Diving Into Blue

Our second dive today was my 150th dive! Wahoooooo! And it was great!


At 11:16 a.m., we hit the water heading down to Santa Rosa reef. The current was pretty steady along this reef. This time, it didn't matter. There were two guys and a girl (they were ok divers), a guy named Ken we just met, Pingo (our Divemaster), and Greg and I. We all knew NOT to kick with the current--it just makes for an easier dive! Beto, on the other hand, was the Divemaster in charge of the family (mom, dad, sister, and brother). They jumped in after us. I mention these folks here because I have to tell you about them later in the story.

This dive was a shallow dive so we were going to stay on the topside of the reef. As we headed down, we were over the deep blue sea. I call it the deep blue sea because you can't see the bottom--the blue just goes on forever. Just ahead, raising out of the deep blue, is Santa Rosa wall. We were headed for the top of the wall; that's where we'd start our dive.

At first, the terrain was pretty flat with clumps of coral here and there. We were floating, letting the current take us away, just a few feet above the reef. Fish are everywhere--big, small, colorful, plain. They just don't seem to mind the current--or maybe, the current doesn't have any affect on them! Greg and I hang back a bit. When Pingo finds something, he gets everyone's attention by shaking his noisemaker. That sound is so familiar now. Anytime we hear it, we look up and around--where's Pingo? What did he find?


As we continue, the coral heads are getting bigger. A lot of small marine life live just off the coral heads in the sand. It's funny to watch the little fish dart in and out of the small holes they've made in the sand.



We see a turtle up ahead. He decides he's had enough of us gawking at him so he heads to the surface for air. It turns out Greg and I see him again; he comes so close to us, within a mere few feet. I could almost reach out and touch his shell but I don't. Greg snaps a few pics, and we continue on.





It's so relaxing; diving is all that--with sceneary! You look down, to the left, to the right, straight ahead; then, you move yourself around, just using your fins. You look all around because you never know what you'll see. Ahhhh...that barracuda, he doesn't fighten me. He looks mean, yes, but really harmless. He doesn't want to eat us divers!





We come upon another coral head. Look it's a little eel, a spotted one. Geez! He's no bigger than my index finger. But I see him, and I get Greg's attention. We're pretty good at the hand signals.





"Eel. Little. Over here, " I gesture to him. As I turn back around to get a fix on him, ouy! That darn fish...what is it called? It gets in between me and the eel.





By now, Greg is by my side. "Eel. Little. Behind the fish," I tell him again.





At first, he doesn't see it. All he sees is that fish! And then, finally, the fish moves, and the eel sticks his head out of the coral. "There he is!" I point. Greg has him now, and takes a picture.



Of course, just seconds after that, Pingo gets our attention. "Eel, over here!" he motions. And it's bigger than the one I found. Ah, well, maybe next time.



46 minutes as elapsed; we're at the surface, waiting for the boat. Now, remember the family with Beto? Well, seems that they were kicking with the current (a big NO NO). We could see the boat, a long way away (maybe a quarter mile, Greg thinks). So, we waited and waited. It's pretty funny, though, because we surfaced in front of the hotel, about a quarter mile off shore. And we waited. There was another boat, drifting with its divers. Pingo struck up a conversation with the capitain. Then, we could see the boat finally coming to pick us up.



Hurry up, dudes! It's noontime, and I'm hungry!