2015... A New Year.

In the morning I woke up not wanting to go diving… but I did anyway and even though we didn’t see the most fantastic things on the dive it got rid of my hangover and I felt new and refreshed getting out of the water.  I was excited for breakfast but unfortunately there were no pancakes… just beans on toast with eggs and maple syrup.  Breakfast of champions!

Spanish Lady!  That blurry figure on the left is my butt and back.

After breakfast we moved dive sites to a place called the caves, I also did a bit of packing in this time.

Got to the dive site and since I am now an advanced diver I will take Kasime to be my diving buddy from now on… as well as Anna and Tom.  We jumped into the water and were greeted by Wally instantly!  He is in love with Anna and at one point they gave each other a kiss… and that is how mermaids are created.

The coral wall was absolutely beautiful and the thing that made this dive even more special, you won’t believe it, was that I saw two cuddle fish right next to each other!  the moment I saw them I had the biggest freak out, I’ve always wanted to see cuddle fish and seeing them out of nowhere without being told there was even a possibility of seeing them made 2015 that much more special.  I cant even describe how excited I was to see them, Tom said he could hear me screaming underwater and that I was flapping my hands and arms with excitement!  Oh my goodness, I am still excited about seeing the cuddle fish!!!!!!  After that the dive was still pretty good, took us a while to find the caves but we found them.  You’re not supposed to swim in them but Anna and I couldn’t help ourselves.  It was so cool swimming through them and when you looked up you could see the sun coming through the cracks above, I felt so peaceful here.  We headed back and found a Moray eel chilling out by the mooring blocks; he was fun to say hi to.  This has got to be one of the best places I have ever gone diving to before!  Absolutely incredible place to be! 

Looks way cooler underwater and not though a lens.

Freaking huge!

Snorkling selfie!

Fishies!

It goes on forever.

How beautiful!

Chio my lovely coral reef.

After this dive we did one more, which couldn’t compare to the other but was still pretty cool... we saw two reef sharks mating!  The male was of course chasing the female around the reef.  

What a great way to start my New Year, on the reef diving with incredible people in an incredible place!

I tanned for the rest of the day because today we leave the reef and have to go back where people walk on two feet and drive cars.  Soaked up as much sun as I could and smelled like a delicious coconut while I did it!  It then came to that time of day when it was time to go… I gave everyone staying a hug and kiss on the cheek, I’ve adapted a new for of greeting people.  Tom, Kasim, New Zealand couple, Jan, the Spanish women, Kathleen and I all left the boat today, a few of us really considered staying an extra day cause it was so awesome.  We all laughed about everything that happened over the trip and how much we’d miss it but that tonight we would all meet up again for a beer!

Back in my room I finally met my new roommates, forget their names but they are dating and she is from Canada and he is from Italy.  We had a good laugh because they were starting to get worried about me cause I hadn’t showed up for the past two nights.  I unpacked and organized before I headed to the shower to wash away the salt that was imbedded into my hair and skin.  I put on my lovely long black dress and a black pearl necklace I was given before I left home; I gotta say I looked pretty stunning.

I headed out feeling awesome and excited to see what everyone looks like when they aren’t in fins and dive suits.  To my surprise everyone cleans up really well, the guys all looked really nice the girls wore dresses, Kasim and Tom really liked my dress.  The whole night the guys were buying the drinks for everyone, which I thought was super nice.  I drank Guinness the whole night, I didn’t need dinner because it is pretty much a meal in a bottle, and I know that sounds really bad but it is.  We shared fries and great stories; got into debates about things that we ended up laughing about later and at 10:30 Kathleen and I went to dip our feet in the lagoon.  It’s not really a lagoon, more like a public pool that is outside.  When I had had just about enough of the chlorine filled water we went back to join the guys.  Kathleen got super drunk and had to leave with one of the guys but I was perfectly fine cause I am awesome like that but at 12 I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open and had to call it a night.

Bye Buddies....

That was the last night everyone would be together like that.