I had written yesterday about how much I appreciate a “sleepy dive” now and then where I can look at all the little things at my pace. The Universe has just now gifted us with an incredible dive where we saw all the things we could possibly hope for.
We dropped on the small sea mount to the northeast of the first finger and spent a few minutes exploring the interesting topography there before crossing to the first finger. We immediately came across a sea turtle but unfortunately, it wanted little to do with us and sped away to the north.
Off to the south, 8 dolphins appeared suddenly and hung out for a couple of minutes only. Apparently, they had more interesting things to do than entertain 9 elated divers, so off they went about their business.
We continued southwest along the finger for some time and before we knew it there was suddenly a beautiful tiger shark only about 5 meters in front of us! I have never known tiger sharks to stick around, and this one was no exception but at least we were blessed with a few seconds with its company before it swerved away into the blue.
Along the finger we continued, admiring all the beautiful corals and small reef fish not knowing that within seconds we would have a memorable and amazing close encounter with giant mantas. And suddenly they appeared out of the blue coming straight toward us on the south side – one chevron on the left and a black manta on the right. They split in front of us, with the black one continuing along the finger while the chevron to our left swirled around, dipping and diving and playing in the current and surge passing over the shallow part of the finger we had only just passed. He stayed with us for about 5 minutes before going on his merry way.
Later in the dive, we saw another chevron manta – a female this time. We had finished our safety stop and were just waiting for the skiff to pick us up when she glided past below us at about 10 meters.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that will be etched in our memories for a very long time!
What a way to end an amazing dive on Punta Tosca!
Fabulous Experience on the Boiler Dive
The dive at the Boiler was nothing short of amazing. Apart from the mantas and dolphins we saw, the most impressive moment at the Boiler was tens of hammerhead sharks swimming nicely and gently against the beautiful geological background of the Boiler wall. When a hammerhead is alone, they generally keep a certain distance, but when they swim together with friends, they are very brave and come very close to the divers!
Summing up
I would like to thank the Nautilus Explorer staff for the most amazing experience of my life. A special thanks to the crew who were so friendly. They always helped us with our safety and everything we needed for our fun dive. Due to them, I could be with the sharks, mantas, and dolphins that I had dreamt of.
