Turkoise Vacation Pictures

Another trip to Club Med - Turkoise (Turks and Caicos Islands) April/May 2010. The trip was full of great diving and snorkeling. The best part of this trip was the fantastic GOs and GMs we met.

This trip started off with the best snorkeling trip we have ever experienced. On the day we arrived we went out on the afternoon snorkel boat. As the boat left the dock Jojo the wild Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin followed us out to the snorkel site. Jojo was not there when we got in the water but he did show up about 10 minutes later and spent the next 20 minutes circling the boat and checking out the snorkelers. Next we got to see a reef shark directly off the aft of the boat which we followed for about 5 minutes. He just kept swimming slightly out of our reach.

A set of three Spotted Eagle Rays were making wide circles to the port side of the snorkel boat. This was such a good snorkel trip that we could have gotten on the plane and gone home happy that day - but thankfully we didn't have to.

The fish population and variety were excellent. We were not disappointed.

The one minor issue was that the dive boat could not come into the dock because the water was so shallow due to all the extra sand that has been deposited on the beach over the years. A short swim in with our gear was not a big deal.

Storms have pushed so much sand onto the beach that the water at the dock is not deep enough for the boats. This was not a real problem for most divers since they know they are going to get wet anyway. The good part of this was that the beach is now larger.

There were lots of Horse-Eye Jacks on many of the dives. One one dive large schools circled under the boat during the safety stop.

There were lots of small fish to look at like these gobies.

Turtles were numerous.

I took three shots of this lobster until I finally got the one I wanted.

When I had finished taking the picture of the lobster I looked up and snapped this shot of the divers above.

When I realized they were looking down at me I turned around and took this picture of a gray reef shark. We saw at least one shark on almost every dive. I am not sure if the abundance of sharks had to do with the time of year or if the population of sharks has increased but this was a true Shark week!

There were lots of large Queen Trigger fish.

This Juvenile Longfin Damsel is more colorful than an adult.

Fireworms are colorful but painful if touched.

There were lots of interesting sponges.

This was a first for me - a sponge spawning.

One day while traveling to the second dive site we had a pod of wild dolphins cross the path of the boat. It was incredible to see such a large number in the open sea.

I believe this is a type of maze coral.

The Lion Fish have now also invaded the Turks and Caicos islands. The only good thing is they don't move very fast and are easy to photograph.

The dive boat was the Bat Ray. It was never overcrowded and it was always a smooth ride.

End Dive!!!!!!!!!!!