There’s some special deals floating around right now. Last month we gave out some upgraded dive packages with ocean front room upgrades and two speciality shark dives with some other comfortable hotel goodies… and now we’re running a two-person deal where your friend can receive a $400 discount – this is for dates between now and January 31, 2014.

It’s a refundable deposit within 30 days of your trip dates, and it comes with free flight reservation help and your lowest fare research done for you. All you need to do is email Bill and tell him that you want the discount you read about on the blog, he’ll know what you’re talking about.

Today’s Diving

We drifted over the coral gardens of Eagle’s Nest, which is where the most life can be seen when the current pumps, however today’s current was mild. There wasn’t a stack of white spotted eagle ray’s hovering over pinnacles at the end of today’s dive… but, there’s always later in the week.

Today was a white tip reef shark and huge sting ray drift. We started out on the shoulder of the barrier reef wall and had about 5 white tips weaving their patterns between our group of 5 for several minutes with close passes.

I got literally face-to-face with a big marble ray in a white bottom sand box.

This guy had no tail at all, which is why I didn’t mid getting close. It also gave it a strange UFO-like appearance.

The next ray I came across was a big feather tail that had a stinger, but was a tad shyer than the marble ray.

This dive is really fun when you don’t have to use your fins.

The current can get a little wily sometimes which makes for exciting rides.

We drifted both sides of the southern-most reef tip and both dives were at non-heart pumping speeds – I call it “laying in a hammock” style drift diving.

Sharks, rays, barracuda, humphead wrasse, snapper, jacks and a ton of little fish were up out of their holes and hiding spots hovering in the mellow current. This boat group arrived last night and their first tanks were in awesome Yap visibility with life all around big and small.

We have some video guys on deck for three weeks making some Internet clips that will be shown on our Facebook feed soon… and there’s something about a waterproof remote control helicopter, so things should get interesting with the media ops.

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That’s the status on the dive dock, we’re just three weeks or so away from some Manta Fest arrivals for two weeks of photography, workshops, poolside beers, old friends and a fun crowd.

You can count on some Manta Fest media leaks again when that goes down.