divesergeant 6 years, 8 months ago.Hey Sal, we’ve got you covered on the rum punch :martini:
So, last day of diving Little Cayman. Bummer, it has been truly great.
Today we dived Randy’s Gazebo and Mixing Bowl, but we went west from the Mixing Bowl buoy so we really did Marilyn’s Cut again. It’s all good!
Mrs DS spotted this filefish straight away on the way down. I hung about a bit until he got accustomed to me and got this shot. (Added April 9: It is a whitespotted filefish)
As many might remember, I like to scope out the tiny critters. Inside a sponge I found some Brittle Star…
And then there was this cute little baslet or wrasse, or whatever he is. I’d tell you, but we already packed our bags with the fish ID book in it… (Added April 9: I think it is a young barred hamlet, as best as I can figure! If anyone knows better, please pipe up!)
Finally, as a last-dive day treat, this cute little sucker showed up. Saddle up! (Added April 9: this is a longsnout seahorse)
More later, we’re going on an Iguana tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DS
Just back from the iguana tour. We recommend it. There isn’t that much to it, it’ll take less than an hour or so, but it is cool.
Basically, there is a spot where they tend to hang out and the guide explained the biology of the critters and the challenges the iguanas face. Then he caught one (bribed it close with food and then pounced) which was then measured and weighed and had a color-coded dangle put on. Then he was released.
One old guy isn’t at all timid. He sat right where he was and tolerated close approach and, if he liked the looks of you, he even would allow a bit of rubbing.
After that, we went across the street to the Cayman National Trust building where local art, jewelry and photos are offered for sale. We finished off with a couple scoops of local ice cream and a walk back to the resort.
If anyone visits Little Cayman, take the time to do this. It is educational and fun.
Now, on to dinner!
DS
Hey jpep, how’s it going? Glad you’re liking the pics so far. Definitely try LCBR. It’d be perfect if Casey were there!
We’re now on Grand Cayman, happily settled into our cozy little apartment over-looking the harbour. Almost didn’t get here. Cayman Air was involved.
“What happened?” I’m glad you asked. Don’t bother taking notes, class. This is really pretty simple….
OK, there are two flights leaving Little Cayman for Grand Cayman. One leaves at 2:05pm, the other leaves at 2:20pm. We had booked and gotten confirmation for the 2:20pm flight. With me so far? Good.
We got to the airport a bit after most of the 2:05 flight passengers. Once they got all checked in, we went and checked in. We clearly told them that we were there early and that we were booked on the 2:20 flight. They very efficiently printed out our boarding passes and handed them to us with a polite thanks.
So, the first plane lands and loads. We say good bye to the friends we’ve met and watch as they load the luggage. As they finished with the luggage, Mrs DS notices we had been changed to the 2:05 flight. Good thing she checked. We darted onto the plane just in time.
The flight was great, I prefer the smaller aircraft and enjoyed having a good view of the cockpit since I ended up in the front row center.
Cayman Air people were always very friendly, but communication could be better!
At the Grand Cayman airport there was no direction what to do. Sister island flights need not clear immigration and customs, but how were we to know? Fortunately, more seasoned travelers helped us out. We were through the airport, into a cab, and to our apartment within an hour of boarding on Little Cayman.
Anyway. We’re here, we’re happy, we’re fortunate and we’re thankful.
And this is what we’re looking out at right now…
Tomorrow starts our grueling week of diving with Casey and Keith, so we should have whale shark and manta pics soon ?
April 10, another fabulous day of Cayman diving.
It was great to see Casey after a year. As always, the dive groups are small and the day is relaxing. We had not met her new assistant, Jorge, but took an immediate liking to him. Casey seems to have a knack for finding just the right personalities.
The seas off SMB were almost flat. Talk about lazy, easy diving. We went to Slaughterhouse Reef and then to Public Beach. We were happy to see the diversity and quantity of fish life. It seemed more abundant than last year, but who can really tell.
On Slaughterhouse, we bumped into this little drum patrolling his/her little patch of sand.
As always, I like to spot the small critters and to slow down and study the many contrasts of colors and textures. I stopped and shot a few close-ups of the texture of a barrel sponge. This shot has a group of some sort of Goby in it, yellownose, I think. They hang around the sponge and rest in it’s nooks and crannies.
During our surface interval, Casey told us about her softer side, that of working with an animal rescue organization called “Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts”. From the organization’s website, here is their mission… “Our Mission is to prevent ill-treatment, cruelty and suffering to all domestic animals and to eliminate over-population and its accompanying pain and suffering by actively promoting spaying and neutering and to make funds available, where there is a need, to the public for this purpose and to endeavor to educate on responsible pet ownership, animal welfare and animal behavior by engaging the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help the animals.”
Go Casey! Like the T-Shirt says, “The more I know people, the more I like my dog”. We have noted a dramatic decrease in feral dogs and cats over the last few visits to Grand Cayman, and CARE shares much of the credit for this. Feel free to Google ‘Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts’ and then donate to the cause! It benefits the island we all love and the animals we can’t help find to be cute.
Back to diving…
On Public Beach Mrs DS and I wandered off on our own and we spotted this good sized Peacock Flounder. It is just about the perfect size to fill a dinner plate… and don’t think the idea didn’t cross my mind!
The barjack (also called skipjack) is fairly common, but I’ve not had much luck getting a shot of the usually fast moving little bugger. This guy was hanging around a cleaner, which I think is a damselfish. Actually, I really don’t know what it is, but damselfish seems as good as any guess. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a better ID.
Finally, getting back to the smaller, less-glamorous stuff, we found this clump of Christmas tree worms. Often, they withdraw into their tubes but these kindly stayed out for me to zip off a few pictures.
MRS DS DIVES BACKPLATE/WING
After the morning dives, we had lunch, got our rental Jeep and then Mrs DS did a short shore dive off our apartment to try my Backplate/Wing. It seems like it was a success. I love the setup, and my air use went down measurably. She liked it and it didn’t even fit. Looks like we’ll be buying a BP/W for her soon. Sorry guys, no pics of her modeling it. (Thanks to Casey for the loan of some necessary equipment for the shore dive, you rock!)
We rounded out the day with a drive up around and through the West Bay area and had dinner at Lone Star.
Tomorrow will bring two dives in the AM and then the Kittiwake in the afternoon.
