1st 2 dives at Molasses Reef - Deep then shallow. Click arrow to view YouTube video of part one of the days dives.
An absolutely perfect day for diving - warm, sunny and calm seas. Dave R. and I brought extra tanks as this would be his last dive of the season and we wanted to take advantage of the great weather. We ended up doing 3 total dives for over 2 hours of bottom time.
We started with a dive on the deep outside of the reef starting at 50' fo depth. This area has sand channels the drop down to depths of 100'. Visibility was great, but there was strong current, so we were careful to head up current. Lots of barrel sponges. We didn't stay too long, as between the depth and fighting current, we were using air fast.
Click arrow to view short video of the grottos of Molasses Reef
For our 2nd and 3 dives of the day we to the inside of the reef to explore the grottos and view the more colorful area of the reef. The nurse shark we saw yesterday with the lure stuck in its mouth was still in the exact same spot. This part of the reef seems to have suffered less damage from Hurricane Irma and recovered faster. In the many years of diving, I had not found this many grottos. I'm thinking some new ones were created from the storm.
With more than 2 hours of bottom time and perfect conditions, this was by far the best dive day of the season. It does seem to me that there is some new growth on the reef and that it is recovering from Hurricane Irma.