4 Apr 2024
Oh, hey, look- it’s our favorite Half Moon Caye island…
Today, we’ll be diving just a couple moorings over from Halfmoon Caye Wall.
Dive #19 – Shark Point
Black durgon:
Flamingo tongue #1:
Flamingo tongue #2 & 3:
Moray eel, tucked up in his nook:
Slender filefish:
I absolutely LOVE these guys!
Spiny lobster close-up:
Young-ish blue tang:
They start yellow and turn blue as they age- this one just has a touch of yellow left on his tail. Soon, he’ll look like that grown guy on the left:
Blue tang, lighter coloration:
Black durgon:
And another!
Usually, these guys are quite skittish, but today I was able to get close enough for decent pictures.
Whitespotted filefish, orange coloration:
Tobaccofish:
I chased this guy FOREVER before finally getting this picture.
Black grouper:
Just hanging out at our safety stop:
Photo courtesy of my buddy, Ariana
(it was quite sunny, hence the closed eyes)
Today’s snack was macaroons:
and I again stashed a few for my afternoon snack as well- jalapeños are too spicy for me!
Dive #20 – Shark Point
A whole pile of juvenile Bluehead wrasses:
Rich brought along a shark puppet and spent the day eating people:
He tried to eat me last dive while I was chasing that Tobaccofish and totally startled me.
Another lunker crab:
Sergent major:
Hi, friend!
Giant crab in a conch shell:
Dive #21 – Secret Garden
We moved over a mooring ball or two for our couple dives:
Waiting for my buddy to splash:
I noticed she grabbed her slate for this dive, with seemed odd as she hadn’t brought it on any other dive, but then she handed her camera over to our guide and it made sense:
Lily, Ariana, me and Sarah
Such a fun surprise!
Sunshine chromis:
Queen triggerfish:
Spotlight parrotfish, hiding in the weeds:
Little Orangespotted filefish:
I saw a few of these guys, but only this one stayed still long enough for a picture.
Toward the end of the dive, I spotted this little guy swimming through the coral- a Harlequin pipefish!
It was hard to get a decent picture as he was deep down and active, and I’m still not great at aiming my strobes on the fly:
But look at that face! and his little fins!!!
Dive #22 – Secret Garden
Moray eel:
Shark with the tracker returns:
(I’m not sure if he’s the same one we saw earlier or if he’s another tagged shark)
Gray angelfish:
I think he’s a Coney, but of the bicolor variation:
Fourspot butterflyfish:
Trumpetfish:
Orangespotted filefish:
Yellowhead wrasse:
Blue tang cleaning station:
They really do vary in just how blue they are.
After our dive, we tucked in for dinner. The surprise dessert? My birthday cake!
I handed my phone over to Sarah, who snapped a bunch of pictures for me.
Look at this amazing cake Chef Bernard made!
Fluffy white cake with caramel “frosting” (which was tasty and not too sweet) and homemade whip cream decorations! A stellar end to an awesome birthday!