Day 4 - "Get Down" gets new meaning

First off, I apologize for the lack of pictures today. In my excitement and, I admit it, nervousness, about going out on our first real dive since certifying, I forgot to ask the dive shop about renting an underwater camera. So...no pictures today. We are diving again on Wednesday, so I am planning to call tomorrow to arrange to rent a camera, if one is available.

What an incredible day! We had to wake up early this morning (5:30'sh...or, "0'Dark-30"). Not something I would normally choose on a vacation day that also happens to be my birthday, given my penchant for sleeping in, but this was different - and worth it. Today, we got to participate in our first boat dive. If you've been keeping up with us, you know that one of the primary purposes for our trip was to scuba dive. We even got certified just so we would be allowed to do so this time. You may also know that when we went to Maui, 4 years ago, we'd scheduled an introductory dive (walking in from shore) only to have it canceled due to high surf. On a boat dive, your chances of getting canceled are much slimmer.

We signed up for a two-tank dive and boy, what a great decision that was. We loved the experience so much that we both felt that if we'd have done one tank and gone in we would have missed out on way too much fun. For my non-diving friends (that's most of you, I think), I should clarify. You only wear one tank at a time. So you dive until you're low on air (out is bad), which is about 1000 - 700 psi (we started with 3000 psi). When you come back on board the boat, you rest a while (called a surface interval) to let some of the nitrogen that gets built up in your blood release out of your blood (called off-gassing - and it has nothing to do with flatulence). After a decent surface interval (time is determined by a lot of factors, depth you dived to, length of time at depth, etc.) you strap on a fresh tank and go down again, but in a different spot.

It is surreal to be in a clear, blue expanse of water and to get to interact with creatures you've only seen on documentaries or Finding Nemo. We saw so many varieties of fish, including gray moray eel, yellow snapper, orangeband surgeonfish, yellow tang, butterfly fish, Moorish Idol, a couple of different types of hawk fish, a HUGE scorpion fish (biggest our dive master had ever seen in these waters), spiny lobster, and of course our personal favorite, the green sea turtles. That's a very small sample of a dizzying array of species we saw in our two dives today. I can hardly wait to 'get down' again with the citizens of the sea.

After coming home and cleaning up we took it pretty easy, and went to a nice place for dinner, Scotty's BBQ. I have never eaten such delicious BBQ. I've BBQ in Texas, Kansas and several points in between and Scotty's wins the prize. For dessert, a pastry concoction that I've seen or tasted nowhere else...Puffansada. Think of a cross between a really light, fluffy shortcake and sponge cake that is cut in half with a filling (I chose "Very Berry"), then encrust the whole thing in panko and deep-fried...drizzled with berry sauce/syrup with puffs of whipped cream on the side. UNBELIEVEABLY GOOD! All served with a with an open wall to the soft breeze and the ocean. I don't know if it can get any better than this...but I'm willing to continue the research! :)

To top it all off, Finding Nemo is playing right now on the Disney Channel - God surely loves me. I'll post again tomorrow.