I have now gotten used to my rushed pace in the morning despite trying to wake up earlier with the addition of more alarms but I once again awoke to the need for speed. After getting ready, we were greeted by the same buffet breakfast as yesterday which didn’t bother me at all due to the high quality of the food. I made sure to eat a lot of protein as today had three dives on the itinerary, including a trip to a renown eco tourism location known as Sting Ray City. The first dive today had four main highlights. The first was a new deepest documented depth of 115 feet. Second, I was cruising around with two large tarpon for a while and they weren’t bothered by me. Third, a wild turtle was spotted which I cherished as I never spotted the first one of the trip. Fourth, I spotted a scorpion fish, which has very venomous spines and is also known for being a master of camouflage. The second dive yielded a fascinating sight of a very large fish cruising into the darker water, out of sight. I thought it was a shark at first due to a large tail which remained hard while pushing unlike the flexible tails of other fish. I swam up about ten feet and caught another glimpse and my claim of a shark was diminished. Although it was now farther, I could see the end of the tail fin flexing with every swipe so I think I spotted a large grouper. This dive also had a rather large barracuda who didn’t mind the company of divers. I was able to follow this one similar to the tarpon and it glided with ease and I couldn’t keep up with its minimal effort. I then returned back under the boat as I was getting low on air after that experience. The group got back and we had some free time before lunch so I spent it on the beach chilling on a lounge chair. After some time passed, we finally embarked on the journey to Sting Ray City despite the rain spotted cascading over the horizon. Although the rain caught up, we were already in the water so it only added on to the experience. Also, sorry for the boast but I caught a plastic water bottle at the city. LCarrying on, we saw a swarm of stingrays storm in after the squid was tossed in the water. I was petrified about these magnificent but mellow creatures as there barb soaked up my attention. I later got distracted from the barb as the smooth on top and “wet mushrooms” on bottom textures confused me as I thought it would all the the same. On the last dive I also spotted a juvenile yellow tail damselfish. It’s bright color contrasted by its dark background drew my attention in seconds. Another thing on my mind is the ship wreck dive scheduled for Thursday and the possibility of seeing anything on tomorrow’s two tank dive.
