TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands If you like live corals-behind Marina Cay...

We were thrilled with the snorkeling behind Marina Cay when we were down there last.there are two yellow COM balls and a 4 blue dingy dock line. I don't think I have seen so many bright purple fans. We ran into Cuttlefish and Seahorses...my favorites.

There were some huge Brain Corals, as well as quite a few Fire Corals, staghorns, clubtips, some pillars, and some orange cups.

Fish were abundant and diverse.

Yes, that is a great spot - Diamond Reef.

one of our favorites

Can someone dial that in for me? Would that be the North west side of Marina Key, South West side, or off the shore of Great Camano?

It's the south east side of great Camano. Easy to see from the eastern most moorings at marina cay. There's two yellow dive moorings and a blue dinghy mooring line.

We snorkeled that spot a couple of weeks ago. On advice from the charter company, we took some English peas with us. The fish showed up. It was cool having them swarming everywhere.

This is one of our top 3 snorkeling spots and we hit it every trip.

No offense meant, and I'm glad you had fun, but please do not feed the fish. Maybe it's just me but I feel that's a bad practice.

Rob

To quote Nancy Kerrigan.....why??? Why is that a bad practice?

I try to practice leaving wild things wild (unspoiled). As a general rule, I thought we're not supposed to feed wild animals. Just think what snorkeling in the BVI would be like if charterers started doing this everywhere. We were around some people doing it once at the Indians and it was a zoo. Kind of spoiled the snorkeling trip. Maybe I'm the only fuddy duddy around here.

I agree feeding the fish will in time ruin the neighborhood with fish hoarding around divers hoping to be fed. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

I get your point and understand your point of view....thanks for explaining. I don't think of it as a fuddy duddy thing....just different schools of thought. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Cool. Thanks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

PLEASE don't feed the fish.
Some of the reasons to avoid feeding the fish:
1) not their natural food source (bread contains yeast and is bad for fish digestive systems)
2) changes behaviors - more fish of certain species show up to eat in large groups (typically yellow tail snappers) and can lead to more aggressive fish on the reef (when they don't get food and expect it)
3) changes reef environment - fish learn to rely on handouts and eat less of the algae/detritus on the reefs. Excessive buildup of algae contributes to coral growth decreases and mortality.

Thanks for helping us and our BVI reef systems out!

Jeff

I was at the Pussers bar in West End and there was this girl with a bandage on her upper lip, I asked her what's up with the lip, well they were feeding dog food to the fish and when they ran out a Trigger fish went up to her and bit her lip.

Thanks Matrix I have never heard of that spot. We did dive up closer to where the power cable goes over to the island but never made it that far south. We'll try it in a couple of weeks, thanks for the heads up!

We stopped there yesterday to give this spot a try but the water was full of little clear stinging jelly fish. First crew member to stick her leg in the waster got stung. We will have to try again next trip. Always good to have a reason to come back.

Terry - We are starting a week long charter today. Can you confirm any spots that are jelly fish free?

Thanks,
Rick

Even if he could, I would still use caution as conditions are always changing.