Great third day in the BVI. Started off as usual with an early rise at 7:45 followed by a short walk down at our meeting area (known as the cattle guard). Glen our taxi driver picked us up in the shuttle and took us to Olde Park Inn where class is always held. The breakfast buffet was waiting there as usual with the substitution of bacon for sausage. A cinnamon muffin was also a lovely addition. Dive instructor Laura then began her informational lesson on fish identification. We talked about all types of marine life ranging from Echinoderms, to crustaceans, basic angelfish, and many more. I was given the ability to identify everything I had been looking at the past two days thanks to Laura. After the lesson, we all drove over to Savannah Bay where we did some awesome snorkeling. The water was at times a bit too shallow to swim in due to the height of the reef. The particular reef we explored today is known as a barrier reef. It’s formed when two tectonic plates meet and one slides on top of another, creating a shallow surface where coral loves to form. After the snorkel we got out for some lunch on the beach for some ham, turkey, and pb and j sandwiches; frisbee throwing and casual swim time followed. After about 45 minutes we headed over to our docks to board the vessels. There we prepped our gear for some diving. Good ol’ Sea Dragon and the mediocre Sea Monkey took us to Great Dog Island where we visited the “chimney”, a worldwide famous reef where two giant walls of coral formed a narrow path to swim through. It was the best dive yet as we put the dive skills we learned not long ago into practice. The marine life we saw were extraordinary. Sea fans and sea whips (soft coral) were the most abundant life on the reef but coral was a close second. They ranged from fire coral, to pillar coral, and finger coral. The “tube worms” we’re fascinating as they would suck in really fast when disturbed. Basslets, parrotfish, princess angelfish, sergeant majors, soldier fish, and trunkfish were just a fraction of what we saw today. My favorite organism was the sea turtle as we came rather close to it. Despite Christian’s tank slipping out of his BCD and me accidentally hitting my head on Joe’s tank, it was a successful dive. We headed back to the hotel after the dive and got cleaned up for church. The service was lovely but our monotone singing was quite bad. There was however a great view from the church which stood at a high point looking over the town. After mass, we headed down to the beach for a cookout for some delicious burgers and chips. While most embarked on a night snorkel, Christian and I stayed back, chilling under the starry night sky. The night ended as usual with a blog in the air conditioned Internet cafe, and some chilling in the room with the hotel’s dog. It was the best day so far, can’t wait for the ship wreck dive tomorrow.
