After my trouble with the dive on Day 3, I took the rest of the afternoon off. I woke up on Day 4, filled with determination - I was not going to squander the rest of this dive trip! So I signed on for a return trip to the Bells and the Blue Hole.
The wind had continued its surprising onslaught during the night, but the water wasn't nearly as rough as it was on Day 3, so I had hope. We got a slightly late start, though, so the dive site was very crowded - and there was a line to enter the Bells.
The dive was fine, although the visibility was worse than the last time I'd gone to the site on Day 2 - but not nearly as bad as the murk at Islands on Day 3. I didn't have any really outstanding encounters either, probably because I couldn't see too well. But it was a good solid dive, it was led by my friend, and I was glad to be back in the water.
The big event of the day, however, happened a few hours after our return - my friend completed her dive master certification! I know I never would have made it through her training - it took a month, and I'm awed by the physical, mental, and emotion exertion she went through. Truly astonishing - she's got the right stuff.
To celebrate, we did a victory lap - she guided her husband and me as her first bona-fide certified dive master dive. We did a nice easy dive in the bay in front of the dive center - a dive called Lighthouse to Bannerfish Bay. The vis was lousy, but the dive was quite pleasant - a grassy slope with a bit of coral, a bit of sand, and a bit of junk - which marine critters love. We were looking specifically for two things: a turtle (which KL's never seen - I told her about Abu Dabab), and a seahorse (which I've never seen). Both eluded us, but I saw a baby pufferfish the size of my thumb joint, an equally small (perfectly formed and colored) triggerfish, and two cranky eels (one white, one yellow) inhabiting the same teeny rock cluster. Pipefish abounded, there were flounder, crabs, and two types of sea cucumbers.
All in all, the trip was excellent. I was very happy with the dive center, Dahab was cool, and best of all, I wasn't staying in a resort. I had four outstandingly good dives, and if the weather hadn't turned, I'm sure the rest would have been just as good. I managed to get 7 dives in, 3 of which were deep dives (about 30 m). Current dive total: 37, plus 5 training dives. I had a really fun time with my friends and met some nice new people.
[sigh] Now I guess it's back to reality. Including the potential disaster of the move to the new campus before classes start on Sunday.
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