We didn't manage a diving trip abroad last year, but this spring Ruth ferreted out a great deal for a week in St Lucia... Thanks to the Bay Gardens Hotel and Eastern Caribbean Diving for a fabulous week!
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The bar and pool at the Bay Gardens Hotel where we are staying.
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Ruth getting back into warm water diving.
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Azure Vase Sponge.
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A substantial Grouper.
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Netted Barrel Sponge - these were everywhere, and some of them are nearly as big as a person!
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Ruth in a cloud of bubbles.
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Ruth's post-dive hair.
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The view as we head out of the marina each morning.
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Ruth waiting for the boat to set off.
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A rather attractive wooden sailing vessel taking out daytrippers.
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I love just sitting watching the churning, sparkling wake of the dive boat in the sunshine.
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Some other divers at Anse Chastenet,
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Fish!
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Christmas Tree Worms.
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Ruth examines a Yellow Tube Sponge at Anse Chastenet
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Ruth with The Pitons - a world heritage site,
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Ruth and I on the dive boat.
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An Azure Vase Sponge, Feather Duster Worm and Barrel Sponge.
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Some spectacular clouds.
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Ruth looks happy, even though she's on a boat. It must be the sunshine...
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A little group of White-spotted Filefish.
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We ended up INSIDE a massive school of sardines - the photo just doesn't do it justice. Check out the video here:
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Ruth gives waterskiing a go...
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...isn't she doing well!
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The pitons - under a rain shower.
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Barracuda
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Squirrelfish lurk under gloomy overhangs everywhere.
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Our guide JR.
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A Peppermint Goby on a Brain Coral
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Arrow Crab on a sponge.
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Ruth's hair can get a bit out of hand underwater.
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A Spotted Moray Eel, with a small Neon Goby cleaning it.
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Ruth hovers next to some gorgonians.
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The walls are just covered in sponges and corals - most visible are Netted Barrel Sponges and Gorgonians
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A Trumpetfish (which Ruth and I call a nosefish for obvious reasons).
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A Hawksbill Turtle at Keyhole Pinnacles - our first of the trip.
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He was just swimming by and didn't pay us much attention.
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The Windjammer Landings resort, where Eastern Caribbean Diving are based.
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The jagged edge of a Barrel Sponge.
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A French Angelfish peers out from under a coral.
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I didn't get any good photos of these cuttlefish, but they were really cute!
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Another turtle - this one at Virgin's Cove. I also have video of a Turtle at Fairyland: Check out the video here:
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A ladder on the Lesleen M wreck.
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A crab on the wreck.
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Our guide at the bows of the Lesleen M.
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Ruth waiting for her dinner.
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A little lizard on a light at a restaurant.
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A rather aggressive looking Spotted Moray.
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A Peacock Flounder trying to blend in to the sand.
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A lobster and squirrelfish in a crack in the reef.
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Ruth and I.
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These Basket Stars hardly look like animals at all - more like a birds nest!
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Another Spotted Moray.
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The beach at Pigeon Island. Just idyllic.
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This used to be a barracks housing British troops...
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A panoramic view of Rodney Bay. We were staying in a hotel behind the beach just left of centre, and the dive boat headed south down the coast (to the right) most days. We did one dive on the reef right under this viewpoint though!
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Ruth in front of Rodney Bay.
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An old canon at Fort Rodney
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A canon at Fort Rodney - you can still make out the British Royal Crest over the trunions.
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Fort Rodney looks pretty unapproachable from below.
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The Pitons dominate the town of Soufrieres.
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Ruth and I at the vocanically active site at the centre of a caldera (a collapsed volcano) near Sourfrieres.
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Fumeroles vent steam from the volcano.
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Steam clouds and bubbling pools at the volcano.
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A Lily at Diamond Volcanic Gardens.
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Ruth at Diamond Falls.
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Crazy flowers at Diamond Botanic Gardens.
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Ruth has caught the sun a little - she's nearly the same colour as this can of Sunkist!
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Our walk in the gardens was the perfect relaxing end to the trip before heading for the airport home.
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