I flew from Houston to Miami to St. Martin with no problems – of course my baggage was last out but it was there so my luck was holding up. I never did find the ride to the boat so finally took a cab and had a nice tour of part of the island since the other occupants were a French couple and their daughter so I got to see the Divi Resort on the island and hear the girl sing several One Direction songs (is there a French Idol?? If so she's a shoo in
).I got to the boat where Tuna gave me the tour but since it was my second trip I knew most of it already so the tour went relatively fast. Then on to set up my gear, give my paperwork etc. to Maria and get set up in the room (dang top bunk again – oh well I don't plan on spending much time there anyway!).
Once that was done I went up to the dining area to say hi to all my old and new friends on the trip. When most who were on the trip had made it the captain introduced the crew and we had dinner. Best food anywhere and we all wanted to take the cook home.
Now on to the diving – we headed out and arrived at Saba for the start of our diving. Checkout dive on Customs House reef to get the weight right and make sure the gear was working OK. Suzy and I were dive buddies for all but one of the dives that I went on and we saw 2 turtles (2 of many on this trip), several spotted eels and a couple of lionfish (no hunting without taking the Saba lionfish course unfortunately).
Next was Ladder Labyrinth for 3 dives where there was a school of Tarpon, more turtles and something else but I can't read my own handwriting (doh!). Day one was done for me (no night dive tonight for me) and on to eating again (did I mention the food was great?).
Day 2 started off with Diamond Rock where we saw some puffer fish, a reef shark in the distance and looked at the washing machine in between the rocks. It was amazing watching the waves hit above and swirling between the spires at the surface. Riding the surge between the lower spires was fun too.
The next dive was to Man O War where the spires sit about 18 feet below the surface and is the reason for the name. Saw another shark and puffer fish according to my chicken scratch handwriting. Diamond Rock was the next dive and last of the day for me (no night dive again – do we see a pattern here???
).Day 3 we went to the Third Encounter / Pinnacle but the mooring was missing so we had to live boat the site. I buddied with Jose and Maura for this dive. Excellent visibility and I could see where the pinnacle started.
We moved over to Tent wall and Tent reef for the rest of the day. By far the best dives of the trip and we made a twilight / transition dive so we could head for St. Kitts for New Year's festivities. This may have been where we saw the first seahorse but I neglected to fill out my log book in time for me to remember.
We made a somewhat rough crossing to St. Kitts and then celebrated New Years with the party stuff that Gwyn brought. It was a fun night and some of us celebrated the Atlantic, Eastern and Central Time New Year's. This was my best new year I can remember.
The next morning we were on Paradise Reef where we saw more turtles and the lionfish hunters got a chance to reduce the population and Mike had his best total on one dive if my notes are correct.
On to Anchors Aweigh for 3 dives and we saw a lot of anchors (surprise!), seahorses, small barracuda and a ray. This is when Tuna started taking pictures every time he was handed my camera – so I have proof I was on the trip! I skipped the night dive again since I had a large desert and was suddenly sleepy (did I mention the food was great?).
The next morning we started on Old Road Bay for 2 dives. On the first dive some of us followed Leslie to find the frogfish but sadly he had left the area. It was deep so a short dive like the Pinnacle. I did get good pictures of a lot of soft coral, a crab and a drum (we saw a lot of drum just like turtles).
Next we went to the River Taw wreck and bulldozer for 3 dives including the night dive. There were a lot of turtles (they like to get in the wreck and rub up against the metal), puffer, starfish, sand dollars and I took the best shot of a yellow headed jawfish I've ever been able to get:
The night dive on the River Taw was my last dive since I was leaving early on Saturday. It got a little murky and made the dive a little more challenging but with a little TAP navigation I found the boat.
Dive sites for Saba: Day 1 - Customs House reef, Ladder Labyrinth (3 times) ; Day 2 - Diamond Rock, Man O War, Diamond Rock, Customs House (2 times); Day 3 – Third Encounter / Pinnacle, Tent Wall, Tent Reef (3 times)
Dive sites for St. Kitts: Day 4 - Paradise Reef (2 times), Anchors Aweigh (3 times); Day 5 – Old Road Bay (2 times), River Taw (3 times); Day 6 morning – Corinthian & Old Anchor.
The last night we ate out and I stayed up late – I really didn't want to leave. It was a fun trip, great crew and fun group of divers
