Caye Caulker Day #4

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Up with the alarm today. Another beautiful clear day here. Woohoo! Well the moon is still setting in the west & it's been fun to watch the moon wax since we got off the plane. Now comes the waning. It's also so fun to look at the sky every night & watch the stars come out. It's a total trip to watch the moon rise over the eastern edge of the earth every night.

So anywhoo, up with the roosters. We met at the dive shop at 6 am & got geared up & headed out on the boat. Today we were with Ish & Cas as our dive masters/boat captains. We headed out to our first dive spot (after waiting for the oldies to buy their breakfast & dawdle to the boat without carrying their dive equiptment, ok last negative comment about them!I'll try anyway...).

The first place we dove is called Turneffe Elbow off Turneffe Atoll. The water was a bit calmer today but still a bit churny & I woke up feeling nauseated which sucks for a day on the boat, Oh well. This dive was the first "wall dive" for us. It was a gradual sloping wall that disappeared into the depths. There was a bit of a current that carried us. It was amazing. Geoff called it a forest of coral. There was just soooo much coral. It was everywhere & more types than we've ever seen in one large expansive area. Beautiful. There was coral that looked like ginourmous spider webs that were 5 feet high.

The next dive was called Sunset. Also off Turneffe Atoll. It was more of a flat area with huge mounds of coral that looked as though they were planted there & maintained by a gardener. We saw a snowflake moray eel that was beautiful. At the end of the dive we saw two large spotted eagle rays swimming together. One was all black with white spots & the other was black with spots & a large white stripe down his back. They are so spectacular.
After that dive we stopped for lunch & anchored the boat near Bogue Caye where we would do our next dive. We had a delicious lunch of stewed chicken, beans & rice & coleslaw. Seriously delicious & unexpected for a lunch on a dive boat. Cas & Ish were great. The way that everyone we've met just loves to laugh & joke around & the inherent sarcasm in eveyone's jokes is so entertaining. At one point we were all talking about what we'd just seen & Cas says oh did you guys see the turtle, & I grabbed the bait & said no! where! He laughs & points at my foot. hee hee hee.

Our last dive was Grand Bogue, off Bogue Caye where we saw a lot of Queen Angelfish, French Angelfish (that were over 1ft long!), more green moray looking pissed off & mounds of coral in between sandy bottoms. Our deepest dive was about 80ft today. The water is so ridiculously clear. I forgot to clean my mask before the last dive & kept fogging up. Urg! Plus we'd never done 3 dives in one day & we were both tired by the end (& full of delicious food, I think I sank quicker). It was a fun dive day. My buouyancy was not at its finest but every day & every dive is never the same. Better luck tomorrow I suppose.

We met another woman from Canada on our boat who was a dive master & who had worked on live aboards all over the world. Her diving skills were super refined. It was cool watching her underwater. Plus she was another person travelling with her husband & 2 children (3yrs & 1 yr olds!). Respect! (Said aloud with a fist to the heart, a common occurrence around here).

We got back, cleaned up our dive gear & headed back to our place. By the time we'd walked the 100 yards back to our place I could have fallen asleep standing up. 3 dives in one day knocks the energy right out of you. I was zonked. Showered, fell asleep on the bed, woke up to eat a cheeseburger with Geoff & hung out for a few with the Nanaimo's then back to bed. I honestly don't think I've ever slept as well as I did that night. I tried to read, got about 1 sentence in & was out. I also had a raging headache. Not enough O2 or maybe too much Nitrogen. Don't know. Slept like a "brand new baby" as they say around here. To the Blue Hole tomorrow..... I'm surprised I could sleep, I am kinda nervous about that dive...

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Photos

Dive Plan
Our dive plan for 2 days.

Dive Boat
Caye Caulker dive boat with our Dive Masters.

Dive Tanks
Ammunition

The Nanaimos
Our friends, The Nanaimos.