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Nineteen club members traveled to the Bahamas for an wonderful week of diving and total relaxation like only the island life can bring. There were 19 total; 18 divers and 1 bubble watcher. We flew on an almost new Spirit Air charter with a generous free two bag free luggage allowance. What a treat and the trip only took 60 minutes!
Most days we made two dives after breakfast, one dive after lunch and one night dive Tuesday evening. The water temperature was a very comfortable 84 to 86 degrees. the visibility 60 to 100 feet and the walls were spectacular as always. We saw a few Hammerhead Sharks, several Reef Sharks and a few Black Tips. The previous club trip was in June 2004 and with the cooler water we saw many more hammerheads. There was very little current and most dives were sooo easy. A special treat at this location are dives that enter through cuts or holes in the wall and come out over the breathtaking 15,000 ft drop off.
The reefs around San Salvador are now mostly covered in green algae smothering the corals. This problem is noticeable everywhere in the Tropical Gulfstream, even here in Florida. There may be some hope for improvement because we saw many small urchins which devour algae and keep the reefs clean. Let‘s hope they flourish. The large friendly grouper are still there for the photo ops. Russ Manhold is putting together a CD of our shots.
The Riding Rock Hotel and Marina provided three excellent meals daily, including Island Punch upon our arrival, two managers cocktail parties and fresh conch chowder daily. We also had conch fritters, cracked conch, steamed conch, and conch salad (we snorkeled for our salad conch and ate our harvest).
Steve and Kathi McCutcheon led the trip, added three last minute signup and arranged a poolside Happy Hour each afternoon, complete with wine and snacks. Our group included several couples new to the club and we soon formed a cohesive group of laid back travelers. .We did not, however, see the famous Green Flash on the 2008 trip to San Salvador... perhaps there is no guarantee to see a Green Flash unless Sue Revie is there?
If you missed this trip, try to join us next season at another typical island destination.
Land-based trips have a special flavor and can be fun for the non-diving friend as well.
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