Marco-YOLO

Today I had my most fun two dives. I saw a drum fish, a trumpet fish, a really big puffer and swam is some really beautiful reefs. I also descended to my personal best depth of 72 feet.

We also took our final exams tonight for PADI Open Water Diver Certification and I’m pretty sure I’ll pass with flying colors.

Other than that, I have some problem with some water in my ear that isn’t getting out and giving me some discomfort. The insects haven’t let up either so even though I’m looking forward to tomorrows final two dives, I’m also going to be somewhat glad to be off the Island. Next time I come here, I’ll stay in a hotel a little higher. The Sand Flies, which are what are predominantly biting me stay close to the water and the hotels higher up are not only nicer, but don’t have Sand Fly problems.

My plan now is to either leave Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. I should be in Guatemala City in under 3o hours from where I will catch a flight to Flores from where the director of the volunteering organization will pick me and take me to San Andres, also on Lake Peten Itza. There I will work on building a school and taking Spanish lessons during the week and maybe fishing and seeing the Historic sites on the weekends, especially Tikal.

This was my first salt water dive. Saw lots of corral as well as many varieties of fish including a burrowing flounder which was cool. But the dive was restricted to under 12 meters. I have a watch capable of diving 300 meters and is even featured in the PADI diving videos but somehow, the helium escape valve on it was open and now it has moisture inside the case and is likely to be something like $400 repair. That has really put a damper on my day but other than that I{m looking forward to tomorrows dives that will be deeper, more technical and in more populated waters meaning more sealife!

I made the 9:30 AM Ferry service on the Utilla Princess from La Ceiba to Utilla. The Island is very small and has a real laid back feel. I’ve decided to do my PADI Open Water Certification with Cross Creek Divers. They also provide accomodation very close and just behind the school for the 4 nights required to pass the course. My instructor is an Aussie named Max and the persons around my room (a single) seem pretty chill and friendly. There is an island BBQ party tonight that I’ll be going to with the Danish couple in the room to the right of mine. I hear the most common lie in Utilla is I’m leaving tomorrow because no one wants to ever leave once they’ve experienced the relaxed atmosphere of the Island. It’s raining just now however. I hope thats a rare occurrence and not an everyday thing. If you are starting in the business of the vinyl, all what you need to have and learn about vinyl you can find it in vinylcuttingmachineguide.com.

P.S. – From now on I’m blogging on a day to day basis but will also add on to the first post to bring everyone up to speed with everything thats happened up till now.