Today's on-island trip report:
We got up a little late (6:40 am), made some coffee, enjoyed some of our bakery items that we bought last night. Mexican bakeries don't use near as much sugar as we do in the states. That's not a bad thing, but you bite into something expecting it to be sweet, and it's more bread than sweet. No problem. I'm good with that. Pairs well with coffee!
Drove the 0.7 miles to Aldora Villa to pick up the boat, and once again, ours is the first to come get us and we wave to the other 12 people waiting for their boat as we motor away. We are a family of 5, and so far, we've been paired up with "T" a single diver (girlfriend has ear issues the last few days). Poor guy is stuck diving with our family with stupid dad jokes and general goofy-ness. He's a good sport and we offer him Starbursts and mini Snickers bars between dives, so he tolerates us.
Decided to try Cantrell and see if we can see schooling eagle rays. It starts a few hundred yards North of our condo and less than a mile (?) N of Aldora Villa. No other dive boats in the area, so that's GREAT. Surface is quite calm! We drop off the boat one-by-one, and I take two fin kicks and think "hey, really easy kicking this morning" when I realize that I didn't put on my fins!!!! I tell the captain "I FORGOT MY FINS" and he laughs at me and tosses me them one at a time I'm getting better at cleaning my ears, so I catch up with the group before they hit bottom! My kids think this is the funniest thing they've ever seen. Yay dad!
Current is RIPPING. We fly over everything, and try to take cover behind some of the big sponges. No eagle rays to be seen. Bummer. Still, a great dive. It feels a bit like exploring since we are the only boat North this morning. 80 minute dive. We switched to Nitrox today, too, by the way.
SI at Playa Azul. Took some pictures, some swimming, then back on the boat.
2nd dive was San Juan. Current also ripping. Saw moray, lobster, massive schools of grunts, finger coral fields, etc. 90 minute dive! I'm lucky the kids are good on air. My wife is using my mask since hers doesn't seem to fit anymore. Mine is a kid's mask and it's OK, but I have to clear it every 10 minutes. The kids laugh when I look at them and the mask is 1/4 full of water.
Instead of beers by the pool, we head across the island to Sr. Iguanas for tacos and ceviche. Pretty good, but $75 for lunch. Ouch. We take the Tequila tour on the way back. It was decent, but I got suckered into buying a $79 bottle of tequila. Yikes.
Home for some swimming, chatting with condo neighbors by the pool. Decide on dinner at O'Hana. Chicago pizza, lobster, chicken sandwich. Pizza takes a long time, so we play some 20-question type games. No problem. A nice evening in the backyard of O'Hana. PB shots to finish off the meal, and now home winding down!
Pics:
