First Day of Diving

Wow! This was really a full day. We left to dive at 8:30 in the morning. Beautiful day with the sun shining and not behind clouds. Little wind, so the sea was smooth. Our first dive was the Columbia Reef, which would take us to 90 feet deep off a wall. Beautiful location. Walt did not have enough weight so it was hard for him to get down, comsuming quite a bit of air. So he decided to stay at 70 feet and conserve his air. But he had a hard time communicating that to Karen who was fixed on the dive master and did not comprehend what she was being signaled. So Walt had to explain to her the importance of paying attention to one's buddy. Anyway it ended well. The wall was beautiful with thick coral growth, but not a whole lot of fish.

Our second dive went a lot better. It was a Yucab reef and was only 55 feet deep. So we got a long time under water. Saw a lot of nice fish, some very big compared to similar species seen elsewhere. We did see a nice size nurse shark taking a nap under a rock ledge and a huge green morey eel. The coral here was beautiful along with other animal life. It was a really fun dive.

We were going to take a dive in the afternoon out front of the resort, but went shopping instead. Visited a SCUBA shop and Walt bought a suvenior wind breaker to wear on the boat as does get cold in the wind (cold, but not like Iowa is today). Then we signed up our day off from diving on Sunday to do a tour of the island and hear a sales pitch for a resort near the area where the cruise ships come in. Today we had six huge ships from Carnival and Royal Caribbean, plus two other lines we did not recognize. Carnival had three ships tied up here today.

Then we went to a Mega Mart, much like a super Walmart. Got some cheese and Coke Light (not nearly as good as plain diet Coke or Coke Zero). Then we hit a couple of jewelry stores for Karen to look at. While waiting for Karen to shop without buying, Walt got the chance to witness to a Jehovah Witness. The guy just started jumping on Roman Catholics and said they had false teachings. When asked which ones, he started in on the Trinity. Walt got a good chance to try and explain the greatest mystery in the universe. The guy invited Walt to come speak at his church while in town, but decided not to go because (1) he would be outnumbered, and (2) he is on vacation. Just did not think it would be a good time or place, especially since Walt's Spanish is limited to items of food and bathrooms.

After a nice dinner of beef we are relaxing on our balcony with a slight breeze and wonderful peaceful waves on the shore. God is so good. Sorry all you Iowa folk are getting hit with the blizzard. Until Wednesday have a blessed sleep and a great day in God's world.