Dive two was at the same site. However, this time, instead of fighting the current we chose to drop immediately and swim under the current. This proved to be a good idea as this dive was a lot more relaxing. There were tons of Lionfish and Barracuda, amongst a ton of coral heads. Again, not a tons of good shots, I was trying to get George to model for me :-)
After dive #2, I took a nap and woke up tied off the an Oil Rig. We were told that the Oil Rigs were no longer an option. The boat was thrilled and the WA choice paid off here. We even swam with (2) sharks around the oil rig.
After lunch we moved to the East Garden Bank for an evening and night dive. As I was in the water for dive #4, the DM hit my camera port against the boat and dislodged it. I jumped out of the water and quickly reset the port. The shield was broken, but the port was in great condition. This would be my last WA dive of the trip.
For the night dive (#5) I went Macro, and boy was I in my element. A Macro night dive was the remedy for a frustrating day of shooting.
This was tiny, could use an ID :-)
During the evening of the 29th we moved to Stetson Bank Buoy #3 for the last two dives. We woke up to an amazing sunrise. The diving here was phenomenal. The first dive we spent relatively shallow, chasing macro critters.
The final dive George and I dropped in on a Manta Ray and Sandbar Shark! It was a truly amazing experience. I got the Manta on video and a rough shot of the Shark with my macro rig. We saw tons of baby Lionfish, I know these are invasive, but they are beautiful.
All in all, this was an amazing trip. We had wonderful conditions and I couldn't ask for a better buddy. I will post a video in the near future. Have an awesome holiday weekend. I will leave you with my absolute favorite shot of the trip.
I will share my amateur video tomorrow and hopefully Gdog will be able to post some pics and commentary too.
