Cybercaptain

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Diving Club Med corner

My deckhand Pardeep had not been here and we decided to revisit this site. This time though we swam South instead of inside the atoll so we started near the corner. We weren't disappointed, met with Napoleon Wrasse & turtles plus the host of the small fish in the coral garden. I must have seen the biggest grouper ever in my life when I peeked under a rock formation, it sat there for awhile until it noticed it was observed and then it hid better out of sight. I managed to get a picture but it is obscured by the soldierfish, if you look closely you can see the eyes and mouth in the dark background...

BA chart 3323, inset

Yellowback fusilier

Collared butterflyfish & Shadowfin soldierfish

Oriental sweetlips

Imperial angelfish

Lined surgeonfish

Shadowfin soldierfish

Moorish idol

Soldierfish, note the grouper in the background

Yellowhead butterflyfish, Powder-blue surgeonfish, Black pyramid butterflyfish

Regal angelfish

Seacucumber, Tiger cardinalfish, Moorish Idol & Soldierfish

Sailfin tang, Bullethead parrotfish (?)

Blacktip grouper

Gold striped emperor and a lonely Kashmir snapper

Orangefin emperor

Trumpetfish

Titan triggerfish

White-spotted grouper

Fish at table coral

Neon fusiliers

Monday, March 05, 2012

Diving Hans Hass place

As we had tallied through the closest dive sites we ventured now a bit further afield, not going overboard but staying inside Male' atoll. We headed southwest from our anchorage towards Viligili Island and next to it is a reef named Gulhi Falhu. It is now being reclaimed from the West. In the middle of the reef on the Ocean side is the "Hans Hass" diving spot that is designated as a protected area. When I was in Maldives earlier my local guide told me that this will house the existing industries on Male' and they will be relocated on Gulhi Falhu.

Anyway, we arrived again early morning and found another dive boat there already but there is aplenty at sea so we made ourselves ready and jumped in. The current was against us and a bit heavier than expected but to agree with the diveplan we kept on going West as instructed our surface boat. There was plenty of pelagics, saw also a Napoleon Wrasse in the distance but the most impressive sight was the overhangs, especially the last one that when I looked under it it gave the impression of a cathedral.