This afternoon on a 3rd dive, Alex took us on a Pacific side reef tour that gave us a little surprise. We rolled off the boat together and turned over to see 100+ feet of vis and a swarm of humphead wrasse on our way down the reef slope. After gliding down to about 90 feet we leveled off and cruised the current south.

You see something new everyday, even if you’re one of Bill’s oldest dive guides. Nobody has more bottom time on this island than Bill and his team, after nearly 30 years, it’s just a figure that nobody can catch. Not a lot slips by one of these guys and today Alex showed his experience.

Our surprise was this Crocodile Fish in deep water. I was next to Alex and when I saw him looking back for divers as he was reaching for his bell, I scanned the area but didn’t see anything. After a jingle of the bell, I still didn’t see anything. Then he pointed just below his bc onto the corral.

“That’s different, we usually only see these in the channel…” were Alex’s words when we got back on the boat. A cool surprise for all of us. The crocodile fish is an easy photo target, it takes a lot to get one of these guys to break their ambush position.

The guest wildlife reports have been rich, this morning on a Manta dive a crew came back with video of a huge nurse shark and sting ray before watching several Mantas hover over divers at the Valley of the Rays cleaning station. Big animals are in the channels and Bill’s dive guides are putting people right up on the action.

It seems like with the sun came everything else, the clear water, the Mantas and there’s nothing but smiles from the divers at the resort. Several things have happened in the last few days, the weather went from grey and stormy to nice, spring tides have been bringing the clear blue right up to the island’s edge and everything on the reef has come out to play. It’s a great time to be on the island and in the water.