Staghorn, parrots and worms

Today was the first morning we could sleep-in, with our initial dive scheduled for eleven. We took care of a few home-related tasks on the computer, and then headed for breakfast. Our dive pod gradually filtered in, and we enjoyed some casual socializing over the morning spread. Everyone is assigned a ten-person pod group to dive with for the week. Ours is an assortment of folks from all over the States. We are the only Canadians in attendance this year.

For our first dive, we traveled north along the coastline. Once again, the dive master opted for an alternate site from the original plan. We ended up at Bon Bini na Kas—which means “welcome home.” It was a decent dive, though not as teeming with aquatic life as the previous day. Still, gliding past the soft corals was peaceful, and the Staghorn coral was especially fascinating.

Back on shore, we had a quick turnaround before the afternoon dive. Lunch was another delicious spread, featuring a variety of fresh salads and fish dishes.

Soon we were back on the boat, motoring toward the southern coast of the island. Our destination: Windsock Reef, near the airport. This dive did not disappoint. The reef was bursting with marine life—we spotted a couple of lobsters (one impressively large), several anemones, eels, barracuda (including a school chasing a shoal of fish), and plenty more.

Tonight’s social event focused on selecting charities to receive the proceeds raised throughout the week. Diving for Life was founded 33 years ago to "unite all gay and lesbian divers while raising money" for AIDS. Since then, it has grown into an annual event attended by members or allies, united by a shared love of diving and a commitment to giving back to a multitude of community organizations around the world. We have requested funds from our participation be allocated to Rainbow Refugee.Read more