St Vincent diving

  • Been going every day spearfishing for past week from in front of my house as both boats I have access to are down... Water is as flat as a pancake but vis has been awful as this pic shows from 20' on the surface :(

    since the full moon well over a week ago, new moon this week should bring clearer water and better fishing I pray. Below is the view from my kitchen window which shows a bit of Young Island Resort Island(beetles stayed there a hundred years ago) to the left and in front of it is Rock Fort which got its name because the British dragged a bunch of cannon to the top of it to protect the mainland back in the age of sail, if you look carefully you can make out the vertical steps cut into the cliff, behind that is my favorite island Bequia(now there is a speros dream destination) but a tad far to swim :@.




    So what I do current and Tide allowing is to start from the closest beach(villa beach) swimming towards Young Island dodging all the mooring balls and yachts in the cut between the island and the beach.


    Dont laugh at the fins, all my gear is in Antigua and I have to do with what I can scrounge up while here in St Vincent, going from carbon to this has been a adjustment to say the least :D


    Once around Young Island the bottom varies between coral on the shoreline and turtle grass meadows further out, in the meadows tons of rare and cool sea creatures can be found if the fishing is bad and your bored laying in the grass watching millions of bait fish feeding apparently with no predators to worry about! What I would not have given for a predator to show up ;)! Anyways my wife decided to spend her Sunday afternoon taking pictures and snorkeling around with her fish deprived husband in 10 foot visibility. Here are some of my pictures and hers.



    Flying Gunard from above, the wings are a spectacle to see spread open, the pectoral fins are used as hands to stir up food.The three below were taken in 40' in the turtle grass


    Gunard from head on


    My favorite to check out are these urchins when sitting on the bottom, these pics dont do them justice
    Magnificent Sea Urchins


    Once I start approaching Rock Fort

    I start getting excited as every time I run into massive schools of bait fish of all kinds... Big silver Robin, a bait fish we call jacks, ballyhoo, sprat and tons of needle fish all feeding on some form of plankton I guess...Sadly never seen a single predator fish but I get excited and expectant every time as I try everything from lying on the bottom looking up to swimming the outskirts of the schools :confused1:
    But every time I emerge from the bottom with my gun still loaded.



    When I am under the actual cliffs of Rock Fort and start the swim around it the bottom changes to a deeper profile 50'-70' with reef and massive boulders forming very fishy grounds with wicked ledges



    But even in these grounds only tiny cero swim past and on, under and between these boulders are small snapper and Grouper


    So another long fishless day in the water but still a huge grin for having seen cool stuff and shared the experience with my other half, shooting fish is only half the deal wouldn't you agree? ;):shark4:

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

    Edited once, last by Dude george ().

  • what a tremendous report..thank you for sharing that dive with us


    I spend many a dive without returning with fish, but I am not rewarded with anything like that as scenery...wow, what a paradise indeed


    that fort is also amazing...when did the british do the stairs? what various people did in the past with different and often rudimentary techiniques really blows my mind

    i like to spear fish

  • what a tremendous report..thank you for sharing that dive with us


    I spend many a dive without returning with fish, but I am not rewarded with anything like that as scenery...wow, what a paradise indeed


    that fort is also amazing...when did the british do the stairs? what various people did in the past with different and often rudimentary techiniques really blows my mind


    The original fort had no stairs, the red coats climbed to the top and set up block and tackle systems to raise the cannons up and then had a pulley system for personnel, the thinking must have been the enemy could not get to them without any access....Stairs were put in last century longgggggg after the fort was established...Now its a tourist thing to climb the stairs to the top(view is incredible) and check out the old cannon placements. They filmed Pirates of the Caribbean one and two here in SVG(St Vincent and the Grenadines)

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Nice pics, it's a beautiful place. With structure like that usually indicating good drop offs nearby, I wonder why the area doesn't hold good fish?


    Dan it really should, never seen better grounds with no fish on it, maybe over fished...
    Actually funny story about Rock Fort, there I was sailing heading for the Young island cut on a cat charted by a awesome group of Auzies for the cricket world cup being held in the Caribbean that year, forgot to pull in my hand line(I take big test and wrap it backwards over a spare winch) and with sails still up there goes that sound..you know the sound of line screaming out at silly speeds :thumbsup2: , well as i said above I only hand line as rods and reels are cumbersome unsatisfying inventions to me :crazy:, so I grab the line and get a quick burn but thank god for a pack of tough as nails Australians with more testosterone than common sense to lend a hand or 6 :D as she takes to tail out of the water and I see the mystery line burner for the first time( all this time the boat boy is behind my boat in a tiny dingy trying to sell me a mooring ball for the night :laughing3:) its a small bloody marlin!! :@ maybe 100-150 pounds...
    Anywho the boys help me drag my first hand lined marlin up into the transom scoops and then a big heave onto the deck for quick pictures before we put it back :) Point is there are BIG fish a hand full of feet from the shore of Rock Fort but I haven't seen them :(

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Lots and lots of local fishermen spearing and using lines but the majority stick to the shoreline like glue so I try deeper away from shoreline but still no luck yet...

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

  • Glad to see Bequia in the pics George! I've been trying to find time to get up that way for almost a year now. I have a week after my midterms off and I may take a trip up there if I can figure out the ferries. Maybe we can plan a trip there to spear? Hopefully your buddy will have his boat up and running by then

  • Glad to see Bequia in the pics George! I've been trying to find time to get up that way for almost a year now. I have a week after my midterms off and I may take a trip up there if I can figure out the ferries. Maybe we can plan a trip there to spear? Hopefully your buddy will have his boat up and running by then


    Ben for sure, give me exact dates and I will try to sort some stuff out for you... the diving in Bequia is great :)

    A bad day at sea is better than a good day in the boatyard
    George Steele

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