Different day, same routine!

Beautiful blue waters off the south end of Great Guana Cay

Well, what do you know? We were out diving again today....oh so surprising, I realize! Actually, we'd toyed with the idea of fishing in the early morning, but the forecast was for light winds and calm seas, so we opted to dive instead, and not miss out on the lovely weather! So, we ran back to the spot where we dove yesterday, to see if we couldn't find the big green moray we'd spotted there. No such luck, however, although we had a fabulous time exploring the overhanging arches and swim-throughs in the outer edges of the reef. While the lower edges of the rocky reef was fairly gray and non-descript, the upper portions of the reef were filled with life. 

Every time I looked up, I saw clouds of tiny juvenile fish amongst the sea fans, corals and sea whips that adorn the top of the reef....some so tiny they just looked like specks of glass. I also saw a pair of very small -- may 1" long -- tiny yellowtail damselfish. Unlike their mature coloring, the juveniles are a deep dark cobalt blue, with brilliant bright blue dots all over them. They are also known as "jewelfish" because of these gem-like dots, and they are stunning. There were tons of small brown and blue chromis in loose formations about the coral heads ... the blue ones always look grumpy to me, the way their mouths appear to turn down in a frown! 

A stock web photo that I found of a blue chromis

There was the occasional queen angelfish, pairs of bright yellow and black banded and striped porkfish, schools of chub and grunts, plus the ever-present parrotfishes, in their wide of colors, all munching away on algae on the coral. It was a relaxing and long dive -- again, we were in fairly shallow waters with an averages depth of 35', according to my dive computer -- so I took my time examining the fish around me. I also noted a lot of flamingo tongues on some of the sea fans, which I enjoy looking at, even though they are considered the "goats of the sea" as they forage 

After the first dive, Ron and I cruised south to Man-O-War Cut and checked out the reefs and waters around Fowl Cay. The water is an incredible shade of blue there, so we decided that after lunch, we'd check out some of the reef area there. We went up to Grabber's on Great Guana Cay for lunch poolside, overlooking the Sea of Abaco, where we had a delicious fish burger of grilled mahi-mahi. 

Awaiting lunch at our poolside table at Grabber's

After lunch, we made one more dive, this time off Fowl Cay. Fowl Cay is a Land and Sea Park, set aside by the Bahamian government, and within the undersea preserve, it is illegal to take fish, or even shells. The diving and snorkeling here is some of the best in the Abacos, and we have to agree, as we enjoyed it immensely. We will return here again to check out more of its beauty!

  

In the late afternoon, tired and salty, we returned to Treasure Cay to discover that our friend Sammy had arrived from Florida by boat, and was here to spend some time at his condo on Treasure Cay before flying back. Sammy has been fishing and diving here in the Abacos for over 30 years, so he not only knows many of the folks here at Treasure Cay, he knows all the tips, tricks and hot spots for diving and fishing. We had a delightful dinner with him at Touch of Class, just outside of Treasure Cay, and made plans to fish and dive with him while he is here. After a long day on the water, it was an early night!