Back at Kevin and Nadia’s for 2 nights. It was nice to be ‘home’ and Nadia said that Viana missed me :)
I received an email from Kim, who had gone out to Balicasag after leaving Siquijor. She said the seas were calm, snorkeling was wonderful, she had an extra bed in her room, and ….come on out ! She also 'touted' me with 'I found some Giant Clams!" Balicasag really had superior snorkeling and when i was there the weather was not cooperative. Yes! of course i would love to come back out there and give it another try !
I went to the GoScuba Dive Shop, where i have been making friends while using their reference books; and booked 2 dives with them out to Balicasag Island, and they agreed they would help me get to shore when we were finished, so i could stay there. i had wanted to do a couple dives out there anyway, so this was a perfect opportunity. i was to meet there at 8:30 the next morning.
Saturday night Kevin and Nadia had been invited to join a group of their friends at a restaurant on the beach and invited me to join them. All the girls, and guys, were very nice to me. It was a fun night meeting everyone! All those young beautiful dark-haired Philippino girls sitting with their back so straight … and then me :)
8:30 the next morning i was at the Dive Shop with my bags packed, and happy to be going out to Balicasag Island again. The closer we got to the island, the more i noticed how rough the waves were. We stopped at our Dive Site, and …. i really don’t like diving in such rough waters. The current was strong so we were told to do a ‘negative entry’. Usually after entry, everyone meets at the surface, gives the ‘ok’ sign, and goes down together. But when the current is so strong, it is necessary to get to the bottom as soon as you hit the water, and wait down there for everyone. If not, you would all drift away from each other and never catch up. i’ve done this before in Belize, so it was not new to me. But that doesn’t mean i like it :) But it was fine, we all met and began as a group. it was suggested that i leave my camera on the boat and that we fine with me, i had enough to think about; and you know how i feel about that camera anyway. It was a ‘drift wall dive’ meaning you go along the drop off and look at whatever is there. But the current was so strong, it was too FAST; you were not able to enjoy and study what you were seeing. Plus you feel rushed, it was not relaxing. But we saw large schools of Jacks and i saw my first Mackeral .. they look like they have a silver helmet on, but it looks dis-jointed from their body…strange! Also TrumpetFish, a white Nudibranch, several turtles and i can’t remember what else; and have no photos to remind me :)
The second dive was much nicer. Also a drift wall dive, but the current was nice and slow. i enjoyed it very much. But, it was over too fast. The other guys that were diving with us were ‘sucking air’. Meaning they were using up their air fast, not efficient breathers under water. And when one person gets low on air; everyone has to go up and that’s the end of the dive. i finished with a half a tank, that always makes you feel a bit ‘cheated’ :( Actually i finished with a half tank on the first dive too.
The weather wasn’t looking too good; and as soon as i got on the boat after the dive, the other boat was there to pick me up to take me to shore. It was a whirlwind event: getting off one boat, onto the next, waves rocking both boats, zipping to the lodge, (now in the rain), running the boat up on the sandy shore, the guy jumping out of the boat, grabbng one of my bags, and then returning to the boat before the next wave hit. About this time, i am trying to get out of the boat, and a wave hit and i banged my shin on the boat and fell to the sand, with the bag i needed to keep dry in my hand, ...or out of my hand :( He hesitated and asked if i was ok, and i said yes, but my shin was already starting to swell. i picked up my bags, another guy came out to help me and i went directly to the restaurant and asked for a bag of ice.
I found Kim’s cabin with bag of ice in hand, and she ran out to greet me. i sat with the ice on my leg and we visited for quite awhile. i was glad i was able to get ice on it right away, it was fine. We lamented about the fact that once again, the weather turns nasty when i arrive at Balicasag :(
Huge rolling waves and white caps everywhere! After several rum and cokes and a nice dinner, we listened to the crashing waves all through the night.
The entire 3 days i was there, the seas were ridiculously rough and it was cloudy and rained off and on. Absolutely cannot believe my ‘luck’ with the weather since i arrived in January :(
But that did not deter the 2 ‘professional snorkelers’ from getting in the water. Not as often as we would have liked, but we did some good snorkeling.
I have posted photos of the large Map Puffer Fish, and Black Spotted Puffer Fish, including the yellow and blue color variations. This is the White Spotted Puffer Fish
This is a Barred Thick Lip
I recently saw a photo of this anemone with the name: Magnificent Anemone; and it was ! It was a beautiful bulbus free-flowing 'blob' almost 2 foot in diameter ... and a very striking color of purple. Kim pointed this one out to me.
A Flag FileFish, kind of subtle in it's coloring, but nicely marked
These tiny little fishes all swim together in the shape of a 'larger fish', to keep predators away
TeamWork at it's finest. Pretty cool !
This my first ever Cornet Fish. i've seen many Trumpet Fish, and knew about the Cornet Fish; but had never seen one. So, let the orchestra begin !
Of course, several turtles
i was floating, concentrating, and waiting for a certain fish to reappear, when i realized i was surrounded by small fishes.
Another ButterFly Fish ... a Chevroned ButterFly Fish .... pretty !
This creature made a slight movement as i was passing over him. i went back and checked it out. I spent a lot of time trying to take a photo for identification and this is what i got. It is some kind of a Mantis Shrimp. I showed you a pretty green Peacock Mantis Shrimp a few weeks ago and gave a lesson on it :) This one was smaller. Maybe it is a baby, maybe a totally different kind. It has a very obvious yellow spot, but i didn't find any photos that matched. His head and periscope eyes are at about 5 o'clock ... you can also see his feet if you put your glasses on. If not, it just looks like a 'something'
I have taken many photos of this Pacific Bird Wrasse; and have decided this is the best i'm going to get. Very strange looking fish with a long beek-like nose
This is the same fish in it's Intermediate Stage
I have not seen many large AngelFish here. It is common to see 3 different kinds in Belize/Honduras. Most of them here are smaller ... except this one. This is a Semi-Circle AngelFish. I actually posted a photo of one of these before, but it was only a 'semi-circle view' of the Semi-Circle AngelFish :)
Many islands boast of having a Marine Sanctuary. i immediately think, what great snorkeling it will be since no fishing is allowed. Unfortunately, many of these Sanctuaries are OFF LIMITS to snorkelers as well. ok, i understand that they need to protect the reef from idiots; but we are ‘professionals’ and would never harm a reef or the fishes. The last time i was here, i obeyed the ‘rules’ and stayed out of the Sanctuary (thanks to my Catholic up-bringing). But before i got here, Kim had ‘unknowningly’ snorkeled into the area and no one saw her. She told me that she saw some Giant Clams …. IN the Sanctuary! Of course, i was anxious to see them too!
So our last full day there, the weather continued to be nasty. If i was going to see those Giant Clams, the time was now, weather be damned! The waves were so high they probably wouldn’t be able to see us ! Walking down the beach we were approached by a guy who said he could take us there in his boat for 200 pesos. We got in the boat, but it seems our communication skills weren’t working and he started taking us away from the Sanctuary. We insisted he go the other way; so he tried to take us to the other side, still out of the Sanctuary. We said ok, and on the way, jumped into the water, and the current and waves just happened to take us right into the Sanctuary :) He sat in his boat and kept motioning for us to go the other way; but we didn’t see him :)
It is really great snorkeling in there, and Kim found the Giant Clams again. They actually were not Giant Clams; at least by the standards of the 5-6 foot ones. But they were by far much larger than any i have seen so far. At least 3-4 feet in length.
You can tell how large they are by the width compared to some of my other clam photos. This guy looked like he was covered in jewels !
i took a short video of their siphon working ... actually i wasn't sure what it was doing.
My finding: siphons are the tubular structures that clams use, to feed, respire, reproduce and expel waste into the water, Well that is multi-functional !
Our last night there, the locals (about 100 families), had a bi-annual festival; this one for Valentines Day. They had an AWESOME band and they played good ole American music: 60s-70s all night. We made new girlfriends
The next morning the seas were even worse and it was raining. i got in the water as soon as i woke up, … i had to go one last time.
We scheduled a boat at 2pm back to the mainland, for 1200 pesos. Keep in mind that when i returned last time i paid 300 pesos. But this was a ‘private’ boat and we were splitting it. The weather continued to worsen, and at 3pm the office informed us that the boat that was going to take us was too small for the waves; but another boat captain would take us for an additional 500 pesos, because it would take more gas … whatever … We had little choice at this point. So we followed the girl in the rain to another part of the island and we waited. She eventually returned and said he didn’t want to go because the weather was too bad :) But, there was a small boat with some poor snorkelers that had come out there and needed to return, and we could go with them… but that captain wanted 400 pesos each to take us. We got in the boat, and of course we were the last ones to load, so we were in the front of the boat and i knew all too well what that meant. We would get getting sprayed all the way in from the waves crashing the boat. Although we would be getting pulmitted by the wind and the rain anyway.
Before we took off, i saw the Captain make the ‘sign of the cross’ … not very reassuring :(
I was on the end and served as the designated ‘windshield’. My back to the wind, rain and spray; it was an ugly and miserable 45minutes. i was soaked and cold. He had to take us to a different ‘landing’ because the waves were too great on the beach were we usually go. The woman from the lodge told us that he would refund us the difference in what we had already paid. But he said ‘no’, we would need to get it from her. Plus we had to pay to take a tricycle back to our beach :)
It was an expensive trip back, but we did get back; we were grateful for that. Ah, the joys of invading an island and dealing with the locals.
It didn’t seem much like paradise.
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