Diving in The Caymans

I included the video at the bottom if you are interested.

This dive was our first ocean dive. We have had several fresh water dives and have eagerly anticipated our inaugural venture into the deep blue sea. We went to Sunset House for our diving needs. They came highly recommended and now I know why. Their service was impeccable.

We decided to hire a dive master since this was our first ocean dive and we were a bit frightened. The dive master was a wonderful British guy named Andy. He was very patient with us and a great guide.

Our dive was a shore dive. All that really means is that you don't go out in a boat.

There is a sea pool you initially jump into before you swim out to deeper waters. What was cool about this particular spot was that the current actually sucked us out into the ocean. It wasn't difficult work for us and it was a cool sensation.

The water temperature was 79º ON JANUARY 12th!!!!! It was fantastic. On our first dive we went to a depth of 37'. The visibility was at least 50'-60'. The water was a little choppy so it wasn't limitless, but I'm certainly not complaining. We saw a lizard fish, a sea turtle, a peacock flounder, and several angel fish. The reef was incredible. We stayed down for about 31 minutes.

On the second dive, after a 57 minute surface interval, we went to a depth of 47'. It was the deepest I have been which was pretty exciting. An artist had placed a statue of a mermaid on the ocean floor, so we visited it. We also had two barracudas swim right in front of us. Surprisingly, none of us were afraid. There is something about being in that environment which removes some of the fear of being around the animals that are supposed to be there.

The entire experience was incredible. I am so grateful to have shared it with Shelby and Wendy. I hope you enjoy the footage and I will post about our dive in Cozumel soon!

They Eat Those Things?!?!?

We just returned from a cruise through the Western Caribbean. It was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about some different cultures, which I love to do. I learned that a little coconut oil completely changes beans and rice. I learned that there really are jungles. I saw that Caribbean reefs are prettier in person than in pictures. I also learned that some of our friends enjoy partaking of a dish called Bamboo Chicken. Sounds tasty, maybe even a little exotic.

Before you start hunting for this at your local Piggly Wiggly, allow me to inform you of what Bamboo Chicken really is.

But before I do......

Wendy, Shelby, and I decided to venture into the countries we visited rather than rely on the cruise's excursions.

We recognized that by booking our own adventures that we would experience a little more authenticity.

We were right.

Our first stop was Grand Cayman. It was fantastic!

We dove with our guide, Andy through Sunset House. We did a shore dive which was also our first dive in the ocean.

Grand Cayman is a beautiful island. Andy referred us to a local spot for lunch called Hammerhead's. Really good food and great atmosphere.

We next ventured into Roatan. I had only become familiar with Roatan a few months ago after my family started diving. Roatan is a small island off the coast of Honduras.

Although we didn't dive here, we experienced something almost as fun. We zip-lined through the jungle. This was a great experience. One of the highlights was that our guide, Pedro, actually built the course. It was a blast.

Next we headed to Belize.

Again, I had never really been familiar with Belize but once I started doing some research I got really excited. It too has a huge reef and a beautiful interior. We decided to go horseback riding through the jungle. We went to a resort deep in the jungle called Banana Bank lodge. It was unbelievable.

It is right on the Belize River and surrounded by the thick jungle. We were surrounded by Howler monkeys and even saw a wild Tucan in the trees. Pretty amazing.

Our trip ended in Cozumel. We dove with a company called Blue Angel.

They were great. For example, at the beginning of our first dive, Shelby got stung by a jelly fish. She was obviously upset and wanted to get back on the boat. Our dive master was very understanding.

I really thought we were finished at this point. The dive master was very patient and helpful with Shelby. He never pressured us to go in for the second dive. After a while Shelby decided she wanted to get in again and try.

The dive was fantastic. We saw a giant eagle ray, a barracuda, and the beautiful reef. We had heard about drift diving in Cozumel and were excited to try. The current was strong and made for an easy dive. The day ended with some great fish tacos and a sense of amazement at the natural beauty of what we had just seen.

All in all the trip exceeded any expectations I had. The people were very open and eager to share their culture. On the subject of culture.....

Meet the "Bamboo Chicken", also known as the Iguana!

And here how the iguana becomes the bamboo chicken:

If you want to see more pictures, go to my Flickr page, there are some really good ones. I'll be posting about the dives in the next few days, so stay tuned!