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The smallest and furthest of our cluster of 3, Kicha is also my favorite island. A lovely little beach to the south features a leaf
shelter for camping or picnicking; it is the most penetrable of the 3 islands. And it perches atop some of my favorite diving in the world. Please click location on map to go to the description. PARADE
Dropping in on the current side of a steep and narrow ridge that juts from the northeast corner of Kicha, we are almost always treated to a superb big animal show. Here we most frequently
see silvertip sharks, the bold and beautiful rockets of the deep. The only whale shark we know of in the area was seen here. A herd of topa, the giant bumphead parrots, munch their way noisily along the ridge. And
again, we hover between 80 and 100 feet, squeezing the last possible minute watching the endless fish parade, and ascend to a most intriguing and colorful safety stop that often lasts for an hour or more. Picture the wall reaching
almost to the surface, with cut-outs along its face that shelter sand and fragile hard coral patches. Here we've counted, not pairs, but groups of the lovely fire and indigo dart fish, juvenile dragon wrasses,
octopus and cuttlefish, the true clown anemone fish, indigo, purple, and sea green clams. Squirrels, soldiers and lions hide sleepily under the overhangs. FANTASTIC FANS
Dropping on an almost
sheer wall to around 110', we sit amid fan corals in excess of 10' high, peering up through the sunlit lace to the cliff above in a spiritual revery. Angels and butterflies accompany us inshore, with the usual parade of
rainbows and grays offshore. A massive barrel sponge looms on the ridge ahead; we cruise towards a sandfall and find ourselves in the sparkling nursery area we call Kindy, and finish our safety stop there. KINDY
We often do this dive from the shore, if we're over on a picnic. Dropping into a huge sand and rubble area at 15 feet, we can simply lay there and enjoy razor wrasses, baby rockmovers (
dragon wrasses), several varieties of tile fish, flounders, and hundreds of minute wrasses and damsels; or, we can save this for our safety stop, drop over the edge of the sandfall, and head south along the
outcroppings interspersed with sand canyons. The outcroppings are laced on the outside with lovely fan corals, and their attendant fish; their tops are covered in extremely fine branching hard corals and
literally twinkle with a dazzling array of turquoise damsels. Watch, in various seasons, for the ocean triggers nesting en masse in the deeper canyons, and for the renowned Titan triggers in the shallower areas.
DO NOT APPROACH A NESTING TITAN!!! Normally docile, they defend their nests with power and determination. They can easily smash a mask or a dive light with their powerful jaws. Heading inshore, endless beds of branching hard
corals shelter colorful anemones and their aggressive partner fish. One can wander endlessly around the mounds, torn between lying in the sandy areas observing the unusual feeding behaviors of their residents, and
perusing the coral covered areas for shells, nudibranchs, and maybe an octopus or cuttlefish. |
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