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SPRING 2016
On one
Rhone
excursion, the divemaster helped
me find a coral-encrusted spoon on the wreck that
is rumored to be the captain’s silver teaspoon. The
divemaster had set the stage for this discovery in
elaborate fashion during his briefing. I had to admit it
looked authentic — maybe too authentic, but I felt no
inclination to argue about it — legends seem to grow
like coral in these waters.
Another must-dive site was
Blonde Rock
, located in
mid-channel not far from the
Rhone
. During our descent
we could see that every square inch of ocean-floor real
estate was covered with sea fans, large sea rods, pillar
corals and a garden of gently dancing soft corals. The
labyrinthine topography features a striking ledge with
deep overhangs filled with schooling jacks, snappers,
chubs and a colorful riot of crustaceans, including
lobsters, huge channel clinging crabs and banded coral
shrimp. A sleeping nurse shark almost ran into me as I
peered deeper under one ledge. Just as I started my ascent
I could see dense schools of yellow wrasse gathered in the
shallows for their late-afternoon spawning ritual. They
collectively rose from the bottom and then exploded like
yellow confetti away from the spawn event.
The next place I dived was an open-ocean site not
far from Peter Island called
Shark Point
. This is an
unusual dive site that ranges in depth from 20 to 80
feet. The underwater terrain consists of a series of rocky
pinnacles, some rising to within a few fin-kicks of the
surface. Much to my delight, larger pelagics such as
eagle rays and reef sharks tend to keep things exciting
here, so you learn to keep one eye on the blue. Three
Caribbean reef sharks made pass after pass, while a large
school of silvery bar jacks swarmed around us.
An easy boat ride away,
Painted Walls
made for a
great second dive after Shark Point. Here the converging
walls and valleys are a canvas for marine life to work its
Jackson Pollock-style artistry. We made our way through
the meandering vertical faces draped with tropical
shades of mango, passionfruit, lime, turmeric and
cinnamon. Our divemaster had wisely recommended
bringing a light to reveal the true intensity of the vibrant
hues and to explore the shadows for hidden surprises.
From my second BVI home on Scrub Island I set out
on a sojourn to
The Chimney
, which is named after
surface rocks that submerge just enough to create a
swim-through. The seas were a bit bumpy on the way
out, but the water to the north of Great Dog Island was
calm and provided unreal visibility. The fairly shallow
site (45 feet) offered some great photo opportunities.
In one of its many canyons, the coral-laden walls
eventually led to a picturesque archway where the
chimney rocks came to a meeting point. My focus
light illuminated brilliant scarlet sponge growth and
tangerine-colored cup coral lining the walls of the arch.
As the week progressed, we ventured to the aptly
named
Wreck Alley
off of Cooper Island. The site
consists of the
Beata
and
Pat
tugboats and the
Marie L
cargo boat, all intentionally sunk to create marine
habitat. This site is a magnet for larger pelagics and
southern rays. The wrecks are small enough for easy
circumnavigation, and encrusting growth is overtaking
the structures. During our dive we had very little
current and an incursion of incalculable numbers of
moon jellies. What started out as a somewhat eerie
experience transformed into a surreal and mesmerizing
through-the-looking-glass dive as we gently pushed
aside the harmless pulsing blobs of translucence and
finned as carefully as progress allowed. The wrecks were
virtually draped in jellies, whose constant motion made
the structures appear strangely amorphous and alive.
Back on the surface I was babbling like a mad woman
about how it was better than many of the more famous
“jellyfish lakes” I had seen. But our divemaster insisted
this was the only time she had ever seen anything like it.
I didn’t reach Anegada on this trip, though from
past experience I know its reefs are stunning and its
allure is substantial on many levels. The 10-mile-long
island is the only nonvolcanic island in the chain, and
it features spectacular 18-mile-long Horseshoe Reef.
With so many shallow reefs, the snorkeling and diving
are superb, but Anegada’s reefs have proven treacherous
as well. They’ve claimed more than 300 ships, and a
number of the remaining wreck sites are dive-worthy
and fascinating. Those pirates who learned the reefs well
often used the mazelike waters to their advantage. Of
course there are plenty of legends about pirate treasure
in Anegada’s environs.
On my last day I woke determined to get to one
more famous and very special location:
The Baths
on
Virgin Gorda. I was still on Scrub Island, but it’s easy to
get around in the BVI. After a quick ferry ride to Beef
Island followed by another to Virgin Gorda, I rented
a car and set off. I was on the hunt for treasure, and I
would not be denied. Gold doubloons would be nice,
[
Opposite, clockwise from top left:
Moon jellies on the
Beata
,
a tugboat that’s part of Wreck Alley off Cooper Island; sponge
growth on the
Rhone
; a dive boat secured to one of the BVI’s
many mooring buoys; silversides in the
Rhone
’s bow section;
a reef shark; The Baths, Virgin Gorda; wreckage of the
Rhone
;
nurse shark with remoras at Painted Walls