything, except that the sand corridor I thought was there was not.

So I headed East over the reef to the sand flat. I spotted a number of Sailfin Blennys who would emerge from their burrow and wave their huge dorsal fin. Seemed to be some celebration among the Blennies. I got this shot of a Sailfin Blenny with his sail unfurled. Many of them were coming all the way out of their burrows and hanging a foot or more off the reef to signal to the others.

I swam up to the Swiss Cheese Reef and thought about going North, but I was really moving slowly and I did not want to get in a low on air situation that would cause me to raise my SAC rate.


I kept going East and came to the Staghorn Coral. I don't understand why it is so difficult to find this patch, but it is.

Got this shot of a White and several French Grunts in the coral.

Also picked up a small school of maybe half a dozen Yellow Jacks who would speed by me, then double back and buzz by me a second time. I got the shot below on one of these second passes.



I kept going East up through the staghorn coral, over a small sand corridor and then over some more reef to about 24 feet of water. Took about an hour to get there and I decided to turn the dive at that point.

I went back over the reefs, then stopped at the sand flat and looked around for any Gaudy Naticas.

I remember seeing the blocks on one of my dives with Luis, but I'm not sure how I got there. I thought it was open to the beach, but I proved that theory wrong during the first part of this dive. So I headed South along this sand flat and found that I could get well South of the Tower 4 buoy, which is what I must have done. Then I would see the blocks if I swam Northwest. Indeed, I found the blocks at about the 2-hour mark then stayed close as I burned through the balance of my air. With 300 psi in my tank, I headed West to the beach. time was 150 minutes and I got down to 149 psi in less than 6 minutes.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 25 feet; Average depth was 16 feet; dive time was 155 minutes and my SAC was 14.25 psi/minute on an aluminum 80 or 0.37 ft3/minute residual minute volume at the surface.

Night Diving, a Solo Dive and a dive with Dennis Viasnikov off Catamaran Beach

Got to the parking lot about 4:40 am and there were two cop cars blocking the entrance. I parked, left my lights on but turned off the engine and got out to talk to the cops. Seems that there was some out-of-hand Haitian celebration last night so these two cops were there to close the park. I pointed out the the park would open in only 15 minutes and asked if I could park and gear up. They allowed me to do so, so I did.

I got in the water at about 5:00 am. There was a lot of wind this morning, but the sea was fairly calm except for the surf. I descended at the swim buoy and headed East. I spotted a Bluespotted Coronetfish and got some shots.

Shortly after that, I spotted a Purplemouth Moray Eel. My Cree light went out off and on and decided to cut out when I was lying flat on he bottom facing the on coming eel I didn't know where the eel was, so I went up a few feet and played with the light, then settled down to take some pictures once it was working again.

At 60 minutes, I came up to find that I was off the Marriott,

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 60 minutes and my SAC rate was 17.31 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

During the surface interval I swam South hoping to make up some of the distance the current had set me, but I didn't make up much.


I descended in 25 feet of water and began swimming and pulling myself along on a SW bearing. I spotted this young and small Scrawled Filefish swimming above me and went up to get pictures.







I then continued SW, hoping to run into the blocks just East of the buoy, but I never got that close. I ran out of air and came up well East of the swim buoy off Tower 4. I swam in on the surface.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 25 feet; dive time was only 34 minutes and my SAC rate was 25.20 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.





I spoke with Francois Greyling during my surface interval. He tried to interest me in rebreathers, but I think those days are in the past.

I changed gear and got back in the water about 8:00 am. Swam to the swim buoy and descended at 8:12 am and let the current carry me to the North. I swam Est and slowly picked my way through the reefs and sand to get to the Swiss Cheese Reef. I missed the staghorn coral, but it was fun to drift along the reef. Got this shot of a Threespot Damselfish.




I headed back early to spend some time searching for Tower 4 and the associated swim buoy. Spent time looking, but didn't really find what I needed. I did end up just off Tower 4, but it was happenstance. Got this shot of a Sand Diver in the shallows East of the buoy.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 22 feet; dive time was 141 minutes and my SAC rate was 14.97 psi/minute, a considerable improvement over the previous dive.



Dennis Vianikov had arranged to meet me on the beach and had called to say that he would be there soon. I decided to not take the camera. Figured I might have my hands full with Dennis and visibility was pretty bad, anyway.

We geared up at the truck, walked to the water and swam out to the swim buoy to descend. Then we headed East. Dennis was concerned that his alternate air source was leaking air, and it was, but there wasn't much to do about it at this point.


We followed the same basic pattern as my solo dive, East up to the Swiss Cheese Reef, then North past both coral heads and more, then East again for a short ways to the sand and then South by Southwest back to the beach. Along the way I found a medium sized Gaudy Natica. I also spotted some squid ink handing in the water. Small amounts and not well distributed. I tried to let Dennis know what it was and to be on the lookout for some baby reef squids. He did not understand.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 22 feet; dive time was 84 minutes and Dennis was on his reserve.  My SAC rate was 14.84 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

Night Diving off Catamaran Beach

I had set up my camera for photographs of a deep wreck yesterday, but Jerry failed to show and failed to let me know he was not coming, so I did not get to dive yesterday. This morning I got the camera and changed lenses back to my macro lens and headed for the beach.

It was windy on the beach and the visibility was terrible over the sand, but farther East things were clearer. I found a Banded Tube Dwelling Anemone, but I had to turn the movie light on the anemone to focus the camera, and the light caused the anemone to curl its tentacles.




Visibility was much better up on the Swiss Cheese Reef. Lots of reef fish there, too, but nothing particularly noteworthy. I went up at 40 minutes for a short surface interval.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 40 minutes and my SAC rate was 20.71 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.




When I surfaced I was just slightly North of the condo building North of Bahia Mar. I move farther East during the surface interval, then descended to 26 feet. I decided to head up the the Umbrella Stands by the Marriott and swam slowly against the current while looking for shells. Didn't find much, but I got this shot of a Lionfish.  I got to the Marriott in about 20 minutes, so I headed West a bit and then South to get back closer to Bahia Mar.  I called the dive at 40 minutes and ascended.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 26 feet; dive time was 40 minutes and my SAC rate was 15.59 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.



When I got to the surface I found that I was just a bit South of the Yellow Condo building. Bahia Mar was due West of me. So I just drifted during the 5-minute surface interval, then I descended to 25 feet and headed West following my compass bearing.


I went to the Swiss Cheese Reef, where I got this shot of an Intermediate French Angelfish, then onto a long flat sandy area where I searched for shells.



Then I swam over some more reef and got this shot of a Red Grouper.

I ran into a swim buoy, though I thought I might be off Tower 3 instead of Tower 4. I continued West over the white sand and surfaced in 8 feet of water just East of Tower 4.


Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 25 feet; dive time was 36 minutes and my SAC rate was 15.92 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

Diving with a Reef Squid and Striped Burrfish off Catamarand Beach

I got up early, fixed coffee and shaved, then walked the dog. I still wasted time and left the apartment a little after 5:00 am instead of 4:45 am. I got to the beach and the parking on the East side of the lot was blocked off. I parked under a street light on the West side of the street but just across from the entrance where I usually park. I geared up, checked my lights and got in the water. Swam on the surface to the swim buoy and descended. Went over the blocks and then headed East.








No Anemones this morning, but lots of shots of shrimp. I also found a large Caribbean Reef Squid who was stunned by the light and let me get quite close to take pictures.

Kept going East to deep water at 25.5 feet. Hit 60 minutes and ascended for a short surface interval.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 26 feet; dive time was 1 hour and my SAC rate was 18.66 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.


On the surface I was East of the condo or apartment building just North of Bahia Mar. Figured I had enough gas to go North and explore at least to the umbrella stands off the Marriott, but had to rethink that analysis as I was huffing against the current to get back. Followed the Swiss Cheese Reef North and then back South, so I got lots of pictures, Found a Spotted Trunkfish and got a shot.








I turned West and crossed the dark sand patch, the reef and got to white sand. Surfaced at 8 feet to secure the flagline. Had some trouble getting out, but it was all balance and waves.

Bottom temperature 78 degrees; maximum depth was 26 feet; dive time was 53 minutes and my SAC rate was 16.35 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.




I got out and was warming up when Luis got to the parking lot. He was eager to get in the water so I pushed it a little, but I had finished my coffee and was getting reasonably warm. Luis took the flag and we both took our cameras. Descended at the swim buoy and headed East. Went slowly and looked at everything. Got into the staghorn coral and then the Swiss Cheese Reef, where we turned North and went with the current.






Lots of fish, lots of swim throughs. It was very enjoyable, but I was getting cold by 60 minutes and eager to get out when we did, even though I had a good deal of gas left. Stopped to talk to the lifeguard, although I did not recognize him. He acted like we were old pals. He could have been the surfer dude who chewed us out about swimming through the swim area.


Bottom temperature 80 degrees; maximum depth was 20 feet; dive time was 108 minutes and my SAC was 16.0 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.


I wanted to explore the area along the buoy line to the North, but it just wasn't a good idea today: too much sand in the water and too shallow. I did get a nice shot of this Hogfish, however.











 So we went NE up to the Swiss Cheese Reef and again turned North. Got this shot of a Smooth Trunkfish pretending to be a hummingbird.


I started worrying about fighting the current and turned the dive at 60 minutes. We we South, then Southwest. and finally just turned West  to get into the beach.

Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was only 23 feet; dive time was 89 minutes and my SAC rate was 15.59 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

Diving with a Small Stingray and a Spanish Lobster off Catamaran Beach

Left for the beach at 5:10 am. Parked, geared up and got in the water. Swam on the surface to the swim buoy and descended. Headed East from there, but the current set me to the North some.

I took the Cree light with a new battery. The bright light attracted the little Southern Atlantic Stingray and I hope I got pictures. Got some other shots, as well. Then it was 40 minutes and I surfaced.

Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was 24 ft; dive time was 40 minutes and my SAC rate was 19.15 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.


Swam South during the surface interval, then descended to 24 feet and swam to almost 26 feet. Decided to find the Swiss Cheese Reef and get some pictures. Had to go farther West than I expected, but I got there. Floated along shooting the fish and looking for Fighting Grunts, but didn't see any.

I did see this Scrawled Cowfish, which was also attracted to the light. I got this shot.

I also got this shot of a little Sharpnose Puffer snuggled up on the reef.

I came up at about 1000 psi.

Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; Maximum depth was 26 feet; dive time was 35 minutes and my SAC rate was 17.50 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.




Dropped down in about 24 feet and started swimming WSW. I took some pictures but was concerned about making it inside of the swim area, so I wasn't really fussy.  I did get this shot of a Hogfish.


I swam by the Swiss Cheese Reef and then spent some time on the sand flats before crossing a small reeflet and getting to the white sand.

Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 31 minutes and my SAC rate was 17.84 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

Had a little challenge with my balance getting out of the water once I got to the beach. I wrung out my wetsuits and set them up to dry in the sun. I was chilled, and the wind was not helping. The sun was warm and I need about 2 hours to get ready for another dive.

I got back in the water and swam out to the swim buoy to descend. went by the blocks and let the current take me North while I swam slowly East. Took lots of pictures, including the Sand Diver to the Right and the Spanish Lobster below.

I tried to find and follow that ledge, but kept losing it. Got on the sand flat with the shells and spent some time looking for another big Gaudy Natica, but there were none to find today. Swam out to deep water and drifted back across the Swiss Cheese Reef taking pictures. Nice slow pleasant dive.

Took my time going back to the beach. Ended up South of the swim buoy off Tower 4, but not bad positioning. The undertow was strong and I had a hard time staying up between it pulling on me and the waves hitting me from behind, but I finally made it out.

Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was 23 feet; dive time was 142 minutes and my SAC rate was 15.08 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

Night Diving off Catamaran Beach

Stayed home Monday and Tuesday editing pictures and catching up this blog. Monday brought thunderstorms, but Tuesday could have been a good day to dive. I just didn't want to.

Wednesday, I was late getting to the beach, but then the tank I picked held only 2500 psi, so late was not a problem. The water was warm: 80 degrees. East wind, but not terrible and only a little current. Descended at the swim buoy. Spotted a Green Sea Turtle under the ledge. No pictures, didn't bring my camera. Would the turtle have been there if I had brought the camera? Spotted a Tube Dwelling Anemone, then a Purplemouth Moray Eel and then another anemone. Then it was 40 minutes and I went up.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 25 feet; dive time was 43 minutes and my SAC rate was 16 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.

When I ascended, I found I was North one building. Decided to head back to Tower 4 along a WSW bearing. Missed the staghorn coral, but found several moonsail shells and a little Scotch Bonnet, which I picked up but then apparently dropped from my BCD pocket. I ended up swimming over the kind of algae patch off Tower 2 and may have been close. I finally hit white sand and started pushing North. I came up in 10 feet of water North of the pedestrian bridge and even with the basketball courts. Kicked a little harder swimming in and got to the corner so I made a straight shot to the shower.

Bottom temperature was 80 degrees; maximum depth was 24 feet; dive time was 44 minutes and y SAC rate was 16.1 psi/minute.

Diving with Luis off Catamaran Beach

Luis met me at the South Beach parking lot at 8:00 am. We geared up and swam to the swim buoy off Tower 4, then descended and headed East up the reef. Luis took the flag, so I followed him.

We went North into the Staghorn Coral and then to the Swiss Cheese Reef. We headed North, taking pictures and watching fish. We continued North for a bit, then turned the dive and headed back along the reef to the staghorn coral before turning West to the beach.

We ended up in front of Tower 3, however, a bit farther South than we needed to go.





Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was 18 feet; dive time was 112 minutes and my SAC rate was 16.82 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.


Luis wanted to make a second dive, but also wanted to be back by 1:00 pm so he could get to the shop to fill his tanks. I took the flag. We descended just past the swim buoy off Tower 4 and headed NE.


At first we were on the small reef that starts at the swim buoy. Then we went over a sand area with lots of shells. Then we came to the Swiss Cheese Reef and went one corridor East beyond that.


Got a shot of a small school of Chub.

Then it was time to head back. I went a bit South since I knew we had come NE. I expected to find the staghorn coral, but did not, so I turned West anyway. We got to the last sand corridor before the end of the reef and the white sand and I surfaced to see that we were just North of the swim buoy off Tower 4.


Bottom temperature was 78 degrees; maximum depth was 23 feet; dive time was 102 minutes and my SAC rate was 15.78 psi/minute on an aluminum 80.