Saturday.....

 I left the Isle of Roatan this morning with mixed feelings. The good, I am going home to see my family that I miss dearly.. The Bad, I'm leaving an island paradise with great friends and the great guests at Coco View Resort. I will remember all of the lessons from my internship, and all of the people who cheered me on, and congratulated me when I achieved dive master.
 I an now sitting in Atlanta at the airport waiting for my flight back to PA. DawnAnn and Sarah will be waiting for me at the airport when I arrive. I can't wait for the hugs that I have missed. Can you ever actually make up for the lost ones?

 We have some close friends coming over tomorrow to celebrate my accomplishment, and also my buddy John, who is joining us in our 40's!

 I would first like to thank DawnAnn and Sarah, for allowing me the time to pursue a passion. You'll never know what it has meant to me.
 I would like to also thank Patty and Alejandra at Dockside Dive Center. Your skills and dedication to doing it right are the only way to go! Throughout my career, I will be grateful for your instruction, professionalism, and friendship.
 Third, Greg. We had a blast. I couldn't have asked for a better "partner in crime". I look forward to diving together in our future.

 And last, Mitch and Deb, the managers at Coco View, Thanks for the hospitality you've shown us interns. The owners should know that the resort is in great hands. Keep up the great work!

Friday/Saturday...

 Well, here it is my last days.

 I got up this morning and got some coffee and headed to the boat. I got the divers set up for their morning dives, and went for breakfast. After a huge omelette, I went to make sure they had everything. They headed out for the dive site, and sadly, I stayed behind....

 Patty was extremely nice and lent her car to Greg and me. We headed to West End to do a little shopping.
We stopped and got a good cigar for Friday night and had some lunch at the Cannibal Cafe'. (it is a mexican place)

 We headed back to the resort and I started my packing. I just hope I can keep it to 50#.

 Dinner was steak and lobster, and Mitch and Deb awarded us our PADI Divemaster patch. Brion James was our entertainment for the night, and we partied hard!

Thursday....
I got up this morning hoping that there was room on the boat to the west end. Alas, the boat was full. I was moved to the blue boat for the day with 4 divers from our yellow boat.

We headed out to Pirates Point and had a great dive. This dive is a slow one, with lots to look for. The first thing found was a yellow seahorse. Everyone got a look and we kept moving. At the mooring anchor, which is an old crane, there were 2 large grouper. I kept chasing them out so the photographers could get good pics. After all of the pics were taken, everyone headed to search again. I moved about 20' from the crane when I found 2 juvenile spotted drum. These are just beautiful to behold. I banged on my tank, but only the other divemaster even looked my way. Oh well, I get these to myself! They are so dainty and graceful...

We found a couple more seahorses on the soft coral, and soon it was time to head back towards the boat. Everyone was diligently searching for the next little critter. I found myself in a sand chute, looking at several jawfish. These little guys are so fun to watch. I spent 5-10 min there.

 We ended our dive at 1hr, to keep the divers happy. We did our surface interval at the buoy, as the seas were calm. After 45 min, we then headed for Newman's Wall for the dropoff.

 We got back and unloaded the boat and I went for a shower, as the diveshop was heading to lunch at Cal's Cantina. We had the spicy fried shrimp and lobster for an appetizer, and I ordered the filet with peppercorn sauce for my entree. It was great! If you ever get to Roatan, I highly recommend Cal's Cantina. The food is great, and the prices are even better!

 After lunch we headed back to Coco View and I started to get my gear cleaned up and dry for my return back to the states on Saturday.....

 I spent the evening BSing with some new friends, under the bright moon. Again I say the Southern Cross!
Well, I'm off to bed to rest before tomorrow comes....

Wednesday....

What a great day!

Today started as usual...Up at 6, and coffee. To the boat I went and found that Marco had already preloaded. I put my gear on board and headed to breakfast. Omelette and bacon were this morning's fare.

I went over to the red boat and had Kirk help me with my dive briefing. He was a big help. Thanks Kirk!

At 8:15 I gave my first dive briefing for the divesite Carib Wall. It went very well. The guests cheered me when I completed. What a great boat. Alejandra got some pics that are posted below.

We headed out to the dive site and the conditions were great. The fish were plentiful. As we were making our way along the wall, Marco spotted a large hawksbill sea turtle. I will try to get pics a little later. It swam with all of the divers before loosing interest and heading off into deep water. What a treat! As we continued along the wall 3 or 4 seahorses were found. A little later a 6' green moray decided to check everyone out. He gave those with cameras and GoPro's a treat as he came right up to the lens! He swam under me and continued, what I thought along the wall. I was the last diver in the group, and what I didn't see was that the eel doubled back. I felt something bump my leg, and when I looked down, it was the moray coming up between my legs! He swam up to my chest before heading back towards the rest of the group. Not too scary, just startling when you aren't expecting it!

He headed over to Marco and then lost interest. We continued our dive to the point, and turned around and came back on the top of the wall. Fish were everywhere!

We all got back on the boat, and did our surface interval in the bight at Parrot Tree.  After the interval we headed to Newmans Wall for the dropoff. Back we went to the docks after all of the divers were safely in the water.

 Lunch was cheese burgers and fries with chocolate chip cookies.

After lunch, we reloaded the boat and headed out to First Bight Wall. By this time the winds had died down, and the ride was much calmer. We dropped in and were immediately treated to another turtle. He swam around for a while before getting bored and swimming off. This was another site with seahorses and loads of fish. On the way back to the boat, I even saw a school of permit! Another great dive!

We did our surface interval in First Bight, and then readied the guests for their drop off on Coco View Wall.

We headed back to the docks to get everything cleaned for the day. Wow, what a day!

 Dinner was lasagna and garlic bread with tiramisu. What an end to the day!

 Just what will tomorrow bring?!

Tuesday.....

I know, the time stamp says Wednesday, but I forgot to hit post.

Got up and got the boat loaded for the morning dive. Headed out for Iron Shore. This is a great dive site. Lots of fish and corals. Started out at 50-60' along the wall, and came back across the top of the reef at 35'. It was a nice, relaxed paced dive. I think on this dive, we saw at least 5 seahorses!

We did our surface interval in French Harbour and dropped our divers on Newman's Wall. The boat crew and I headed back to the dock to get the boat ready for the afternoon dive.

Lunch for me was a BBQ pork sandwich and the freshest pineapple!

I headed back over to the docks and finished getting the boat loaded. We were heading for the Valley of the Kings. This is another great dive site with lots of hard and soft corals. Fish are abundant here too.

While we were cruising the top of the wall, we had a great oppertunity to swim with a 3' Hawksbill sea turtle! What a thrill! When the turtle came up from the bottom, a green moray decided he wanted in on the party, and came up and swam behind the turtle. A hawksbill and a free swimming moray at the same time, the divers did not know what to keep their eyes on!

The surface interval was in French Harbour again, with the dropoff on Coco View Wall. We took the boat in, and I got showered for the Tuesday night trip to Sundowners.

We had a great time, and I met some great Roatan people last night. The Roatan Marine Park people have some great things in the works.

We finished the night off with pizza and wings at the Pizza Inn.

Monday.....

White Seahorse

Today was a great day. I arose  feeling good and headed to get my cup of coffee. I then proceeeded to the boat to get it loaded up for the morning dive. All is well.

 At breakfas  and headed back to the boat. The morning dive was to Mary's place. This is one of my favorite dive sites. We dropped in and Mark led the dive. The entrance to the crack is in 75'. We entered the crack and swam through. At the other end, we made the left turn to finish with an overhead swim through. We then headed to the point and found a white seahorse. Working our way around the point we then headed back into the crack to see it from the opposite direction. It was almost like a different dive!

We went into French Harbour for our surface interval and dropped the divers off at Newmans Wall.

 Back at the docks, we emptied the boat and headed in for lunch. Lunch today was grilled chicken with a jalapeno sauce and macaroni and cheese. Dessert was chocolate and peanut butter cookies. What a good lunch.

After lunch, I headed over to the dive shop.  Patty said she needed a divemaster to assist her advanced open water class on navigation. I told her I would love to help. She needed me to set up the training site and monitor the students throughout the exercise. I went to 45' and set up a 100' tape so they could get their time and kick cycles for 100'. They got their distances, and we then moved onto compass navigation. The students first shot an azimuth and then did a reciprocal heading. The next was a 20 fin cycle square. The students did fairly well and were soon heading back to do their safety stop. I had to go and recover the tape and I got back to the buoy as they were leaving. I did my 3 min at 15', and headed back up the chain to join them.

Patty did an after action with them and did one with me as they headed to the lockers. The only thing I needed to correct was to be closer to the students as they were navigating. I was too far back on the first run but was where I needed to be on the second. Not too bad.... I learned something about supervising students today. Patty is a great teacher and is really helping with my growth as a divemaster. I know I will rely on her mentoring in the future.

Tomorrow will be another set of dives with my boat, and some more great experiences!

Brittlestar on Sponge

Sunday...

Another not so difficult day, other than still not being 100%.
 I got up this morning and still feel sluggish. Patty said that it is not DCS. Good for me! She told me I just need to get a little hammock time. I told her I would see how I felt after breakfast.
 I ate some french toast, and went to load the boat. Got the boat set up, and decided that I would go out, but not dive.
 That was a mistake..... The seas were 4-5' and the boat was rocking. I helped get all of the divers into the water, and sat on deck.  It was all I could do to not feed the fish my breakfast.
 After the dive was done, we took the divers to the drop off and came back in. We unloaded the boat and had lunch.
 I decided after lunch that I was going to take Patty's advise and do some hammock time. I went to the boat and loaded up and then looked for my hammock. I spent 3 hours listening to Jimmy Buffet and watching the growing waves. It was a great decision. I hope I feel great in the AM.

 Dinner was roast pork and rice, with cake for dessert.

After dinner I went upstairs of the clubhouse and watched the Penguins game. I came back to the room and I am listening to the OT as I am typing this.....

Here's to a great day tomorrow....