The Nuise for April 2017 AM I IN HEAVEN???? ---- RUBON & LEILI ---- THE MEETING ---- DAVID'S BACK ---- A HOST OF NEW DIVE SITES ---- PAM RETURNS ---- OUT OF THIS WORLD Hi, Everyone, I truly think I am in diving heaven, and am receiving early my reward for all that I've been through. The diving we're finding is just superb- both in quality and variety. And it's close. No more miserable rides home in rough water and pounding rains. We did a night dive at Mbili, came up to rain, and within 5 minutes we were back here, having hot bucket baths and enjoying Shivering, Starving Diver's Soup. And it's EASY. So far, no more than mild currents. I'm definitely in love. But I get ahead of myself. A call from the new Evis Resort asked if we could handle 2 divers the next day. Rubon and Leili arrived, having hailed all the way from London. And such a delightful couple they were. Off we went exploring, finding yet another "endless ridge" with a very curious gray shark, a reluctant turtle, endless clouds of jeweled damsels and anthias, and, the highlight of the dive, a huge cuttlefish ding its best halimeda algae imitation. For our 2nd dive we jumped in on a sheer wall, cruising along, enjoying the antics of a feeding eagle ray and ending at these richly poplulated pinnacles that definitely invited more exploring. A community meeting at which I was asked to speak and tell our story resulted in a unanimous vote to allow us to dive without paying the suggested "Entrance and Discovery Fees" which a very small group of people were supporting. With firm village support in our corner, we are off an running, David Ebert arrived for his 4th visit with us, and exploring we went. David named several sites, the first being Poetic Pinnacles, 2 coral encrusted mounds rising from the bottom richly adorned with almost every fish imaginable, with 4 species of anemone fish stealing the show. Way Too Much, off the small island of Totolave entertained us with sharks, barracuda, a variety of snappers, eagle ray, courting parrots, rare Lyretail Hogfish, undercuts wheltering fans and shrimp gobies- just a bit of everything. David made fun of Hite and I, who were totally in awe at Rainbow. Clusters of colorful fans were backlit with pink soft corals. Pink and golden Square-spot Anthias and hundreds of the multi shades of blue Redtooth
triggers took front stage in the ever shifting color show. Wandering over to Karanjou Island, we jumped at a promising looking point, to find it relatively quiet. Turning westward and upwards, we soon struck goldliterally. Red-tipped yellow soft corals bloomed almost from surface to bottom, providing a golden frame for the endless fish show. I ventured down a bit and out to see pinnacles rising from dipped ridges, one side of which was obliterated with fans, leaving a hunger for more exploration. Our night dive at Around the Corner netted cuttlefish, several species of lobsters, sea hares, assorted lions, and jeweled shrimp nestled in blooming orange coral polyps. On David's last dive, we headed in a new direction at Totolave, and ended in an area of absolutely magnificent hard corals that extended from the surface to the bottom. We both just hovered off the reef in a lotus position and revelled in the scene below. Can't wait to get back and explore. Pam Wade arrived for her second visit- her first here at Minado- so laden with gifts that I looked for her Santa Claus hat. Christmas in March!!! A kadzillion thanks to members of her dive cclub in Sacramento, CA for donating a host of masks, dive lights, and fins to help replace those stolen by the Amos family in Chea. Pam's goal was to get a head start on her Bilikiki group from the organization REEF, who will be on their first trip to the Solomons to document the fish here, both in numbers of species and abundance of same. Off we went, exploring and counting. "Amazing Grace" dropped down over a bank of varied hard corals to an unexpected fan covered pinnacle teeming with fish. It took me a bit to develop an efficient counting system, as I had only a small slate and my camera. We rose slowly over a Flasher Wrasse populated patch of rubble to endless hard coral formations housing a challenging variety of fish. To my great delight, a rare pair of Meyer's Butterflies led me on a merry chase for an ID photo. Back to Karanjou, where we dropped on the twin ridges I discovered with David running into the deep and rising to matching hilltops. We could not decide where to look- at the sharks and schools of surgeons, rainbow runners teeming off the hills, or for the rarer deep species that found shelter on the reef. We gazed longingly at the hill slope, so covered with fans we could not see the reef below. We reluctantly ascended to golden soft coral walls highlighting brilliant anthias and butterflies, and spent our shallows on the rocky top meeting numerous cute blennies, Jansen and 5-lined wrasses, spotted box fish, with the prize find of a Leopard Blenny hiding in its coral head. Our night dive at Lone Palm produced strange cardinals, a school of Striped Catfish, Pajama Cardinals, and the highlight, sleeping Ceram and Obscure Blennies, snugly settled in their branching corals.
Far too soon it was time for Pam to leave. We were both worn out, but elated with our success. In 14 dives, most exceeding 80 minutes, over 5 days we'd ID'd over 400 species. Not bad for a couple of amateurs. We're hoping Bilikiki will stop here and I'll get to meet the rest of the REEF gang. This week, I have to move into my new house, as we have guests arriving who will want the room in the guest house presently my "home". Waiting for the floor covering to come from Honiara, and for Johnlee to build my desk in the office. Very exciting. And as I have much to do before our next guests, repeats John and Mary Munch, arrive, I will leave you for another month, wishing you all a very happy Easter, the flowers of spring for my northern readers, and a gorgeous fall for my southern followers. Have a great month. Love from the whole gang, Lisa Lisa Choquette Solomon Dive Adventures Minado Eco Lodge Turupu Island, Marovo Lagoon Solomon Islands lisa@solomondiveadventures.com Mobile #'s:677-74-69007 677-87-95637 "Lose yourself in the adventure, find yourself in the richness"