One of favorite dives on Bonaire is Karpata.
After you get into the water and descend to 30ft.... you head to the left, to find the big anchor from the days of the sailing ships.
We usually do this dive a couple of times on every trip to Bonaire.... and we have been there 10 times.
In all those Karpata dives.... this was the first time we ever went to the right, after making our descent.
My logbook says "lots of reef damage in this direction, making for a pretty boring dive.... except for another pair of curious and friendly Reef Squid".
Sometimes that's how it goes on a dive.
A whole lot of what you have done before.... and then when you least expect it, something amazing.
I don't know if I have this shot from every dive trip.... but I do know I have it from a bunch of them.
See the thing is.... a Spotted Moray doesn't do much.
Laying in their hole, looking at you and breathing.... pretty much sums it up.
But while they're doing that.... they don't really care what you do .... within reason.
Including getting in nice a close for a portrait.
Then a little more cropping, in Lightroom.... and it pretty much looks like he is going jump right out of the frame and into your lap.
When we dive in Bonaire.... we most often stay at Buddy Dive.
Part of the magic of diving Bonaire is that the reef is so close.
Just 90ft offshore, in most places along the leeward side of the island.
We often end our dive day, on the reef right in front of Buddy Dive.
It's a great reef and it has provided us with many memorable dives.
In my last post, I told the story of our close encounter with mating Reef Squid.... that happened just over the shoulder of the reef, right in front of Buddy Dive.
On the very next day.... we met this guy, a Banded Coral Shrimp in almost exactly the same spot.
He was swimming straight at us.
Swimming for his life really..... as there was a Spotted Moray, who thought he looked a lot like dinner, in hot pursuit.
When the Banded Shrimp got right in front of us.... he began to swim straight up on the water column.
Believing, I guess, that the Moray wouldn't follow with things as large and as noisy as scuba divers in the area.
Turns out the Shrimp was right.... and the Moray broke off his pursuit.
As the Shrimp floated back down to the reef I attempted a number of shots.... which were apparently harder than they looked.
He had settled all the way to this coral head .... before I got a pixture that was framed right and in focus.
Ok, that's it for the "tease" from our latest trip.... to Cozumel.
Now, it's into the "way back machine".... and back to 2008 and a trip to Bonaire.
We found ourselves there.... during mating season for the Reef Squid.
While we often see Squid on our dives.... they tend to hover just beyond my range for good pixtures.
Not so in mating season.
With other things on their mind.... it mattered, not at all, how close we got.
It really seemed like they were moving at us.
There was even a point when I was pretty sure that they were moving us around to suit their purposes.
I was doing a lot of backing up.... just so the Squid would not be so close that I couldn't focus.
Linda tells me, there was a point when a female moved in so close.... she actually touched my lens.
