On Wednesday we were lucky enough to do a night dive. I usually need to be talked into this. It's a little scary and the sun isn't out to warm me up when we're back on the boat, so I usually freeze. Benito announced that this would be a lobster hunt and Frank was totally into it, so I was cooperative. Besides, he needed a minimum of 2 divers to do it and I was number 2. The boat ride was short and we were in the water right away, which felt warmer than the morning dives, so I was happy right from the beginning. Night diving is so peaceful and feels like an adventure whether you're familiar with the site or not, and there is a whole different set of creatures down there in the dark. There was no moon, so it was really black when we turned our lights off and played with the phosphorescent plankton....it makes you feel like tinkerbell. Well, maybe the boys didn't feel like little fairies, but I did. We searched with our lights into every little cranny and when we saw a pair of orange eyes the right size and distance apart (there were many orange eyes) Benito would go after it with a stick about 5 ft. long with a hook on the end of it. Most of the time he would just piss the lobster off and then the chase was on with Frank and I keeping our lights on the little bugger until Benito was able to hook him on the underside. Quite a few got away......... they swim really fast when they know something is after them. We managed to get 6 nice lobster tails and one big crab for the three of us. Frank's job was to carry the bootie and I sure wish I had picture of him swimming around with a big crab in his hand : ) I have more enthusiasm for night diving now, and I'm thankful for that. We headed back, rinsed off and headed over to Benito's cousin's little restuarant where they sauteed the tails in garlic and butter, boiled the crab and put together a fantastic dinner outside under the palm trees with a warm breeze blowing and the sound of the waves breaking on the reef. This is true, I'm not making it up!
Today we were the only 2 divers, so it was all about us. Jim took us to a couple of really nice sites and we did our surface interval at a little 4 room resort that I think I would stay at the next time we come down here. If you stay there the dive boat picks you up and drops you off right at the dock. I'm more than willing to work with that. The first dive was very fishy with some really interesting coral formations. It's sort of a jungle down there with huge hard and soft corals, sea fans and all sorts of crazy things that look a bit like Dr. Seuss made them up (One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish). I played with a little spider-ish thing and a couple of pink caterpillar thingies. The second dive was absolutely beautiful, and because we were only 3 we were able to make our way through every crevice and swim through that came along. There is nothing cooler than exploring a dark fishy tunnel and coming out into the bluest blue you've ever seen surrounded by fish and beautiful gardens of coral. We were visited by 4 spotted eagle rays, the most graceful creatures I've ever seen.
Tonight we'll have dinner at the Leaky Palapa and tomorrow morning more diving and I think Frank is going spear fishing with Benito tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime,the beach is looking pretty inviting. The owners, Ron and Roberta, are scheduled to arrive today and we're looking forward to meeting them. The produce truck just stopped by, but we didn't need any avacadoes or mangoes today. I sure wish a truck full of fruit and vegetables pulled into my driveway every day.
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