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Published: September 20th 2012
I was late. However being late on Panamanian time is like always being 20 minutes early. The downtown area, thank goodness, is not that big. So I ran to the tourist shop and was thankfully ON TIME per se.
Eight of us were corralled and put on a tiny boat. We all had one thing on our mind; snorkel boarding. Yeah I had never heard of it either before yesterday but it is quite frankly it proved to be the coolest water sport, next to kite surfing of course. I have deemed it the Simulated Dolphin Experience.
They actually call it Deep Boarding here but my name made more sense.
So here is the general gist.... You are towed behind the boat on a water ski line however instead of a bar you hold a plastic C shaped board which is completely controlled by YOU. If you straighten your arms the board sinks under the water, if you bend your arms, you and the board rise to the surface, if you bend one arm you can turn left or right and if you do a quick arm bend you can do a 360; all done with a snorkel
and a mask on and for those who do eventually try it in your lifetime I highly recommend secure clothing. A bikini top and a pair of elastic shorts will surely be lost somewhere at sea. Trust me! There are more than enough underwater photos of me with my top around my waist (none of which will make this blog)
The idea of the sport or diversion, is to cover a lot of territory and see many things like coral reefs and fish. However when I found out I could crest a wave like a dolphin and sink below the water just as fast, the leisurly tour was OVER. I channeled Flipper and off I went.
The captain of the boat thought I was hysterical as I kept submersing and surfacing in rhythmic fashion. As the boat picks up speed the faster you can dive and rise. For you men- think of it like being Aqua Man or Superman as you zip through the turquoise Caribbean waters.
Oh yeah and the rest of the trip was fun too. We stopped at four islands, went snorkling at 3, picniked in a national park and snorkled some more and
than at sunset we hopped on the purple donut looking thingy in the pics and sped through the mangroves.
Ah my idea of paradise...
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