The last couple of days have been busy! As the trip wound down I plugged in extra dives to try (unsuccessfully) to fend off that "I didn't dive enough" feeling, had another dinner with friends, and today had to run out and get my COVID test. I'm still waiting on pins and needles to see if I'm going home on Sunday or not. But I finally have a moment to sit down and write about my latest experiences.
First off, dinner with friends at Casa Mission on Wednesday night was great. Since my friends used to be locals they know the staff and the staff knows them, so we got the super secret menus. We all ordered different flavors of fajitas and got to work. I'm not going to review the food because gringos like us order from a different menu and the plates that you get are a little different, so it wouldn't apply anyway. But it all comes from the same kitchen, and the fajitas were great. Towards the end of the evening two of us ordered a margarita (my friend says they are the best on the island for his tastes) and I can confirm it's top notch. I wouldn't put it above El Moro but if you blindfolded me I might have trouble telling the difference, it was that good. Come to think of it, blindfolded margaritas sounds like the beginning of a great disaster movie.
Diving on Thursday was a four tank day, morning and afternoon trips. I decided to dive nitrox all day just for safety's sake - four tanks in a row is pretty rare for me. I think it was a good choice because at the end of the day I had no fatigue and still felt fantastic. Perhaps nitrox will become the order of the day for me on future trips? I'll definitely be considering it more after breaking my 13 year streak of diving air only.
We started the day at Palancar Caves and and the two big highlights of that dive were seeing a few more trumpetfish, and a baby trunkfish. Now that I'm finding more trumpetfish on the dives I feel a little better - after going over a week without spotting one I was really worried for those guys. They are quite obviously in some sort of decline here because I used to see them all the time, but they aren't gone yet.
The baby trunkfish sighting is just one of my favorite things. They are the super cutest cute fish of all cuteness. This guy was black with white spots and looked like he fell out of a box of reverse colored dice. I watched him swim around in a soft coral for 30 seconds, looked over to see if I could get the attention of another diver I thought might want a picture of him, and when I looked back I'd lost him. Maybe he was late for a Dungeons & Dragons game, I dunno.
Second dive was at San Clemente, and this time the ticket taker at the entrance was a medium size puffer just chillaxing under a soft coral that was gently blowing in the current. He posed for a couple photos and we went on our way.
Just past him was the unique highlight of the dive - there were two Flamingo Tongues hanging out on a branch, but right next to them was a Fingerprint Tongue! Those guys are super rare from what I understand. It was neat to see all three of them together.
Next up Martin pointed out four tiny algae covered rocks that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be what he later called Leather Slugs. I didn't know these things existed and would never have noticed them on my own. Their camouflage is very, very good.
To cap off the dive I got a knee right in the face. Yeah, another diver decided that swimming right by my mask while I was looking the other way was a good idea. When I turned my head back to the other direction his knee punched me right in the cheek and rang my bell pretty good. I have absolutely no idea what possessed him to swim that close to me with a whole ocean of space around, or why he thought vigorous swimming next to another diver's head was a good idea. The impact took my mask off my face for a second and partially flooded it, so I fixed it, cleared it, rubbed my cheek, and tried to recover my zen. Up on the surface I asked if he knew that he kneed me in the face and he was pretty nonchalant about it. Nothing close to an apology. I considered my options and decided not to go ballistic since it was his last dive with us anyway. But man... that certainly damaged my calm for a few minutes.
Third dive of the day, first of the afternoon, was at Palancar Gardens. We had two divers on board that hadn't been in the water for about 5 years and they wanted a quick refresher. So after dropping in I left the three of them to it and poked around in the neighborhood for interesting stuff to see - after all, nobody wants an audience when they're doing air sharing drills and mask clears. I did manage to find a lobster tucked away, and soon enough their refresher was over, I showed them my important discovery, and we were on our way.
Now I love Palancar Gardens in the morning but diving it in the afternoon is a special treat. The afternoon light bouncing off some of those massive formations is breathtaking. Staring at the god-rays of sunlight punching through the water and lighting up the towers of coral all around me, I felt like I was staring at a gigantic, gleaming monument to Poseidon. Rolling over on my back at 70 feet and looking back up at the beautiful mountains gave me an incredible sense of awe. It was special. My friend (the DM) and I raised our hands up in praise and thanks.
The formations were just about all the Gardens had to offer us on this dive though. We found a tiny baby flounder on the sandy bottom, and I did spy another couple of trumpetfish in the soft corals (yay) but that was about it.
Last dive of the day was at Delilah, and after 2 days of no sharks I finally struck gold. Thanks to my trusty dive light I found a medium sized nurse shark napping waaaaaaay back in a tiny cave under a long ledge. Would have been impossible to see without the dive light, and it's always a rush when I finally find something cool after peering under the umpteenth ledge or empty hole.
We also bagged a splendid toadfish sighting on this dive, but otherwise it was just the regular fish - but SO many of them. Delilah is absolutely alive with juvenile activity, and the swarms and school of little babies everywhere are a delight to swim around.
After four tanks I cleaned up and headed out for dinner, and I'm sad to say it was my first disappointment of the trip. I went to Soy Gardel and... things just didn't go well. I don't like to beat up on places online, and this place has a great reputation from what I can tell, but my experience was not good. As far as I could tell I was the only customer, and I really felt like the staff just didn't want me there. It was such a weird vibe I was getting, and I struggled to find a groove while trying to talk to them. I ordered an appetizer that never came (but I wasn't charged for), and the entree was just not up to the standards I expected from the reviews and recommendations I'd seen. I normally like to take my time at a restaurant but I cut this visit short with my food only half eaten and headed out the door. For those of you that like it, I hope you continue to get great food and good service there. I don't know what was up last night, but I won't be going back.
So as to not end today's report on a bummer, I'm going to flip back in time to lunch. Between the morning and afternoon diving I got dropped back off at 'home' for a quick lunch break, and I once again headed over to Dona Chely's to try something else on the menu. My driver had raved about their Sopes and since the Torte had been fantastic the day before, I had to try it. I got the pork version and scrambled back to my room to eat it. But I wasn't sure how! Is this thing supposed to be eaten with a fork and knife, bite by bite? It came on a flimsy styrofoam plate so I felt that wasn't the proper method. With no one around to judge me, I elected to fold it in half and eat it like a big sloppy taco. I wasn't going to get any points for table manners, but I got through it with a minimum of collateral damage, and it was delicious.
I'm going to skip reporting much on this morning's dives - other than a few turtles on the second dive, they were super chill without much excitement. We did Palancar Bricks and La Francesca, and they were both great. The second dive was so chill I set a new personal record for SAC rate, and I think there were a few moments there where I came close to becoming one with the universe. Life was good today.
