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Published: September 5th 2017
Geo: 26.0325, -111.354
At 6:30am, I got the call from Alan that we needed to get breakfast and be off the boat by 8am. I was still charging camera batteries but we dressed and prepared to leave. Mom said she was not going today and wanted to stay on the ship but she changed her mind during breakfast. We took the first tender to the town of Loreto where we met a guy holding a sign with Alan's name on it. We walk with him to the dive shop where we meet Rafa and Oscar from the dive shop. They helped us get fitted for our wet suits, we climbed into the boat which was on a trailer (yes, Mom too) and headed for the harbor. They launched it with all of in it and we were of to Coronado Island. The weather was cool and a bit windy so the ride was rough as we headed out into the wind.
We stopped at a nice white sand beach for a walk. Then we took a ride around the entire island while Oscar narrated, describing rock formations, identifying numerous birds and animals and stopping at a sea lion sanctuary where we got up
close and personal to these guys. We spent some time here and then went to our dive spot where the water was calm. The water was warmer than the air: water 75 degrees vs air 70 degrees. Mom liked the boat ride and now was the official topside photographer.
Getting into our wet suits, hoods, gloves, booties, fins, mask and tank setup wasn't an easy task, especially with 3 newbies. But Oscar had patience and with his amigo, they managed to get all the garb on us. We had been going over procedures all during the trip out and around the island and now was practice in the ocean. We had to demonstrate our ability to retrieve our regulator if it becomes dislodged and place it back in our mouth without getting saltwater down out throats, clear our masks of water when below, control our buoyancy devices and respond to commands and questions from Oscar solely based on hand signals. It was here that Min felt that she preferred the snorkel to scuba and retreated to the boat. The gear was confining and gave me a feeling of claustrophobia for a few moments but it passed. Alan wondered how he had
got into this too but off we went on our dive.
Down around 15 feet we saw many plants and animals. Plants that closed up when you approached, lobster, different starfish, a large moray eel with big teeth, a stingray and all kinds of tropical fish. Things are so easy to see when you can stay down under water without surfacing. Oscar had us regularly check our tank pressure and always asked if we were OK all by hand signals. We dived for close to an hour before returning to the boat.
Now Boomer and I had to remove all our stuff. Oscar was ready in no time but it was another ordeal for us. When we finished, we had sandwiches and pastelitos with water and started our ride back to Loreto. It took about 45 minutes but we arrived in port, said goodbye to Oscar and his amigo and left for town.
Mom decided she had enough and made way for the tender back to the ship. We wanted to see a little of Loreto. A little history follows:
Efforts to turn the seaside village of Loreto into a major destination have been going on for years. So far, though, the results
have been limited, and that in itself makes it worth visiting. Loreto is already a gem — a historic town nestled between gold-hued mountains and the blue Sea of Cortez. It's known mainly to whale watchers (late winter), sport fishermen (year-round) and snowbirds who drive down from British Columbia, Canada. Loreto was earmarked for tourism development 30 years ago, part of an initiative that also included Cancun, Ixtapa, parts of Oaxaca and Los Cabos. While the others flourished, the development of Loreto faltered.
We still had a couple of hours so the four of us headed into the old town, checked out the old church, the first stop in the string of missions built throughout lower and upper California in the 1700's. We finished up at a cantina in town with Marguaritas and Pacifico before we returned to the ship.
We all cleaned up and went to the fancy dinner, then the parents returned to the room while Alan and Min wandered the ship. Mom and I decided to take in a show and returned to our stateroom, exhausted from the day's activities. I managed to stay up just long enough to finish today's blog.
Tomorrow, a short day in La Paz.
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al-karen
non-member comment
Sorry about the sporadic postings. I try to write them every day but since I forgot my iPad tO camera cord, I have to go through a lengthy procedure with Boomer. He downloads my cards to his computer, downsizes them and emails them to me.
Then I go to my email, transfer them to the iPad photos, upload to Travelpod, then down load to website. Most of this is done online so it's costly and I try to go to free wifi sites while onshore. Anyway, I can write but, for pictures, it's more complicated. Al