Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, BVIs

We were having breakfast in the cockpit this morning off Necker Island when Kevin spotted that we were being stalked by a large fish just underneath the surface and behind the boat. We’d also seen it the previous afternoon and it had hovered around for quite a few minutes before disappearing again. We were trying to work out what it was and I just managed to get a photo by dipping the camera in the underwater case over the side to get a lucky shot and find out it was a large barracuda.

Being stalked by a barracuda

Today the Invincibles were going to the Invisibles! This is a reef and a group of rocks which are just awash and presumably from their name have caused some mischief in the past. We were getting the dive gear ready when Kevin spotted a flock of pink flamingos flying over the boat! We really felt with this we had seen it all in the short time we had been here. They flew round Necker island and then landed on a small idyllic looking sand spit complete with palm trees just in front of the island. We finished getting the kit ready and motored round where luckily they were still feeding at the shore.

Pink Flamingos feeding

Pink Flamingos at Necker Island

We found the Invisibles okay and were pleased to find a national park mooring ball there for us to use, so we tied up. I was first to dive and at first the flat bottom with lots of soft coral but not so many fish didn’t look so promising but then as I saw the rocks towering above me in the distance I saw the shoals of fish surrounding it. There were jacks and tuna, lots of reef fish and various others which I cannot name. As I rounded the north east edge of the rocks a reef shark came into view chasing another fish and soon disappearing away. Over to the slightly flatter ground shelving deeper there were big schools of yellow jacks and then a couple of big black grouper with bug-like eyes which came very close to inspect me before heading off. Finally another barracuda (some relation?) was hovering under the boat when I returned.

Fish soup at the Invisibles

Kevin was next in the water taking the camera with him. He didn’t manage to see the shark but he did get to see a turtle in close quarters that he got a great photo of. We both really enjoyed the dive and are looking forward to doing a few more in the BVIs before we head on.

Turtle close up

Back to Spanish Town this evening so that we can get into The Baths early before the crowds arrive. We had to motorsail all the way from Necker Island with very little wind, but no swell either. There were quite a few boats anchored here, we were amused again to see a few familiar ones and we enjoyed trying to remember where we saw them last.