January 3, 2005: Caribbean Explorer II

A D2D New Years 2005: Saba - St. Kitts dive

"Anchors Aweigh (St. Kitts)" - "Paradise Reef (St. Kitts)"

Diving aboard the CEXII:

• Directions from Tampa: Talk to Ultimate Dive Travel at http://www.ultimatedivetravel.com/
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny.
  
  
• Personal Notes: I finally spotted an anchor on Anchors Aweigh. Saw a cute little turtle early in the dive on the first dive there; he could have cared less about my buddy and I as he went about eating his breakfast. I had decided to go without a camera on that dive - go figure. Got lucky though and spotted Captain Evan swimming some distance away with a camera in his hand. I got his attention and pulled him over to meet the turtle.
  
  I did manage to make it to 300 on the night dive on Paradise Reef, missing only the second afternoon dive.

Anchors Aweigh (St. Kitts)
I think this is a Conical Sea Cucumber, but they are supposed to be uncommon.
He looks bigger than he is, and he looks closer than he is. And he is not really mad; he is just breathing.
This is a Magnificent Featherduster.
A Giant Anemonie.
Paradise Reef (St. Kitts)
Balloon Fish - these are the ones that blow up when threatened.
In the same family is this Porcupine Fish. They are usually quite bigger than the Balloon Fish.
This tiny guy was moving at quite a klik, which is how I spotted him.
An interesting place to take an nap.
Blurry, I know. But one of the few shots I have of a Red Night Shrimp, which usually dart into a hiding spot when hit with a light.
This is the shell that a White Speckled Hermit Crab is using.
Another Red Night Shrimp. Still blurry.
This is a Goatfish, probably inactive phase.
This is called an Orange Ball Corallimorph. During the day they do not look like this, or they are hiding. This one fed off of the bloodworms that were attracted to my light.
This is a stingray, buried in the sand.
Stingray.
Stingray.
I do not know what fish this is. I think it is a parrot or wrasse of some kind but I could not match it to anything in my ID book.
This is almost certainly a decorator crab.
Flying Gunards are a strange mix of beautiful and ugly at the same time.