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So, after 3 weeks of volunteering, I finally moved out of the BICA visitor centre and into a dorm down at Altons. Except.... well, Hannah by this time was sick of her cramped dorm room down at her dive shop, and had moved into an air-conditioned twin room at Underwater Vision, complete with an ensuite bathroom and hot water. So naturally, my dorm room at Altons became a storage facility, and I spent most nights at her place, enjoying being cosy at night, rather than sticky.
I moved out on Tuesday, and my PADI open water dive course started the following day. In between watching videos and reading my textbook, I spent most of the time sat on the dock at Altons and swimming in the sea. On Thursday, my dive group collectively decided that we´d skip a day of lessons so we could enjoy a trip to Water Caye. It meant the course would have to run over until Monday, delaying my arrival in Xela, but that wasn´t too much of a problem. Off the coast of Utila there are numerous tiny, mostly unihabited, islands, surrounded by crystal blue shallow waters and coral reefs ideal for snorkelling. Our dive
Water caye
Victory! I manage to swim/paddle my way to the next Caye school was doing two trips to one of them, Water Caye. Someone was taking a BBQ and music, all we had to bring was ourselves, some booze and food, and a frisbee or two, and to promise to clean up after ourselves.
I was so excited for a day on a desert island with all of my favourite people. Hannah was going to come too, along with one of Altons Dive Masters in training, (DMT), Alice. Hannah and I instinctively knew that we´d get along with Alice after just a few minutes of talking to her and we were right. Along with them were my course buddies, Phil and Chris, my instructor, Tom, and a load of others we´d been hanging out with in various bars over the last few weeks. A few hours after we arrived a boat from Parrots turned up - more people we knew! It was an awesome day. I went off on my own snorkelling for a bit. I saw parrotfish, trumpetfish... and lots more whose names I don´t know. I was hooked! Hannah and I swam from Water Caye to the next Caye and back, whilst others played frisbee in the shallows. We
Water Caye
From the boat spent a lot of time just sitting in the water, enjoying the sun sharing stories with Aussie, Brits and Canadian divers.
That evening there was a big party at Altons. The 4 DMT´s were having their snorkel test, an initiation from being a DMT to becoming a DiveMaster. It involved drinking through mask and down a snorkel. Being British, and a bit of a party girl, everyone expected Alice to beat the 3 boys, and she did! The DMTs then staggered down to Tranquillas. I was still a bit poorly so didn´t drink too much. It was pretty funny to observe everyone getting fall-over drunk. There were dance-offs, boy-swappages and I´m pretty sure someone ended up in the sea. A pretty good end to a fabulous day.
The following day I began my confined dives, where I would learn how to set up my dive equipment properly, control my buoyancy using an air-filled jacket, and stay safe by learning how to clear my mask and use my regulators. On Friday there was (another) big party for one of the Altons DMT´s birthdays at a bar overlooking the bay. The food was prepared by my instructor with help from
Parrotfish
Spotted whilst snorkelling off Water Caye some of the other Altons staff. It was great fun, and aftwards (predictably), Hannah and I ended up in Tranquillas with some other people we knew and the BICA volunteers.
On Saturday we finished our confined dives and went out on the boat for the first time. Our first dive was down to around 10m. On a sandy patch we went back over some skills before spending the rest of our time exploring the surrounding reef and fish. Our second dive was more of the same, and despite some problems equalising my air passages (by problems I mean ear agony at 5m, nothing wrong much further down, and muffled hearing for the next few days!) I had a great time. You´re supposed to go back to the surface if it hurts too much, but I just worked through the pain and figured a few days of discomfort would be worth seeing a stingray up close, and it was. But don´t try that at home, kids! You only get one pair of ears!
Our final dive was on Sunday, this time a ´fun dive´ - so no navigational, buoyancy or safety skill tests, just sightseeing the reef. Again, it
Snorkeltest
This is how its done! took me a while to descend because of my ears, but it was worth it once I was down. I won´t even try to describe how magical it is to be under water. You will just have to take my word for it. I am completely hooked - and I can´t even put a finger on why! I see now why people come to Utila to do their Open Water (the most basic dive certificate) and end up staying for months til they are pro divers! Anyway, my last dive was lots of fun, Hannah came along for the ride and there was lots of non-Padi approved hand signals between the two of us, which caused me to laugh, and mask to flood!
Once I was certified, we were finished on Utila. We had one more night out saying some goodbyes, and then we were headed for Guatemala.
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