Tag Archives: scenic

Have you been to St. Lucia?

Diving in St. Lucia turned out to be full of surprises. We went in December, 2018 and there were no crowds. We had the reef pretty much to ourselves. We dove with a shop called Scuba Steve’s because we were staying on the north end of the island. I don’t think I have been to any Caribbean island where I have seen as many octopi. On just about every dive I saw at least one octopus and on several dives I saw more than one.

An Octopu Lounging on the colorful  reef
An Octopus lounging on the colorful reef

The reef was healthy and exceptionally colorful. You would think that an octopus would be able to do a better job of camouflage than this fellow did, white and brown stands out on these sponges, but it made for a nice contrast for the picture.

Another aspect of the diving in St. Lucia that struck me was the variety of sponges and their incredible colors. There were tons of barrel sponges, vase sponges and tube sponges that added enormous color to the dives.

Tube sponges with diver
Tube sponges with diver

There is only one wreck dive that was available when we were there. Of course we got our wires crossed and we dove it the day I was shooting with a macro lens. I didn’t get any pictures per se of the wreck, but the wreck did provide a healthy environment for a variety of fish and sea critters, (including frog fish) and of course there was the nearly obligatory octopus.

queen angel fish on the wreck
Queen angel fish on the wreck

In the middle of the week we were there we did a tour of the island. We hired a guide who drove us around much of the island, which has a pretty laid back Caribbean vibe. Would I like to go back, yup, it was a very relaxed trip and they do know how to cook.

Delicate vase sponges

The Sea of Abaco

Preserving the creatures of the Sea
Preserving the creatures of the Sea

In the Bahamas is the sea of Abaco. It is surrounded by Little Abaco in part, Great Abaco and several small Cayes. The sea of Abaco is very protected from storms and even when a substantial storm arrived on the last day of our sailing trip, it did not make the water very rough for sailing. Marsh harbor is the largest town in the area and has an airport and a nice harbor. The sea of Abaco is roughly 30 feet deep at its deepest and it appears that most of the diving is done in the “cuts” where water flows in and out of the sea. In the “cuts” the fish life is impressive. One of the fish that we found quite frequently were Nassau groupers.

Although groupers may make great tasting dinners, their stocks are under significant pressure from over fishing. Hopefully, groupers will not go the way of the dinasauers. They are the puppies of the sea, and can be remarkably friendly. Gary, as I referred to this fellow liked my camera and spent several minutes posing.