Now that I am settled, on to what I really came here for music for my radio show and diving.
Did my first dive today at Laughing Bird Caye. Signed with with Splash Divers, the same one I went with last time. They picked me up at 8am, was concerned about the weather. It rained earlier, and the skies were still cloudy and grey. Grabbed my gear anyway, headed out of my hotel to wait for Splash pick up. Got fitted with BC, regulator, and weight belt, everything else I carried my own gear. My divemaster Brian, said the weather would be fine. My last dive with Splash, I bragged about their state of the art boat, with hydraulic life laddred and back diving platform, where you can easily take a “giant stride” jump off the back, instead of a backwards roll of the side, which can be a bit disorientating when you enter the water. However, our group was small, 4 divers, so we took the small skiff with none of those amenities. All gear in board, we headed out to Laughing Bird Caye, an underwater national park. The boat trip took about 45 min. on the way, it was getting darker, by the time we got there it was pouring rain, we huddled in the boat under a small canopy, while watching another dive boat at the reef, as it was blown around and the end came up out of the water about 10 ft. Didn’t look good for us. But the rain stopped, we went to the dive site on the other side of the island. The wind was really strong, the waves were high. I sat on the side of the boat, in full dive gear, waiting for the captain to call “go”, so we could plunge into the water, between waves. It is some of the worse weather I have gone diving in. With only a few minutes, I plunged backwards into the rolling ocean. But underneath the waves, it was all calm. The fish seemed to know the weather was bad, they hid in the holes and did not seem to be as active. Took lots of underwater pictures, Saw some giant lobsters. Chased the big fish like the papparazzi for pics. Surfaced when my air got to 500 psi. The waves were huge and we all had some trouble getting back into the boat. Went to the island for lunch. Chatted with my fellow divers, as usual for me it was, “me and the boys”. Did a second dive. Back to Placencia.
Got back to my cabana, showered, relaxed. That night ate at dinner of fish and rice and salad on the porch of my cabana. Under the night sky and the sound of waves as background music.