Banana Splits

So it was nice to get back in the water with some nice viz and good diving, especially after the last few weekends where it's been a bit hit and miss.

The lovely people at Tortuga Divers once again provided the transportation to the dive sites where we had the delightful company of Catain Nige, Little Jon and Linda the Swedish Assassin. Conditions were relatively good at the surface with a 9-11 knot Easterly with a minor swell.

We motored out round the corner to the North side and jumped in on Split Rock for the first dive, where Jon was right at the front and was immediately checked out by and eagle ray close enough to give him a quick snog! As we were tail end charlies, some shots were out of the question given the distance, but hey, next time.

This dive site is particularly scenic with an abundance of rope and barrel sponges as well as a nice selection of hard corals, sea fans and whips. Mix this in with a proliferation of horse eye jacks, fusiliers, triggerfish and epic barracudas out for a Sunday cruise and you've got the makings of a top dive site.

It goes without saying that air and NDL should be monitored frequently here as you can easily blow out your bottom time and be restricted on the second dive. That aside, as always it's worth checking out in the blue for the bigger stuff, especially the sharks, but just not today unfortunately.

There was a slight current on the site but nothing to right home about. We spent some quality time at depth before shallowing up and running over the top of the wall back to the boat and some interesting variations of safety stops from some of the other divers due to lack of weight. The only thing I can say to that is futz blöd. It's the little things that keep me amused......

After a cookie stop at the surface, we headed on over to Fish Tank which was a new one for me. Lots of little nooks and crannies to get stuck into and see whats what with this site so you need to take it real slow or you'll miss the good stuff.

We spent a good long while mooching around in the shallows over the hard pan to see what we could find. We started off finding some lovely little blennies and gobies which are always one of favourite things to shoot as they are so photogenic.

And of course it wouldn't be a dive without  finding a nudibranch somwhere along the line, in this case it was a nice big elysia cryspata sitting on a coral head ready for a macro shot.

And to round things off, we have a little flamingo tongue cowrie action?

Remember kids, if you want to experience some of the best diving in the world, just give the folks at Tortuga Divers a call on +1 (345) 947-2097 or visit their website at www.tortugadivers.com.

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