It's All About The Dolphins

Doughnuts for breakfast before we all went on a small dive boat we chartered.  

Toni got a little seasick;  the cure for that was to either lie down on the seats, or get into the water and hang onto a rope that was dragging from the end of the boat.  She opted to lie down.

Dolphins showed up and the boat crew stopped the engines and let a rope out in the water.  Everyone except me went snorkeling with the dolphins.

That was so much fun that later we rented a pontoon boat ourselves, bought a box of big frozen sardines, and went back to the same spot to see if the dolphins would still be there.  

They were there; when we got near the area, they popped right up and waited for us.

You're not supposed to feed the dolphins but the only possible use for those 5 pound boxes of frozen fish is dolphin food.  The vendors knew it, we knew it, and the dolphins certainly knew it.

We fed the dolphins fish from the boat for awhile, then couldn't resist getting in the water with them.  This time I got in the water, too.  It was probably a dangerous thing to do but we didn't think about that.  Those big dolphins swam around us and took the fish from our hands as gently as a possible; they just slipped it slowly and smoothly from our fingers.  I stroked one under his throat, and I have never felt anything so smooth and soft as dolphin skin - it was amazing!

This wonderful experience was followed by a nap, then dinner at Montego Bay.  We went shopping one last time and Randy bought me a beautiful horse-head sculpture. Tomorrow we will have to go back to Illinois.

Shell Island

Waffle House for breakfast.  Wal-Mart for bananas and lunchmeat.  Went with Jeff and Toni to the Jetties again, and then to Shell Island, where the guys went scuba diving for shells.  

Came back to the hotel and called Rod.  Went to the Jetties again, then showered and went to the Boar's Head for dinner.  Stopped at shell shops on the way home.

Jetties

No breakfast but at 11 we had a big lunch, then went to the Jetties to float around. But there was a bad smell so we didn't stay long. Went to the Pier for dinner, where we had a fish platter, oysters and grilled grouper.

More diving!!!

More diving!!! What an amazing trip this has been!

Great diving today

Woke up around 6:30, went to Pete's at 8 am.  Breakfast at McDonalds.  Great diving today:  Black Bart and Hovercraft; saw pink jellies, damselfish and flounder.  Overwhelming! Didn't even want a fancy dinner, we just had pizza.

Cold Cypress Springs

Up around 8:30, had doughnuts for breakfast, packed our dive stuff and met with Toni and Jeff at 10.  We had a lot of running around to do: to La Rues for swimwear, to Pete's for air tanks, and to Wal-Mart for ice and snacks.  Then we were ready to drive to Cypress Springs for some more diving and snorkeling.

The water was beautiful, clear and cold.  Saw small turtles and fish.  Randy investigated the bottom of the small lake.

I stayed in that cold water for an hour and 40 minutes; the wet suit was a requirement for this dive!

When we finally got out of the water we went to dinner at Papa Moore's Smorgasbord.  As if we hadn't spent enough time in the water so back at the hotel we took a dip in the pool.  Had a phone message from Rod and Jane Connell.

First Dive!

Up around 7:30 am and had breakfast at Hardees.  On to the Divers Den dive shop, all four of us riding in our van. Went out on "My Ship" with 4 dive masters and about 20 divers, of all levels. Stopped at the 3rd site, knows as "Bridge #14", where a rope goes down to the bottom. I had trouble jumping in; I stepped out of a fin while on the deck, so the Dive Master had to put it back on for me. We all dove down around 76 feet. Randy had a bit of trouble with his ear once but I was OK. We saw some large schools of fish, including some skate. Toni's mask came off once but she quickly recovered it. As I returned to the boat I saw a barracuda a few feet below the surface, just hanging motionless on the other side of the boat from us and watching us. Very beautiful. We did a short depression, got back on the boat and lunched on brownies. 

The Stage 2 dive was 70 feet. My ears bothered me a little.  Saw 2 sand sharks and several big Queen Angelfish, which are so gorgeous - they are blue with golden trim; ie gold fins and face. There was also a huge school of minnows in the area. When they moved around the rope, the school changed from a solid mass to a doughnut-shaped mass, with the rope going up through the hole. It was like looking up the center of a tornado.  

Jeff and Toni lost track of the rope and couldn't find their way back for awhile, but they soon made their way back to the boat. We got to the hotel after 5pm and went to dinner at Montego Bay for shrimp pockets and fries.  Went to the Christmas Store and bought a couple of ornaments, then to Alvin's Island souvenir shop where Randy bought some swim trunks.

Florida is calling us again

Friday we got up around 5:30 and left by 6:00 AM. Stopped at Wal-Mart for a turkey lunchmeat sandwich and got in around 4:40. Went to Sweet Bessie Bistro for angel hair pasta with sauce and Italian sausage. Went to Wal-Mart and met Jeff and Toni. We will do a dive tomorrow. I was very, very nervous, but Toni helped calm me down, and now I am looking forward to it.