Dive Snapshots from President's Day Weekend

So I kicked off my 4 day weekend with an afternoon dive with Harry at the Grotto. Funny how it doesn't take much convincing for Harry to get wet. He got a new camera and has been dying to test it out.





The grotto is probably my most favorite dive spot in Saipan. Its just so unique and I feel like I'm in heaven going through the exit holes.






The visibility was unbelievable! Probably about 50 meters across the way. We spotted a huge Napolean Wrasse much like the one that was recently caught. He didn't wait too long for us to catch up with him because he just took off! Here's a picture of Harry below me taking pictures of this turtle. Check out his blog for beautiful close up pictures.







Here's a creature that I am definitely intrigued by but too scared to get too close. The Spotted Morey Eel has really sharp teeth and I just don't want get in its face.







I was actually really surprised to see this Parrotfish. It's either a Bumphead Parrotfish or a Steephead Parrotfish. If someone knows . . . let me know!







I'm so happy that I get to share my love for scuba diving with so many people in Saipan. There is always someone to go diving with on the weekends. This afternoon Sean, Mai, Jessica, Rikki, Mark and Tammy James, Dr. Hunt, Atsuko, and I rode the Aqua Jet out to two dive sites.


This was the SDA Teacher's first dive boat experience in Saipan and they did really well! Of course they had great instructor, Judy and Dennis. Here's a picture of Sean, Riki, and Jessica Crusin' into the deep blue.






I'm going to be dreaming of Pyramid Butterfly fish tonight! Plenty in the water. Mai is surrounded by them!















You know what we were all hoping to see-Eagle Rays! And we did! Five of them! We sat perched ontop of the Ice Cream Dive site and watched the Eagle Rays come swoop into the cleaning station. They were soo close to me! It was amazing! I think one of them winked at me!





















This Hawksbill Turtle dropped right in front of us and I didn't even notice him at first until Atsuko pointed him out. I was looking for Nudibranchs and realized he was dropping right in front of me!




I found Nemo! Here's a Duske Anemone Fish.











Here's a picture of an Orange Fin Anemone Fish

Honu Honu!

I'm still dreaming of turtles from this past weekend's dive at Lau Lau Beach. This Green Sea Honu came out of its hiding while we were taking pictures of a Hawksbill Turtle! The sweetest surprise of the day. Thanks for the underwater tour Harry!

Drop In The Ocean

These days it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Besides the obvious bare essentials all I’m really interested in right now are warm sun and scuba life. Scuba diving in Saipan has become a weekly thing for me. Luckily I am fortunate to have so many dive buddies to share my passion and adventures with like the Piersons, Tammy and Mark James, Judy & Dennis, Missy, Atsuko Eck, Harry, Angelo, Mike T . . . the list goes on and on.

This past Sunday I set out on the Aqua jet boat with Moretti and Mayuki. Because it had been raining the whole day on Saturday I didn’t know what type of diving conditions we would have the next morning. It turned out to be an amazing day of diving after all. A blue sky was more than I could ask for.

The first dive spot we hit was Bonzai. Here’s a picture of what Bonzai looks like from below. I was just on top of Bonzai Cliff Saturday morning watching the sunrise. The current was really strong and the waves were pretty rough. I was excited to get in the water. Scuba diving has transformed me into a fearless explorer in every aspect of my life. Something that I was not before I came to Saipan.

To maximize our diving time Moretti, Mayuki, and I made it a point to be the first ones in the water and the lasts ones out. When we first entered the water we had to hang onto the rope and descend. The strong current made it really hard for me to descend at first.. Moretti and Mayuki made it down first and then I slowly followed. It was crazy but fun! Once we made it to the bottom of the anchor we grabbed on to what we could and tried to stay low. I was resisting being carried away with the current but the deeper we dropped the less we felt it. At one point the surge pushed me into some coral and I got stuck with a sea urchin on my finger tip =( It was actually pretty cool that my blood was green coming out!

Bonzai is a beautiful dive spot. There’s a big drop off and it sort of reminded me of the wall diving I did in Palau minus the sharks swimming around. There were plenty fish and coral to see. We saw two huge Napoleon Wrasses. We dropped down about 22 meters, I was searching for Nudibranchs all day. I’m a bit addicted to them.

During surface interval a lot of the other Japanese divers were sea sick and throwing up on the side of the boat. I think its really annoying when they don’t even consider that you are still in the water and the current is making their vomit flow towards you as you climb up the ladder. It’s disgusting! Anywho, I quickly got over that while snacking on my yummy Peanut Butter Hershey Kiss cookies (sorry Harry!) and I decided to go for a dive.


Our final dive was supposed to be Spotlight but the diving conditions were too rough. We ended up diving Wing Beach instead but I didn’t mind at all. Wing Beach is one of my favorite dive spots the other one is the Grotto. We had great visibility and there wasn’t really a current. We saw a lot of Nudibranchs, an eel, and a turtle! We followed the crack searching every little nook and cranny. The last time I was there on a boat dive we dove the arch. There’s so much more to explore. I want to go back!









So you see, I did take more underwater pictures this time around Harry! Thanks for naming me the Canon camera wrist model=) Thanks again to my dive master and friend, Mayuki for a great day of diving and the pictures of us diving. I still have to post my Naftan/Obyan dives.

And just for kicks . . . try flossing Moretti style.