Esmeralda

Although my six weeks as a volunteer is over, the fun isn't. My family is visiting for another week, which means the adventures can continue! To kick it off, Connor and mom expedited themselves out to Caye Caulker to get jump start on our diving. They had already been in Belize city for a few days prior, along with my aunt, uncle and dad.

Reunion! Look how tan I am

I had booked a hostel room for the night, since I had packed up and left base camp, and while I could sleep in it comfortably, with the three of us, it was cozy.

Its not a shed, its my room

But it did the job. I showed them around a small part of the island to find food before heading off to bed.

The next morning I introduced them to fry-jacks, aka best food ever invented on earth. If you're hip to mennonite cuisine, it was like a kroler, but savory, and filled with cheese and eggs and chicken. And oh my gosh yum. Plus they only cost 2$, so I couldn't say no. Safe to say I had consumed my allocation of fry-jacks and then some.

If I had to pick one thing I missed about Belize, besides the ocean, it would be fry-jacks. Energized for the day we headed off to start our dive. We did a tour with Blue Wave Divers, who were the same company who did my Advanced Open Water certification. I helped mom and Connor set their kits up and then it was time to hit the road...water...waves...you get the idea.

We were super fortunate in that, it was just the three of us diving that day. I think it was good because it allowed Connor and mom to re-familiarize themselves with diving without being overwhelmed by a lot of commotion right from the start.

The boat ride out was a lot of fun. I may have noted this before, but almost as much as I enjoyed being in the water, I loved being on the water too. So boat rides were always something I looked forward to. I got to show them the part of the island I had lived on (from a distance) and after a 40 minute boat ride, we were there. Duh, duh duh!

Getting back into the swing of things

Just watch the pro, mom

Once everyone was kitted up and in the water, the real adventure began.

They have no idea what's coming

But they're enjoying it

They're getting the hang of it

Three minutes into our dive, our guide led us past a canyon wall, only to start swimming through the canyon, entering by way of a teeny tiny crevice. At this point in my diving career, I felt like I was fairly comfortable in the water, and while I could manage the canyon crevice, I was slightly concerned for mom and Connor, keeping in mind this was their 6th dive, ever.

It looks cool from here, and it was

But it was also a tight fit.

And we made a friend along the way

So in 5 minutes we had passed through a coral reef canyon (the crevice) and we were literally swimming with the sharks. So the rest of the dive was pretty chill, relatively speaking.

The site had so many sharks. I've seen my share of nurse sharks in dives and on occasional snorkels, but I had never seen so many together at once. And we saw proper reef sharks, not just nurse sharks, which are basically large guppies. Okay not exactly, but a reef shark is a different animal, metaphorically and literally speaking. My literary device game is on today. 

Mom found a shark

Not everyone passed their swim etiquette test. Mom is definitely thinking some less-than-polite things at that shark that just cut her off.

Anyway, before I get carried away with sharks, I'd like to share a few honorable mentions, since there was plenty of other sea life to enjoy, too.

First, the groupers were huge. Largest I've ever seen

They were sometimes scarier than the sharks

Black durgeon were in no shortage either

And it wouldn't be a family vacation without mom getting her family photo. Doesn't matter if your 60 under water, we're still taking that photo...

Or trying to.

Ok, onto the sharks. While we were the only ones in our tour party, we met a few other divers along the site doing the same dive, so we all got to watch as 20 sharks sped out of a canyon crevice all at once. It was quite a site.

This is the best photo I got

Reef shark at 12 o' clock

Connor needs a closer look

 

There was no shortage of fun to be had

Here they come!

 Bam! In your face

We ended the dive safely and successfully. Everyone had a great time, and our misery that was our Open Water Certification in the Puget Sound was now worth it. Hallelujah!

Our second dive followed a similar pattern, but without the canyon entrance. The site was absolutely beautiful. The coral reef formed huge walls that formed ridges that extended for miles. Our second dive started with a little hunting, looking for some resident creatures known to inhabit the coral near our drop site. 

Hello, sir

And to you, too

Looking for some cool stuff

Like an eel maybe?

Searching...Searching

 

Aha! Its the same one mom, but good effort

Our true objective to start was to find a tiny pipefish our instructor, Armando, had found a few weeks before. And sure enough he was able to spot it, but it was too small to show up on my camera, so just imagine it. 

And we can't leave out the sharks. While their second appearance was down scaled, a few sharks stuck around for the full performance.

Just to make sure we hadn't forgotten them 

Nurse sharks remind me of cats. They want attention, but only on their terms

Which I'm not going to argue with

Still alive!

Not a shark

Not a shark

Shark!

Spotted trunkfish!

Both dives were an absolute blast, especially for me cause I didn't have to carry a slate or reel or anything. I just got to cruise and enjoy the scenery.

And to put in a good word for Blue Wave Divers, Armando was an incredible guide. He was very patient with us, as my mom and Connor we getting re-adjusted, and he was very calm ad collected the whole time, making our dive really enjoyable and safe. Thank you Goose!

So if you ever find yourself in Belize, or Caye Caulker to be specific, this is a dive I highly recommend. It was so much fun and there was tons to see. I don't think it would be possible to be disappointed.

Up next...Spanish Bay!