These suckers are fast! I only got a few short clips, and blurry photos.
Visibility wasn’t great.
And my flash either isn’t powerful enough to light them up as far away as they were, or I had it aimed badly. Most likely a little of both.
There were a bunch of them on a rock as we approached, and a few already in the water.
The dive master said the difference between snorkeling with seals and diving with seals was the smell. Ha!
They certainly weren’t shy. None of them touched me, but they came down and checked us out.
After that we swam around the reef a little. It got cold. Fast.
The yellow line is temperature. Such a sudden drop! It went from cold to freezing real fast. That had to be the most stark thermocline I’ve experienced.
The reef was so colorful! I didn’t get the names of all the little critters we saw, but there were plenty.
Then it was back on the boat and a short drive to our next dive spot. A kelp forest.
On top of the bad visibility, the kelp kept swaying in the surge. One minute the divemaster is in front of me, the next he’s obscured by kelp and it’s as though I’m alone. Scary at times!
The surge was so strong! We’d grab the stalk of the kelp and hold on to keep from being pulled away from each other, then kick when the surge reversed. I have a few blurry pictures of fish during this time, but I finally just started taking more close-up photos whenever I could find a steady spot near the reef.
Once we finished, got our gear cleaned and log books filled out, I went back to the hotel, showered, then headed down to town.
Had an early seafood pasta dinner and bought water and coke zero for the evening.
The food didn’t hit my stomach very well. I got back to the hotel, napped a bit, and then started looking through the day’s photos.
It’s a little after 9pm now and the wind is howling! I bet they cancel dives tomorrow.
Luckily for me I’m not diving. I’m flying home. My upgrades came through so I’ll have access to a lounge with a shower in Newark. Lovely!
The hotel arranged a driver for me tomorrow to get me to a local clinic for my pre-flight PCR test. (The US requires one 24 hours before departure.) Hopefully they can get the results back before my evening flight!
Travel 