May 18, 2008 - RSB1 and McAllister Reef

Hello everyone!

Sunday afternoon May 18th finds the Video Dude out for a relaxing couple of afternoon dives with Dive Diva Heather and her friend Charlie. We are aboard Dixer Diver's "Lady Go Diver" and we are headed out to the "RSB-1" and "McAllister Reef".

Captain Nick gets us to the "RSB-1" in record time, and after Divemaster Osman jumps in and ties off to the wreck, we all get in. There was a little bit of a strong current in the first 40fsw or so, but after that we were good until we hit the wreck. Lots of life on the wreck this time around. Heather, Charlie and I took a pass around the ship, then headed over to the deck and cargo hold areas. I found a Basket Starfish and we all saw a Goliath Grouper swim by. Suddenly, Heather's eyes got real big and she started pointing behind me. Not knowing what to expect, I turn around and nearly get french-kissed by a HUGE Sea Turtle!! It was closer than any other turtle I have ever seen! It allowed me to pet its neck and scratch its belly and one rear flipper before swimming casually over to one of the hold openings and going in. Heather followed it in and got to play with it herself for a bit. It was sooo cool! What a great experience!

By this time, my nitrogen clock has run out, so I signal Heather and Charlie that I am out of time and am heading up the line. They continued to swim around for a while longer while I did my half-stop at 50fsw and my safety stop at 18fsw. I then got back on board and began swapping my gear over.

After about an hour surface interval, Captain Nick drops us on "Ray McAllister Reef". Heather, Charlie and I head over to the ledge and begin driftng with the current. We saw lots of Pufferfish and Arrow Crabs, and I saw a few Spadefish and lots of Parrotfish and Blue Chromis. We drifted for over an hour before it was time to come up, do our safety stops and get back on the boat. An awesome dive and VERY relaxing. Nice to do those now and again.

Another great day of diving with friends in Paradise (did I mention the Sea Turtle was sooo cool?)!!

The Video Dude