One Last Dive post

Back to the boat dive.

After enjoying a nice afternoon dive, we came up for a snack and a little rest. Then, after the sun set, we got ready to dive again.

Before our first dive I was worried about jumping in with all my gear on. I was worried that my fins would trip me before I even had a chance to get in the water. I was worried that my mask would mush my nose and fill with water and I would lose my contacts. And I was worried about embarrassing myself, so I decided to hold my fins and mask in my hands while I jumped in and put them on after I was in the water.

Bad idea. That was no fun. I forgot that I have a hard time reaching my feet when I'm all geared up. My head kept going under water while I was trying to reach my feet, and I thought I might drown. No fun at all. I was finally able to get my fins on, but I decided to jump in all geared up for the second dive.

That worked much better. I put on my fins and mask, waddled over to the end of the boat, and took a big step off into the ocean. I didn't trip. My mask was fine. And I didn't hold up the group while trying to reach my toes. Much better!

Manta Ray (is ray plural without the s?) eat plankton. Light attracts plankton. So the plan was to sit on the bottom of the ocean and shine flashlights up hoping to attract plankton and manta rays.

Several boats had joined us at our dive spot and there were lots of divers and snorkelers with flashlights. We all settled in and shined our lights up, and sure enough, here came the Manta Rays. It looked like a scene in a science fiction movie. Lights and bubbles above and below us, and huge creatures looking right at us!

There were more than a dozen of those big guys swimming just above our heads. They were much closer than the ones we had seen earlier in the daylight. And with the dark sky above and the lights below we could really see what the Manta Ray look like.

They have different spots that make it easy to identify them. They open up their mouths and gills and just swoop over you. One even batted Nathan's head as he swam past. They seemed to be having a fun time - soaring and tumbling in the water. It was an amazing sight.