Dive report - West Side Sunday 2 August, 2009

Another gorgeous day here in Exmouth!  We took our full day tour down the West Side again today and the creatures and conditions were fantastic! Humpback whales were abundant and we could hear whale song every time we were in the water.

Three Fins started us off with beautiful blue water for our first dive. A big school of the biggest goatfish we've ever seen tumbled over the reef then hung out in midwater. Some massive barracuda got up close and personal with the divers, giving us all a serious looking over before they slipped away. Big potato cod, white tip reef sharks, trumpetfish, all sorts of big angelfish & butterflyfish, silvery baitfish balls...great dive!
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 15m+
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 19m

We motored to our second dive at one of our new and persistently unnamed dive sites. The water was still nice and blue but had far more floaty bits than Three Fins. It must have been food because there were about a million cods of various types all out and about, looking hungry. A large group of rankin cod decided to hang out with the divers and followed them for most of the dive. All of the creatures we've come to expect on this site - rays, sharks, eels, nudibranchs, damsels, pretty reef fishes, schools of snapper & sweetlips, turtles - were here again today making us eager to see what new critter would pop up behind the next outcrop or under the next ledge.
WATER TEMP: 23C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 16m

We also snorkelled inside the reef later in the afternoon and it was great! Tons of fish, a bunch of blue spotted rays foraging for food, anemonefish defending their hosts against all comers, a couple of small green turtles, plenty of sailfin catfish...just a lovely snorkel!