The other night, I had a dream that Ted and I traveled to South America and we were preparing to go scuba diving. As I looked through my equipment, I realized I didn’t have a bathing suit. It was starting to get dark outside and it flashed through my mind that I just didn’t want to do a naked night-dive. It has been a while since we went diving, this is no way to put a power-refresher on someone!
That dream took me back to our real diving trips; something we both miss. I don’t think one 500-word essay could cover them all so I will have to pick one! Hmmmm. (Since my 500-word challenge is not graded, I can use any words or non-words I want so that last technical term “Hmmm” is just fine).
The night before our flight to some far-off, wonderful destination, I would always have a dream like the one I mentioned; where I forgot one very important item. From this experience, I found that packing at the last minute actually works best for me. Otherwise I would find myself taking apart my suitcase just to make sure all my stuff was in there. (Neurotic, I know).
The most daring and ultimately beautiful trip we took was to Roatan, Honduras. This is a small island just north of the mainland. Landing on this island in a large jet was an adventure in itself. The thought crossed my mind that we could not possibly be landing on this tiny island in this big jet. Tucked away at one end of the island is what appears to be a very short landing strip. Sure enough we descended, I could make out that strip and it ended in….water!
The plane just touches down and the brakes are applied firmly. Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts! Just when I thought we would go nose-down in that water at the end of the runway, the plane turned and we arrived at the terminal.
Since we were traveling in a group with other divers, we were bussed to our lodging; Anthony’s Key Resort; a tiny island off the main island of Roatan. This place caters to divers but all are welcome and I would definitely recommend it. Your room is a very well-appointed beach hut! Some are right on the water standing on stilts. Each has a back porch, facing the water with the most lovely hammock hanging there. (Let me tell you I used that hammock quite a bit while there). Just a short way out from your private cabana, you can enjoy a nice little snorkeling expedition.
Centrally located is the pool and it has the most beautiful graphics of a dolphin and a turtle done in tile under the water. The pool is, of course, surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation and beautiful Hibiscus flowers.
We met the boat early in the morning and as divers, we were required to do a safety, check-out dive. This was a bit unnerving to me as the water in the lagoon was dark and there was a lot of sediment floating around. Not the sort of water I want to let in to my mask but if one doesn’t complete this check-out dive, one does not dive while on the trip so, I lived through it and I am writing this.
The diving was awesome; the hammock and the diving make me wish I was there right now; minus the laptop of course. If you’re in it for the fish, which I usually am, there is a good diversity of them in the waters of Roatan. I always keep up my log with stories of who I saw (fish-wise) any particular day and what the dive conditions were.
I do recall one dive in particular that I could not rave about. We were diving in a group and had gone up against a wall. The sediment followed us like a cloud and I let it get the best of me, or worse depending on how one looks at it. I started to feel claustrophobic from all the sediment floating around; like I couldn’t breath! (Did I mention I don’t like murky water)? I tapped one of the dive leaders and asked to be taken back to the boat.
This writing brings back so many awesome memories of diving with the best dive-buddy in the world; my significant other, Ted. Those are times we both dearly miss; I plan to write more diving/travel blogs, completing this trip and others.
