#but it seems to be returning now that frontiers has been marinating in my brain so we'll see 👁

[tomaturtles]

I've beaten Frontiers twice and it's still not enough

[snorkelblog]

Grand Cayman Dec 2018

Hello!

Great information here; it was extremely useful. I just returned from 10 days where I stayed near Rum Point, at the Sea Lodges. While this guide is tremendous, I can update.

Unfortunately there was an unusual front that came through midway into our stay that messed up the winds and the chop. But I got enough diving and snorkeling in to make some additions.

First and foremost, the Rum Point area is possibly the best fringing reef left in the Caribbean. Bonaire in 2013 outpaced what we saw at Rum Point now, but I wonder if the decline in Bonaire parallels what the rest of the basin has experienced.

From Sea Lodges all the way to the second bouy at Rum Point (going east to west) the variety and health of the goegonians, sea whips, sea fans, and LPS like brain corals, was fabulous and continuous. Stony corals was more mixed. The Elkhorn forest is gone….all dead remnants. There are maybe 5-6 small patches of both Elkhorn and Staghorn left. Also isolated patches of various purple and plating montiporas.

Large boulder formations were thriving. Saw a wide array of sponges and tunicate, and even a few purple tipped anemones. There are turtles and rays all over (did not see any.spottes eagle rays though). Saw also octopus and squid and all the expected reef fish. The Rum Point area is fabulous.

Starfish Point is sadly, now, gross. Too many ships and people destroying the Starfish, removing from the water. One jerk busted open a large conch then tossed the snail, defenseless, back into the water. Loud music. Just unpleasant. But there are Starfish, and pearly jawfish, there in abundance.

Spotts Beach is much nicer, turtles and rays abound. Sadly the current was too rough but others report very large healthy fringing reef to the east, out from the first large point (facing the water it’s too the left), maybe 150 yds out from the point. But I couldn’t swim against the strong current from the west side and didn’t much want to brave the rocks on a straight out attempt.

There were zero other good spots on the south end of the island. And as for snorkeling, zero else accessible from land.

What once were Barefoot and Queens Monument - Connelly are gone. There is no remaining beach, there are warning signs and chains, and trash/branches everywhere. People go to look but nothing much to see. There’s no access. I am sure there is good fringing reef out there. Need a vessel to access.

There is absolutely no way now to snorkel out to the reef from either location or from Turtles Nest. This from both the dive shop I used and locals. Too dangerous. Too far. And this was not due to the weather. It’s too dangerous and too far. You can snorkel it. But have a boat at the mooring.

East end is worse. Zippo to snorkel.

The diving, that’s another matter. I think the dives I did with Ocean Frontiers surpassed Belize and Roatan, the only non-Pacific area that could compete is Bonaire and that is because Bonaire is mostly shore dives.

I plan to return and will recheck these areas. But if you want to snorkel healthy reef from the beach on GC, I would say it’s pretty much limited to Rum Point and perhaps Spotts.

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Testudo Responds:

Thanks so much for your comments! Glad you got to experieince some of what I think is the better snorkeling GC has to offer. Agree it is some of the best in the Caribbean. While I think Roatan is overall a better snorkeling destination (not been to Bonaire), you get so much variation in environments in GC from Staghorn Forests to Boulder Gardens to Stingrays and Turtles spots, it’s hard to top.

Not sure of the location of the Elkhorn forests you referenced, but the Staghorn Thickets are absolutely thriving off Rum Point. I got worried and went out today to make sure they were not in any decline. They have quardrupled in areas over the last 10 years! You must have missed them on your snorkels. All the more reason to make sure you do return. Elkhorn has never been established in any great mass off Rum Point, at least since Ivan.

Agree Starfish Beach has sadly become a commercialized clusterfuck - floating play grounds, hucksters selling food and more boats than one can imagine. Add the folks removing the starfish from the water and I’m shocked there’s still one or two of these unique creatures left within a quater mile of the point.

As for Queen’s Monument, while the Connolly’s Cove access may be gated, there is a public beach access pathway immediately adjacent to the property folks can use to get to the water. There's never been any meaningful beach there, just a pebble shore. Just now need to park along the roadside.

Barefoot Beach is and reamins a public beach access, just as listed in the guides. While the beach may have eroded from its former Robinson Caruso splender, the snorkeling reamins unchanged and is certainly worth a visit.

Access to the Bodden Town area reef is easily accessible from Governor Morris Public Beach, as outlined in the guides.

Not sure what the dive shop communicated these three areas are only accessible by boat, but is seems in error.

East End’s Charlie’s Shoal is a close to shore, hidden gem and the barrier reef and other dive/snorkle sites like Sunset Reef are accessible for strong swimmers. Plus if you want to see reef sharks, the East End is the place.

Again, none of the spots listed in my guides require boat access for a strong swimmer and experieinced snorkeler, so realy puzzeled by those dive shop comments.

Other areas around the island can be worth a visit. I am partial to Eden Rock in George Town and Cemetary Reef on Seven Mile Beach. Heck, I even enjoy the patch reef at Govenor’s Beach on Seven Mile for the sheer density of marine life on an otherwise desolate section of beach.

When you return, plan a day trip to Little Cayman to enjoy what is in my opinion some of the truly outstanding snorkeling remaining in the Caribbean. I think you’ll be pleased. FWIW, I find the summer months to present the conditions most conducive to a positive snorkeling experience.

Thanks again for your contribution and hope you found the guides to be helpful.

Cheers,

Testudo

[swipestream]

New Release Roundup, 20 October 2018: Science Fiction

Stilted cities, space pirates, cyberpunk delivery mages, and a warrior son of the God-Emperor of Mankind feature in this week’s roundup of science fiction’s newest releases.

Accord of Honor (The Ragnarok Saga #1) – by Kevin McLaughlin

Space Pirates aren’t supposed to exist. But apparently, nobody told them that. When Thomas’s first command is ambushed in space, only quick thinking will keep his crew alive.

One random pirate ship would be bad enough, But the truth is far more deadly. Multiple ships of unknown origin are striking freighters and kidnapping their crews.

Then the pirates turn their eyes toward the planets.

One man has prepared for this; Thomas’s estranged father, Admiral Nicholas Stein. Hero and villain of the last great war, he has spent decades preparing for the conflict he always knew was coming. Now he and Thomas are all that stands between humanity and a ruthless enemy who will stop at nothing to control space – and from there, to enslave us all.

The Atlantropa Articles – Cody Franklin

In an alternate timeline, World War II never takes place. Instead, a plan is put into effect by Hitler and the Nazi party to drain the Mediterranean Sea. They promise fertile land, millions of jobs and endless energy. New land to be settled. Living space for a crowded continent. All of Europe came together and signed a treaty to realize this new world, it was called ‘The Atlantropa Articles’

Two millennia later, the Reich run the world. Aryans have become a race of their own, out numbering their neighbors and ruling with a messianic passion towards Hitler. Europe has been united under the banner of the swastika.

But the plan of a fertile lush land was never realized. The project took decades longer than anticipated. By the time it is completed, what they find is a salty barren world. Now the Mediterranean Sea is a desert basin known only as the Kiln. Southern Europe has been abandoned.

This is where Ansel’s story begins.

Battlespace (The Stars Aflame #1) – Richard Tongue

For decades, the Terrestrial Commonwealth has been at peace. The bulk of the Navy that once conquered the stars in mothballs, only a handful of obsolete cruisers patrolling the far frontiers of space. When a genocidal alien race decides that humanity is its next target for extermination, only a single ship can stand against them, a battered old cruiser named Leonidas, and her maverick commander, Mike Scott, brought out of enforced retirement to lead his ship and his crew one last time. As the worlds of mankind burn under the wrath of the enemy, Captain Scott must fight one desperate battle after another to buy time for the Commonwealth to must its battlefleet, or face the destruction of Earth, and all humanity with it…

Black Triumph (The Dark Victory #3) – Brendan DuBois

More than ten years ago, the alien Creepers arrived in Earth’s orbit and started a war that was a slaughter for humanity. Nuclear weapons detonated in the atmosphere destroyed all electronic devices, asteroids dropped into oceans and lakes swamped cities with artificial tsunamis, and the nearly invulnerable Creepers arrived on Earth, going forth from their dome bases to attack civilians and military units at will.

Sixteen-year-old Randy Knox, a newly minted lieutenant in the U.S. Army, has been fighting the Creepers since he was twelve. He has seen friends, family members and fellow soldiers killed by the Creepers, and he is tired of war. At one point, it seemed the war was over when the aliens’ orbital battle station had been destroyed.

But a second Creeper orbital battle station has arrived.

The war no longer seems to be over, and while returning to his home unit, Randy’s convoy is ambushed. Separated from his fellow soldiers and his K-9 companion Thor, Randy faces the ultimate horror of every American serviceman: to become a prisoner of war of the aliens.

Cassandra’s War (The SynCorp Saga #2) –  David Bruns and Chris Pourteau 

The Lazarus Protocol, the corporate plan to reengineer the Earth’s atmosphere, has failed. The mysterious Cassandra and her Neo zealots have weaponized the weather, Anthony Taulke is in jail, Ming Qinlao is on the run, and Colonel Graves is left to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, we the people pay the price—in blood and treasure.

But the machinery of the corporation is not dead yet. As Anthony hatches a new scheme to undo the damage caused by the Lazarus Protocol, he makes new alliances and stabs old friends in the back. Flushed out of hiding, Ming Qinlao risks everything to reclaim her family name. And a war-weary William Graves is forced to choose between his duty and his conscience.

Deliver or Die (Delivery Mage #1) – Jaime Davis

A dangerous tech warlord. A devious damsel. Is this smuggler mage getting paid or played?

Baltimore, 2055. Ex-special ops agent Kurt Carter refuses to resort to killing any longer. Though this mage isn’t above skirting the law with a little magic to smuggle goods through the interstellar portals and back to Earth, he never expected to use the Newton’s gates on a ransom mission for the ex-wife he can’t seem to forget…

With the help of a trigger-happy sidekick, Kurt has no choice but to break into a government building and steal a mysterious sarcophagus. After his ex throws an unexpected wrinkle into his plan, the smuggler mage must improvise to keep an impatient warlord at bay. Can Kurt save the girl and protect his business all without getting more blood on his hands?

Justiciar (The Vigilante Chronicles #5) – Natalie Grey and Michael Anderle

After taking down the Yennai Corporation, Barnabas has earned a little break.

On the way back to High Tortuga, however, he stops to answer a distress call.

How long could it take, after all?

Barnabas is about to find out. In what should have been an open-and-shut murder case, questions begin to pile up fast: who, exactly, was this Jotun Naval captain? Why was there a black ops ship lurking nearby, ready to shoot down anyone who tried to approach?

Barnabas has made a promise to a friend that he’ll unravel the murder, but the closer he gets, the more he finds himself asking just who this captain was.

And just what in hell did he get himself involved with?

Liberty (Legacy Fleet #6) – Nick Webb

War.

It rages across United Earth space, claiming millions of lives. The Swarm have returned, larger, more fierce, and more technologically advanced than ever before.

The voice from Saturn’s moon Titan claiming to be Tim Granger is warning humanity that this time, the Swarm may be unstoppable.

Admiral Shelby Proctor, on the run for the suspected murder of the United Earth President, knows that humanity’s only hope may be a hero that’s been dead for thirty years, and travels to the center of Titan to find him in Earth’s darkest hour.

The fleets are assembled, all the races united against the overwhelming enemy from another universe. And now all they need a legendary hero to lead them to victory.

Machine City (Detective Barnes #2) – Scott J. Holliday 

To ex-detective John Barnes, the machine is a dangerous and abhorrent addiction. The criminal thoughts it embedded in his brain helped him stop a serial killer, but they left him dazed—with pounding, murderous impulses. Having turned in his badge to salvage what’s left of his psyche, Barnes must return to the darkness at the request of his former partner. A little girl has gone missing. So has Adrian Flaherty, the detective in the kidnapper’s shadow.

And only Barnes can hear the clues.

But the trail is more dizzying and more personal than he feared. The voices are revealing a secret only Flaherty could have known. They’re also telling Barnes that he doesn’t have long to live. To find the girl, he must listen closely. Because the clock is ticking…and Barnes’s mind is going fast.

Mechs and Violence (Infinite Lives Online #2) – Elven Steele 

My name is DeadPixel. I’m really living up to my username…

A quick note to any player who may be considering joining my party: the fact that I am currently on fire is not a cause for alarm. And the fact that my special skill involves getting repeatedly and horribly murdered isn’t going to cause a problem either, I swear. And do you want to know why that is? Because I have the one thing the rest of you noobs can only dream of… infinite lives.

So what if my Wizard’s gone on an unexpected journey to the off-licence. By the time I’ve left the battlefield, those mech enhanced pix-holes won’t know what hit them… because I’ll be running away so fast, they won’t have the chance.

Spartan Company – Toby Neighbors

One bad decision can change your life… forever.

Orion Porter is in trouble. He’s about to be shuffled into a judicial system that few ever escape. His options in life have suddenly been reduced to just two choices: take his chances with a public defender, fighting criminal charges he’s not likely to win — or join the Space Marines. Both choices are filled with danger, but only one will get him out of the system designed to keep him down.

Apex Venandi is a goldilocks world with vibrant indigenous life. The isolated planet is home to five intelligent species, whose culture revolves around tribal warfare. Restricted from human intervention, the world was little more than a footnote in the Galactic Space Fleet’s expansion across the galaxy until a rare and important resource is discovered there. For the first time, humanity will encounter another species whose proclivity for violence is greater than their own.

Follow Orion as he makes his way through Space Marine Basic Training and is thrown to the wolves in the vaunted Recon Challenge.

Storm World (Undying Mercenaries Series #10) – B. V. Larson

James McGill is sent to the Core Worlds!

In an unprecedented first, Earth sends a message to Mogwa Prime. Unfortunately, the messenger is not met with enthusiasm. Misunderstandings soon threaten all of Humanity. Forced to prove Earth can serve the Empire better than any rival, McGill does his best.

Eager to prove our worth to the Galactics, the frontier war between Rigel and Earth is expanded to Storm World. Circled by six moons, the planet is ravaged by wild storms and tides. Battles are fought in raging hurricanes, and death stalks the soldiers on both sides.

McGill grimly fights and dies in the mud until the job gets done, but will it be enough to satisfy the angry Mogwa?

Suns of the Aranol (Obsidiar Fleet #5) – Anthony James

With tenacity and fearless determination, the human Confederation has fought against the overwhelming forces of the Vraxar. Still the aliens keep on coming.

Following the events on New Earth, a chance sighting presents an opportunity too good to ignore. One of the Vraxar’s remaining capital ships – Ix-Gastiol – is located in close orbit around a star.

Fleet Admiral Duggan prepares to strike against the mightiest of the alien vessels. With a strong fleet of warships assembled and an Obsidiar bomb to back them up, he believes success is within reach. However, the Vraxar have existed for millennia and Ix-Gastiol has overseen the extinction of a hundred species. This will be no easy mission.

When everything goes badly, catastrophically wrong, it’s left to Captain Charlie Blake and Lieutenant Eric McKinney to put it right. Trapped within the endless depths of an alien spaceship, they must lead a small squad to achieve the impossible and somehow finish what an entire fleet failed to accomplish. Ix-Gastiol holds clues for the resourceful to find. What Blake and McKinney unearth could be the most important discovery of the war, but only if they can escape with the information.

Upon Stilted Cities: The Battle for Langeles (Chronicles of the Great Migration #3) – Michael Kilman

The Ruins of Langeles are up for grabs, and two walking cities stand on the brink of war.

Saud has arrived, Runner 17 is near death, the women of Nowhere are missing, and Roderick’s plot to destroy Manhatsten is underway. Never before has Manhatsten faced such danger. Enemies lurk both inside and outside the city, and there is an assassin in Daniels’s ranks.

It will take all the power of the sisters of the Order of the Eye to protect the city. But Alexa Turon has seen the future and she knows what’s coming. She knows if they don’t do something, the city will fall. Can she and her new allies change the future or is too late to stop the inevitable?

Vulkan: Lord of Drake (Horus Heresy: Primarchs #9)- David Annandale

As the Emperor marshals his armies to reclaim the galaxy for the glory of mankind, one by one his Space Marine Legions are reunited with their missing primarchs. The XVIII Legion are still waiting to find their true identity, unaware their own lord has been found. In the Taras Division, legionaries face annihilation as they take a last, desperate stand against a monstrous ork invasion. Meanwhile, on Nocturne, Vulkan has raised and trained a new force of warriors. Now it is the time for him to lead his sons into battle. Now it is the time for him to truly don the mantle of primarch, not only to save one half of his Legion, but forge a new, indivisible whole.

READ IT BECAUSE: It’s an untold tale from the earliest days of the Salamanders, as they are united with Vulkan for the first time. With their very existence in the balance, can they be forged into one indivisible whole?

When Eagles Dare (The Four Horsemen Tales #5) – Doug Dandrigde

The mission Jonah White Eagle and his Fierce Eagle Company had taken was nearly impossible. Land on the middle of a 7.5-mile-high plateau, walk six miles to the edge of the cliff, and scale down the 39,000-foot-high cliffs to the foothills of the canyon below. Nothing to it, right? But then there was the swamp they had to cross, full of large indigenous life forms that thought Humans made good snacks. And the rivers, full of other killers, they would have to negotiate.

And then there were the Xlatan, a race of six-legged killers guarding the target. A relatively new mercenary race, although one more established than the Humans, the Xlatan were supposed to be tough. Maybe not—quite—as tough as the Besquith, but close enough to give a number of other merc races the chills when they went up against them.

The Fierce Eagle Company only needed to traverse the planet, stay alive, and then surveil the operation the Xlatan were guarding to gather intelligence for the CASPer-equipped merc company that was enroute to destroy the operation.

The mission would have been nearly impossible, all on its own. There’s just one more thing, though, that they don’t know. They’ve been set up, and the heavy forces aren’t coming.

Still, anything is possible…When Eagles Dare.

New Release Roundup, 20 October 2018: Science Fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames