AOW - I made it

So, I did it! I am officially an Advanced Open Water diver!

Today, I completed my dives. The deep dive was alright but, goodness, cold! I don't remember much because I was shivering so much. My buoyancy was better but my ears hurt a lot. I saw a zebra eel, or three, huddled in a rock crevasse.

I'm sure I would have failed the naturalist dive if it had been a test but I did okay. Sea cucumbers, little slug-like things, moray eels (yuck!), rays, and fish. No sea lions, again, or whales, unfortunately. This dive had massive drift which was interesting. At times I couldn't get anywhere!

My night dive was actually pretty cool. I could become quite disoriented during these dives but crustaceans are way more active and there was this disgusting, long eel out on a rock. Nothing exciting happened when we shut our torches off but that's okay - I have seen bioluminescent creatures before.

I found out it's about a 15-20 walk from our hotel to the Manta dive shop. This saved me $15 in taxis each way. I felt safe walking back at 8:00pm too.

Last night Lee and I walked down to the mania to check it out. We wandered a little ways but the breeze was cool and we were hungry. Sushi restaurants scatter the area and we figured this could be a great dinner. The place we chose, Imomo, was really very good! They had thinly sliced salmon sashimi drizzled with a slightly spicy sauce, their "spyder" roll (crab, avocado, rice) and their "vegies" roll (assorted tropical fruit, rice, tuna). By far, the vegies roll was the best, like a sushi dessert!

It was an early night because we were cold from the breeze and I knew I had three dives ahead of me. This morning the gym was packed when we got there o unfortunately I had to skip my run. I grabbed coffee and an awesome breakfast burrito (sans meat) from out hotel restaurant, Bar Esquina.

After a long day of diving, I arrived back at the hotel - certified AOW! - for a shower. To celebrate, Lee and I hit Bar Esquina again for a scrumptious dinner, a bottle of wine, and, finally, a relaxed conversation! My spicy shrimp entree was delicious and I skipped dessert, for wine, only to receive little (highly sugared) macaroons with our check!

This week is flying! The next three days are ours to enjoy and I am so looking forward to beach, sun, and relaxation!

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