On Sunday, June 12 a small crowd from the HKUC gathered on the Tso Wo Hang pier - ready for another day of eating, chatting, napping, oh and yes; diving. This outing warrants a report since it was the last time Jo (our secretary) and James (our webmaster) joined us for a dive outing before leaving Hong Kong.

The weather was hot but fortunately there was some cloud, which kept the burn factor down. The seas were also calm enough that we could easily get around High Island Reservoir and make it to Tai Long Wan. We were lucky to have good weather, calm seas, and good vis. This all contributed to some very pleasant diving.

We anchored near Lan Tau Pai (English name: 'Some rocks sticking out of the water') for both dives - this reef lies just to the east of the twin islands of Tsim Chau. While Dave and James went all over Tai Long Wan with their scooters, most people stayed reasonably close to the boat and were rewarded with clouds of small fish, lots of crabs, brilliant orange nudibranchs, a small school of barracuda, some cornet fish, an occassional Psuedosimnia sp. (marginata?) - that's the pretty pink cowrie shell found on the pink soft corals - and of course, everyone's favourites, the clownfish. Steve and John reported seeing a seahorse swimming in open water but there was no sign of any rays, which are occasionally seen at this site.

As usual, Mr. and Mrs. Chan were very helpful and friendly, with helping to load and unload tanks, as well as supplying us with some samples of lunch. In order to recognise their ongoing contribution to the success of our local trips they were each presented with one of the Club's 50th anniversary polo shirts.

Once again, those who made it out of bed on a Sunday morning were rewarded with a beautiful day out on the junk, with enjoyable diving and plenty of home-baked chocolate cake.

Irene teRaa
12 June 2005