Welcome to Total Bottom Time!


Total Bottom Time is my online personal dive log. A place where I can share my dives with friends, family, other divers, and the world. You can find out a bit more about me and see my full log of dives by clicking on my profile on the right. Feel free to subscribe to my dives via email or RSS.

Below are just some of my latest dives.

Latest Dives


The Maze

February 25, 2024

Our final dive of the trip to Kaikōura was a shore dive to a site called the Maze. The rocks on the far right in the pics below make up the underwater maze.

The Maze

I was navigating for this dive so my job was to keep us out of the maze by going in a straight line and keeping the rocks of the maze on our right. We swam out to the edge of the rocks, deployed a surface marker buoy (SMB), and descended. Nearby I built a rock formation that I hoped to find at the end of our dive. I never saw these rocks again.

Rock Formation

I was spending most of my time looking at my compass but as I was looking down at it, I noticed something on the ocean floor a metre or two down that didn't quite seem to be a rock but maybe it was. I descended a bit and gave it a poke. It turned out to be a stargazer. I'd never actually encountered one of these before.

Stargazer

I did manage to get shots of a few things along the way.

Snail

Blue Cod

Destroyed Container

We did ...

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Baxter's Reef from the Boat

February 24, 2024

For our second dive of the day from the boat, we went back to Baxter's Reef. On our way to the site, we saw a seal eating (playing with really) what appeared to be an oarfish. 

Seal Meal

Baxter's Reef from the boat was a different site. We didn't have to do a surface swim and we were on the other side of the rocks.

Baxter's Reef from the Boat

As we were diving along, I noticed a couple of eyes on top of some eye stalks poking out of the seaweed. This octopus was a bit interested in me.

Interested Octopus

He turned out to be so curious that he reached out, grabbed my camera, and touched my face!

Curious Octopus

This octopus wasn't alone either. In the immediate area, there was another octopus but this one was missing at least a couple of arms. I can't say I've ever seen an octopus with less than eight arms.

Less Than Eight Armed Octopus

There were some other cool things on the site too.

Crayfish Pot

Starfish

Triplefin

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The Sisters

February 24, 2024

We left a jetty in Kaikōura in the morning to head out to our first dive site of the day.

Jetty

It was a stunning morning and we were treated to dolphins racing alongside and in front of the boat as we made our way towards the site.

Dolphins

The Sisters dive site is marked by these rocks sticking out of the surface of the water. 

The Sisters

It's a very cool dive site where you descend down a wall on one side of the rocks and then ascend back up while making your way between the rocks.

Lots of great wildlife. I had to borrow this great pic from my buddy, Sophie, of a hermit crab sitting in a sponge with a sea spider on the edge of it. Just a great scene.

Sponge, Hermit Crab, and Sea Spider

(photo courtesy of Sophie)

Finger Sponge

Starfish

Nudibranch

Marblefish

Because the boat couldn't stay close to the rocks, one of the group had to deploy a surface marker buoy. 

Deploy Surface Marker Buoy

During our ascent, Sophie took some pics at our three-minute safety stop. I'm the one with the black mask.

Three-Minute Safety Stop

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Everett Toews
TBT: 216h 37m