Dive Rarotonga - 2nd day

Another awesome day with the awesome guys at Dive Rarotona, Charles again was my personal dive master. I had been worried because yesterday the weather was so awful. Its not like rain affects you scuba diving but the lack of sun reduces your visibility and the waves can cause currents underwater you have to swim against and animals tend to stay hidden.

But worry not my diving listeners, by lunch it was again tropical, warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, the scuba gods were with me again!

My personal chauffeur came to get me, we packed up my gear and headed off to the boat. I was told that we were going to be going back to Edna's Anchor for the 2nd dive because an older couple was coming out to experience scuba diving. They spend an afternoon in the pool learning the gear, then each has an instructor beside them as they swim in the ocean no deeper than 12 meters. Anyhoo Charles and I were going to have to be at Edna's Anchor for the 2nd dive but the first dive we went to a place called Mushroom Forest. Massive strange coloured corals and of course ....FISHIES!!!

There was another Triggerfish that hung out with us for an urchin lunch. We saw a Spanish dancer that was actually floating/flying in the air like it was supposed to as opposed to that lazy one from the other day. A massively huge Napoleon Maori Wrass that made Charles look excited and the best part...a school of 200 Convict Surgeon fish. It was a sparkling ribbon of fish and swimming with them was a single large cornet fish. I figure he was pretty safe hanging with them, any predator was more likely to get one of the convict surgeons than him.

We headed back ashore to do our surface interval and wait for the other two people to show up. We headed back out to Edna's Anchor and Charles and I headed off in the other direction from last time. This time was just as cool, I saw a moray eel swimming by and pointed him out to Charles (i got a double okay symbol on that one) and at one point I looked back and saw 4 huge, long white fish swimming above us. They looked quite long and toothy, I knew not shark but I wasn't sure what, quickly swimming over to Charles and grabbing his leg I pointed up to show him what I had seen. Again I got 2 Okay symbols. Turns out what I had spotted was some barracuda which Charles called Big Eyed barracuda. Not to be outdone Tommy the Triggerfish, the big one from my first dive in Cook Islands showed up demanding his urchin lunch. As he was meal was being prepared I looked back and there was the huge school of convict surgeon fish swimming by us. I knew it was the same group...how do I know you say, the same dang cornetfish was hanging with them and we weren't too far away from that earlier dive sight. I was torn between going to pet Tommy or watching the silvery school, I managed to do both. Not to be outdone by my awesome fish spotting skills Charles managed to find under a beautiful rock formation some Spotfin Lionfish which were pinkier and "fluffier" looking than the spikey lionfish of two days ago. There were two just hanging out but this was a definite no touch fish (highly toxic venom in their spines).

Again awesome dive, can't do it just justice in a blog description but simply amazing.