Mantas & AOW 1

Although I estimate I have done about 1,800 dives, I haven't kept an up-to-date dive log for decades. As a result I have never gotten any "advanced dive certifications". Because of the Maldives dive sites' reputation & the fact that I intended to do 5+ dives anyway, I decided to pay the extra cost to get an "advanced open water" (or AOW) certification requiring 5 different dive types (deep water, wreck, etc) & multiple skill tests (underwater navigation, etc). I ended up doing 7 dives & successfully completed the "course" & officially now have my AOW certification.
Fortunately for most of my dives I was buddied with an avid underwater photographer (Michael Henry & his wife both from Ireland) who volunteered to take some pics for/of me. Top pic is of me on reef <- the 1st underwater pic of me on this blog even though I have done several dives since I started this blog.
The reef here has been badly damaged by the tsunami, reef bleaching, & global warming. In spite of these, the reef is regenerating itself. It is known for its many manta rays - next to whale sharks my favorite underwater critters. In all my diving experiences - I have never seen so many of them as I have here at their "cleaning stations" where they que for their turns for fish to clean their gills & mouths - middle pic is an example. Bottom pic is me just hanging. There was a lot of algae in the water which "clouds" pics.
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Mantas & AOW 2

Top pic is of me (with back towards you) with mantas in the background - that's a huge manta ray wing just above my head!. Mantas' wing span varies - those that we saw ranged from about 10' to almost 25+'! Bottom pic is another of these incredible beasts. Again, too bad there was so much algae in the water - it "fogs" pics. They like to cruise just above divers because exhaled bubbles helps "rinse" parasites from their tender skins - making such "close-up" experiences memorable and just plain awesome!