2019

The roaring waves crash against the shore, filling the air with an inescapable salty odor. I took one final breath of fresh air, gather my crimson red fins at my side, and plunge into the oceans ice cold embrace. The day began with the loud beeping of my alarm at exactly 2:50 A.M. As a resident of a subarb far...

Waking up right before the alarm I had set to go off would usually make me upset, however given the location, waking up to the sound a rooster trying to tell me the sun is about to come up only brought excitement for the day. After a delightful breakfast, we had a boat meeting outside the dive hut to...

Our day 4 started with a downpour of rain throughout the early morning and ending just after breakfast. We arrived at the alternate dock and boarded the boat by 8:00 and began the ride to the first dive site called the "Big Dipper", just off the coast of 7 Mile Beach. My partner, Nico Boyd, and I were ready...

Today was an early start to the day beacause we had a 2 tank dive. We were awake and at breakfast by 6:45 which is very early from what I am used to but it was 100% worth it. At 7:30 we were given our first dive meeting to discuss precautions on the boat and how dives will go...

Today was the last two dives of the trip. On the first dive I was having trouble equalizing which was actually kind of a blessing because while I was trying to equalize a huge green sea turtle swam right under me. This turtle was missing a fin but was still able to swim faster than me, something I thought...

Today was by far the best day of the trip. It started out just as the other mornings with the rooster and breakfast, and it only got better from there. The first dive site was one of the greatest diving experiences I have ever had since certification. The site was a series of coral formed into downward sloping tunnels that...

Today, we primarily focused on the afternoon snorkel expedition where we went off in pairs, and explored the reef near the hotel. In doing so, I encountered several different species we covered in class. Some of these included, butterfly fish: four-eyed, and banded, Parrotfish: both princess and spotlight in initial and terminal phases, blue tangs, French grunts, a group...

It's was hard to believe it was the last day of the trip. It's cliche to say it was bittersweet but I was sad for it to be are last day here while also glad to be able to go home. Our first dive was at a cite called Trinity caves, Both are dives where pretty shallow only reaching...

This morning, our group took a trip to two different dive sites to get acquainted with the new environment. As we dove into the water, we gradually descended and followed our guide Curtis around the reef. Large schools of colorful parrotfish swam around the abundant corals, munching on them as they passed. After we finished with the guided tour,...