Turks and Caicos...

Turks and Caicos was wonderful last week. Here is the weekly captain's report (since I don't know how long they keep it):


Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Entry By: Scott Arni

June 14-21, 2008 The water temperature was a lovely 80 degrees, visibility 90, and many dove in just a 3mm wetsuit.

Saturday the 14th.
It was another splendid day in paradise as people from all over the country gathered in provo for a fantastic cruise aboard the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II. Coming aboard were people from all over including New Jersey, Arizona, Oregon and many other cities from Texas to Colorado. Spirits were high in anticipation for the Sunday dives and the energy aboard ship was complimented by near perfect weather. The accommodating crew secured baggage and the guests gathered on the sun deck for a meet and greet. We had many returning guests from previous dive cruises and conversation centered around the upcoming dives.

Sunday 15
Upon arriving at eel gardens everyone promptly suited up and entered the water to kick off another fantastic week. Bill from New Jersey marveled at all the life he encountered in about 76’ of water. He glided effortlessly over the eel gardens properly named for the abundance of sand eels. Many different tropicals were observed and terry from Arizona commented of how calm and beautiful the dive was. At lunch time we moved to RGI in the West Caicos. There we dove among the flamingo tongues and huge parrot fish along the wall. Our friends the sharks showed up and joined in the dive along with Flounder, huge eels and rays. The night dive was even more spectacular when all the denizens of the reef came out to play in the moonlight.

Monday the 16th
We entered the water at white face West Caicos in an area known as the anchor. A fantastic dive with a cool swim through next to an anchor that has now become part of the reef. The frog fish were present and so were some lovely trumpet fish. All topped off again by a visit from our friends the sharks. Huge crabs were photographed by Todd and Kim as well as a variety of other marine life. We had one of Ronnie’s famous bbq’s on the sundeck and celebrated Kim’s birthday. It was a wonderful evening

Tuesday the 17th
Today was a great day for Teri from Arizona. We anchored at French Caye and she was entertained by a variety of eels. She was also amazed at the quantity of barracuda present. I couldn’t believe it she said “I was surrounded by them”. That’s the great thing about this place said Nick from Arizona. Everytime you dive it you get a different experience. The next dive on the site called driveway. Trumpet fish were observed. Photographer had a real treat as a friendly turtle made an appearance.

Wednesday 18
The afternoon dive at Brandywine was memorable. It seems that all the ocean’s denizens came to us all in one spot Georgia saw a variety of marine life. A spotted drum, a lovely hawksbill turtle, and a quite unusual looking jaw fish. It was also her first time seeing a frog fish.

Thursday 19
We dove Elephant Ear Canyon on this day. Many marveled at the many different types of coral. The formations are varied and beautiful. Later we dove The Dome. It is an old abandoned set for a French TV show. Luckily for us the dome has collapsed and we now have an awesome dive site. There we met the lion fish who frequents there quite often. We also had the usual hello from the resident nurse shark.

Friday 20
We arose early and moved to the black forest. Although it was the last dive of the trip the early risers had a great time. In the afternoon we headed back to turtle cove for a wonderful dinner party. New friendships were cemented as people traded phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Many a toast was made as we once again concluded another fantastic cruise aboard the Aggressor II. The crew this week was Capt. Scott, Amanda, Belinda, Patty, Ronnie, and Brett.