Day 38: My First Dive Thursday, November 8th Galapagos, Island Santa Cruz Stayed at Darwin Hostel (Day 6 in the Galapagos) Dear Obiwan, Obiwan Kenobi I went diving today for the first time and it was SO INCREDIBLE. I honestly still feel a little speechless. Today’s trip was to Seymor Island, one of the diving spots around Santa Cruz. The plan was for me to dive with the owner of the dive place, Rene, and everyone else to dive with Rene’s son. Tamara is a rescue diver and worked I’m Thailand for 3 months and currently has 71 fricken dives in her life! Itay just learned in Colombia so he has like…7?
We arrived at 7 like Carlos told us but we were told to return at 1030 due to the condition of the ocean.
On the boat we met Margaux, another solo traveler from France! She was also going to dive with the experienced divers.
After about 30 minutes riding around the islands we were at Seymore Island, one of the dive sites in Santa Cruz. My dive instructor Rene helped me get my gear on and as I was standing there with all my gear on about to jump into the ocean, I stared to get nervous. Obi, the water is SO ROUGH in the Galapagos, it calms down during ‘high season’ which is when it is warmer and the visibility in the water is better (also means it is much more expensive here!). So as I’m sitting there waiting to go in the water, the waves are splashing violently against the boat and bringing the boat up so high and then down so low.
Here’s a look of confidence from your Mama Obi, also, diving is a good look, everyone looks VERY ATTRACTIVE!
Finally, it was time Obi. Rene helped me get on the side of the boat, which was difficult with all the weight of the tank and the gear, and then he told me to jump in and hold onto the rope on the side of the boat. So…I jumped! And then I was IN the rough waters going up and down…and the water was so cold Obi! But I was wearing a wetsuit so you quickly warm up. Moments later Rene jumped in and made sure all my gear was ready, then he told me we were going to go under and he squeezed a button on my vest to let out all the air and then you just SINK under water! And after a few feet the water is calmer and so much easier to manage than on top of the water. He kept checking all my gear and kept asking if I am okay, which in diving world you have to give the OKAY symbol by putting your thumb and pointer finger together and then spreading your other three fingers apart, like this-.
And then Obiwan, I was diving! With ‘Discovery Dives’ the dive master has to hold your hand the whole time, which makes you feel very safe and watched after. He led me to some coral under the water and it honestly is just so magical. You see SO MANY FISH that are all so beautiful and most of them swim in schools so you are swimming right next to hundreds of fish all moving together as one. And also- YOU FEEL WEIGHTLESS you are practically floating and I just swam all around like a mermaid sometimes when Rene would let go of my hand. Rene was also just the best to dive with because he was so much fun and encourages you to dance under water and knows where to find all the fish and beautiful rocks. While under water he swam directly to A BUNCH OF BLACK TIP REEF SHARKS. Obi, he had me go SO CLOSE to them, so close if I moved my arm I would have been touching them. At one point he had me get very close to take a picture with his GOPro and one shark moved (most of them were sleeping) and I freaked out and jumped back and he immediately hugged me and told me to breathe and made sure I was okay, he also motioned to show me that they are not dangerous. It just is so counterintuitive to GO UP TO SHARKS, but I did! And you realize they literally could care less about you!
I had given up on the idea of learning to dive once I left Colombia Obi, but after this experience I was hooked. I wanted to do it again and again AND I want to get the certification so I don’t’ need someone holding my hand! And the certification allows you to dive ALL OVER THE WORLD! Here are the rest of the pictures and videos from the dive!
Also on the boat with us were 2 nice guys getting their PADI open water certification! Here are some photos:
During dives I had some waiting on the boat and it was beautiful!:
Here is all of us after our dives!!!:
And then, of course, look who was all over the docks when we got back!:
After the dive we went back to our new hostel Darwin Hostel and discovered that the shower was so awful, the shower head fell off and almost killed us at one point and then was shooting cold water at us…But it was okay.
Later Rene had us come back to watch all the dive videos from the agency’s GoPro. As we were watching my first dive videos Rene turned to me and said “you’re a natural! Look, you’re very graceful in the water! You’re meant for diving!” Obi, you know how clumsy I am on land, you know that when I was half living with Jon and Charlie and Steve that they wanted me to pay ‘Carly Insurance’ for all the stuff I would randomly accidentally knock over and break…I am NOT graceful, and no one has ever called me that. But, he said I was graceful underwater! Maybe it is where I should be? The land might just not be for me Obiwan.
After this we had an odd interaction with the guy Carlos who we got all our amazing deals from and then we ended the day with getting ice cream again at our favorite shop…they had pistachio!! Then we were off to get a good night sleep before tomorrow’s adventure!
Love you so much my Jedi,
Tu Madre, Carly
Dear Obiwan 