Its incredible to think that in just under a week I will be back home in Canada after 4 months on the road, traveling and experiencing some of the amazing things that Central America has to offer. I have really loved my time here on Utila. This little island with only two main streets that are full of people and golf cart, has been home for almost 3 weeks now. It has been nice to spend a bit of time in one place as opposed to constantly being on the move. I guess part of me has succumb to a big lie of Utila, and that is "I am leaving tomorrow." Its really easy to hang out here when you are surrounded by really friendly people and some incredible diving. I was planning on doing a few other things here in Honduras but have decided to stay here basically until I leave for Mexico. I do not feel bad for staying here and missing out on other things, this place is great and I'm enjoying my time.
After I finished my Advanced Open Water course with Alton's Dive Centre, I decided that I wanted to continue on with the next step in the diving ladder. For me that meant I was going to be getting my Rescue Diver certification. This course was a lot harder than the previous two that I had taken and made for some really long and tiring days in the water and a good wet suit sunburn to go along with all that. Thankfully I had my First Aid training, and because of that it cut of a day of the course and saved me a bit of money. The idea behind the Rescue Diver is that you are there to provide help to other divers. This could mean dealing with panicked divers, tired divers, or even unconscious ones. The course was 3 days of jumping in and out of the water "saving" people through different scenarios and learning how to handle situations both on the surface and under water. Learning search patterns, diver tows, and how to bring unconscious people to the surface, was all part of the training. By the time I finished the high stress and high intensity course I was a bit relieved and really proud of myself. It was really rewarding and a huge accomplishment. Open Water courses show you how to have fun while diving, but the Rescue program teaches you how to take care and be responsible for other divers around you. I feel that because of this course it has made me a better and more confident diver.
After my time with that I needed a chance to relax again. A few of the people from the dive shop decided they wanted to go up to the fresh water caves on the island where you can do some skin diving and snorkeling in the caves filled with water. Going up there I thought that it would be very similar to my experience at Semuc Champey, but this didn't turn out to be the case. When we arrived at the caves I was looking around for the area to begin out expedition. It was a small crack in the earth that went down into the darkness. After lighting some candles five of us made our way into the cave, with parts of the cave forcing you to crawl on your stomach through some very narrow holes. This probably would not have been an overly enjoyable experience for someone with claustrophobia. Finally we made it to the water and jumped into the refreshingly cold pools, after a sweaty walk in. Having a few underwater torches we decided to go swimming from cavern to cavern through little underwater tunnels. It was crazy to see all the little passage ways that were tuck away in the caves. Once made our way into one of the caves there was an opening we wanted to check out. I went in to take a look at the area underwater to see if there was another opening to be seen, allowing us into another room. After a quick scope out I gave the light off to another guys to check it out. He took his breath and headed under. After a few moments we were all impressed with how long he could hold his breath, a few more moments passed by and then we started to get a bit worried. I looked down into the water to see if I could see him, but the water had silted up and we could no longer see the torch and that meant it was really disorienting in there. That's when we really started to worry. I thought that Alban was going to die. The group of us just sort of sat there for a second trying to decide what we were going to do, but at the last second we saw a light, and one of the other guys, Andrew, pulled Alban out. Alban didn't have his mask on his face and looked totally panicked. What had happened was that he kicked the roof of the cavern while swimming and that dislodged a lot of silt. After that he had no idea where he was and started to panic. He took off his mask and then started to take in a lot of water, in a panicked effort to save himself. As bad as it sounds, if Andrew had not seen the light and grabbed him, I don't know if Alban would still be around. After the scare we decided it was probably best if we just went back to the dive shop. So we all took a nice relaxed walk along the coast as we made out way back, thankful that nothing too bad had happened.
The time at the dive shop has been really great. Other than the diving there has been lots of opportunities to talk with the Dive-masters and Instructors. It was really cool one night when the shop put on a fish fry with some fresh local catch. Some of the locals prepared the meal and we all just ate to our hearts content on a typical plate of coleslaw, plantains and some tasty fresh fish.
I have really enjoyed the opportunity to relax in the hammock on the end of the dock looking out over the ocean watching the world slowly go by as I listen to Jack Johnson, Snow Patrol or some jonnymeloband. This is really beautiful, and something that I am going to miss when I get home. I had thought about staying here longer and doing my Dive-master training here, but decided against it because of time and money. But I know that at some point I will do it. Possibly coming back here to continue, or maybe doing it somewhere else, who knows. All I know is that I love diving and want to keep on doing that, and possibly make some money with it at some point.
And so on Sunday I will start to make my push back north. I will make my way via ferry from Honduras over to Belize on Monday morning. After that I will basically move as fast as I can through Belize and hopefully get to the Mexican boarder in a day or two. I will then continue on up to Cancun in order to make my flight on Thursday the 6th.
I hope that you have enjoyed one of the last posts. I will see many of you very soon when I return home.
Bye for now
Mike
Showing posts with label Scuba Diving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scuba Diving. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Utila - Part 1
I'm sorry that there hasn't been a post in a while. I've been incredibly busy since I arrived here on the island. Utila is one of the three Bay Islands of Honduras, located in the Caribbean, with beautiful sunny warmth and people that speak a difficult form of English. Its a mix of English, Spanish and the local Garifuna language, but when it comes out sounds much like a Jamaican accent but a lot less understandable at times It is a very big traveler stop and probably most famous for all the diving that can be done on the Meso American Reef which is the second largest reef in the world.
I took a ferry ride over to the island, which is the only real way unless you want to pay a stupid amount of money for a 15 min flight. The price of the ferry isn't much better ($23 for an hour long ride) When I got off and got my bags I don't think that I was quite ready for the madness that awaited me at the end of the dock. What happens is all of the dive shops on the island, of which there are probably 10 or 15, congregate at the end of the dock awaiting the new batch of travelers to try and sell them on their shop before they are picked up by another. So this means there is 20 or 30 dive shop employees trying to hand you pamphlets about them and why you need to choose their outfit. A couple times I just laughed because it was overwhelming all the commotion in the area. I decided to go with Alton's Dive Centre, because they offered me a free night to stay and a place to put my bags while I checked out the other shops of the island to choose which one I want to go with. So I set of and checked in at almost all the shops on the island collecting some information and prices, and they were all about the same. So I ended up staying with Alton's because it had a good friendly feel with a welcoming attitude. I signed up to do my Advanced Open Water course which would allow me to now max out my depth at 40m instead of 18m as well as get some practice in other areas of diving. The course was 7 dives in total. They included, peak performance buoyancy skills, navigation, deep, wreck, current, night and then a free fun dive at the end. In each of the dives we learned some basics about the specific type of dive. The reef here is incredible. I am really quite glad that I did my Open Water in Panama, because with a less impressive reef and terrible visibility it has made this time on the Meso American Reef even more mind blowing. The colour of the coral, visibility and abundant aquatic life has been truly amazing.
Another thing that makes Utila quite famous is the whale sharks that come around for a while in the month of April. They are the largest fish in the ocean and are remarkably beautiful, and so part of the reason for me coming to Utila was the prospect of getting to swim with these massive creatures. When I arrived there hadn't been any whale sharks sighted as of yet, which meant that they were a bit late. But after a day or two there had been a couple of sighting by some of the local fishermen, which got me quite excited. On my first day of diving, in between the first and second dives we were told that we were going to be going whale sharking! How exciting. The event of whale sharking is unlike anything Ive done and carries with it an incredible adrenaline rush. What happens is that the captain of the boat gets in contact with the other captains too see if there have been any sightings and where abouts they were. Then the go around and look for the boils of tuna. This is when the tuna swim in a circular motion trapping a bunch of tiny fish and force them up towards the surface. Once the tuna have reached the surface they all start jumping for the fish that they have trapped, ocean a look of boiling water. These are generally good indicators of where to find whale sharks because they eat the same type of small fish. When a boil is spotted we are all told to get down in two lines with our fins, mask and snorkel ready to go. Sitting on the deck in eager anticipation of what is to come we waited, and waited and waited, scanning boil after boil for a mouth of a whale shark as it goes vertical to eat or a dark shadow as it swims below. The silence is then quickly broken with shouts of GO! GO! GO! Its to the left! Everyone in the chaos pours into the water and starts swimming around trying to see it. The first one I saw was beautiful. I froze. This massive fish right in front of me, so calm and serene majestically moving through the water. I did no know what to do but sit and stare. I have never seen anything like that before let alone swim with it. After a bit of time with the whale shark it swam away and we were left floating alone in the deep blue of the ocean, as you look down and can't see a thing, but a deep and entrancing colour. That day we went for a few more jumps to try and see them and each time they blew me away. After getting in the boat we all recalled our personal experience and thoughts about what had just happened, all equally stunned. The next day when we went we had the same procedure. This time when we jumped in I didn't know where I was to be going and was left in s pile of bubbles. But when the bubbles cleared right beside me was a 40ft whale shark, had I reached out I could have touched it and actually had to move back so that I didn't hit it. The shark just sat there for a while with us curious as to his new visitors, even looking some of the people in the face as they had their cameras rolling and taking some incredible footage of these animals. Then again it slipped back into the deep blue and headed off on its own. This was probably one of the big highlights to my trip and something that I probably wont get the chance to do again.
Those experiences already made this tiny island an incredible stop for me but that wasn't the end. I have broken this up into two different parts and will post the rest in a few days. I hope that you have enjoyed and look forward to hearing from you
Thanks
Bye for now
Mike
I took a ferry ride over to the island, which is the only real way unless you want to pay a stupid amount of money for a 15 min flight. The price of the ferry isn't much better ($23 for an hour long ride) When I got off and got my bags I don't think that I was quite ready for the madness that awaited me at the end of the dock. What happens is all of the dive shops on the island, of which there are probably 10 or 15, congregate at the end of the dock awaiting the new batch of travelers to try and sell them on their shop before they are picked up by another. So this means there is 20 or 30 dive shop employees trying to hand you pamphlets about them and why you need to choose their outfit. A couple times I just laughed because it was overwhelming all the commotion in the area. I decided to go with Alton's Dive Centre, because they offered me a free night to stay and a place to put my bags while I checked out the other shops of the island to choose which one I want to go with. So I set of and checked in at almost all the shops on the island collecting some information and prices, and they were all about the same. So I ended up staying with Alton's because it had a good friendly feel with a welcoming attitude. I signed up to do my Advanced Open Water course which would allow me to now max out my depth at 40m instead of 18m as well as get some practice in other areas of diving. The course was 7 dives in total. They included, peak performance buoyancy skills, navigation, deep, wreck, current, night and then a free fun dive at the end. In each of the dives we learned some basics about the specific type of dive. The reef here is incredible. I am really quite glad that I did my Open Water in Panama, because with a less impressive reef and terrible visibility it has made this time on the Meso American Reef even more mind blowing. The colour of the coral, visibility and abundant aquatic life has been truly amazing.
Another thing that makes Utila quite famous is the whale sharks that come around for a while in the month of April. They are the largest fish in the ocean and are remarkably beautiful, and so part of the reason for me coming to Utila was the prospect of getting to swim with these massive creatures. When I arrived there hadn't been any whale sharks sighted as of yet, which meant that they were a bit late. But after a day or two there had been a couple of sighting by some of the local fishermen, which got me quite excited. On my first day of diving, in between the first and second dives we were told that we were going to be going whale sharking! How exciting. The event of whale sharking is unlike anything Ive done and carries with it an incredible adrenaline rush. What happens is that the captain of the boat gets in contact with the other captains too see if there have been any sightings and where abouts they were. Then the go around and look for the boils of tuna. This is when the tuna swim in a circular motion trapping a bunch of tiny fish and force them up towards the surface. Once the tuna have reached the surface they all start jumping for the fish that they have trapped, ocean a look of boiling water. These are generally good indicators of where to find whale sharks because they eat the same type of small fish. When a boil is spotted we are all told to get down in two lines with our fins, mask and snorkel ready to go. Sitting on the deck in eager anticipation of what is to come we waited, and waited and waited, scanning boil after boil for a mouth of a whale shark as it goes vertical to eat or a dark shadow as it swims below. The silence is then quickly broken with shouts of GO! GO! GO! Its to the left! Everyone in the chaos pours into the water and starts swimming around trying to see it. The first one I saw was beautiful. I froze. This massive fish right in front of me, so calm and serene majestically moving through the water. I did no know what to do but sit and stare. I have never seen anything like that before let alone swim with it. After a bit of time with the whale shark it swam away and we were left floating alone in the deep blue of the ocean, as you look down and can't see a thing, but a deep and entrancing colour. That day we went for a few more jumps to try and see them and each time they blew me away. After getting in the boat we all recalled our personal experience and thoughts about what had just happened, all equally stunned. The next day when we went we had the same procedure. This time when we jumped in I didn't know where I was to be going and was left in s pile of bubbles. But when the bubbles cleared right beside me was a 40ft whale shark, had I reached out I could have touched it and actually had to move back so that I didn't hit it. The shark just sat there for a while with us curious as to his new visitors, even looking some of the people in the face as they had their cameras rolling and taking some incredible footage of these animals. Then again it slipped back into the deep blue and headed off on its own. This was probably one of the big highlights to my trip and something that I probably wont get the chance to do again.
Those experiences already made this tiny island an incredible stop for me but that wasn't the end. I have broken this up into two different parts and will post the rest in a few days. I hope that you have enjoyed and look forward to hearing from you
Thanks
Bye for now
Mike
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Scuba and the City
While in Bocas del Toro, Panama, Dan and I had originally planned on staying just a few days to check the local flavour and then continue moving on. However, this was not the case, and our plans changed. We played around with the idea of doing a scuba course in Bocas because it seemed to by a pretty popular thing to do with the tourists there, and there was supposed to be some good diving for reasonable prices. So we decided to shop around for a company that would give us the most bang for our buck. After some time walking around we decided to go with the company "The Dutch Pirate" ran by a Dutch man named Rob and his wife Carol. They were a really nice couple that really wanted us to have a good time while we were there. One of the nicest perks about going with them was that we were given a place to stay that was included in our fees, which made it the cheapest, and really, the best option for us.
Waking up to rainy skies was not the way that I imagined doing the course, but it seemed like this was going to be how I would have to do it. After meeting up at the dive shop and heading over to Isla Basimientos we started our course. The dive shop also served as our lodgings for the time that we were there, which was incredible. We were living on the water of a small Caribbean island, with not a whole lot around. The town was small and had a different feel from the more uptempo main island, Colon. It was a very relaxed stay while we lazed around and listened to the rain clattering off the tin roof of the shop.
The course itself was quite fun. Obviously there was a fair amount of theory to it, but you went through the motions and it passed by painlessly. The real thrill came when we actually got to dive. You roll off the boat into the warm waters of the Caribbean, with all of your gear ready to go. Floating on the surface waiting for the others to get in, I had the chance to peer to the sea floor below. Just seeing some simple starfish on the bottom was enough to make me grin from ear to ear. The first decent into the water was met with a few frantic gasps for air until you realize that this does you and that you can in fact breathe under water. That was such a foreign and exciting feeling to be under the water, on the see floor looking around as schools of fish swim by and starfish litter the ground around you. While underwater we worked on some skills in an attempt to master the art of moving underwater. Even these became fun. The highlight was the chance to go and swim through the corals that the area was famous for. It was incredible seeing those colours and all the different shapes of the coral. Beautiful to say the least. As well the different fish that lived among the coral only added to colour spectacle of the ocean. The whole time I was down there I was smiling and laughing along, as I took in this whole new world and all that it had to offer.
The next few days are full of similar things. Lessons and more diving. We had the chance to see some incredible things even though the visibility was poor due to all the rain. We even had the chance to see a ship wreck. In total, we were able to have 6 dives over 4 days, quite impressive and loads of fun. So now I am a certified open water scuba diver. It is neat because this is another thing that I didn't plan on doing but it turned out to being one of the best things so far.
After leaving Bocas in search of some sun we made our way back to the Pacific side. We stayed the night at Playa Las Lajas, which was nice to be back in the sun warmth, while we tried to dry out from 4 days of constantly being wet.
Only spending the night there we continued on, for a 6 hour trek down to Panama City. Finally making it there we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas which is the only solid object connecting the two sides. The view was incredible and Dan and I chatted with each other about how big a milestone this was for both of us. After trying to navigate the narrow one way street of Casco Viejo, which is the old section of Panama City, we make it to the hotel for the night. The one we originally book was full and so we had to settle for another for that night which was a rather shady place. Casco Viejo is an area with a lot of reclamation going on. The city is trying to turn these slums into a new and vibrant tourist destination, and it seems to be working. This old world architecture gives the city a bit of a European feel, mixed with some Havana-esque latin charm. This place, though sketchy and dangerous in sections has a lot of beauty to it, and right down the road from us is the residence of the President of Panama!
This time now is really for Dan to work on the details of shipping down to Colombia, and he has been putting in the hours with a French couple that he is shipping with. During the day they work themselves through the bureaucracy and paperwork that accompanies such a task. The past couple days for me have been relaxed as I walk round and take in the beauty of this very modern and built up city, with a skyline very similar to that of Toronto or any other major city in Canada or the States. Last night I had the chance to go to a professional Panama League baseball game. Though Im not the biggest fan of the sport, it was the chance to take in a big and popular part of the cultural make up of the area. The stadium was huge, but the game was rather poorly attended. However, the fans made there presence know by being loud and rowdy, with drums and other instruments, music and baseball filling the night.
So that is where the journey takes me so far. The next few days will have some more sight seeing such as the Canal Locks and Old Panama, and then I will continue my trip back north, parting ways with Dan.
If you have any questions or comments please send them through, I would be happy to talk with you able them.
Thanks for following
Bye for now
Mike
Waking up to rainy skies was not the way that I imagined doing the course, but it seemed like this was going to be how I would have to do it. After meeting up at the dive shop and heading over to Isla Basimientos we started our course. The dive shop also served as our lodgings for the time that we were there, which was incredible. We were living on the water of a small Caribbean island, with not a whole lot around. The town was small and had a different feel from the more uptempo main island, Colon. It was a very relaxed stay while we lazed around and listened to the rain clattering off the tin roof of the shop.
The course itself was quite fun. Obviously there was a fair amount of theory to it, but you went through the motions and it passed by painlessly. The real thrill came when we actually got to dive. You roll off the boat into the warm waters of the Caribbean, with all of your gear ready to go. Floating on the surface waiting for the others to get in, I had the chance to peer to the sea floor below. Just seeing some simple starfish on the bottom was enough to make me grin from ear to ear. The first decent into the water was met with a few frantic gasps for air until you realize that this does you and that you can in fact breathe under water. That was such a foreign and exciting feeling to be under the water, on the see floor looking around as schools of fish swim by and starfish litter the ground around you. While underwater we worked on some skills in an attempt to master the art of moving underwater. Even these became fun. The highlight was the chance to go and swim through the corals that the area was famous for. It was incredible seeing those colours and all the different shapes of the coral. Beautiful to say the least. As well the different fish that lived among the coral only added to colour spectacle of the ocean. The whole time I was down there I was smiling and laughing along, as I took in this whole new world and all that it had to offer.
The next few days are full of similar things. Lessons and more diving. We had the chance to see some incredible things even though the visibility was poor due to all the rain. We even had the chance to see a ship wreck. In total, we were able to have 6 dives over 4 days, quite impressive and loads of fun. So now I am a certified open water scuba diver. It is neat because this is another thing that I didn't plan on doing but it turned out to being one of the best things so far.
After leaving Bocas in search of some sun we made our way back to the Pacific side. We stayed the night at Playa Las Lajas, which was nice to be back in the sun warmth, while we tried to dry out from 4 days of constantly being wet.
Only spending the night there we continued on, for a 6 hour trek down to Panama City. Finally making it there we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas which is the only solid object connecting the two sides. The view was incredible and Dan and I chatted with each other about how big a milestone this was for both of us. After trying to navigate the narrow one way street of Casco Viejo, which is the old section of Panama City, we make it to the hotel for the night. The one we originally book was full and so we had to settle for another for that night which was a rather shady place. Casco Viejo is an area with a lot of reclamation going on. The city is trying to turn these slums into a new and vibrant tourist destination, and it seems to be working. This old world architecture gives the city a bit of a European feel, mixed with some Havana-esque latin charm. This place, though sketchy and dangerous in sections has a lot of beauty to it, and right down the road from us is the residence of the President of Panama!
This time now is really for Dan to work on the details of shipping down to Colombia, and he has been putting in the hours with a French couple that he is shipping with. During the day they work themselves through the bureaucracy and paperwork that accompanies such a task. The past couple days for me have been relaxed as I walk round and take in the beauty of this very modern and built up city, with a skyline very similar to that of Toronto or any other major city in Canada or the States. Last night I had the chance to go to a professional Panama League baseball game. Though Im not the biggest fan of the sport, it was the chance to take in a big and popular part of the cultural make up of the area. The stadium was huge, but the game was rather poorly attended. However, the fans made there presence know by being loud and rowdy, with drums and other instruments, music and baseball filling the night.
So that is where the journey takes me so far. The next few days will have some more sight seeing such as the Canal Locks and Old Panama, and then I will continue my trip back north, parting ways with Dan.
If you have any questions or comments please send them through, I would be happy to talk with you able them.
Thanks for following
Bye for now
Mike
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