While I might be the maid, the cook and the laundress on this trip it is Bob's job to get all our dive gear in order and he always seems to manage that with great results. Since we got Murphey off of our backs by the end of our travel day (see yesterday's post) our first day of diving was shaping up to be good.
Grandson up on time, gear in the car, breakfast eaten, we were on our way. While it is really hot and muggy we try not to complain. Hot and muggy makes the ocean waters warm and we don't like diving in cold water. The dive operation, Ocean Frontiers, that we use every year is so wonderful. It is on the East End of the island about a fifty minute trip from the airport--only five from our condo rental. Once we are helped aboard the dive boat, we are offered the opportunity to have our gear set up. Our first day we like to do it ourselves just because we don't want to forget how it's done. All dive operations do not offer that service.
Our first dive turns out to be one that we need for completion of our Green Shorts Challenge. We only need two and this one always seemed to be skipped because of its location and depth and the weather. The first dive is always one more of exercise than anything. Remembering what to do, checking out gear and getting our. . .what would you call them, dive legs?
Scuba Bowl turns out to be an interesting landscape. We have to watch our depth to keep it above 80 feet because of our grandson's age but there is still lots to see even though the sharks they see here sometimes seemed to have slept in. A short dive because of the depth and we are once again on the surface.
Our second dive site is one we have been to many times. The Dragon's Lair is called that because of a profile on the end of one of the outcroppings that resembles a dragon's head and has an outcropping of coral in its mouth like flames. We are more relaxed on this dive and find a couple of huge lobsters. The one we find is really patterned nicely. Of course there are schools of all sizes of blue fish, parrot fish and several tarpons, large fish (3-4 feet long) with great big jaws that swim slowly through the canyons. They are gentle fish with huge silvery scales. I love swimming next to them and seeing the sun penetrate the water to sparkle on their scales.
Our morning over, the boat returns to the dock and our gear is whisked away to be rinsed and set up tomorrow morning for us for another morning of diving. Our afternoon will be spent napping. For some reason, diving the first day is really tiring. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's our age. But then our grandson sleeps through the afternoon as well. Yup. It's the heat, the excitement of the first morning dives. Tomorrow we'll begin to hit our stride.
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