Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness! I cannot begin to describe how much FUN it was to dive here today. In fact, it was so much fun that I’ve changed my (our) mind about the number of diving days. I expect that we will dive four more days, up until the latest possible time.
The life in the water was far more abundant fish-wise than it had been in BVI. There were jacks, schools of goatfish, different butterflyfish, spade fish, octopus, giant eels, sting rays, guitar fish, and other types of rays. We dove Middle Wall and North Wall, and went to the sandfalls. There is a large trench, somewhere between 1800 and 2500 feet. Although not as deep as the Marianas Trench, nothing to sneer at. The sandfalls resemble waterfalls (anyone remember the Star Wars waterfalls that were really salt being poured, CGI), and could either be really pouring sand down into the trench, or just trickling. Today, just trickling. Impressive nonetheless. And I saw my first ever seahorse under water!
The only bad thing was the extreme variation in water temperature - 84 degrees on the surface, and around 77 degrees at depth. Brr. And, to be honest, there was more than a little particulate matter. But I still popped off a couple of good shots, and was thoroughly happy that the gills were wet.
We managed to do a little touring downtown, but were exhausted after the dives. You would not believe the saline levels in the water here. I had to add 4 pounds to my weight pouches! The first dive I spent a lot of time struggling to stay down, as I dove with my normal weight amount and an aluminum 80 cylinder.
The only thing making me lonesome for home was the Siamese cat we saw on our way to dinner tonight, which, by the way, was fanTAStic. I had a seafood broth based soup, spicy, and brodetto, which is lots of fish in a tomato based sauce (for lack of a better word). It was filled with lots of shellfish, and my newest favorite fish, white sea bass. Scrumptious. I can see that the chef and his sous-chefs all spend a lot of time, love and attention to detail in the kitchen. Topped it off with a glass of Mexican Cabernet-Tempranillo. Yummy!
SO, the day was a total success, as compared to yesterday’s pitch for timeshare ownership. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!
