Now I can finally say, "Been here. Done that!" :-) The psychological preparation to the coldest dive I've done since my ice-diving certification in 1990 was much more challenging than the preparation for any of the dare-devil WARM water dives I've done since, such as the 10 knot current (briefed) that realized only 5-6 knots in the Fakarava Passes of the Tuamotu islands of French Polynesia. I did my dive with the ORCA Diving Center: http://www.seemorca.cl/ I don't have any picture to show of the UW world, because I didn't expect to see anything Sue couldn't take with her digital camera. Unfortunately, her digital camera went with her to the gigantic stone statues (moais) of Ahu Tahai, Ahu Akivi, and other sites, and I was left with what divers are only supposed to take with from the sea, their memories. :-) You can see a few pictures from the ORCA webpage above and its links and at least one picture of the giant moai. After weeks of anticipation and 7 days at sea, the ship finally weighed anchor at 8 am in Easter Island. It was a beautiful sunny day! The Pacific Princess passenger capacity is about 730. Probably 729 of them were on one of the three sightseeing tours to the various moai sites to gawk at the moais for which Easter Island is noted. The 730th passenger, me, was on my own, more or less. Trixie, the tour director of the cruiseship, who had dived Easter Island once before, was instrumental in piquing my interest in the dive and making the dive arrangements for me. We were to meet at the Orca Diving Center, a short taxi ride from where the tenders drop off passengers from the ship. We were to meet at the dive shop at 10:30 am. She was working with the ship's crew in directing the traffic of the 729 passengers to their respective tour leaders and busses. I was at the dive shop by 9 am, making SURE that I find a fitting wetsuit that is 3 mil or less, because I have NEVER dived in any wetsuit thicker than 3 mil and I didn't think this was the time or place to try to look like a Goodyear blimp, venture into a bouyancy- control territory never stepped into before -- especially because I had brought my ultra-lightweight BC which has a MAXIMUM lift of 16 lbs, for the WARM water diving in Tahiti. :-) I asked the DM what the water temp was. "22 to 22.5 C," or about 72 degres F! The dive center webpage was even more encouraging, "Although the temperature of the sea is over 24 degree C you can find some coral species similar to those on other Polynesian islands." 24C is almost 76F! Both temperature estimates were higher than I expected, and I was happy to see some children swimming without ANY suit. :-) After all, I recently dived in Bali (on the mola mola dive) in 75F water with only a 1 mil suit. So, I tried on what looked more like a 2-mil surfing suit than a 3-mil scuba wetsuit, and was contented that I was doing to be able to do the unexpected (Easter Island) frigid dive! I might as well get to the SURPRISE part now! It turned out the DM was a tad off his 22C estimate. My ReefNet (independently verified by my HyperAqualand) recorded a dive of AVERAGE temp of 66F, with minimum 65F. :-) But I survived the 53-minute dive in flying colors in the 3-mil wetsuit. The dive itself was actually more or less expected -- lots of small to medium fish, nothing as big as a titan triggerfish, of which there was none. Because of the isolation of Easter Island (1900 km to the NEAREST island, Pitcairn), about 25 percent of its 160 species of fish is endemic (you can find them ONLY in Easter Island). Except for the dive boat, which is an uncovered wooden panga with a Johnson motor, the shop is very well equipped with a large number of nearly new steel tanks, and other equipments all of which are included in the price of $50 for a 1-tank dive. (see http://www.seermorea.el/ingles/euipos_y_tarifas.htm), The boat was plenty spacious for the two of us, and the dive site was within sight of the cruiseship, in the Hanga Roa Cove area. When we hit the water, besides the jolt of the 66-degree water which actually felt, in my 3-mil suit, more like 74F in a 1-mil suit in Bali :-), I was immediately struck by the awesome VISIBILITY! I estimate it to be at least 200 feet, possibly 300 because if there is a shark 300 or more feet away, I would have easily identified it. The nearest comparable vis I had seen was at times in Coco's Island, which is swept daily by the fierce current that brings hundreds of hammerhead sharks; but here the high vis was explained this way on the webpage: This clarity is due to low plankton levels and the absence of river, port, sewage system and industrial residue, it is easier to keep the water crystalline and clean. The topography of the site is an endless flat sand/rock bottom of about 80 fsw, once one is sufficiently away from the coral formations off the shore. Those are easily the healthiest corals one will ever see anywhere in the world. Although not the one titled "Kare Nui/Giant Coral" in http://www.seemorea.el/ingles/mundo_submarino.htm we saw one of nearly the same shape and size during the dive. The marine life is DIFFERENT! That's the best way to describe it. Nothing big. But a great variety of wrasses and butterflyfish in small packages, many look different from those in Polynesia or elsewhere in the Pacific. I presume those are the ones endemic to Easter Island. One unmistable one was something shaped and colored like a Spanish hogfish of the Caribbean, but with a varied markings like those of a Piccaso triggerfish! Another one, rather common there, was a butterflyfish that is solid black except for a single white square on the main body. There were other species of very colorful butterflyfish. I was barely able to make out two very colorful fishes that was pointed out to me by the DM, that they looked like a larger version of the Mandarinfish I had seen in Palau. We saw only ONE moray eel during the dive, but it had a yellowish body, brownish spots, with a purple colored mouth. There were at least half dozen different species of trumpetfish, from the solid-golden variety to others that are not very different from other trumpetfishes elsewhere in the world. Throughout the dive, these ARFs (Assorted Reef Fishes) were too numerous to describe or distinguish from their cousins in the Pacific or the Caribbean. Our entire dive was near the bottom of the ocean, between 60 fsw and 70 fsw. It was scheduled to be 40 minutes in duration, but when the DM was that I still had half a tank of air left at that point, he extended the dive a bit longer, and after a safety stop, our dive terminated at 53 minutes. It was an invigorating, hi-vis, frigid (to any WWW), one-of-a-kind, enjoyable dive worthy of the world's MOST REMOTE populated island (1900 km from the nearest nowhere)! Da Feeesh.