Bilikiki has just returned from her last trip of the season! We ended this year on a 14 night trip with a lovely group of guests from the USA, Switzerland, Australia and UK. This trip was special for many reasons but mostly because it was the first time, after these two COVID years, that Blikiki spent Christmas and New Years at sea! During this trip we covered our usual route, starting in the Florida Islands, following on to the Russells, Mary Island and the Western Province. We visited our favourite dive sites and got plenty of nice underwater surprises!
The marine life was exuberant as always, from the macro subjects to the pelagic ones! Just to name a few, we got Halimeda ghost pipefish, several other species of pipefish, soft coral crabs, orangutan crabs, disco clams, nudis (nembrothas!), flatworms, octopus, peacock mantis shrimps, cuttlefish, porcelain crabs, whip coral shrimps... and many others! For big pelagics this trips was exceptional too! When it comes to sharks we saw black tip reef sharks, white tips, grey reefs, silver tips and even a juvenile hammerhead! Don't forget the mobula rays and the eagle rays too!
What was also pretty amazing was to be on those beautiful reef slopes, with their fans, elephant ear sponges and soft corals or in the table coral gardens surrounded by rivers of fusiliers, schools of long jaw mackerel, midnight snappers, bump head parrotfish, barracudas, big eye jack's and spade fish! And of course, as one of our guests said, we found those areas that were a pure anemone extravaganza! It always feels quite a privilege to be able to witness such different marine environments with so much life. We even spotted sperm whales on one of our surface intervals!
But the fun was not only underwater! We had Christmas, New Year’s Eve and birthdays onboard, village visits for traditional dancing and singing, carving markets, and of course, our floating markets which were all, as always, a great delight for our guests!
We would like to thank our guests for choosing to spent their Christmas holidays with us, and especially to those returning guests, since it is always a pleasure to have them back on onboard. We hope to see you all again soon!
A big (huge!) thanks to our fabulous crew too because they are the ones who make this whole Bilikiki experience unforgettable with their hard work and kindness. they're the best!
So until we see you all again in March, we wish you all the best, and happy bubbles!
Pato&Fernando

Underwater photos are thanks to John Shely