Maeda Misaki

Today was going to be a different location, but not less special. Andrea picked me up a little bit later than yesterday we had to take a short ride over the islands only highway to get to Maeda point. I was again the only client for today and so that promised some more great dives. I was not dissapointed. Although the dives at this site are somewhat more sandy, in my experience that doesn't have to mean there is less life to be found. To the contrary. Andrea and I always made sure to be among the first to go in the water so there won't be to much sand kicked up by all the divers. And there were a lot today. Three boats with in total over 40 divers would make for a crowded dive spot. Luckily we managed to avoid the crowded spaces and went our own way. No sharks today unfortunately but a lot of different nudibranches and really hard to spot shrimps and triggerfishes. Andrea had told me about a dragon moth, a rare fish of which three specimens lived in the sand at the first divesite. They don't have one place they stay like seahorses but they would lie somewhere in the sand. She toold me that probably a lot of divers would be looking for it so we had to have luck on our side. Somehow halfway through the dive i saw something moving in the sand and i decided to follow it. I quickly realised it was the dragonmouth Andrea talked about and I just took lot of shots of this creature, hoping that one or two would be good. ;-) After taking about a hundred pictures i decided i would leave the poor creature alone, only to see myself surrounded by all the other divers who had seen mee chasing this fish across the sandy bottom. I have to admit though that they neatly awaited their turn and did not get in my way. Again i'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We didn't have lunch on the boat as they would return to the harbour after every dive so we got some famous Okinawa soba from a local restaurant. The line of people in front of the entrance usually is a sign of great food and this restaurant was no exception. We got a nice table outside in the shade and the food was brought to our table. Incredibly good soba noodles with pieces of spare rib that just drop off the bone if you pick it up. Utterly delicious! It was time for the last dive and after the usual routine of building up and getting in the water we quickly went on our way. We saw one of the Japanese divemasters point out something but as i got closer to get a look i was waved away. I was not in the way and just tried to hold still as not to stir up too much sand that could ruin the pictures the other divers were trying to make. But that wasn't enough, she signed me to move. Which I reluctantly did while unintentionally kicking up some sand from the bottom. We quickly found our own way again and the rest of the dive was great. As we got back to the harbour we got our stuff in the car before taking a quick rinse and getting dressed in our normal attire. The ride back took some time as there was a big sunday(?) traffic jam. We got to the hostel and i thanked her for all the great dives and the fun we had al these three days. Back in the hostel after taking a shower i set off to the konbini to get some cash and dinner. On the way back it started to rain really heavy and i had to take shelter in the nearest McDonalds, only a 10 minute ride through the rain. As i finished my meal the rain had gotten a little bit less and i decided to make a run for the hostel. I arrived soaking wet but quickly dried up while watching a Japanese TV show and drinking some local Orion beers. I finally crashed at half past nine. Tomorrow I will move to Naha but it will be a slow day...Read more