A curious brown-spotted moray eel approaches my camera. Common in the Caribbean, these guys mostly hold up in recesses on the reef but forage for food at night.

Eels can appear more fearsome than they really are. Many, like this one, must constantly open and close their mouths to assist in breathing. That might make them appear as if they were hostile.

We encountered several morays on Front Porch as we moved north along the coral toward Bari reef. Perhaps because this site is close to town, there was much old rubbish among the coral at the beginning of the dive. Most of it seemed to have been there a very long time, with large barrels and the like rusted through in spots, everything colonized by some kind of sea life and hiding others lurking for a meal.

But as we moved deeper and farther from our entry point, the man-made intrusions disappeared, giving way to only unspoiled corals, sponges and other reef residents.

Ultimately, we enjoyed this dive very much. The entry and exit are effortless and fish life abundant.