We decided to go for a dive this morning on the reef at the NW tip of Namena Is. As usual we descended at the same time, but as quite often happens, we lost sight of each other on the way down to the bottom and then had to look around for each other again. Heather reached the bottom and couldn't see Karl. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a dark shape and turned around expecting to see Karl behind her, but it wasn't Karl. Heather was face to face with a shark! Hovering beside her at about shoulder height and only an arms length away. It was a white tipped reef shark and not terribly big, but enough to get the heart racing! Heather looked around to find Karl and show him this sleek, impressive beast - he was up ahead. As Heather swam towards him another shape appeared from behind her. Swimming past her shoulder was shark number two! When Heather finally caught up to Karl she needed a moment to steady her breathing! The sharks were completely uninterested in us and slowly swam by like we didn't exist. Nice to see them and glad to know we didn't look tasty. Further on, slithering around through the coral was a Giant Moray eel. These things are huge! We have seen plenty of moray eels before when diving in NZ, but this was a massive beast, with a lump of a head and a body as big as the sharks. We managed to get fairly close a few times before he started looking aggressive, poking his head along way out towards us with his big teeth showing. At this point we decided to retreat as his jaw looked big enough to take your hand or even your arm off in one bite. We read later in our reference books that these Giant Morays grow to 280cm and actually eat white tipped reef sharks for dinner! We are very glad we departed before he got hungry - or angry. Quite an exciting dive, and the landscape was very different from other dives. Tall branched coral trees and gigantic lumps of brain coral loomed up from the sandy bottom like an alien landscape. Very dramatic to swim thr ough, with these massive structures towering beside you. Almost like an underwater version of "Valley of the Gods". There was also a drop off, a steep wall encrusted with smaller coral and many pretty reef fish. Great dive! Later in the morning we set sail for Makogai, about 20 N miles south of Namena. We enjoyed a brisk 25-30 knot breeze in slightly choppy seas,a fast and pleasant sail in the sunshine. We arrived in Makogai just in time for a snorkel before the light faded. Delicate lacy corals, teeming with brightly coloured fish - orange, yellow, blue, striking patterns of black and white and orange and yellow on the same fish (male slingjaw wrasse), and a very pretty orange fish with yellow fins and blue eyes. Incredible.