YCGL - March 4, 2025 - Even Better Laid Plans Oft Go Astray

 I had my alarm set for 7:30 so I could do my morning stuff, get my gear together and then walk over for a nice breakfast with Steve and Ralph for the boat to pick us up at 8:45 like yesterday.  Except as he walked out the door, Steve said, "Oh, by the way, Jeremy texted and we are leaving at 8:30."  Yikes, so I sped up as best I could and got to the breakfast buffet at 8:10 and gobbled up and got to the boat at 8:25 when it arrived.  Not the nice leisurely breakfast I was looking for.   

When we got on, there were only four other people on the boat, all previous Living Underwater customers.  Pepe told me about testing the Buoyancy Compensator and that it didn't leak and where we were going to put the weights this time, in the front and low.  Whatever.  The reef we were going to is Columbia Deep, on the south end of the island, close to Maracaibo, the southern most reef on the island and one listed for advanced divers.

When we got to the site, Ricardo and Pepe had my (and everyone else's) gear ready and we could roll over the side.  Pepe put the BC on me and told me to go down.  Which I did successfully.  (I've always been very good about being able to clear my ears and not let pressure build up.  Some people have great difficulty with that.)   I got situated, met up with Steve, kept an eye on Pepe, who kept an eye on me.  

This is like the old days.  I felt pretty good down there.   Rebalancing the weights really did help quite a bit.  I was far more stable and only had problems with buoyancy a couple of times.  And the coral heads at Columbia Deep are incredible.  Steve even swam through a couple of caves.  I'm not quite feeling that yet, so I stayed high.  

However, there was one pair of heads I did swim through.  As I came out right into another head, I saw something that grabbed me.  I starred at it for a while and it looks like a pure white coral formation with black strands across it, maybe two or three feet in diameter.  As I got closer to it, I finally realized it was a large hole in the coral head.  I was seeing the background light behind the hole and there was a lacy, lattice like black coral going across it.  It was breathtaking.  And I didn't have a camera.  

After that dive, we went to Palancar Beach for a snack and for down (actually, up time) time.  From there, we decided to go to Paradise Reef.  It happens to be just north of our hotel (the El Presidente) and is known for lots of fish and other animals.  And this time, I had my camera.  I bought it last year for me Caribbean cruise, and the snorkeling I did was hardly worth it.  

This time was much better.  I had a little more buoyancy problems, but not anything too wild.  And I took pictures.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I still had some problems with the camera, but they are still useful.  Mainly, I didn't have the flash set, so everything is blue-green and lacks red.  I'll correct that next time.  

 

Steve                                                             Lots of Yellow Grunts

I don't know what he is, but he fascinates me.

 

Different corals that showed up well.

Black Coral, Grunts and a Trumpet Fish (long and skinny)  A couple of Lobsters (4) under a ledge         

 

The lobsters and a trumpet fish

A Tang                                                              Black and White Coral and a Trumpetfish

Divemaster Pepe.  The pink and blue fins make him easy to spot underwater!

 

 I wear a dive skin when I dive.  It is just a thin very stretchy cloth covering that mainly just keeps the water around your body contained and can warm up a little.  (BTW, the water temperature has been between 78-81 degrees.  It's not bad.)  To give just a little bit more layer of water, I also wear a t-shirt.  I like to bring t-shirts from home.  Here is the one I wore today.

Liz's Oregon family, the Wilson's, will recognize that.  Nick's dad restored a Step Van and the family made the t-shirts in his honor.  RIP Bill.
 

Overall, a much better day of diving.  Better pictures coming on Thursday (I hope).

 

On Sunday, I signed up for a 50 minute massage for today.  You can arrive early and stay late and enjoy the cool, medium and hot pools (but even I walked into the hot pool and thought it felt great, so its not that hot), the sauna, the steam room or just a quiet room to sit in and enjoy.  It was a nice massage (though not like Lorena's at home) and I enjoyed all the amenities (except the quiet room) before I had to hustle off to get ready for dinner.

 

Today is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and is the final and most important day of Carnival.   There has been parades every day since Saturday (and maybe before??) and tonight is the last day to party before the religious season becomes Lent.  I've shown Carnival pictures before, so tonight's are the last.  After a good dinner at Colores y Sabores, the streets were packed with people.  Jammed!  The food carts couldn't move, and as the floats would pass, people stayed riveted to their spots on the curb.  

Tonight was float judging.  Even the little kids (mostly girls) are part of the party. 

 

On a downer note, my back hurt so badly downtown that I had trouble walking.  I would have to stop, bend over deeply and straighten up to walk every couple of hundred yards.  Maybe no diving tomorrow will help.  I'm going to have to look into it again when I get home.  

 YCGL - March 5, 2025 - A Day Off (and On) my Feet

 YCGL - March 3, 2025 - Scuba Diving - Downs and Ups - Updated