Trip Report August 28-September 7, 2024
For the first time in about 12 years Kellie and I got to go on the Bilikiki together, Starlink is an amazing thing so we moved the office onboard for a trip. We had a great time and did some totally awesome diving. We were joined by a great crowd from the States and New Zealand and everyone really enjoyed 10 days of sunshine, beautiful coral and amazing marine life.
Highlights for me included seeing the coral so healthy everywhere, a few curious mantas, a staggeringly ugly stonefish, some mandarin fish, a pygmy seahorse or two, disco clams, Lynn’s pipefish, an oceanic white tip shark and a couple of sea snakes. That is along with all the “usual" stuff like schools of jacks and barracudas, walls of fusiliers and an array of macro things. I also really enjoyed seeing all Frank Baensch’s amazing black water photos, it was a great chance to see all that weird and wonderful stuff without actually having to go myself:) 
We had some great conditions in and out of the water, water temperatures were about 29C/84F and the visibility was fantastic. It was also a pleasure to see all the floating markets, I know everyone enjoyed going into the village to see some singing and dancing too. I know we don’t normally mention the food in these reports, I guess the guys onboard all the time are used to it - but it was fantastic! I am not sure my doctor would recommend eating that much chocolate brownie tart. A big shout out to the chefs! In fact huge thanks to all the crew for doing such a great job! That includes the office staff too - nothing would happen without them.
To everyone on the trip, it was great to meet you all and we hope to see you back out in the Solomons soon. I know we hope we can be back onboard as soon as possible!
Cheers
Sam