Wish I was going too...

My wife and I were eating sushi in our local Sushi Restaurant when my wife asked the two men setting next to us if they were (scuba) divers. This was the start of a 30 minute conversation between the four of us. One was wearing a coat with a Scuba shop info on its back and the younger man had a Cosmeul Mexico T-shirt and cap.

The conversation started with diving memorys of a trip we took to Cosmusel and and Grand Cayman several years ago. My wife is facinated with finding out what the different things and fish we see are. We have lots of books on the shelf identifying everything you can think of.

After a few minutes the conversation turned to Hawaii where we now enjoy snorkeling. As it always happens when divers get together they talk about the different things they see and their experiences. My wife excitedly talked about the "little white lacy fish" she found and we finally identified as a White Scorpion Fish. We also found a "lizard fish" that was so camafouged that it never moved. It was so confident that it blended into its surrounding that it felt totally safe even when I put my camera right up to its face.

Soon, the conversation turned to the upcoming trip to the two men were going to lead to Cosumel with a group of beginning divers and a group of instructors. The two men were advanced divers and PADI Instructors. The teenage students were to do their "open Water" test in the warm waters of Cosmusel. What a way to start your scuba diving experience. After they passed the open water test they were going to experience 3-4 dives per day for a whole week, diving all the wonderful sits near Cosumel.

In between the dives the students will experience talks on the environment, the effects of global warming on the coral reefs, and in depth talks on where they were diving and what they would see. What a great way to introduce teenage students to the environment we live in and the need to care for it.

The younger man was also going to be the videographer for the trip and put together a video for everyone to have to remember the trip.

Of course, I asked the same question that many others have asked, "Do you need someone to go along and carry tanks and weight belts around?" They laughed and said that they they have had many others ask the same thing,

Wow, what a way to learn how to scuba dive!

Our conversation ended after a brief discussion about identifying something my wife saw in Hawaii. Now to find a pic of it and send to the older man who is friends with a specialist in identifying underwater life.

I love islands

One of the more relaxing places for my wife and I to go is the Big Island. No, I did not mean Long Island, I mean the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a nice cross between being a tourist destination and a more relaxed, slower pace.

We have stayed in a couple of places when visiting. The 1st time was at Mountain View at the Black Sand beach on the southern end of the Island. We flew into Hilo and drove there in the dark. Surprisingly, it was easy to find where we were going.

The 2nd and 3rd times to this wonderful island we flew into Kona and stayed there. When on the Big Island we stay at a timeshare condo that we own.

I could not tell you how many times we have driven around this island. The 1st time we were there we put over 1700 miles on our rented car in 10 days. I learned my way around the island very quickly.

The next two times we did not drive as many miles but still circled the island many times. It seems that we found a wonderful place on the Hilo side to snorkel which caused us to do a lot of driving. First we would drive one way and then the next time we would go the other way to unwind - just kidding.

The Black Sand beach is one of our favorite stops because we love the turtles that come onto the beach to sun themselves but to also lay their eggs. The turtles are protected so you do not want to harass them. In fact, you are suppose to stay 10 feet away from them. When in the water you are to let the turtles come up to you (you still are not supposed to touch then). They are really very gentle and fun to watch when in the water.

Honu (turtle) at the Black Sand Beach, Big Island, Hawaii

I will return to the Big Island many times in this Blog. Why? Because I like the island and feel like home when there. Also, because I can. I know that may not be a valid reason but I do like the Islands of Hawaii, I like the warm water, the warm climate, and the culture and people. So, be prepared to read about Hawaii in this blog.

Yes, I will write about other places too.