The Tui Tai is not strictly speaking a “Dive Boat” but rather an “Adventure Boat”. Besides the diving which is two or three times a day, they have kayaks on board, mountain bicycles, and hiking as well. My ship mates are either young and energetic, or middle aged but marathoners and long distance bicyclists. I am neither, but I try to choose my battles and feel just fine when I skip the “long hike to the top” and read my book. The diving has been excellent, and the group gets along very well. As I told Justin, “you are a sick man, I am so glad we all fit in together!” Tuesday night we picked up two more passengers, Nick and Yael from London, early twenties and a very fun couple. She is originally from Mexico, he teaches outside London.
Wednesday morning we went to snorkel where they had seen Manta Rays in the past, hoping to see one. When we got there the sea was fairly rough, white caps and surge. They spotted a Manta and we all bailed over the side of the Zodiac at once, just like some highly trained Navy Seal unit! Then I counted eight HUGE Mantas cruising right with us. They stayed right with us, over under around for at least 20 minutes. They are impressive, an 8-10 foot wing span, with Remora stuck to their skin. It was a very rare and special event, as the Manta can be pretty shy and to see that many was unusual to say the least.
That afternoon we went to a performance by the school children on Rabi Island. They sang and danced for us. It was a great show, the little ones were too cute to believe. The islanders there actually come from a small island in Micronesia about 800 miles north of Fiji and were relocated here because their island was pretty well destroyed in WWII (and there was phosphorus to be mined there if the natives weren’t around) After the show we all got up and introduced ourselves and told where we were from. The “home of Mickey Mouse” was quite a hit with the kids, I guess the whole world knows him. Then we went outside and many of the crew and passengers played touch Rugby with the locals who were very fast and very good.
Thursday was of course more diving and a walk to some waterfalls, with a back/neck massage by the waterfall. While diving in the morning I was grabbing onto a rock to hold against the current but didn’t notice the tiny spike on the top. Old and blind, what can I say? So I punched a small hole into my thumb, and discovered the loss of wavelengths as you dive makes blood look green underwater! No killer sharks appeared, so it was all for naught.
That night we went to Miwi village for a traditional “Kava Ceremony”. Kava is a plant they have here which produces a mild high and numbing the mouth sensation. They pound the root and use some water to extract the Kava using a very old ritual, and pass the coconut cup back and forth in a very precise ritual manner. It was good fun, though not so much of a buzz. Then the village danced for us and of course pulled us up to dance with them and we all got up one at a time to introduce ourselves. Back to the boat and another somewhat rough crossing. The weather has been windy and fairly rough for a small boat. Friday was more of the same; diving, eating, diving, eating, resting, drinking. This takes a certain stamina, but I am holding my own.
Today is Saturday and we have come to Cobia Island, an old volcano with a coral atoll surrounding it. The dives here were spectacular, a wonderful wall and drop-dead beautiful canyons and swim throughs. We saw lots of corals, eels, and sharks, White Tip, Black Tip and Grey Reef. I dove a deep dive at 7 AM, a navigation dive at 11 AM and then my night dive at 7 PM. And it was very good. I was a little nervous going out, just Owen and I. We went about half way to Three Sisters and did a nice shallow dive along the reef edge. It was mostly 25-35 feet. Very little current. Descent was easy, then comfortably cruising. We saw a porcupine fish, and a goat fish. Then a nice sized Moray eel. Some luminescent shrimp, and I spotted a rather large lobster deep in a hole in the reef. Then we saw a White Tip Shark nosing around some holes in the reef and finally grab something and thrash with it a bit. At that point I noticed a “feather sea cucumber” about an inch or two thick and maybe 4 feet long, with four short “hydra heads” at the end. Watching it the White Tip swam directly under me, close enough I could easily have touched him. Saw a nice triton or large hermit crab moving over the bottom. Owen pointed out a parrot fish sleeping in a mucus cocoon. All in all a very fun dive and another great day of experiences.
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James