The Journey to the Blue Corner!

February 19, 2008 Peleliu Island

Sadly, it was our last dive day today. We went out to Peleliu Island where one of the worst D-Day battles in the Pacific occurred during WWII. We dived Peleliu Corner first and saw many sharks and large schools of fish once we hooked into the top of the wall. There were at least a thousand red snappers schooling off the corner and it was very impressive. The current was strong but apparently not what it usually is (rip your mask off strong).

After our dive we went onto the island for a tour. Tangie, our tour guide and Peleliu historian was very informative about the battle here. He was also very passionate about his feelings toward the US Marines and United States of America. We visited Orange Beach where huge numbers of US Marines lost their lives. We also visited Bloody Nose Ridge where the Marines tried for weeks to gain ground and the elevated positions of the Japanese. We looked into one of 600 caves the Japanese had carved into the hillside to store food, water and ammunition. We were surprised at how big the caves actually were. We also learned the the construction of the caves began in the early 1930s. Some Japanese soldiers remained in the caves for a few years after the war before they were convinced that the war was over.

There were personal and military connections for some members of our group. One member of our group is a retired Air Force Pilot, his wife is a retired Air Force Nurse, and one man's father fought in the D-Day at Peleliu. Obviously it was an emotional tour for them.

After our tour we did our last dive of the trip on Peleliu Wall. We meandered along for quite some time and then saw our group doubling back, then changing direction once again. Apparently they ran into some serious current that began to drag them down, and then push them up. We rounded the corner to meet them and got pulled upward also. We all hung onto the coral with our feet in the air and then let go for a quick safety stop. Our guide was thrilled we all made it on board. Fortunately for us, we did not have the same experience, because we are such slow pokes.

Tomorrow is filled with interviews. The owner of Neco Marine, an author of some books about Palau and our divemaster Tuff. Then we will say goodbye to this place and these people. We hope to return one day, because this is truly a place to return to.

We have met many wonderful people along the way and seen so much beauty in such a short time.

So, farewell to our new friends for now and may we meet again.

Jo

 

 

February 18, 2008 Beautiful Sunny Day

Today was a three tank day. We started out doing the Nautilus Dive which is at the Short Drop Off dive site. They drop a trap in the evening for the Nautilus to 300', using chicken for bait. In the morning they pull the traps up to about 50' and bring out a couple of Nautilus for the divers to interact with and then let them drift back to their home. We did get some great pictures. The rest of the dive was a very nice wall with a lot of coral and a lot of fish.

We took the boat further south and dropped off everyone for lunch. We were the only two that were diving three tanks so our second dive was just us and the divemaster. We took it slow and easy and I'm sure I'm beginning to sound like a broken record when I say that the corals and the fish were plentiful and beautiful.

We went back to the beach to eat and join the group for our surface interval. After some fun conversation and a nice meal we went to Ngemelis Wall for our third dive. One of the dive guides stayed with David and I since we are the slowpokes of the group and everyone else went ahead. This worked out great for photos because we did not have to contend with all the bubbles. We came up with the boat further away then expected. Everyone else made it much further than we did. But we did get some great photos.

February 17, 2008 Bad Weather Day, Ok Diving

Today it poured. We were scheduled to go to Peleliu but the weather did not cooperate. We bounced out to German Channel and it rained and rained. There was not one thing on the boat that escaped the water. The seas were the roughest yet and I was glad to get in the water. We went back to Blue Corner and saw schooling Barracuda and both Reef and Whitetip Sharks. I took this shot of of a diver from our boat approaching the school of cudas.The hook in spot was not as good this time, but the wall dive out to the corner was really nice with a lot of schooling fish.

We went back to our nice beach to have lunch. It was very calm there and the rain had stopped. We had some engine trouble on the boat (broken power steering line), but the dive shop brought out the needed part and repaired the boat while we ate. We waited on our little sanctuary until the tide changed so that we could go to our next site.

The weather cleared and the sun came out in time for our last dive site called New Drop Off. The wall was covered with soft corals and fish as were the other walls we've dove so far. Unfortunately we didn't spend much time wall crawling as we hooked into the reef early in the dive. in two different places but didn't find the big stuff we were looking for. David found some big Reef Sharks behind the group and captured some of the best footage of the day. During the safety stop we spotted this Striped Surgeon Fish. It doesn't sound so exciting, but it was a fish we hadn't seen before. We also spotted this Yellow Mask Angel which was another first for us.

Tomorrow will be a three tank dive day visiting the other sites we haven't seen, weather permitting.

Until tomorrow.

Jo

 

 

February 16, 2008 Jellyfish Lake, Blue Corner and Blue Hole/Blue Corner

What a day! Our first site was Jellyfish Lake. It is a bit of a hike from the arrival dock to the lake itself. You cannot dive there, snorkel only and David had to wear his BC because Scooter would have dragged him down to the bottom. We put on mask, snorkel, fins and eased into the lake. At first there was nothing, but then one jellyfish appeared, then 10, until we were completely surrounded by Jellies. They would run into our masks, cheeks, arms etc, and we had to be very careful not to kick our fins too hard. We were able to touch them and I held some of them in my palm and gently pushed them in another direction. They actually felt like little gummy bears and were quite heavy. I think I expected something lighter and less solid feeling. It was not creepy at all, it was actually very serene. It was so quiet without the bubbles from a tank and I could have stayed for hours. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done.

Our first "dive" was at Blue Corner. It is everything it claims to be. We dropped in over the wall and then went down to 107 feet to see a little gobie that is only found at that depth. We then came up to about 60-70 feet to avoid the current. Any higher and the current would pull you to the surface. At the corner, we were pulled upward along the wall and at about 40 feet we hooked in with the reef hooks. We watched shark after shark and huge numbers of schooling barracuda and other big fish that would go up and down the wall.

We had lunch on a little island sand bar along with 10 other boats. It was really nice to squish a little sand between my toes. The lunches have been really great. We put our order in the night before and we have not been disappointed.

Our last dive of the day was Blue Hole. This dive starts by dropping into a small opening (about 30' diameter). The hole opens up during the descent. We stopped around 85 feet where the hole bottomed out and there was a huge opening out into the wall. We cruised along the wall until we ended up at Blue Corner again. There were sharks everywhere. If we looked up or down there were sharks cruising along. Again, large schools of Barracuda. We did not hook into the reef this time, but cruised along the top until it was time to leave the water.

 

 

 

Our guide was approached by a huge Napoleon Wrasse and he started to pet and play with it like a dog. As it turns out our divemaster had a hard boiled egg in his pocket for the Wrasse. Needless to say the fish stayed with us for awhile and even after it was fed.

 

We got back to the dock around 5:00 and we went over to the bar to have a drink with a father and daughter we met on the boat from Germany. While we were there, our friend Maria, whom we met in Yap found us. She said she recognized my laugh (go figure). So we stayed for dinner and had a great time comparing dive notes.

Jo

February 15, 2008 Another Beautiful Day in Paradise

Hi to everyone. We made three dives again today. The first was a nice drift dive (German Channel). We've seen sharks on every dive and today was no different.

The color of the water here is an incredible shade of aqua. Today's dive sites were about 50 minutes out, but it was a very enjoyable ride. We saw a school of Big Eye Barracuda and White Margin Unicorn Fish, juvenile Black Snapper, and corals galore. We sat in the sand for a little bit to watch a cleaning station and hope the Mantas would come by, unfortunately one of the divers didn't get the memo and swam all around the cleaning station, so David just went out to get pictures of the sharks and large schools of snapper swimming by. We then headed into the channel itself and settled in for the ride. Since I'm fairly new at taking pictures it was a bit like the Blair Witch Project - drifting and trying to focus.

We had 12 divers on our boat today, but the set up of the boat is quite nice so it could have seemed a lot more crowded.

Our second dive was on Turtle Wall and I actually did see two turtles (go figure). I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of this place. I have never seen such healthy and varied corals. The colors are spectacular. We see clown fish protecting their anemone homes on every dive and we also found a rare orange Anemone at 60 feet. David got a great sequence of a unicorn fish at a cleaning station and it changes colors three times. It is really cool to watch.

Our third dive was on Big Drop Off Wall and it was truly a wall that went straight down. The wall started in five feet of water and there were a lot of schooling fishes at the five foot depth.The sun was getting low and so the wall was shaded, in most areas it looked like a dusk/night dive. The huge 8' sea fans on this dive were the main attraction and there were so many soft corals that we couldn't identify. And of course, more sharks. This time gray reef and white tips were patrolling the wall

We have had a lot of bottom time on all of these dives, most about 75 minutes. I actually came up 1000 psi on the last dive, which was far better than the 235 on the first dive, but then again I stayed pretty shallow the entire time. If David is filming at around 60 feet then I try to stay around 30 feet so that I can get different stuff. .

On our way back to the marina we were taken on a really cool ride through the islands and David took video from the front of the boat. It was amazing. I have had a lot of fun taking pictures. I don't seem to get as cold and I am just the happiest little camper you'll ever meet.

We have become true dive nerds. We are so tired that when we get back to the room, we shower, watch the video, review the still pics and order room service. Then we crash, ready for the next day.

Until tomorrow,

Jo

February 14, 2008 Happy Valentines Day

Hi Everyone:

Today was our first dive day in Palau and it has to be the most awesome diving I have done yet. The day started out rainy and then the sun came out for the majority of the day. The seas were the calmest I've ever seen them and the vis wasn't bad either.

Our first dive was Ulong Channel and it was a drift dive. We went over the wall and hooked into the reef. We waited just a second or two and then the sharks showed up. We counted 12 and they would swim back and forth in front of us at the channel opening. I did see one of them snatch up a fish for a light snack. There was also a large school of Skipjacks and a second school of Bigeye Barracuda. We hung out there for about 15 minutes and then drifted our into the channel at a pretty good clip.

 

 

Our second dive was called Slaes Corner and this was a pretty calm wall dive, hardly any current. We took our own sweet time checking every nook and cranny on this sheer wall. The amount of fish and soft coral was beyond anything we have ever seen. Even surpassed Little Cayman walls. I almost got head butted by a Porcupine Fish and David shot video of a large Humpnosed Unicornfish at a cleaning station. The dive was over 70 minutes as the divemasters here don't seem to be in a hurry.

 

 

Our third dive was at Chandelier Cave. This was actually a very eery dive. It was pitch black inside the cave and there were four air pocket chambers. We surfaced the first three chambers and observed the limestone stalactites and erosion formations. We left the cave and were able to get some footage of a few mandarin fish hiding in the staghorn corals.

We got back into the dive shop around 5:00. We came back to the hotel and ordered room service and looked at our pictures. Now its time to recharge all the batteries, get everything ready for morning and hit the sack.

Happy Valentines,

Jo

February 13, 2008 The trip from Yap to Palau

Hello, David here again. Today was a down day due to the arrival time of our plane. We missed the boat by an hour so we visited the Palau Aquarium and checked-in at the dive shop. The Aquarium was mildly entertaining as we learned a lot about reef formation and saw an eleven foot nurse shark in a small tank with a large turtle and large grouper. They also had some Jellyfish from Jellyfish Lake as well as a Nautilus exhibit. Both kept our attention for a while.

So it is back in the pool tomorrow, hope all is with you.

David

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