WhatsApp is a big thing down here. I’ve arranged for our diving via WhatsApp. Everyone, including the restaurants and water taxis, can be WhatsApp’d. So yesterday at some point I decided that the best way to get more confidence and experience diving, is to go more often, and I WhatsApp’d Denisse to see if we could go diving again.
We showed up at their dock at 8:30 to hop in the boat, and there was like a bunch of people there. Getting ready to go diving. With us. Oh god. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.
We made idle chit-chat with the other divers and they were all nice. But I didn’t want to feel I was holding anyone up and the anxiety started to build. There may have been a few I’m scared’s on dry land, or at least on the boat before we took off. Soon enough, it became apparent that Denisse was taking the herd out (Seriously, it was 5 people), and we’d still have Denzel all to ourselves. Ok, phew.
We descended ok, but I had a little trouble equalizing at about 15-18 feet and I was trying to stay calm and not freak out, but after that Denzel held my hand THE ENTIRE DIVE. Good grief, Anika.
I could have done it on my own, but it sure does help with the nerves to hold on to someone and know that at least your navigation is taken care of.
We saw jawfish, snapper, arrow crabs, oodles of parrotfish, a sea cucumber of some kind, a turtle, and a whole host of other things.
I managed to ascend with the group and we got on board the boat with the others. Denzel, of course, said we did a good job.
We got back on dry land, and once again needed to figure out what to do for the remainder of the day. Since it was sunny, we decided to grab our snorkel gear, and head to the far end of West Bay, where you can snorkel the reef straight from shore.
We found a suitable spot, set up our tent, and proceeded to take turns snorkeling and sitting with our stuff.
At four, we called it a day, packed up our tent, and headed back for a quick shower. Then we hailed a water taxi to West End for dinner.
Three tech support chats to India later, and I’m calling it a day. Tomorrow we have another date with Denzel, and they’re saying it’s gonna rain.