Live and Let Dive

To borrow a phrase a woman greeted me with on my walk home today, ¡Buenas tardes, preciositos! I just arrived home from a full day in the ocean. I completed my Confined Water Skills and my first two Open Water Dives! It was fabulous.

On the first dive, Kiwi (my dive instructor from New Zealand), two other student divers, two Dive Masters in Training, and I explored a spot called Overheat. We saw tons of parrot fish, angel fish, and spiny lobster. The highlight for me was a two foot long flounder I spied resting on a sand patch. Flounder are so awkward looking, with their bulgy eyes that point off in different directions and their  funny, frantic movement. This one had dark blue and pale pink camouflage on its edges.

The second dive was at a section of the reef called Hole in the Wall, named after a vertical tunnel in the corral right next to the drop off (at least I think so…). On this dive, I felt really comfortable using my breathing to make minor adjustments in my buoyancy. We saw two turtles: a large green that flew by us using long fin strokes and a smaller hawksbill that pecked at the coral like its namesake. We also saw a spotted cowfish (so funny looking, like a pufferfish that has been stretch so that it’s eyes pop out even more and it’s tail gets long) and another humungous parrot fish.

I am so excited to get back in the water, next with Mom and Dad, who arrive on Friday, and then with Cam! I will break out the underwater camera once I feel a bit more comfortable with all the rest of my gear. For now, here’s one of the best sunset views so far…

Sunset from our porch.