Last night Andrea and I finally got to do a recreational dive (non work-related) together, our first since the day after I arrived on Island. It was nice to get in the water with no responsibilities, no students or tours, just the two of us and a nice fun dive! To add to the excitement, Andrea hadn’t been diving since before Hurricane Dean came through, and so she was itching to get wet!
My dive shop is called Eden Rock, and it is named after one of the two dive-sites that we have shore access to. The other is called Devil’s Grotto. Both are great sites, shallow reefs with a maximum depth of 50 feet and lots of marine life. But what makes both of these sites unique are the swim-throughs. In scuba diving, you never enter a cave or a wreck without proper equipment and planning. A “swim-through” is a passage or structure, usually open on top or where you can easily see the exit, that you can swim through (hence the creative name) without the risks typically involved with penetrating a wreck or a cave. Some of the swim-throughs here are actually long tunnels that are completely closed-off and where you can’t see the other end, but they are still safe passages. There are a bunch of swim-throughs on both Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock, and they make these sites particularly enjoyable to dive.
As an added bonus, for four to five weeks every year, starting in late July through late August, the tunnels in Eden Rock and the Devil’s Grotto are filled with little silverside fish. These are little silver minnows, about an inch long, that swim in packs of thousands. Large tarpon and barracuda eat the silversides, and so they swim in these large packs as a means of safety. As you approach them, they stay in formation but the shape of their “cloud” adjusts around you. The result is amazing — you stick your hand into them and they adjust around it, you swim into them, and you get engulfed by their cloud. And all the while, huge four to six foot tarpons jet past you through the formation of silversides, just inches from your face, looking to catch their dinner. We are at the end of the lifespan of the silversides, so their clouds and clusters are much thinner than they were a few weeks ago. But they were still out, so it was a treat to get to swim with (and through) them.
We had a great dive, and saw lots of great marine life. I brought my underwater camera with me, and was able to get a few decent video clips to post. Because we dove after work, it was a twilight dive, so things look a bit dark, and the videos are not as clear as they would be if taken in the afternoon. But they are still cool videos, and they give a good idea of the silversides and the swim-throughs. Take a look!
Andrea playing with the silversides:
Andrea leading the way through a swim-through:
We will continue to post our stories and adventures, so be on the lookout for more pictures and videos soon!
GO TEAM SCHMOOP!