I
couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up at
four a.m. really hot, apparently the air conditioning was out. Got up before 7 to
get some coffee. I woke the kids up at
7:30 for breakfast. After breakfast I went to the front desk and let them know about the air conditioner. They were right on it!
At 8:30 a.m. we went to do our Discover Scuba training until 11:00. First we watched a video, and had to answer questions such as "You should not interfere with coral and other endangered things in the ocean: True / False", and "You should always follow all instructions of your dive instructor: True / False". Shockingly, we passed!!
Then it was off to the small pool here at Hamanasi. Danika and David struggled with clearing their masks, but Jason had no problems at all. C-Dog, the dive instructor, said he was a natural. What a great place to learn!!!
Danika wanted to quit, said she hated Scuba… not the lovely experience I had imagined for her. Luckily C-Dog took over. Also, Danika tends to do better with tough situations when she is with David and not me. I must be a pushover, as she tends to wimp out with me. David joined C-dog and Danika while I left and went with Jason. C-Dog had Danika redo the mask clearing several times and she did just fine, YAY. Here we are taking lessons...
Unfortunately, Jason might have the start of a cold as he had trouble clearing one ear. We are not sure if he will be able to dive with us this afternoon, boo... Jim, a seasoned diver we met at the pool, took those pictures of us while were were training in the pool. He is a really nice guy. He noticed that Jason was having trouble with his ear, and offered to help. Jim has trouble clearing his ears too, so he knew how to help. He gave us some Sudafed to give to Jason and said it would make it easier to clear his ear. What incredibly nice people we are meeting here!
We took a break for lunch... do I look tired already? It must be the emotional stress of the morning worrying about Danika not wanting to scuba dive, and Jason not being able to go with us.
At 8:30 a.m. we went to do our Discover Scuba training until 11:00. First we watched a video, and had to answer questions such as "You should not interfere with coral and other endangered things in the ocean: True / False", and "You should always follow all instructions of your dive instructor: True / False". Shockingly, we passed!!
Then it was off to the small pool here at Hamanasi. Danika and David struggled with clearing their masks, but Jason had no problems at all. C-Dog, the dive instructor, said he was a natural. What a great place to learn!!!
Danika wanted to quit, said she hated Scuba… not the lovely experience I had imagined for her. Luckily C-Dog took over. Also, Danika tends to do better with tough situations when she is with David and not me. I must be a pushover, as she tends to wimp out with me. David joined C-dog and Danika while I left and went with Jason. C-Dog had Danika redo the mask clearing several times and she did just fine, YAY. Here we are taking lessons...
Unfortunately, Jason might have the start of a cold as he had trouble clearing one ear. We are not sure if he will be able to dive with us this afternoon, boo... Jim, a seasoned diver we met at the pool, took those pictures of us while were were training in the pool. He is a really nice guy. He noticed that Jason was having trouble with his ear, and offered to help. Jim has trouble clearing his ears too, so he knew how to help. He gave us some Sudafed to give to Jason and said it would make it easier to clear his ear. What incredibly nice people we are meeting here!
We took a break for lunch... do I look tired already? It must be the emotional stress of the morning worrying about Danika not wanting to scuba dive, and Jason not being able to go with us.
After lunch we headed to the dock at 1:30 p.m. The afternoon dive was done at a place on the South Barrier Reef called Jason’s Wall. This area is not in the lee of the island, and it was quite choppy out, as a matter fact, we were bouncing up and down in six foot swells. I was nervous so I can’t imagine how Danika and Jason felt as first time divers. They were nervous, and I was nervous for them! However, I was excited about the possibility of swimming with a sea turtle. I told C-dog that it would make my vacation if we saw one. He said, "No problem, I am the sea turtle whisperer."
C-Dog jumped in first and was thrown a line. Then we jumped in and swam to the line to hold on until everyone was in. Jumping in was really tricky. You had to hook your left hand into the weigh belt, put the palm of your right hand on the regulator, and put your right hand fingers on your mask to stop it from falling off, all as you're jumping out of the very unsteady boat into those 6 foot waves. It was just the four of us and we had two instructors. Roy was the second instructor, and he was to stay at the back with Jason in case Jason couldn’t clear his ears, then Roy would take him up to the surface.
Danika
had a little trouble with her ears on the way down. I was surprised that she remembered the hand
signals perfectly. C-Dog helped her and
we were on our way down to the sandy bottom. When we reached the
bottom, C-Dog had Danika and I stayed together on our knees while he went back up
to see what happened to David who was no longer with us. There
were these fish that were playing with our fins while we waited. They were about 7-9 inches long, so cute!
Meanwhile, back with David, apparently he had some water in his mask, and when he went to clear it, he floated to the surface without realizing it. So then he swam back to the line and descended again. C-dog caught up with him and at last we were all together. We started off, and Jason must have been having trouble, because he lagged behind. C-Dog had our camera (waterproof to 40 feet) and took a couple of pictures of us...
Meanwhile, back with David, apparently he had some water in his mask, and when he went to clear it, he floated to the surface without realizing it. So then he swam back to the line and descended again. C-dog caught up with him and at last we were all together. We started off, and Jason must have been having trouble, because he lagged behind. C-Dog had our camera (waterproof to 40 feet) and took a couple of pictures of us...
Wow, Danika's shorts are bright!
The
visibility of the dive was really poor.
Most of the experienced divers with other dive masters said it was about
30 feet, and I agreed. They wrote 50 on
our forms when we got back, but I think it was only 50 feet for the first two
minutes as the visibility steadily got worse as the mucous from the parrot fish
got churned up into the water (parrot fish secrete mucus to protect themselves as they sleep overnight in the reef to mask their smell from predators).
However, while the visibility was fairly good, we were able to see a line of 5 squid, and several rays. I was worried about Jason as they were so far behind us that I lost sight of him, so I didn’t know if they had to surface or not. I just wanted him to be with me. I got a little more nervous as the visibility worsened and I had no idea where he was.
However, while the visibility was fairly good, we were able to see a line of 5 squid, and several rays. I was worried about Jason as they were so far behind us that I lost sight of him, so I didn’t know if they had to surface or not. I just wanted him to be with me. I got a little more nervous as the visibility worsened and I had no idea where he was.
At
one point I looked at my depth gauge and we were at 38 feet and C-Dog was
deeper than me (with our "good-to-40-feet camera"). We went down to 40 feet
which surprised me that we would go that deep with first time divers.
Then C-Dog (the self-proclaimed "turtle whisperer") showed us a hawk-nosed sea turtle, and I forgot all of my worries. He had our camera, so he took a few pictures for us. I have to admit, I really didn't think we would see one, especially with the visibility issues. So YAY! Unfortunately it didn’t stay with us long, but Danika and David got to see it too. I am very sad that Jason missed it.
Just after we saw the sea turtle, we saw ran into a group of the experienced divers. Jim was there and took these pics of Danika...
Then C-Dog (the self-proclaimed "turtle whisperer") showed us a hawk-nosed sea turtle, and I forgot all of my worries. He had our camera, so he took a few pictures for us. I have to admit, I really didn't think we would see one, especially with the visibility issues. So YAY! Unfortunately it didn’t stay with us long, but Danika and David got to see it too. I am very sad that Jason missed it.
Just after we saw the sea turtle, we saw ran into a group of the experienced divers. Jim was there and took these pics of Danika...
On
our way back we met up with Jason and Roy. Jason was having a lot of trouble
with his ear, so I was amazed that he went to 36 feet. We took pictures of the four of us before
surfacing.
This is Jason with his instructor, Roy...
Once we were back on the surface, that was the most difficult part. We were in six foot swells with our heads going in and out of the water. I was thankful that Kathy (one of the friends we made sitting poolside at Hamanasi and also Jim's wife) had told us to keep our regulators in our mouths when we surface because the tendency is to take them out, and then you get a face full of water and start choking. I was surprised at how difficult it was to get out of the water with it being so rough. I was so thankful that Garrif (the dive boat captain) grabbed the back of my tank and helped me in the boat, because I think I was too exhausted to do it myself!
This is Jason with his instructor, Roy...
Once we were back on the surface, that was the most difficult part. We were in six foot swells with our heads going in and out of the water. I was thankful that Kathy (one of the friends we made sitting poolside at Hamanasi and also Jim's wife) had told us to keep our regulators in our mouths when we surface because the tendency is to take them out, and then you get a face full of water and start choking. I was surprised at how difficult it was to get out of the water with it being so rough. I was so thankful that Garrif (the dive boat captain) grabbed the back of my tank and helped me in the boat, because I think I was too exhausted to do it myself!
Once
out, I got my tank off, and I was suddenly seasick. It really took me by surprise, because I
always thought you get seasick from being on a rocking boat too long. I actually had to run to the side of the boat
and throw up! Even when we picked up the
experienced divers, they looked a bit green.
Nobody wanted the cookies they offered us! I ended up throwing up three times… Ugghhh! Here I am, looking green...
Of course David looks great!
Needless
to say, I didn’t feel much like food when we returned. It seemed everyone was feeling a bit queasy, not just me. So we all sat by the pool and had some 7-Up and surprisingly it really helped! Then we showered and went to dinner and by that time we had our appetites back. Thank goodness, because the food is fabulous.
After dinner we were all so exhausted from our exciting, yet nerve wracking adventure that we just went to bed early. Another fabulous day at Hamanasi!
David took this panorama of us on the veranda...
Jason wanted to try a tall panorama photo with the camera...
David had the lamb...
I had the shrimp risotto, and it was fabulous! David was thankful that I could only eat about a third of this because it was so rich. We swapped plates so he could eat some too.
Danika had Caye (this is how they spelled it at Hamanasi) Lime Pie for dessert...
I had apple crumble a la mode... yummmmm!
It seemed like every evening was lovely! You will notice at the beginning of meals I have my hair in a clip. That is because it is actually quite breezy. However, after the sun goes down, the breeze dies down as well.
After dinner we were all so exhausted from our exciting, yet nerve wracking adventure that we just went to bed early. Another fabulous day at Hamanasi!
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