May 5th
Bit of a day of disasters.
First the big dive boat needed to refuel but the guy in charge of the marina didn’t turn up for work so nobody could get fuel. The snorkel boat was summoned. However the dive compressor on site is out of commission so the snorkel boat had to go to the resort where they were being filled to pick tanks up. One hour delay so far.
Sue and I were diving with a guide with just one student doing his deep dive for his advanced. No problem. But there was a raging current which we had to swim against to get over the edge of the drop off to get to depth required. I found it challenging but Sue couldn’t beat the current so we aborted and ascended to do a safety stop. We were quite happy to surface alone but the guide and student aborted too. 16 minute dive. It happens.
No problems on the second dive. A brisk drift with a few interesting things to see including a group of squid.
May 6th
First order of the day was to watch the Coronation. It was good of them to put it on five hours earlier here so that it didn’t interfere with diving. Interesting to see Harry and Andrew on the equivalent of the naughty step while George, Charlotte and Louis got front row seats.
Diving conditions were not great today. We got put on the small boat with a small group of experienced divers today. First dive was the wreck of the Anima at 30 metres to the top of it. Negative entry didn’t go well but fortunately there wasn’t too much current so still managed to find the wreck. Large green moray and large nurse shark but not really the kind of dive that gets me excited. Second dive was a reef at 20 metres but current was quite strong and visibility was poor. Dive was fairly short due lack of no deco time.
May 7th
Much happier with the diving today. A couple of gentle bimbles around a couple of reefs with the wreck of a gun boat thrown in. Gun Boat dates from the invasion of Grenada that no one here talks about. Decided to go on a bleny hunt. I don’t expect they have many friends but I love them. Found quite a few plus trunk fish, horned cow fish, sharp tailed eel, honeycombs, lots of flamingo tongues squid and a shoal of creole wrasse. Probably other things as well that I have forgotten.
Italian restaurant tonight. They do lovely lamb chops. Sue doesn’t like lamb (result of childhood trauma, don’t ask) so it’s nice to have lamb when we are away.
May 8th
Finally getting over jet lag. Almost overslept today
Long boat ride today to Flamingo Bay but worth it. Frog fish,turtles, sting rays and more juvenile drums than you could shake a stick at. And a lot more.
Steak restaurant tonight for surf and turf so I have had to save my ‘cake space’ for that.
May 14th
Yesterday was one pleasant reef dive. Nothing unusual to see. Obviously a few blenys.
But yesterday’s second dive was ‘shark reef’. Didn’t see the reef. Saw the tail of a very small nurse shark sticking out from under a rock. Otherwise it was a ripping drift over a fairly flat bottom at about 10 metres. One rock seemed to be a lobster sanctuary. Not sure how many were crowded under one rock, but a lot. None to be seen anywhere else, and we did cover a lot of ground. There was an octopus under its pile of shells and a crab in a narrow barrel sponge. Sometimes it’s nice just to feel like Peter Pan flying over the rooftops of London. I can’t remember, did Peter Pan not grow up or not grow old. I’m not sure I have not yet grown up but I think we can be sure of the other thing.
Today, again a gentle reef dive with the usual suspects. But on getting into the water one of my strobes fell off. Fortunately the fibre optic cable prevented it from going too far and I was able to secure it for the duration of the dive. Didn’t want to risk it for the second dive so didn’t have the camera for the barracuda or the two turtles. Have fixed it with cable ties which should hold good for the duration of the trip.
Note to self, get a roll of duck tape!
