Today was a transition day. At noon, we would be meeting a boat to take us and another couple to Urraca on Isla Popa. Yesterday I suggested we check in with the dive shop to see if we could fit a dive in before noon. We were in luck. Hector, our instructor said we could fit in a one-tank dive if we arrived by 8:30. So we arranged with our hostess to get an early breakfast in order to hop on a boat taxi to Bocas by 8.
Hector decided to take us to a spot called Pandora that was not too far away. We suited up, got in the water…and I freaked out. Nathan and Hector were underwater and I was at the surface with my regulator out of my mouth like hyperventilating in a serious way. The guys in the boat were asking if I was ok, and I said yes, but there was no way I could pull myself together to get under the water. Hector reappeared, asked if I was ok, and again I said yes, but I was legitimately panicking. The wonderful Hector somehow managed to calm me down and get me under the water.
We followed the anchor line down to the bottom, and I was still fairly sure I was going to have to surface, but eventually, I calmed down and we proceeded on our way. We spent 52 minutes underwater at depths up to 12 meters (40 feet) deep. Nathan swimming along the whole way, and me holding onto Hector’s arm. His idea, not mine, but it definitely helped calm me down in the beginning.
Towards the end, I could’ve done it by myself, but it was comforting having him there. Bonus was that he pushed the jellyfish away from the both of us.
After the dive, we exchanged pleasantries and made our way to the spot where we would wait for the boat and the other couple. We met the captain, and he helped us get our backpacks into the boat. We waited and waited. At about 12:30 I left to go find us food. We ate and waited. We waited some more. Nathan went out to go find the captain and see how this couple was getting to Bocas from Costa Rica. Swimming? Turned out they were on a boat, and immigration was delaying them. They finally arrived and we were off. We arrived at Urraca at 2:30 or so, got ourselves acquainted with our surroundings, grabbed a cocktail, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.
Now it is after dinner and we have made the acquaintance of the couple from Chicago who delayed our departure, Francine, our hostess, Francine’s sister, and at least a dozen monkeys of various types and a skittish kinkajou. Seriously, a kinkajou.
Tomorrow we have no plans.