Thanks to all who gave advice to help in selecting a Dive Op. Everything went perfectly. I decided to use Blue Angel next door to Lorena Hotel. My 14 yr. old daughter started her OW cert on Mon. and finished with 2 boat dives on Thurs.
We arrived Sunday about 5:30pm got checked- in then headed to town to eat.
We decided on French Quarter and it was great as always. They were taking reservations for Thanksgiving Night for a traditional menu of Turkey and such so we signed up for that, too.
Weather was perfect after several NO DIVE days before our arrival. Had 6 great days. Water temp. 78 degrees after being @ 83 degrees only 7 days earlier.
Mon.
Lauren started OW course - I did 2 dives
1) San Francisco - 98 ft. for 62 min.
Just DM and Me. Bess , an instructor, had 2 students finishing their Nitrox Cert.
2) Tormentos - after 59 min SI - 63 ft. for 56 min. Lots of current and sea life.
1 eagle ray, 1 turtle - counted 20 lobster within 2 coral heads that were within a 30 ft. radius.
Ate supper at La Choza
Tues.
1) Columbia Deep - 105 ft -- 53min BT
Viz somewhat down from yesterday , still 50 ft. - 3 turtles , 1 eagle ray
2) French point - 62 ft - 61 minutes
Another eagle ray , Adult spotted drum were highlites here.
Ramon was DM today
Ate supper at Captain Navagante (?sp)
Wed.
1) Santa Rosa Wall - 72 ft. 45 Min.
Lauren joined us on this dive - her first wall dive - enjoyed the swim-throughs.
Was at first nervous about doing a wall
but really loved it . I tried to tell her she wouldn't fall down the wall , but I guess she just had to see for herself.
( could just be because she is a FEMALE ).
2) Yucab - 53 ft. - 62 Min BT.
Because of her small size Lauren was using a 60 Cu. Ft. tank and still got over an hour out of it!!! This was my first time at this site. It has a rea "aquarium" look to it with lots of fish and lots to see. Lauren ventured out and looked at stuff on her own and under ledges, etc. was really comfortable. Thanks to "Bird" her instructor for doing a great job of training.
She did 8 dives total - 6 shore dives and these 2 boat dives.
We ate at the Hotel this night so Laure n could finish studying for her final test.
It was by far the worst meal we had.
By the way - I ate breakfast and lunch at CAstaways - a little place next door to Blue Angel - every day. Their "diver special" breakfast was more than I could eat.- for 4.00.
Thurs.
1) Chun Chakab - way down south.
We had some newer divers on the boat and the seas were pretty rough so we all came up as a group to help out the captain. The combination of these 2 things led to shorter BT than normal - This is one of the few times we HAD to come up as a group , but was necessary for safety. Other times we could use the buddy system and come up when our air supply limited us or our BT ran out (as it does on Sat.)
75 ft. - 52 min. BT
2) Punta Tunich - 64 ft. 56 min.
Lots of current here. 1 nurse shark (8ft) and 1 eagle ray were highlites.
Ate supper at French Quarter for Thanksgiving . Mike really out-did himself - cooked everything!! It was like a real home Thanksgiving - Without
all the pesky relatives though!!
Fri
1)Palancar Caves - 96 ft - 51 min.
most notable thing we saw on this dive were LOTS of people!! Due to higher winds everyone must have decided on the same site.
We had wanted to go North to Barracuda and No Name for the eagle rays, but weather did not permit.
2) Tormentos - again - 60 ft. 73 min.
got to buddy dive this site. I dove with Wayne from Minnesota. He was on Nitrox and I was using air.
Saw a Splendid Toad fish here - my first.
Ate supper at Prima
Sat.
1) Barracuda !! - 94 ft. 42 mins.
Lots of current - I was surprised at how much air I used on a dive with this much current. But at times we were fighting to stay upright or not damage the reef. If you got too far above it you would fly away from group, too close to it you had to fight to keep from causing damage.
Anyway, a great dive - 3 turtles were highlite.
2) No name reef - 83 ft. 46 Min
We deflated our BCD's and held on to hard coral to wait for schooling eagle rays to come by. We say 7 total --
1 single, 1 single , group of 5 and another single. First dive to go into DECO. Did safety stops at 20, 15 and 10 feet just to be sure!!
Ate supper at Casa Blanca on the square - 2nd worst meal. Not that it was TERRIBLE - it just didn't compare to rest of the week.
All-in-all a terrific week. Next trip Feb. , but haven't decided on Coz or Grand Cayman. Haven't really worked out my time off yet. That will help decide.
Kids want to go snow-skiing in March for spring break.... but diving sure does sound good to me right now!!
Thanks for your patience
Todd
We arrived Sunday about 5:30pm got checked- in then headed to town to eat.
We decided on French Quarter and it was great as always. They were taking reservations for Thanksgiving Night for a traditional menu of Turkey and such so we signed up for that, too.
Weather was perfect after several NO DIVE days before our arrival. Had 6 great days. Water temp. 78 degrees after being @ 83 degrees only 7 days earlier.
Mon.
Lauren started OW course - I did 2 dives
1) San Francisco - 98 ft. for 62 min.
Just DM and Me. Bess , an instructor, had 2 students finishing their Nitrox Cert.
2) Tormentos - after 59 min SI - 63 ft. for 56 min. Lots of current and sea life.
1 eagle ray, 1 turtle - counted 20 lobster within 2 coral heads that were within a 30 ft. radius.
Ate supper at La Choza
Tues.
1) Columbia Deep - 105 ft -- 53min BT
Viz somewhat down from yesterday , still 50 ft. - 3 turtles , 1 eagle ray
2) French point - 62 ft - 61 minutes
Another eagle ray , Adult spotted drum were highlites here.
Ramon was DM today
Ate supper at Captain Navagante (?sp)
Wed.
1) Santa Rosa Wall - 72 ft. 45 Min.
Lauren joined us on this dive - her first wall dive - enjoyed the swim-throughs.
Was at first nervous about doing a wall
but really loved it . I tried to tell her she wouldn't fall down the wall , but I guess she just had to see for herself.
( could just be because she is a FEMALE ).
2) Yucab - 53 ft. - 62 Min BT.
Because of her small size Lauren was using a 60 Cu. Ft. tank and still got over an hour out of it!!! This was my first time at this site. It has a rea "aquarium" look to it with lots of fish and lots to see. Lauren ventured out and looked at stuff on her own and under ledges, etc. was really comfortable. Thanks to "Bird" her instructor for doing a great job of training.
She did 8 dives total - 6 shore dives and these 2 boat dives.
We ate at the Hotel this night so Laure n could finish studying for her final test.
It was by far the worst meal we had.
By the way - I ate breakfast and lunch at CAstaways - a little place next door to Blue Angel - every day. Their "diver special" breakfast was more than I could eat.- for 4.00.
Thurs.
1) Chun Chakab - way down south.
We had some newer divers on the boat and the seas were pretty rough so we all came up as a group to help out the captain. The combination of these 2 things led to shorter BT than normal - This is one of the few times we HAD to come up as a group , but was necessary for safety. Other times we could use the buddy system and come up when our air supply limited us or our BT ran out (as it does on Sat.)
75 ft. - 52 min. BT
2) Punta Tunich - 64 ft. 56 min.
Lots of current here. 1 nurse shark (8ft) and 1 eagle ray were highlites.
Ate supper at French Quarter for Thanksgiving . Mike really out-did himself - cooked everything!! It was like a real home Thanksgiving - Without
all the pesky relatives though!!
Fri
1)Palancar Caves - 96 ft - 51 min.
most notable thing we saw on this dive were LOTS of people!! Due to higher winds everyone must have decided on the same site.
We had wanted to go North to Barracuda and No Name for the eagle rays, but weather did not permit.
2) Tormentos - again - 60 ft. 73 min.
got to buddy dive this site. I dove with Wayne from Minnesota. He was on Nitrox and I was using air.
Saw a Splendid Toad fish here - my first.
Ate supper at Prima
Sat.
1) Barracuda !! - 94 ft. 42 mins.
Lots of current - I was surprised at how much air I used on a dive with this much current. But at times we were fighting to stay upright or not damage the reef. If you got too far above it you would fly away from group, too close to it you had to fight to keep from causing damage.
Anyway, a great dive - 3 turtles were highlite.
2) No name reef - 83 ft. 46 Min
We deflated our BCD's and held on to hard coral to wait for schooling eagle rays to come by. We say 7 total --
1 single, 1 single , group of 5 and another single. First dive to go into DECO. Did safety stops at 20, 15 and 10 feet just to be sure!!
Ate supper at Casa Blanca on the square - 2nd worst meal. Not that it was TERRIBLE - it just didn't compare to rest of the week.
All-in-all a terrific week. Next trip Feb. , but haven't decided on Coz or Grand Cayman. Haven't really worked out my time off yet. That will help decide.
Kids want to go snow-skiing in March for spring break.... but diving sure does sound good to me right now!!
Thanks for your patience
Todd
