Sunshine and Scuba

---

After a splendid evening's meal accompanied by a cheeky Morrocan Shiraz (went very well with the Kofti Tagine - beef meatballs to you and me) I was up with the lark (or whatever the Omani equivalent is) and breakfast was taken at 8:30. Today is Friday and therefore the Holy day and you could feel a very different, more reverential atmosphere about the hotel.

The sun was back with a vengeance and as we made our way to the pool the sky was beautifully cloudless and with the blue sea made a perfect picture (which I'll include later)

The morning was spent soaking up the rays with the only disturbance being the delivery of the coolbox containing the iced water and Evian face mister thingy. This was followed mid morning by the lady with the iced flannels and then a little later by the waiter with the fresh fruit - this morning was fresh pineapple - one could get used to this!

I had to be at the dive centre by 2 so I grabbed my dive bag and grabbed a lift in a golf buggy down to the marina where I was kitted out in a wetsuit. I'm afraid that as I'm now over 50 and have the appropriate figure I look increasingly like a beached whale in these things. My days of emerging from the sea looking like James Bond are long behind me.

The dive turned out to be a very good one. I was the only open water diver that afternoon so it was just me and the dive master. We dived Mermaid Cove which was packed with coral and an abundance of fish, turtles and moray eels. I managed to conserve my air quite well, which is unusual for me, so the dive lasted an hour.

I was back by 4:30 to catch the last rays of the sun. Tonight it's the fish restaurant appropriately!

---