Scuba Diving Isla Verde, the Green Island

Scorpionfish standing guard over the reef at Isla Verde

 
Isla Verde, the Green Island
 
 Isla Verde was incredible. It is Puerto Galera’s ship rock or molokini. An offshore pinnacle just breaking the surface goes down  to an untold depth just a quarter mile off nearby Verde Island. Soft corals, hard corals, huge gorgonian sea fans, massive barrel sponges and millions of fairy basslets cover the steep wall. Leaf scorpionfish and an incredible amount of nudibranchs also dot the wall. I was pretty amazed that no big megafauna comes by but I hear from Amil that it is very very rare. Still an incredible two dives. The boat ride over from Puerto Galera takes about 45 minutes and we lucked out with a calm smooth crossing both ways.
   The currents here can be quite tricky. Amil told us of being caught in a down current here that took him from 10meters down to 50meters. He was kicking as hard as he could but still was pulled down in the current. He said even his bubbles were going down. I have heard of this happening on the backwall of Molokini but I think it is quite rare. On our dive we experienced current from almost every angle. Luckily the downcurrent was not strong enough to carry us away. Lots of good wide angle photos from these dives although there was a lot of sediment in the water so backscatter was an issue. Mating nudibranchs here as well.


 
Anemone fish deep in the safety of its home




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