The day started with a bit of rain, however that was not going to stop our hard-core UK divers and soon after breakfast at around 8am we all headed off to Verde Island for our day trip with 3 dives. Many times I have been told that Verde Island is an amazing day trip and here I was able to experience it myself! I was very excited as we back rolled into the water for our first dive.
The trip to Verde takes between 50 and 60 minutes and Atlantis Resort arranges for the restaurant team to come with us on the boat so they can prepare in-between dive refreshments and our lunch which takes place at the Dive Camp.
The first of our two morning dives was on the Pinnacle, also known as the Drop Off. This huge underwater reef comes to the surface on the eastern side of the island. The currents here can be fierce with some down currents so the idea is to drop into the water and get as close to the reef as possible as you descend.
The reef had a variety of colours and diversity of marine life ranging from the smallest nudibranch to a huge variety of anemone fish, lionfish, boxfish, turtles and when looking into the blue you were surprised with the occasional schools of big-eye trevally.
After refreshments at the camp we set off for our second dive at the Pinnacle with another negative back rolling entry to get close to the reef and continue our search for more critters hiding on and around the healthy corals.
As lunch time approached, we headed back to the Dive Camp where we had a delicious BBQ and drinks waiting for us, carefully prepared by the Atlantis team, they really spoil you here. There is also a small souvenir shop for those interested in buying some of the local souvenirs.
The Washing Machine was the next dive site on our plan, but the currents were just too strong, so the group headed to the Coral Gardens, a site offering a good mixture of muck and reef diving.
