Today we went to ‘Choppers’ to catch the World Superbikes 1st Race but when we got there it wasn’t on, so refused to order anything for about 20 minutes, then got fed up and left to go to ‘Cafe Corner’ for breakfast.  There, they were showing the devastation in Chile  ..thankfully our friends Tim & Magda who live Coyhaique, south Chili were not affected (we think).   As for the Tsumami warnings in Hawai, Oz and New Zealand ..frightening stuff.  We’re not affect thankfully, being in the gulf has it’s advantages. Anyway, walking back to bike we walked passed ‘Choppers’ again and low and behold, the Superbikes were on  …typical  ..Si was not happy  at all.

Our afternoon dives were at ‘Mango Bay’ and ‘Twins’   ..The visibility at Mango was terrrible, we could just about see the guys in front of us  ..God knows we were going  ..anyway, 30mins in or so, we headed into shallower water where funnily enough it was crystal clear  ..whats that all about?!  …our second dive was at ‘Twins’ diving conditions were perfect!   We showed the group we were with around Buoyancy World.

Since we last dove, structures had been moved and there were a couple of guys down there putting together the massive octopus  ..it’s really going to look good once it’s finished.  I did a count of the bamboo structures and theres still 30 to move  ..so we’ll have to round up a few people for that job.

Back on dry land, we washed our kit and headed for a quick drink at the bar before getting a takeaway.   Back home Alan & Heidi were having a BBQ  ..with music blasting and friends gathered around the BBQ.

We munched our takeaway which was tasty and very cheap (110Baht) whilst things were slowly cooking on the BBQ  …there was enough in our takeaway for 2 days, portions so big  ..knowing that I had more in the fridge I went for seconds  ..what a gannet I am LOL
There was quite a mixture of people, Thai, French, American and German  …only spoke to a few of them but they all seemed really nice.  Later, Alan pulled out the biggest tub of ice cream Id ever seen and we all tucked in.  By this time I was more that full  ARGH!!!!   As the evening passed, most of the gang went down to the games room to play pool.  Si, Tom (our neigbour) & Fred retired to our lounge for a quiet drink and chat.

A great evening had!!

Today we have a ‘Dive site clean up’!    I love doing these  …basically its a dive but we collect rubbish that’s made it’s way into the ocean.

Today we’re diving off Freedom Beach  ..Crystal Dive has 22 volunteers out on their boat amongst a number of other dive schools. On the boat we’re split into small groups of 3/4 divers, given bags to collect rubbish with a pair of scissors if needed to cut any netting tangled up and and then sent off into different directions to hunt for rubbish.

You’ll be amazed at what you find.  Batteries, hair & toothbrushes, clothes, fan belts, big ole biscuit tins, rope and loads of netting.  As bags are filled, either one or all of the divers within that group would ascend and call over the longtail boat to collect the bag and empty it for us and then we’d drop back down to collect more.
My biggest find was around 20 or so fanbelts ..I just dont understand why people throw rubbish into the sea.  I suppose they think what the eye doesn’t see, doesn’t hurt….

Crystal boat was responsible for carrying all the rubbish back to the pier so that we could sort through it in order to get an idea who or what was the biggest offender and possibly take steps into prevention.

Later on we went to ‘Dirty Nellys’ for a drink, watch the new Open Water students video and then headed back down to Crystal bar where a ‘Snorkel Test’ was taking place for the 5 newly qualified Dive Masters.
If  you don’t remember what this entails, then check out post of  Friday, 3 April 2009

As the mayhem settled and people dispersed, we bumped into Tom (fellow instructor) and his friend Frederica, who’s visiting from France.  We chatted for a couple of beers and then headed off home stopping on the way to grab a takeaway as we were starving.

As usual Simon was already working by the time I got up.  Connection hasn’t been great but he’s struggling on through.  I made tea and pottered about for a bit.  Heidi popped down to see if we wanted to go snorkelling at ‘Shark Bay’, as Si was busy I went on my own.   Alan was already down in town having a massage, so Heide drove their jeep down to Crystal so I could pick up my fins and mask, threw them in the boot and then waited in the shade for Alan to turn up.  He parked up his bike and jumped in the jeep and we headed off.

After parking and walking down some monstrous steps, we got our gear on and jumped in.  It wasn’t long before we saw some black tip reef sharks, a trigger fish happily munching away (thankfully) and the biggest puffa fish I’ve seen in a long time. Conditions for snorkelling were perfect.  Black tips were everywhere, I think in one count there were about a dozen or so, nothing compared the 40 which Alan and Heidi saw last week.

I’ve only been to Shark Bay a couple of times, the first time I only saw a couple but only briefly and the second time, none at all, so seeing so many around me I felt a little nervous and apprehensive that they were going to attack  …but they were just chilling taking no notice of us at all.  There were couple of times when Heidi and I turned around and one would swim between us  …Awesome!!
The funniest thing I saw down there was a chaps privates as he attempted to mermaid swm underwater and his trunks ended up around his knees.  I pretended I didn’t see and ended up nearly choking with laughter
Two or so hours later, after getting a burnt butt, we swam back and dried ourselves and climbed the humungous steps and clambered in the jeep.

Back home, Si was still working!!

After a 11hr day, Si had finished and we showered and headed out to ‘Vibe’ for a beer or two and then ended up moving to the ‘Fizz’ and another beach bar where we met Nathan (Eco man) & Teresa (Dive Master Trainee) for more beer, eco chats and then around 11pm we left to get a takeaway and head home to watch LOST

Jen x