The wind was cracking this morning averaging about 20 knots. There was a good little chop running in the bay and out on the sand bar, where some boats were still anchored it was a good one to two feet running.

We checked in with Dave on O'Vive and he indicated that the water was still clear out there and it looked like a good day for a dive. Don't have to mention that to us twice. We piled the gear into the dink and ran out to O'Vive to pick Dave up. His crew was ashore enjoying the beach so it was just the three of us.

It was a good day to be wearing a wet suit in the dink. We splashed along the reef edge between the cardinal marks until we reached the eastern most buoys just outside the channel around the west end of Toopua motu. This is a big snorkel drop off for the hotels in the area but if you head toward the bay you get to a nice wall with a 50-60 foot bottom.

We all rolled off the dink and swam out to the wall. There was no real current to speak of and the water was surprisingly clear given the disturbance top side. It was a lovely dive and the reef formations here are really interesting. We saw tremendous amounts of the local variety of giant clam. The colors of their mantels are so vibrant and varied. We saw electric blues and greens, vivid browns and purples among others. We ended the dive in the snorkel territory which is wonderful because it is still great diving and you get you safety stop in at the same time.

Back on board we bashed through the chop to O'Vive, putting a few gallons of salt water into the dink on the way. It was nice to catch up with Dave again. Back at Swingin' on a Star we took the rest of the blustery day off and enjoyed some Deep Space 9.