Northwest Point - Dives 8 & 9

Off to a new location for dives 8 and 9. We skirted out of the Turtle Cove marina and around the northwest point of the island to... Northwest Point! See what they did there?

It's pretty tricky to get to the northwest part of the island and so there are just a handful of resorts in the area. We were told that Malcom Beach was among the island's best, and that the celebrities that frequent the island usually stay at the super fancy Amanyara private resort. But starting at more than USD $2,000 a night, I think the boat is more my style...

Still following the wall, our dives were shallower sand and coral plateaus followed by a plunge down the steep shelf to around 25 metres (80 feet). The first site of the day was Black Coral Forest.

First up were a couple of very delicious looking if not very angry Caribbean king crabs

Followed by a nosy trumpetfish (ha!)

 Making friends with a little spotted moray.

Fan worms

Parrotfish

Basket starfish - they curl up in a ball or basket during the day and apparently extend at night when priming to hunt.

Next up was a site called Two Step so named because there is a sandy shelf about 30 metres (100 feet) down, then it's nothing but deep blue.

Foureye Butterflyfish - they mate for life and stay very close to their partners out on the reef.

I can't make heads or tails of this eel!

They never seem to want to come take a bath in a nice vat of hot butter, do they?

I'm pretty sure he's a little jawfish peeking out of the coral.

Schooling grunts and squirrelfish.

Nassau grouper

Passing the time at a pretty pass through.

A sunken anchor reclaimed by coral.

My family hanging at the dive bar again.

A great day of diving, but a sad end to my new Nikon camera. At some point near the end of the second dive or while she was soaking in the rinse bucket, water got in the side access panel (battery access). The screen and viewfinder are now flooded and I don't think any amount of rice or sunshine will help with the condensation and moisture in the camera. She's down for the count!

**UPDATE**
I sent the camera back to Nikon Service Camera and the damage was covered under warranty. They speedily sent me a replacement camera. I guess my feedback is to be careful about the access panel cover - on the Nikon COOLPIX AW130, it's a push button and twist lock, but it is under your right hand when holding the camera. When you're trying to get out of the water and on to a bobbing boat in 60 lb scuba gear, you may accidentally open the panel.