First Dive of the Year, FINALLY

First Dive of the Year, FINALLY

The sun finally came out this week, finally!

I don’t know if I mentioned this on my blog anywhere yet, but for Christmas Ian gifted me with a brand new bright yellow 63cf tank (which is perfect for my short self), and Rick and Polly gifted me with brand new ScubaPro regs (I was formerly using Rick’s regs from like the 80s or 90s)!! I’ve been meaning to take my new gear out for a spin since the new year, so I was stoked to see the sun come out just in time for the three day weekend.

On Saturday morning we packed our gear into the truck and drove west to Nua with some friends. The last time I dove Nua was my birthday last year. Nua is a beautiful spot of sandy beach under a shady banyan tree and has a nearshore reef crest with waves breaking over it. Just to the right is a small ava (rip current) where we swam out of to dive the reef slope.

The entire south side of the island was completely calm and flat but there was big swell in the north. Nua is on the southwest so I was a bit surprised when we got down and saw that the vis was only about 30ft and there was a slight current that pushed and pulled. Other than that, it was a perfect dive day.

Ian held me hand for most of it because I was nervous about the current (I think that was my first time diving with a slight current), and we checked out the pretty fish and coral. We were down for 40 minutes and I still had half my air left in my tank on the way in.

We hung out on the beach with our friends for a bit longer, then drove back to town to wash our gear and truck and pick up some Samu’s ice cream. Ian went surfing after and I got home and jumped back in the water just in time for sunset. Then had bbq and game night at our neighbors’. It was an awesome day.

Dive Log: Birthday Out West at Nua-Seetaga Bay

Dive Log: Birthday Out West at Nua-Seetaga Bay

DATE: Saturday, 17 March 2018

DIVE SITE: Nua-Se’etaga, American Samoa

DIVE BUDDY: Ian M

SNORKELERS: Mark, Alice, and Eric

MAX DEPTH: 75 ft.
TIME: 70 minutes
START PSI: 2700
END PSI: 1000
NOTES: 11am medium-low tide. Kind of a long surface swim, and a little murky at first but cleared up nicely when we dropped down below 30 feet. Alice was on snorkel and free dove to point out sweet pinnacle formation. Swam through a little gap in coral. Got buzzed by a beautiful green turtle! Spotted a juvenile Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus)! Swam back. Ian helped me swim back in through the riptide.
Dive Log: Amalau Bay

Dive Log: Amalau Bay

DATE: Saturday, January 6, 2018

SITE: Amalau Bay, American Samoa

MAX DEPTH: 60ft

DIVE BUDDIES: Ian, Tori, Alice, Marsik, Kelley, Renee

NOTES: Huge porites coral. Saw a ~5ft Humphead Wrasse(!). First dive using new BCD – works great!