medas2005 - Bluewater Dive Travel

medas2005

medas2005

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Reviews (22)

Bilikiki Liveaboard

5
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3

Getting here is not too bad. We flew to Brisbane from LA, stayed a couple of days, and then flew non-stop to Honiara which is only about a 3.5 hour flight away. We didn’t stay on land, but several people did. If you have an interest in WWII wrecks, there is plenty to see. Just be ready for Malaria protection as this is one of the worst places in the world for malaria.

The Bilikiki is a nice boat but not spectacular. We had a very unusual situation in that because of a group cancellation, there were only four of us on board. It was kind of fun to have a room all to ourself and we kind of designed each day as the four of us wanted to have it happen. The host and hostess were both dive masters and that was who led the four of us into battle. As could be expected, we were given total flexibility in our dive profile. I have remained friends with the other 2 divers for almost a decade now.

The boat had a great relationship with the natives. They would sell us vegetables and fish on many of our stops. We did 3 village stops during our 11 days and they were very authentic and lots of fun. We were likely the only outside civilization that they would see for a month. The welcome was always warm and sincere.

The food was consistently good, but not as good as some other boats I have been on. The breakfasts were nice, but the dinners were a little boring after a while.

The Solomons have a number of very lovely dive sites. My personal favorite was Custom Cave which is a long tunnel that ends in a large open cavern with an opening to the sun at the top. When the sun goes under a cloud, it gets dark and when the sun comes out, a light switch goes on and a beam comes from the ceiling. Very cool. Leru Cut is similar and is more famous. The shimmering light is very unusual.

Mary’s Island has diving similar to Sipadan. The premier dive site is Barracuda Point which attracts gray sharks and large schools of fish. It is quite deep and the best action is well below 100 feet.

Only the longer itineraries go to the Morovo Lagoon and the very best diving is definitely there. If you are going half way around the world, it is good to get to these dive sites. They are classic atoll dives with the best dives along cuts into the center of the lagoon. Amazing sea fans on several of the sites.

Back in the Russell Islands, a series of sites hover over the giant garbage dumps left by the U.S. after the battle of Guadacanal. Lots of critters here

Throughout the Solomons, the seas were warm and the clarity was very high. We found a very nice Mandarin Fish site here that was as good as any one that I have seen anywhere.

The overall impression of diving in the Solomons is variety. Nice WWII wrecks. Schools of fish at Morovo Lagoon and Mary’s Island. Some very nice critter sites. Leru and Custom Cave are highly unusual as well.

We were on the boat for 11 days and did 50 dives. It was a very good experience.

Visited on 07/2005 - Submitted on 02/12/2014
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Cozumel Diving

4
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4

Cozumel is where many Americans go to dive. It is easy to get to, relatively inexpensive, and the diving is very good. Although I like Little Cayman and The Belizean atolls a bit better, it ranks right up there with the best diving in the Caribbean.

I have been here a half dozen times, so this review is a bit of an amalgam of several trips. The weather varies a lot from season to season. June and July are my favorite times to dive here when the water is very warm and seas are flat as glass. Hurricanes are an issue here in August (it seems to attract early ones) and we were there once in August a week or so after a medium sized one, so the threat is real. It is perfect in early summer. Was there in late fall and it was very rough and we were quite restricted in where we went. Spring break was good as well, kind of in between.

Our family has stayed in a condo or two in the north part of the island which was great and good value. If you have a couple of kids and want a mixed activity vacation, this worked great. Diving requires a bit of a drive, so you kind of need a car to commute. If you want an all in dive holiday, this is probably not so good. I have stayed at the Presidente which is right by the best dive sites. The boat picked us up right by the hotel peer and you are diving in 10 minutes. You also are south of the cruise ship parking lot.

There are a lot of options in dive operators as well. We have avoided the hotel operators ard selected those that cater to more serious divers. We stay away from those that focus on the cruise trade and fill in with divers when they can't fill up there scuba buses.

Visited on 07/2005 - Submitted on 02/25/2014
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Damai I (Dive Damai Liveaboard)

4
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4

You really have to want to get here to make this trip. Our flight took us from Minneapolis to Tokyo to Jakarta to Ambon and then to Manokwari. The airport there is remote and far from anywhere. Our departure was delayed a full day because of riots in the town which was a bit scary. As a result of the 1.5 day delay, we missed a day of diving in the Cenderawasih Bay area which was OK, because it was pretty mediocre by Indonesia standards.

The Damai II is simply the nicest dive boat in the world. The rooms are enormous and spectacular. Many hotel rooms are not this nice. The boat had a nice home theater and we often watched movies in the evening. The food was very good and we had a lot of variety given the remoteness of the location. They had great post dive snacks. The only thing that they missed was popcorn and they promised to find it for future trips.

Of course, people come here to see whale sharks and this is the best place in the world to see them. I have also seen them at Darwin, but this blows that away. They are many, the water is warm and clear and you can literally spend the day watching them. We had two and sometimes three at a time. We parked our boat and just went in the water as we wanted without any real diving schedule. We also got to go on the fisherman platforms and feed the whale sharks from the surface. My memory of watching my daughter feed one of these beasts will always be with me.

We then headed to our next encounter which was with leatherback turtles which were laying their eggs on shore. Like the whale sharks, they did not disappoint. It was a life highlight for me. We also got to visit a native village and several of us played volleyball with the local people. I don't think that this was a standard part of the tour, but one of our crew members came from the village.

Finally, we moved on to Raja Ampat where we spent our final 3 days. Of course, the reefs and fish there are world class. If I could repeat just one dive trip in my life, I would redo this one. About the only negative was the time it took to get to Raja Ampat. It was a long cruise and took a full day without much diving.

Visited on 07/2013 - Submitted on 02/07/2014
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Damai I (Dive Damai Liveaboard)

5
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4

In March of 2009 my daughter and I flew to Kaimana to board the Damai I for a trip to Triton Bay and then onto Misool. The trip got off to a rocky start because pirates were not allowing boats to go into Triton Bay so that part of our itinerary was deleted. Unfortunately the first two days of the trip were then spent cruising to the Misool area where the real good diving got underway. We did do some diving in route, but it was not all that great.

Much has been written about the actual diving in this area and you can see my region review elsewhere here. I also highly recommend the Burt Jones book on Raja Ampat diving. They had this available for sale on the boat and it is fantastic. It gives very detailed description of diving at each site and we used it throughout our trip to know what to expect.

The Damai boat is beautiful and at the best in the world class. The two cabins in the back (we had one of them) have balconies out the back. If you want to combine a honeymoon and a dive trip together, this would be the best. The bathroom was also enormous. All of the toiletries were great, kind of unusual for a dive boat.

The food was very good with a lot of variety. We had at least two choices for every meal with lots of fruit and salad items to go with the main courses. They had great post-dive snacks which were warm, chocolate, and tasty.

The Damai had two skifs for taking divers to dive sites. They were each designed to make it especially easy for divers to get in and out of the boat. If I am still diving at 80, I would want to dive on these boats. Safety was a big concern at all times and the divemasters always went out to each site before we dove to make sure that currents were acceptable. Even with that caution, currents in this area change quickly and we did have some strong challenges in the Misool area.

One of the real treats on board was that the boat offered pretty much open access to the on board massage service. It was great and my daughter got about two per day.

Because the boat only has 10 passengers, the groups were always small. We had one divemaster for each group of 4 or 5 people. They spent most of their time looking for pygmy seahorses or some other small things.

Tanks and gear stayed on he boat (designed by divers I am sure), so you never had to carry anything back and forth to the boat. As a result, the dive deck was calm and civilized.

Laundry was done every day and the boat would always wash anything that you wanted. It really cuts down how much you have to bring with.

Pretty much everyone on board was an underwater photographer and the boat had a large room with personal space for everyone. It was the best that I had ever seen on a boat. Of course, the subject matter under the water is simply the best in the world.

The ending was also nice. we had one bill which covered everything including airport taxes. So we didn't need to do anything but get our butts on the plane once we left the boat.

Visited on 03/2010 - Submitted on 02/08/2014
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Galapagos Aggressor III Liveaboard

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5

Diving on a live aboard in the Galapagos should be considered to be on everyone's bucket list. I returned here after a decade away.

The boat is great and the accommodations are comfortable but not lavish. My son and I had plenty of room for sleeping and storing our clothes. Room care was great. The food was very good. In the top quartile of liveaboards that I have been on. They had great snacks after diving which is always appreciated.

Diving is now very restricted so liveaboards cannot dive in the central islands, only the north. The north includes Bartolme, northern Isabella, Fernandina, Wolf, and Darwin. We started out with a couple of days in the Bartolme area which is famous for its view. The diving in that are is full of fish and turtles. Of course, the core of the trip was in Wolf and Darwin. The Wolf conditions were quite harsh and challenging. Even at 60 foot depth, the surge was upwards of 10 feet so it was very hard to hold on. Hammers were in abundance though, so it was worth the effort.

The highlight was Darwin. We saw a pair of orcas which came right along side our boat. We saw hundreds of dolphins surrounding the boat. And we got to see whale sharks underwater. And then of course we saw hundreds of hammers above and below us as well as Galapagos sharks and silky sharks. The silkies can be a little scary as they circle you whir waiting for the boat.

In general, the water temperatures and visibility are not too bad. The exception are the dive sites on the NW corner of Isabela where it is freezer cold and visibility is very low. Fortunately you see lots of cool things like giant seahorses. The picture I have of the seahorse there is the most popular photp I have every taken.

This is just an incredible experience for anyone who likes to dive and loves nature. From the moment you arrive and get on the boat you will have fun. It really does not get any better than this.

Visited on 07/2013 - Submitted on 02/07/2014
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Best Scuba Diving in Galapagos Islands

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5

I think that it is best to start a review of the Galapagos Islands in Quito. The new airport is almost an hour away from the city, but it is worthwhile to spend at least one day there and maybe two or three. The old quarter of the city is a UN World Heritage Site and it beautiful to see.

One arrives into the Galapagos Islands on the small island of Baltra and are taken by ferry to the core island of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is by far the most populated of the islands and also contains quite a bit of agriculture. Some of the local farms represent the best spot to see the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz. Each island has its own tortoise species (Isabella has 4 I believe--one for each volcano). Puerto Aroyo is a town of about 25K inhabitants and is he commercial hub of the islands. Many local dive tours and island tours leave from here including ferries to other islands. The Darwin Research Center is also here and is a great chance to see many tortoises and species such as the land iguanas. Don't miss it--it is within a long walk of the city center.

We took a ferry to Isabella which was kind of a rough 2 hour ride to the very much smaller city of Puerto Villami on the SE corner of the island. Isabella is large and has incredible variety. We walked to the top of southernmost volcano. We went snorkeling near the town and saw white tips with sea lions harassing them. We saw thousands of marine iguanas and of course, blue boobies. The highlight of our stay was a long boat ride to the site of Los Tunneles which looks like some scene from another planet. Along the way, we saw dozen of mantas on the surface. We had a great chance to snorkel with them, eagle rays, and turtles everyway. This side tour is a bit expensive, but worth the price in every way. We got to see several of the Isabella tortoise species along one of our hikes. Diving is very good here as well, but not up to the standards of the outer islands.

Espanola is another island that is worth a visit if you have a chance. It is one of the oldest of the islands and is quite small. In July, we saw albatrosses mating which was quite interesting. Blue boobies were everywhere and several other species of birds that are not seen on the other islands. This is an island that is not frequented by divers because of its location, but if you have a chance to get here with a couple day extension, make the investment.

We did most of our diving from a liveaboard and most of them now take a very standard 7 day trip through the islands. We started in the Bartholomew area which is famous for its views featured in the Master and Commander movie. The diving in the area ifs very good, but not spectacular. Lots of snappers and lots of turtles.

After a long 1 day cruise, the boat arrives at Wolf and the fun starts. We did 5 dives there including a night dive which was very good with turtles sleeping and eels in abundance. The conditions were quite harsh here with lots of surge and rough surface conditions. We saw a half dozen eagle rays and too many hammerheads to count. It was a tough place to have a big camera though and it was easy to get bruised up on the rocks.

The next 1.5 days we spent at Darwin which is definitely world class. Dolphins on the surface. Orcas by the boat. Silky sharks circling at the "unsafety stop" and sharks pretty much everywhere. We saw two whale sharks, one of which bumped my son in the head with its tail. He didn't even see it coming but I got it on video.

We spent the last days of the trip off the coast of Fernandina where the water was cold, but full of marine iguanas. We also had orcas cruise by when we were diving. We also saw them on the surface. Never a dull moment. We finished at the NW corner of Isabella where the water was incredibly cold. We saw mola mola, giant seahorses, and the infamous red lipped batfish.

On the way back to port, we stopped for a couple of dives at Cousins Rock which is also a very nice site. We saw a half dozen eagle rays as well as a lot of turtles.

This destination is pretty incredible. A week of liveaboard is the only way to see the diving. An extra week is also worth the time spent to see a small sample of what is not underwater.

Visited on 07/2013 - Submitted on 02/07/2014
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Gangga Island Resort & Spa

4
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Half the fun of this place is getting there. The road that turns north towards the shore starts out as a normal Indonesian rode and gets progressively more remote as you go. Farmers would use the road to lay out blankets and dry their crops in the sun. We had to go around mules pulling logs and even had to work our way through a wedding celebration march that used the road we were on. You definitely get a "We're not in Kansas anymore" feeling by the time you get to the dock where it is then a 45 minute boat ride to the island.

The Gangga Island Resort is a small island with 15 bungalows, each with two rooms. The resort itself is quite spacious with a good size pool and a nice set of core buildings for the patrons. Some of the rooms are a pretty good walk to the central resort, so look at a resort map and choose carefully if you don't want a five minute or more hike each way. The paths were dark and not real well lit.

The food was buffet style for all meals (it's not like you had anywhere else to go!) and it was very good. As a matter of fact the food was great--the best that I have had at a dedicated dive resort. The owners are Italian so that tilts the food in that direction. As a matter of fact, the entire resort is heavily tilted towards European travelers and families. We were there in August which is the height of the vacation season so there were a lot of European families with children. We only saw one other American couple the time we were there. That didn't bother us, but some folks might like more Americans.

The diving facility and dive photography facility was spacious and first class. The entire dive operation was extremely well run. They had 4 or 5 boats that would go to different sites each morning.

The diving was quite a bit more controlled due to the nature of the clientele which were generally less experienced than at most dive resorts. (I think Lembeh tends to attract the serious divers compared to here) Strict one hour limits were enforced and we were required to stay in a small group. Since I was there with my 13 year old son, this was OK with me.

The diving nearby was very good, although some of the sites were not reachable because of windy weather when we were there. Several of the sites near the resort had typical pretty coral reefs with small reef fish and an occasional eagle ray and turtle. We also went back to the mainland of Sulawesi for some dives that were a bit more Lembeh like. We did find a nice mandarin fish dive and they had a boat that went there every evening at sunset. We went twice because I forgot to have my strobe plugged in inside my housing the first time! We looked for pygmy seahorses but did not find them. We did see lots of angel fish and a couple of interesting octopuses.

We went to Bangka Island twice during the week were there and it was very good coral reef diving. Not quite as good as Raja Ampat, but still very good. For extra charge, we did a day trip to Bunaken which was actually a bit disappointing. Very pretty topography, but not a lot of fish. The resort did an all day trip to Lembeh a couple of times a week. We had just been to the Lembeh Resort, so we skipped that.

While a dive resort, this place had a multi-purpose feel to it as opposed to Lembeh which was kind of a liveaboard on land. Most people went diving, but not every day like we did. We did get paired with a specific divemaster who appreciated that we were more serious than most divers there. He helped me with my photography and kept a good eye on my young son. He was probably the best divemaster that I have ever had on a trip.

This is a great family destination where some dive and some don't. The only other place like it was the Cousteau Resort on Fiji. Kids will be happy in the pool. Teens will be happy in local diving. Divers will have lots of options as well. This is a place that more Americans should visit. There are plenty of local sites for five days or so. It makes a great extension onto a Lembeh Resort visit and gives a very nice extension to the muck diving of Lembeh.

Visited on 08/2007 - Submitted on 02/12/2014
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Golden Dawn

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3

The Golden Dawn trip to the Eastern Fields of Papua New Guinea was one of my bucket list destinations. I went there with my oldest daughter and we had a great trip. Getting there is actually pretty easy with a non-stop flight from tokyo which flies directly to Port Moresby where the boat leaves for the Eastern Fields.

The boat is small and staffing is adequate but pretty spartan. We had 12 passengers on board and a staff of about six. The rooms upstairs are just a smidge larger than those downstairs, but not much. The common area was also small, but did have good facility for my large camera. I understand that the boat has been significantly upgraded since our trip, so hopefully I will have a chance to go back and see it upgraded.

The food was middle of the road and kind of like a picnic. When you are 100 miles out to see, you can't go to a store to fill up your stocks of food.

Craig, the owner, is a bit of sea cowboy. He enjoys every dive as much as you do and on many dives leaves you on your own. More senior divers liked Craig and those who were used to more personal oversight found him a bit stand offish. We had one other dive master on the boat and we split in two small groups with Craig with one and the other divemaster for the other group. The diving is challenging with several sites having pretty significant currents. You should be self confident and in good shape. We often found ourselves alone with a dive buddy. Fortunately the visibility was well over 100 feet, so it was pretty easy to see where you are.

By far the best dive site of the trip is Carl's Ultimate which may just be the best dive site in the world. A pinnacle about the size of a football field, the coral, fish and visibility all come together for a spectacular dive experience. The clouds of anthias are just spectacular. We also saw swirls of barracudas and clouds of banner fish that I have not seen anywhere else.

Most of the diving was either pinnacles or passageways in our out of the atoll system. We would drop off at the outer edge of the opening and let the current (sometimes pretty strong) would carry us in. We would pretty much choose our depth because the reef went almost to the surface and went down to the bottom of the ocean.

We primarily saw very pretty reefscapes, some of the prettiest in the world with soft corals and enormous fans. We saw turtles on most dives as well. We saw a dozen or so sharks during our time there and Craig said that he often sees more.

We did not see mantas which is unusual. We did see a few sharks, but not a lot.

When back near shore we did a dive with a school of flashlight fish that come out of a wreck. Everyone sets down with no lights and the fish just start to pour out. Nothing like it anywhere in the world that I know of.

Visited on 03/2011 - Submitted on 02/07/2014

Golden Dawn

5
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In early March, my adult daughter and I flew to Port Moresby to board the Golden Dawn which was bound to the Eastern Fields and onward to the Australian reefs of Boot and Ashmore. She and I had been there 3 years earlier and a shorter itinerary limited our diving opportunities to the inner part of the Eastern Fields.

Well, weather intervened and a cyclonic weather pattern made our trip out into the open water a high risk endeavor. After discussing options with us, the owner and captain, Craig DeWitt, sent us down the coast to the Milne Bay diving area. This did carve a couple of days of diving out of our two week trip and the diving along the southern coast is not that great. The trip out to the Eastern Fields is a bit risky and open waters does threaten these itineraries. I highly recommend on planning for a 14 day trip so that the boat can make adjustments and secure a good chunk of diving no matter what the weather.

The diving in Milne Bay ranged from spectacular to mundane at times. Banana Bommie is rated as one of the top 100 dive sites in the world and in was great. We dove several other dive sites like that where fish density was as high as I ever seen. These sites compared very favorably with the dive sites around the Raja Ampat area which is considered the gold standard in dive quality. The one missing ingredient: lots of purple and pink soft corals. We saw some, but not a lot.

Critter diving was also very good. The dive sites at Dinah’s Beach are one part coral pinnacle and one part critters. And the critters are very much in abundance. Maybe a notch below Lembeh, but only a small notch. And, you will never see another diver the entire day. On the way home, we stopped at a passage where Craig thought that the critter diving might be good and we hit the jack pot. It may well have been the best hour of dive photography that I have ever experienced. My daughter found a new critter about once every 90 seconds, and I hammered my strobes. Amazing. I might have been the first one to ever dive this site.

The Golden Dawn and the owner, Craig DeWitt, are pretty much inseparable. The boat is a bit small, especially compared to Indonesian boat that are bigger and more comfortable at times. But Craig is amazingly excited about the reefs and the secrets that they give up on each new trip. No one knows any more about this part of the underwater world than Craig. He is a class act and his recent marriage to Cam has softened him up a bit too. There is no one in the dive industry that I respect more than him.

The service is good but does lack some attention to detail. The attention to detail and pampering that you get in Indonesia are sometimes lacking. No hot towels when you come up from a dive. No hot chocolate, but you do get an great afternoon bakery creation every day. The crew is competent, but not attentive at times.

The food was good, especially our dinners. Breakfasts were very good as well, but lacked variety. His new wife, Cam, seems to add a nice “woman’s touch” and we liked we she brought to the boat. The dinners were very good, especially when we caught a Spanish mackerel and had baked fresh fish on several days.

So, who would like this boat? If luxury and detail are important to you, you should go to one of the nice boats in Indonesia like the Damai or Arenui. If you don’t mind doing some things for yourself, Craig and his boat, the Golden Dawn, are a great place to go. I had the misfortune of learning several days into the trip and a long time friend and neighbor had died suddenly back at home. So that raised the question—if I had one last dive trip to take where would I go back to? Milne Bay would get a lot of thought, especially if that were the intended spot that didn’t require 500 mile round trip of sailing to get to. Several of the dives were amongst the best I have ever done. For those of us who love the ocean, spending a final dive trip with Craig would be my final choice.

Visited on 02/2014 - Submitted on 03/22/2014

Hamanasi Dive Resort Belize

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We rarely return to the same destination a second time, and this is the third stay at Hamanasi. First it is easy to get to and it is in the same time zone as the Midwest U.S. You can get to Belize City by noon from most departure spots in the U.S. You can fly a small commuter plane or you can drive a vehicle which we have done on our second and third visits to the resort. It is about a three hour drive and it is a lovely drive on very good roads (except for the last couple of miles).

The resort has an incredible number of activities for travelers. We have visited ruins, gone bird watching, tubing and visited the very lovely Belize Zoo. The rooms are large enough for 2 adults and 2 children, but are more pleasant for just two adults. The one thing that stands out is that everyone will learn your name by the second name. Everyone from the manager to the gardener knows who you are. It's better than Cheers.

The food is very good, but short of spectacular. Of course the setting with the Caribbean in the background is lovely, especially at night. If you have flexibility, head there when the moon is full and you will be treated to an especially nice view at night.

The diving is very good, but short of South Pacific standards. We saw nurse sharks, big turtles, eagle rays and a lot of pretty small things. The dive operation is wonderful whether you are a beginner or expert. I would suggest that you check their daily schedule ahead of time to make sure that your trip will let you go to the outer atolls which have the best diving.

The diving is a bit of a trek away from the resort. The barrier reef sites are about a 50 to 60 minute ride from shore (beautiful). The atolls are 2 to 2.5 hours away and the ride can be quite rough, especially in the winter months. They have planned trips there 2 days a week, so you can miss them if you are not there on the right days. The resort kind of works on a Sunday to Sunday schedule, so if you do something mid week like we did to get cheaper air fare, it may cause you to be out of synch.

The resort has a reputation for whale shark sitings in the late spring months, but I have heard that it is a real tedious trip to find them. If you don't see them, it is a long day of bobbing around in the ocean.

Visited on 11/2013 - Submitted on 02/07/2014
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