I wake up feeling like a kid on Christmas who just got gifted half a Barbie. It is partially what I asked for, but now I have to deal with managing the missing parts. Kerrin said he would come through the halls and wake us with a jingle of his creating, but Caleb prefers to be up hours before that, so I figured with half an hour to go, I would just get up so I could take some medicine and combat the feeling of exhaustion that has taken over. I appreciate the sunrise on the way to the dining room where others are gathered with hot teas, coffees, and notebooks.

Kerrin gives us the plan of the day and lets us know when the first dive brief will start. There is one given for each dive site so that divers know the temperature, current conditions, visibility, map of the area, and a general idea of what they might see, etc. Another important purpose for these exchanges of information is making sure that everyone has a dive buddy (unless they are Emma J., “VIP client,” or Helen, “video pro”), as groups can change throughout the day. By one person not listening to instructions, she misleads some of the other guests to start in on the crew’s breakfast instead of waiting for the bell that announces we can sit at the tables or line up for the buffet.

Starting at 6am, the crew is kept busy until 10pm. This morning they help with breakfast, filling tanks, and mooring the catamaran. Every diver should always do a buddy check for air and weights, etc., but the crew here also put eyes and hands on during their checks to minimize mishaps. Our first stop is Goggle Gardens, and we are on a flag system (green = good, yellow = slight current, and red = also slight current). If you plan on being down longer than an hour, just let the crew know, as they keep track of entry/exit times, bottom time, and max depth for every dive. There is a member on the sun deck to keep an eye on the site in case someone might need retrieval via the dinghy.

I put on my 5mm wetsuit thinking that would be enough for the 77-79°F water. Caleb told me to dive with 16 pounds, and I only took 12, so I struggled to go below six feet as the current carried me away from the site and the boat. This brings me to the biggest state of panic in my diving memory. Never have I wanted to take my regulator (breathing hose) out so badly, but I did and swallowed the ocean as it swelled into my face. I put my back to the boat to combat this, and when I turned around, someone had a pole out that I could grab. I held onto the boat while they grabbed me two more pounds and some defog for my mask.

Luckily, Caleb had been motioned to return to the boat to wait on his dive buddy and grabbed me an extra weight that I would pocket on our descent. My average depth is 20 feet, and I come up after 56 minutes. There is so much colorful coral, and I get to see a ray flying by. The second dive at Two Towers feels colder, after climbing back into my wet gear, so we can keep the boat interior as dry as reasonable. I go down to 67ft before staying around 31ft for almost another hour. We’re both tired, and lunch just increases that feeling for me, so I spend two hours in bed missing the afternoon dives, and feel no different.

We saw a pod of about ten dolphins during lunch. The night dive starts at sunset (roughly 610pm), and though the water may be the same temperature, the wind blowing on wet gear just isn’t enticing. I’m bummed that we’re not going on all the dives and snorkeling in between like I told some of the people when I was still at 95%, but I also don’t want to wear myself out and miss a day of diving, so we must pace ourselves. Caleb is fine missing the night dive too, so we shower and have dinner at 8, which gives others a chance to get cleaned up for Asian night with a glass of wine and churros with ice cream. Divers can eat just as much as thru-hikers, and though I’m ready for bed, I stay up to let my food settle.