Caribbean Explorer II

The Donkey Divers returned to the Caribbean Explorer for another week of diving. Many of us had been on this same trip once or twice before. In 2003 we flew into Sint Maarten where we boarded the vessel and sailed south diving at Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Kitts where we caught a flight back to the states. In 2011 we dove with the Caribbean Explorer II again. This time we reversed the order of the trip. We flew into St. Kitts where we caught the vessel to sail north diving around St. Kitts and Saba on the way to St. Maarten. That is the same itinerary we followed this time.

If you click on the "Scuba Diving Page" link at the bottom of the page, you can see pictures from previous trips.

To see a video of the ship we will be on what we will be doing all week, click on the map below:

 Click on the thumbnails below to see the full size pictures. Then click the "BACK" button on your browser to return to this page.

One of the Green Sea Turtles that we swam with.
A French Angel Fish.
Two 6-Banded Butterfly Fish.
A Queen Angel Fish peaks out of the coral.
Diamond Rock from the surface. This is a dive site off Saba that is made up of four pillars, two of which rise above the surface of the seal
Diamond Rock wall underwater.
A squid comes over to check out my camera.
Linda swims over some Elkhorn Coral.
A Golden Eel blends into the colorful coral.
A vibrant Queen Angel Fish swims along the reef.
We celebrated a few milestones this week. I made my 1,100th dive. Linda made her 700th.
Kim made her 300th dive on the last day. If the picture looks dark, that is because it was dark. Our first dive that day was at 6:00AM.
This is an orange frog fish that we saw on the first day.
Colorful coral along the top of the reef.
Two Chocolate Chip Sea Cucumbers.
Two Trunk Fish explore the reef.
Another squid swims over for a close up.
A juvenile Trunk Fish hides in the coral reef.
A Green Sea Turtle stops for a salad in the sea grass.
A French Angel Fish travels over the colorful reef.
A queen Angel Fish stay close to the safety of the reef.
A Pikeblenny comes out of his hole to battle his own reflection in a mirror. He thinks that another blenny is trespassing on his territory.
A large Arrow Crab hanging out in an orange barrel sponge.
A big Barracuda patrols the reef.
Elkhorn coral on top of the wall.
A Honeycomb Cow Fish.
A juvenile Drum Fish hides in the coral.
A Spotted Moray Eel peaks out of the colorful reef.
A Peacock Flounder skims across the ocean floor.
The very beautiful but invasive Lion Fish have made themselves at home on Caribbean reefs.
A trio of lobsters come out of the coral on a night dive.
After dark an octopus turns blue and crawls across the wall toward an erchin.
An octopus out in the day moves across the sand.
This octopus tries to blend into the surroundings.
A Porcupine Puffer Fish on the reef at night.
This Puffer Fish was swimming along the reef in the daylight
Another Puffer Fish exploring after dark.
Kim swims around a bulldozer and observes the fish that decided to make it their home.
Two of the squid that we saw during our dives.
These two squid were in the process of placing their eggs into a safe crevice in the reef.
If you do not approach the squid too quickly they will usually come closer to divers to check you out.
These two changed colors and swam around us for several minutes.
Kim always has her magnifying glass ready to check out the small creatures that inhabit the reef.
A lion fish hangs out on a very colorful part of the reef.
A tiny Secretary Blenny lives in an Orange Barrel Sponge.
Waves crashing against the top of the reef at the surface.
A red Seahorse wraps his tail around some purple coral. These guys attempt to blend into their surroundings. That makes them very difficult to find and very frustrating when trying to get them to stand out in a photograph.
A slightly different view of the Seahorse
A spotted Moray Eel out at night.
Another Spotted Moray Eel out at night. An Arrow Crab is in the foreground.
Kim got thirsty and found some ginger ale.
One of the many turtles we saw on the trip. This is a Green Sea Turtle.
This Hawkbill Turtle was looking for something to eat on the reef.
This looks like some sea weed on the sand but it is actually a very well disguised crab.
A 5 foot Black Tip Shark swam between divers.
Kim taking a closer look at a Slate Pencil Urchin.
The Donkey Divers on this trip.
Date Location Dive Site Maximum Depth Bottom time
7/5/2015 St. Kitts River Taw 44 57
7/5/2015 St. Kitts River Taw 43 58
7/5/2015 St. Kitts Ye Olde Anchor 55 57
7/5/2015 St. Kitts Corinthian  70 44
7/5/2015 St. Kitts Bedroom Bay 43 60
7/6/2015 St. Kitts Monkey Shoals 42 64
7/6/2015 St. Kitts Monkey Shoals 42 66
7/6/2015 St. Kitts Camps Reef 57 56
7/6/2015 St. Kitts Old Road Bay 70 46
7/6/2015 St. Kitts Old Road Bay 62 49
7/7/2015 St. Kitts Paradise Reef 60 65
7/7/2015 St. Kitts Paradise Reef 67 61
7/7/2015 St. Kitts Anchors Away 60 54
7/7/2015 St. Kitts Anchors Away 71 43
7/7/2015 St. Kitts Paradise Reef 49 34
7/8/2015 Saba Tent Wall 65 61
7/8/2015 Saba Dave's Dropoff 67 60
7/8/2015 Saba Custom House Reef 80 45
7/8/2015 Saba Torren's Point 40 64
7/8/2015 Saba Torren's Point 39 62
7/9/2015 Saba Third Encounter 109 31
7/9/2015 Saba Diamond Rock 69 53
7/9/2015 Saba Tent Reef 95 46
7/9/2015 Saba Tent Reef 82 60
7/9/2015 Saba Ladder Labyrinth 36 61
7/10/2015 Saba Ladder Labyrinth 51 60

 
 

 

     To see pictures from other dive trips, click on the button below to go to my SCUBA page. It has links to other pages of pictures and dive reports from many different dive trips over the years. 

                         Scuba Diving Page
  

   

              
Hit Counter