On Saturday I went "snuba diving" with the med and nursing students. "Snuba diving" is like a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving. You have the mask and respirator like scuba, but the air tank is on a raft that floats above the water instead of strapped to your back. There's no certification necessary, but you can only go down 25 feet. It was a fun adventure, and really got me excited to do some actual diving on Sunday! Photos might be posted of this adventure later - our guide, Clint, had an under water camera and took some pictures that he'll be emailing to me, but my experience has been that underwater photos don't come out that great.
Sunday I got up early and headed down to the Coconut Grove Dive Shop to "discover scuba diving". I knew I must be at the right spot when I was introduced to the owner, PJ. It was pretty funny - every time someone said "PJ", we'd both answer. I suspected my instructor, Marco, was having a bit of fun with it, so when people called out his name I yelled "Polo". Actually, the first time they yelled "Marco", I instinctively yelled "Buffalo" - long, inside story, but it's how to find my family in a crowd.
PJ, scuba instructor, and PJ, la farmacista:
The class was very small - just myself and a girl named Lexi. We spent the morning in the classroom and in the lagoon testing our skills before heading out to do our first open water dive. I love, love, LOVE scuba diving! We saw lots of fish, lobsters, interesting corals, and I swam with a sea turtle about 40 feet under water! My plan is to complete the whole certification course (Denise said she'd do it with me the next time I'm on Roatan). Apparently the classroom stuff can be done online, so I'll try to get through that in "all my spare time."
With Marco (scuba diving instructor):
After a day under the sea, I met up with Denise and Scotty at BananaRama for dinner, crab racing, and fire dancing on the beach!
~PJ
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