by Kat Ramage | Sep 19, 2017 | Kat Ramage Photos, Mucky Pirates Bay
If you want maximum bottom time, a shore dive is the way to go. No set schedule to follow, little to no current to worry about, easy to navigate and nearly impossible to get lost. My friend Linda was visiting from Texas, and we got to talking about what our longest dive was. Both of us had several dives that went longer than 2 hours, but we decided to challenge ourselves to make it to 3 hours.
To accomplish this, we needed to stay relatively shallow and not do too much swimming. Mucky Pirates Bay here in Pemuteran is perfect. You can spend an entire dive exploring under the pier. There are also nearby mooring bases and piles of debris that have their own little ecosystems—a macro photographer’s dream.
After helping us in the water with our gear & cameras, we told the Sea Rovers shore support crew not to expect us back for at least 2.5 hours (I don’t think they completely believed us, but they smiled and waved us on our way). It was low tide and there was limited visibility, so it was a good thing we didn’t plan to venture too far from shore. Because of the particles in the water, the dive wasn’t particularly fruitful photographically. We saw several morays, pipefish, lionfish, and the usual cleaner shrimp and anemone crabs. But here is my favorite shot of the day
Here’s the proof – 30 feet (10 metres) for 180 minutes
So, if you love long slow dives with lots of interesting critters, be sure to check out Mucky Pirates Bay with the Pirates of Sea Rovers. Maybe you too can log your longest dive ever and beat my record.
The starry moray is one of my favorite eels because of the bright yellow eyes
While shooting the shrimp, the moray suddenly stuck out his head
One of several lionfish under the pier
One of many pipefish we saw
Look for these in anemones if the clownfish will let you get close enough
by Kat Ramage | Jul 12, 2017 | Refresher Dive, The Brethrens Photos
The pirates at Sea Rovers welcomed returning brethren Uwe, Claudia and Amelia from Germany today. They decided to get their fins wet with a refresher dive at Mucky Pirates Bay. Captain Paul and Abdul accompanied them, running through a few skills, then leisurely cruising the site for weird & wonderful sea life.
A refresher is always a great idea at the beginning of your dive holiday. It gives you the chance to make sure all your gear is functioning properly, get your weighting right and fine tune your buoyancy.
by Kat Ramage | Jun 4, 2017 | Kat Ramage Photos, Mucky Pirates Bay
The photo wench found lots of cooperative subjects on another long shore dive at Mucky Pirates Bay. Thanks to the pirates at Sea Rovers for providing shore support.
Here’s lookin at you kid
This is a juvenile angelfish who will look completely different when it grows up
This little bannerfish was busy trying to nibble at the jellyfish
These little puffers are so cute
One of the smaller false clownfish in the anemone under the pier
by Kat Ramage | Jun 1, 2017 | Kat Ramage Photos, Mucky Pirates Bay
Brethren David wanted to check out the amazing shore dive at Mucky Pirates Bay here in Pemuteran, so we enlisted dive guide Edy to find some unusual macro subjects for our cameras. We were definitely not disappointed.
David–be sure to send us some of YOUR photos to post on the website!
This fangblenny found a home in a discarded piece of PVC pipe
This shy moray eel wouldn’t venture out of his hole
I tried to move in for a close-up of the eye, but he dashed back into his hole in a cloud of sand
This juvenile lionfish was TINY–thanks to Edy for finding this little gem
Lots of pipefish on this dive
by Kat Ramage | May 29, 2017 | Kat Ramage Photos, Mucky Pirates Bay
The resident photo wench did another long shore dive today (138 minutes) at Mucky Pirates Bay with the helpful support pirate crew from Sea Rovers. Although not as productive as yesterday photo-wise (no trusty guide to find critters), I thought I’d post the top 3 shots. Enjoy!
Surprisingly, this little guy let me get close enough for the +10 diopter
Another patient little fish that let me get quite close
A peek under the mantle of a Chromodoris nudibranch
