Dive #91 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log
© Copyright 2010 Rich Torkington Mesa, Arizona

PREVIOUS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 HOME INDEX Next

Bottom Time to Date:

79h
19m


Dive Info:

Dive Start:
9:10AM

Bottom Time:
57 minutes

Maximum Depth:
60 feet

Safety Stop:
3 minutes

Beginning Air:
3000 psi

Ending Air:
600 psi

Weather Conditions:
80°F

Surface Conditions:
Calm

Surface Water Temperature:
76°F

Bottom Water Temperature:
76°F

Visibility:
100+ feet
91
TITLE
* * *½
March 13,
2002
ROCKS PARADISE
SALT CAY, TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS, BRITISH WEST INDIES
BOAT DIVE
VIDEO
Ollie (divemaster), Linda (buddy), group from Michigan
Photo
This tiger grouper probably wishes I would scram
Videograph by Rich Torkington in TCI 2002 
Dive Journal: Rocks Paradise is located next to Turtle Gardens, just offshore from Salt Cay, so it is a very short boat ride to the site. Descending beneath the boat, we immediately encounter a nice patrol of 6 great barracudas with their menacing (but harmless) scowls.

Linda soon finds a pretty goldentail moray eel emerging from a coral head – very nice. The wall here is beautiful as usual, and we also enjoy lots of time on the sand flats after touring the wall. In one recessed space between corals, I discover a spotted drum, which turns out to be the only one I spied during this entire trip to Turks & Caicos.

Also in a coral swimthrough is a big tiger grouper showing pale phase colors, and some always pretty smooth trunkfish and honeycomb cowfish. Near the dive’s end, there is a pretty hogfish, diplaying the patterned rusty colors of the juvenile phase. There is also an interesting peacock flounder in the sand, nearly invisible until found.

John and Debbie continued with PADI training skills while we dove, and John did very well. Following this dive, Johnny spent another hour at the dive shop taking his final PADI certification exam (while we did the next dive). We then waited expectantly all afternoon for the results. Debbie stopped by in the late afternoon to let John know he’d gotten a 90! Passed with flying colors! John is now the newest certified PADI diver on the planet! Congratulations!

The whole family is now trained and certified to scuba dive together!

More
Dive
Info:
Fins:
Mares Avanti Quattro
Computer:
U S Divers Matrix
Tank:
80 ft3 Al
BCD:
SeaQuest Spectrum 4
Dive Type:
BOAT
Body of Water:
Caribbean Sea
Mask:
U S Divers
Protection:
3mm full wetsuit
Regulator:
SeaQuest
Spectrum XR2
plus Oceanic
Slimline octopus
Weight:
12 lb
Water Type:
Salt
Video Equipment:
None