15 replies to this topic

[BradfordNC]

OK,

i'm in Palau, but haven't finished diving yet. so the report will come later. just happened to stop in a cyber cafe and decided to stop by my favorite website.

yeah, singledivers.com is my fav. i need a life. lol

but i do have this to report so far.

water temps have been 82 degrees everyday. viz about 70 feet.

tropical paradise? yeah, i guess so. suntan lotion? never heard of it, don't need it.
so far it has rained everyday since i've been here. makes for great boat rides. lol.

beautiful scenery. limestone islands rising out of the sea. very cool.

i'll have pics to post later.

so far have seen tons of turtles, gray and white tip reef sharks, a leopard shark, spotted eagle rays, and tons of other fish. yellow fish, red fish, orange fish, blue fish.

hey, i just figured out where Dr. Suess got the inspiration for his best work. lol

did a night dive last night on a WWII wreck. the ship still has a full load of depth charges on it, and stacks of helmets laying around. pretty cool stuff.

ok, so will report more later, hope everyone else is enjoying their diving.


Brad

[Cold_H2O]

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you are having fun.
Can't wait to read the full report

[Dive_Girl]

hmmmmm....we have lots of rain in the PNW, hope we didn't "send" it your way. Here's to wishing better weather on you

:anna:

[maninthesea]

Hey Brad
Sorry I Did not get your e-mail until Wed morning. I saw your name on the white board at Sam's but I had to catch my plane before you got back. Good to hear your having a good time. If your still there when you read this may I recomend dinner @ the Taj? Best Indaian food I have run across. Or if your on the cheep Spagetti night @ cramers is Tue.

I had some great dives myself. Two more trips to the USS Perry off Anguar. On the second dive I took the video camera and filmed the entire wreck including a depth charge in the launcher and a mine laying in the sand 30' from the wreck.

Cheers Jim

[triggerfish]

brad darling,


you suck.

next time, take me.

(to palau, i mean)

and just don't get any ideas about those depth charges, babe........


love, your favorite redhead

[BradfordNC]

Hey Brad
Sorry I Did not get your e-mail until Wed morning. I saw your name on the white board at Sam's but I had to catch my plane before you got back. Good to hear your having a good time. If your still there when you read this may I recomend dinner @ the Taj? Best Indaian food I have run across. Or if your on the cheep Spagetti night @ cramers is Tue.

Jim,

its all cool. having a good time.

ate at the Taj last night, and have to agree, excellent indian food.
eating there again tonight.

the only two wrecks i've been able to get on are a night dive on the Helmet Wreck, and then yesterday did a dive on the Chuyo Maru.

all the other dives have been out at Pelelieu (corner, wall, express)
and Blue Corner, Blue Holes, Dexter's Wall, New Drop Off.

water temps outside the reef were all 82 degrees.
on the wrecks inside the reef the temp was 84 degrees.

Nicolle,
the sharks i've seen here are leopard sharks, grey tip reef, white tip reef, and black tip reef.
i didn't get to see any hammerhead or whale sharks on this trip :-(

so far i've shot about 90 minutes of video.

most of the dives average between 45 - 70 minutes and except for the wrecks, they are all drift dives. on a couple of them, the current was booking along, was like flying.
oh yeah, and the deep end of the wall? try 2000 feet. lol, the guides kept saying, "Don't go to the bottom, stay off the bottom"

lol

oh, and it rains rains rains rains rains here. did i mention the rain?

it has rained everyday, i think i have only seen the sun like once or twice.

more to follow, the journey continues.

[Marvel]

Brad, I have to agree with Trigger- you suck! But I hope you're having a great time.

[BradfordNC]

yesterday was a 2am flight out of Palau to Guam.

i had planned to do a shallow dive in the morning as a final dive in Palau.

there is a cave near the docks. depth is about 35 ft and it goes back into the rock about 200 ft.
the entrance is about 20 feet underwater, with a couple WWII depth charges sitting around it. lol to cool.

planned on doing that dive, then spending the day kayaking around the islands.

yeah, that was the plan. but when i woke up, it was another Palau downpour.

so spent the day watching TV, packing for my flight, and hanging out at the bar with some other dive junkies.

so the flight yesterday from Guam to Majuro was the island hopper express. well, not so much of an express. left Guam at 8am and arrived in Majuro at 7pm.
we stopped at what seemed like every island between Guam and Majuro.
Truk, Kosrai, Konpei, Kwajelian, and maybe i'm forgetting one.

my flight to Bikini isn't until tomorrow morning so this morning i started looking around for something to do.
and wouldn't ya know it, there is a dive shop here in the resort.

so i stopped in, and they took me out on a 2-tank dive.

first dive was inside the atoll on the Ocean Glory II.
a fishing vessel sunk in about 90 feet of water, and about 800 feet from the dock.
during the dive, my guide got realy excited about a fish spotted on the wreck.
turns out, it was a stone fish, the first one seen here in the Marshall Islands.
visibility was about 70 feet, and the water a nice 82 degrees.

second dive was only 15 minutes away.
we left the atoll to dive a the south bridge wall.
the wall started at about 20 feet, and dropped off into the deep blue.
again, visibility was at least 70 feet, and the water temp 82 degrees.
the corals were incredible. unlike Palau, the corals here are mainly hard corals.
and much more colorfull.
saw a white-tipped reef shark, and a napoleon wrasse.
dive time: 65 minutes.


so now its back to repacking my gear and getting ready to fly out to Bikini tomorrow morning, with the first dive on the USS Saratoga tomorrow afternoon.

[chinacat46]

Hey you forgot to mention how half the plane had to get off at each stop on your way to Majuro for security checks.

Sounds like the diving is great. Have fun diving Bikini.

[BradfordNC]

just got into LA after a week of diving in Bikini Atoll.

it wasa big adventure just getting to Bikini, and an even bigger one getting off the island.

will have Bikini dive details in a future thread.

for right now, am waiting on an overnight flight, and when i get home tomorrow, will be loading the car and heading down to Key Largo for 4 days of wreck diving there.

hope you all have fun on your trips.

its great to be back in the US

[Cold_H2O]

Now I have to agree with TF and Marvel. You suck. Next time you need to invite one of us to go along. This sounds like a great trip and the Bikini Islands are on my dive list. Cant wait to read the full report.

[dustbowl diver]

just got into LA after a week of diving in Bikini Atoll.

it wasa big adventure just getting to Bikini, and an even bigger one getting off the island.

will have Bikini dive details in a future thread.

for right now, am waiting on an overnight flight, and when i get home tomorrow, will be loading the car and heading down to Key Largo for 4 days of wreck diving there.

hope you all have fun on your trips.

its great to be back in the US

BNC,

Thanks for the abreviated reports-looking forward to more, including the pics.

Are you diving with the crew over Memorial Day???

Don't make the Wench unhappy if you're gonna be in that area!!

DBD

[Marvel]

Doubt that will happen, DBD- Brad dives hardcore- multiple deep wreck dives w/penetration BUT he'd better call me & hook up for dinner on Sunday!

[dustbowl diver]

Doubt that will happen, DBD- Brad dives hardcore- multiple deep wreck dives w/penetration BUT he'd better call me & hook up for dinner on Sunday!

:mauswhip: :mauswhip: :mauswhip:

Would I be on the right track???



DBD

[BradfordNC]

Now I have to agree with TF and Marvel. You suck. Next time you need to invite one of us to go along. This sounds like a great trip and the Bikini Islands are on my dive list. Cant wait to read the full report.

i put out invites months ago. but no one wanted to go with me, so i went by myself.