Utila

I made it to the island of Utila Friday morning. I successfully slept through the hour long ferry ride on the Utila Princess, or the Vomit Comet as it is affectionately known. Luckily it was a calm day on the water!

It has been great to see my sister again after over a year! I've been meeting all her friends and seeing what she's been up to these last 9 months!

Utila has been living up to expectations so far. It is a small island in the caribean and oh man is it HOT here! Hot and humid. It has both the mosquitos and lush vegetation to match. The first day we went to the beach. The water is clear and warm- pretty wonderful really. But then I was bit to death by mosquitos and sand flies when I laid on the beach.

Yesterday was my first diving day! I did a "tune up" with Caitlin, going over different rules and safety issues then doing a mini dive off the dock and practicing things like losing my mask and getting my air turned off. Hopefully things that will never actually happen! Caitlin is a great instructor though and it all went well.

In the afternoon we went out on the Virus, her shop's dive boat. The first site we swam through these incredible partial cave formations. We saw a giant stingray which swam right under me and lots of coral and beautiful fish. The second dive we encountered an enormous scorpion fish and a row of squid swimming along in a perfectly straight line. They seem to be looking straight at you as they go by. A little disconcerting, but I really enjoyed them.

I will start my course for advanced open water soon! In the meantime I'm planning on exploring the island more- there is a beach with shade trees and hammocks calling my name!