Dive #270 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

Dive prep at West Side Scuba Centre on Barbados
Photo by Rich in Barbados 2012

Spectacular yellow tube sponges
Photo by Rich in Barbados 2012

Magnifying glass not so great
Photo by Rich in Barbados 2012

Spotfin butterflyfish
Photo by Rich in Barbados 2012

Banded cleaner shrimp
Photo by Rich in Barbados 2012

Dive Journal: A few students were doing a Discover Scuba course today, so in the meantime we enjoyed a pick-up breakfast on the porch of the West Side Dive Centre here in Barbados. By way of explanation, we're down here on a family celebration of my mom's 80th birthday, and Linda and I have arrived a week early to further enjoy this island paradise.

We finally grabbed all our gear and waded out off the beach into chest high water to the dive boat. The boat powered only a short distance to reach a reef called Church Point. It is a circular fringing reef at about 35-40 foot depth, located only a few hundred yards off the western shore of Barbados. Linda and I both liked this first site selection. It's been over 2 years since we last did any diving! Conditions were fabulous today - sunny, puffy clouds, warm, and super calm waters.

Linda and I brought our 3mm wetsuits. They're totally unneeded here, and yet I'm glad to have mine. Warm dives are better than cold ones anyday. All the dive professionals are also wearing 3 or 5mm suits, despite the 80F+ water temperature. We've also brought mask, fins, and snorkel, but everything else is rented - due to airline weight restrictions.

The dive was very nice. Angels, a shy rock beauty, yellow tube sponges, butterflyfish, etc... As usual, it's another pleasing re-introduction to our many Caribbean "friends."

Linda and I brought little square magnifying glasses on this dive. The idea was to (affordably) assist our aging eyesight when looking at the small stuff. Verdict is mixed. The glass marginally helps but does not provide a very good view underwater. Specifically, the area in focus is too small in diameter.

I also brought along the underwater camera housing I bought last year. This year I threw in Linda's new Canon S95, replacing my older S90. As you can see from these photos, its underwater setting is pretty nice.

Of the rented gear, only the mouthpiece was a problem. It felt like some kind of aggravating dental plate or something, gouging constantly into my gums no matter what I did.

Nearing the dive end, we all saw the very largest turtle I've ever seen, exceeding even that one we saw years ago in Florida (read about that one here). Unfortunately I did not get a good photo of him. I found out later that it was a resident hawksbill male, and the diving pros hadn't seen him in quite a while.

This dive reminded us that we love to dive!

Check out the rest of this day on Barbados, and if you want, read further about the whole trip.