Scuba and Monkey Beach Again

Yesterday's scuba went well. Many people panic their first time, being dropped in the ocean without first being given a chance to get comfortable with the equipment. I was lucky to find a dive shop that gave me a free trial run with the equipment in the pool. By the time we got to the ocean the next day I was ready, though still a little tense. The first dive was near the entrance to a sea cave. The second was around a large, steep rock island that plunged deep into a beautiful bay. We went all the way around, with the wall, all decorated in coral, sponges, and fish, at our right side the whole time. Twice we swam through small canyons; a little intimidating, but fun.

Something I didn't know about scuba was that the jacket fills with air and empties of air from the tank with two buttons. I think it's the hardest part, with equalizing ear pressure coming in at second.

We didn't see any sharks, but on our way back to the main island, we did see some dolphins. We tried for a while to get close enough to swim with them, but they kept on disappearing and then reappearing somewhere else. We had to give up because the tide was going out.

That was yesterday. Today, I'm spending the day on monkey beach. The snorkelling here is the best I've found on the island, and the monkeys love to entertain. I'm writing this on the palm pilot (which is running out of juice), with the waves lapping at my feet. I guess it's time to bring this to an end.