Diving Into Blue

Palancar Caves, the first dive this morning, the deep dive, is our second to the last dive for this trip! Lucky for us (but sorry to the crew), there was only another couple and Greg and I that would follow Pingo, our Divemaster. With us on the boat were two Instructors and their students, Edwin (babysitting Sonita), the captain, and his mate.

We love Palancar caves! The swim throughs are awesome! Greg and I always are the last two divers following Pingo. That way, we can go at our own pace, and we don't have to worry about having other divers follow us so close--because they do. I guess there's something about being in the open ocean that freaks people out. They don't want to get left. I certainly understand that but really. Following too close really doesn't help either. But, I digress.

So, Greg and I had our plan. I was the lookout, the go-between. My job was to keep an eye on Pingo and the other two divers and look for good stuff for Greg to video. The other day, I had seen so many arrow crabs but didn't show any to Greg. He wanted me to point them out on this dive. I think the arrow crabs like living in the caverns.

We completed our giant stride into the sea and headed to the white sandy bottom about 54 feet below. Once Pingo made sure we wereall ok, we headed to the edge of the reef, to the deep blue sea, where we would weave our way in and out of the swim throughs.

For a moment, just think about one of those cutesy rides at Disneyworld. You and a few other people climb into a little car at the Dumbo ride. The car takes you from room to room as Dumbo's tale unfolds. As you enter each room, there's lots to see. You look left, right, straight ahead, sometimes even up. It's a visual feast for your eyes.

As we weave our way through the coral,from one swim through to another, it reminds me of this type of Disneyworld ride. As you enter, you look left, right, up, and down to feast your eyes on such beautiful and many different types of coral. Sometimes, the coral is lightly dusted with sand--just think of Grandma's iced oatmeal cookies! You try to look in every nook and cranny in the coral, as it may hold different surprises. This is where you'll find the arrow crabs, or maybe the red banded shrimp. Or, maybe, it's just the home of some tiny fish.

Shortly after we start our ride through the coral, I hit 96 feet. That may seem like a lot but it really nothing. You don't even know you're that deep unless you look at your computer. Out of the swim through, you can look all the way up to the surface. Every time I do, it's just amazing! The water is so clear to be that deep and see the surface.

I find a few arrow crabs for Greg and point them out as I slowly glide by. I've got the still camera, and he's got the video camera--we're quite the pair. He video tapes a drum fish (it's a rare occasion to see a drum), which I didn't see. I watch Pingo play with a flat flounder (that's about three inches in diameter) in the sand, but by the time Greg reaches us, the flounder is gone--where the heck did he go?

It's so peaceful and easy on this dive; I wish it would never end. I've only taken a few pictures on this dive but I know Greg has taken tons of video. Hopefully, some point in the future, I'll learn how to edit the video and put his best shots together! Then, we can relive this wonderful dive again!