This was a two dive site day and we started on a dive site called Acropolis. I’d call this site a kidney-shaped “super bommie”. You’ll probably only get around it one to two times on a dive. Lots of great macro photo opportunities and sharks cruising out in the blue. The top of the reef was at 15-20 feet, so the safety stop was right on the reef….nice.
However, this was also the first time I began to feel cold in the 77 degree water (despite the 5mm wetsuit). Its amazing how repetitive dives can sap the core warmth from your body over a few days. So, I began wearing a 3mm hood on every dive and seeking warmth on the boat (sundeck, hot tea, frequent hot showers).
At lunch, we transited over to Faraday Reef to dive another “exploratory” site on the opposite side of the reef from the buoyed sites. Captain Pete (arrgh!) was my buddy for this dive. The original idea was to dive one of two bommies. Well, the captain and I strayed away from the bommies and found ourselves exploring a hard coral paradise with forests of staghorn coral in every shade imaginable. Sharks, rays and swim-throughs galore. I was so enthralled with the dive that I hardly took any photos. I just kicked back and enjoyed the exploration. On the second dive, I jumped in with one of the divemasters, Denis the Scotsman, and we saw a sleeping whitetip reef shark deep in a hole in the reef. I reluctantly skipped the night dive due to my constant shivering after the afternoon dive.
This was my favorite site in the Coral Sea and it was named Clancy’s Cluster (or was it “Clancy’s Playground”) after Captain Pete’s daughter. I have a feeling it will become a regular stop on the Coral Sea itineraries.
Photos in the continuation.
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