Dec 30

Up even earlier (5:00) and to the dive shop – 11 of us are headed to Cano Island – Lisle, Keith and I are diving and the rest are snorkelling. A beautiful day as we leave the beach at 7:00 for the 90 minutes to the island.

Not 10 minutes out, the boat stops as a Humpback whale and her calf move past – what a sight!

We continue on, and about 2/3 the way, we spot a pod of dolphins – probably the most playful creatures on the planet – just seeing them seems to make you joyful. We stopped for photos, and then watched as the played in the boat’s wake as we left.

The snorkelers get dropped in the ocean and we head to the dive spot, suit up and drop in! This is our first dive since we were certified last January, and Keith’s first dive since he finished his certification earlier this week – novices all around – and with a dive master Alex (diving for 42 years) who looks like a pirate (gold earrings, tattoos, beard). While I was nervous, it all came back in a matter of minutes and we were ‘swimming with the fishes’. White tipped reef sharks, jacks, parrot fish, eel (tiny with these really big teeth – looked kind of like Alien).

The second dive was at the dreaded El Diablo – I say that as this was to be our final dive site in certification, but after being in the water for less the 3 minutes we were carried by the current close to 100 yards and called it off for a safer site. 2 km offshore, you feel like you are in the middle of the ocean and below is an underwater mountain and canyon that goes down over 300 ft. It was amazing the quantity and diversity of fish – and the size – way bigger than in close to shore – and schools of fish – hundreds of them all around you. Well worth the second attempt and not as scary as I expected.





Lunch on the beach – Kumari’s husband Manny really can cook! – another great boat ride back with a side trip into the coves of the local beaches with the great caverns and arches carved in the rocks – beer at the dive shop – more beer at Bocas Coronado – another full day.