It was January 2nd, 2007

They say you'll never forget your 1st time!  Mine was in St. Thomas.
Ok, so my first scuba dive ever was actually at Scuba 2000 about a month earlier. That in itself had been a totally amazing experience, but to be completely honest it was also very disappointing. Nothing against Scuba 2000, as I would recommend them to anyone who wants to try diving!!!!  but because after only about 30 seconds under the water in their pool I knew that I loved scuba diving and I just wanted to get out and explore the real water!!!   

Tasha and I were on our big  06-07 New Years Eastern Caribbean Cruise and while in St. Thomas I decided to do a PADI Discovery dive. It wasn't Tasha's thing, but she agreed to come along for support & the beach time  :o)   I'd always wanted to scuba dive, but for some reason had never actually done it.   Above is the 1st underwater photo that I took on that Dive.  :o)    I think that my parents may have given me that disposable underwater camera for Christmas that year. I am so thankful that I had it and that I have the photos from my 1st open water dive ever!  (fyi, if you click on a photo, it will bring it up bigger) 

Once our ship docked in St. Thomas we were escorted onto a modified school bus and during the 20 minute or so drive to the beach a woman stood at the front of the bus and attempted to reviewed with us the general principals of diving. I say she attempted as if I remember correctly the bus was traveling about 80km/hr through very windy roads while dodging what I think were goats....  I do remember learning a few hand signals & how to clear my snorkel.....  ya.....  in hindsight I don't think we were  really appropriately prepared, but let's move forward...  Once at the beach we had some time to snorkel & lay in the sun. I believe that Tasha chose to lie in the sun and I chose to be about 20 feet from shore hand feeding the fish doggie biscuits.  (we were given the doggie biscuits for that purpose) 

Once it came time for my groups dive, our gear was strapped on us and away we went. It was easy, it was perfect, just like I'd done it a million times before! It was just like I had dreamed! If I remember correctly we were a dive group of four.  A father daughter duo, our Dive Master and I. We followed the shore line down for a little while, and I think if I had to guess, I'd say that we maybe got to about 20 - 25 ft (6-8 m) deep, although I really had no frame of reference at that time, (and I certainly didn't know how to ready any of my gauges, if there were any) so it may have been much less.  There were lots of little colourful fishes to look at,  and our Dive Master even got a photo of me holding a spider crab.  It was a perfect 1st dive!  

Tasha and I returned home from our amazing and crazy trip later that week only to find out that 2007 was about to really begin!   The year that began almost perfectly while drifting somewhere in the Eastern Caribbean sea turned into what seemed like the perfect storm. The memorable year involved pregnancies, weddings, condo buying, house selling, broken ankles,  failing kidneys, ICUs,  a much needed trip to Disney World (yea Mickey)  and wayyy too much other bullshit that's just not worth mentioning.  Needless to say my opportunity to become a certified diver would have to wait until a weekend in February 2008. 

November the What?

How is it almost December?!?  When did that happen?  Oh my goodness!

I'm sure part of my shock has to do with the fact that it's still fall here in Ontario.  The weather has been great & we haven't had any temps below 0c yet, most days have been around 10c.  Watch this be the only green winter in the history of Toronto! I'm sure the other piece of the puzzle is that I'm maybe a little bit in denial.... this has been a long time in the planning.  


I remember first talking to some friends about this idea on a trip to Toby back in October last year (2008). By the time we all took our trip to  Roatan last December I had decided that I wanted to do this and was definitely beginning to seriously explore my options.  Originally I was looking into two schools : Mermaid's Dive Centre in Pattaya, Thailand  &  Neptune's Diving in Manzanillo, Mexico.  Thailand quickly dropped off the list and Manzanillo seemed like a really good possibility. (keep in mind that I still hadn't run any of this by work at this point, so in some ways I was really still just dreaming)  Lise and I had plans to escape in February for a week to somewhere that fit our four pieces of criteria.    1)  Warm sun & a pool to doze off next to   2)  Margaritas for Lise  3)  Diving for Liz   4) Affordable.  It just so happened that the Neptune's Diving Centre was connected with Barcelo Karmina Palace in Manzanillo and Air Transat had a great deal on an all-inclusive package.  (Perfect right!)  The resort was beautiful, the community around the resort was very accessible & friendly,  the school & program looked great and I had even managed just fine at Starbucks with my broken spanish, it was perfect!  I all but had my apartment picked out!  The only problem was the diving....  Who knew that the pacific side of Mexico wasn't really a great location for diving?  It was warm, so it must be better than Ontario diving right??  Well kind of.  The temperature was definitely better, but the visibility & marine life didn't really score many extra points.

Ok, so we may not have sting rays in Tobermory, Ontario... but if you've seen any of my other photos, you'll know that we can (and I say can) have better visibility.  Sure, they probably do on occasion in Manzanillo too, but at this point I was thinking that I have zero interest in spending two-three months under water here! Truth be told, I only did one 2 tank dive while I was there for the whole week.  I'd been spoiled in Roatan only 2 months prior on my week long diving trip with my S2K buddies at Fantasy Island, which had included an amazing dive with black tipped reef shark and 100+ foot (30+ meters) visibility. Green & mirky just wasn't what I had been dreaming of.

Not long after I returned home from Mexico I provided some shore support for some crazy friends of mine who were getting their Ice Diving Certification.  (CRAZY! ~ see photo below)  There I got chatting with one of the instructors, Rob who is a commercial diver. Rob had trained on Utila at UDC and quickly said that I should seriously consider that option.  (Thank you Rob) It's funny looking back now, but I had no clue where Utila was. Embarrassing considering that I'd spent a week on Roatan, which is the island next to Utila only 2 months prior.  How I ever passed geography is beyond me!

It didn't take long after I googled Utila Dive Centre that I'd made up my mind. The school itself looked great. It has a 5-Star PADI Rating & is the only certified PADI Career Development Centre in all of Central America.  Sure the island was a tad bit more rustic than what I was used to, or was planning for, but the diving is some of the best in the world & what more can you ask for?  I can live with the sand fleas & diesel generated power in exchange for a chance at experiencing sharing the ocean with a whale shark.  Who couldn't?  and let's face it.  unplugging (at least to some extent) for 2-months will do me some good!!!  Chances are it will be the trip home that will be the hardest part.

The photos below were taken in Roatan, Honduras last December at a beautiful dive site called "Mary's Place"......  :o)

sixty six !

Today was one of those days that makes you want to start drinking at 10:30am.  They type of day where you don't just think about it, but you and several others actually openly discuss how it might be a good idea.  Needless to say I found myself dreaming of my journey to Utila and counting down how many days it is until I am in another time zone.....  66!!   :o)    Actually I have an iPhone App for that, and if it's correct, as I post this I have 65 days  15 hours  and 12 minutes remaining until my 1st flight is scheduled to take off.   On days like this I wish that there were only 12 seconds left.   But truthfully, if I really stop and think about it ... I don't know how I'm going to get everything that I need to get done, done?  At some point I'll organize everything that needs to be organized...... I just need to figure out how to stop chasing my tail first!

Ok, back to the warm sun, ocean air & nitrogen narcosis!  Using my expertise with the various travel websites  (LOL)  I was able to find myself some great deals and have booked everything in regards to hotels & a vehicle for the trip down. I'll be staying in Coco Beach on my way to Miami which I hear is beautiful!  (Sorry crazy unknown internet people, I won't be saying the name of the hotel till after I leave there)  And I  managed to get a great deal on a room at  hotel that I wanted in San Pedro Sula. Call me crazy for being particular but seeing that there is political unrest in Honduras, I don't know the area,  don't speak the language, and will be arriving after dark...  I wanted to stay at a certain hotel.   The best deal of all though was the rental car in Florida!! Since I'm picking the car up in Orlando and dropping it off in Miami I expected there to be a price increase of some sort, but to my surprise it was the exact opposite!  There seems to be a need for National Car Rental to move some convertibles from Orlando to Miami as I was able to book my hot little sports car for less than I could have booked a Toyota Corolla!

So today I am dreaming of a drive down the coast with the top down! :O)   I'll have to wear a ton of sunscreen & my hair will be bigger than ever,  (think Monica from Friends, when she was in the Bahamas)  but it sounds just perfect right now!

No Tampons?!?

109 days to go.....  guess who's counting        :o)

So I got an e-mail from Andy with Utila Dive Centre today, answering some questions that I had about my arrival, packing, etc....  and Andy was kind enough to send me a response to all of my questions as well as a  document with tons of information including an outline of the course schedule and a packing tip list.  (Very Helpful!)  I'll elaborate more in a moment, but let's get to the interesting part...  Listed under the "What is not available on Utila that you may need." section is Tampons......  Tampons?!? Seriously!?!  No Tampons?!?  I apologize to the sensitive men reading this but SERIOUSLY, NO TAMPONS?!?  It's a DIVING Island....   I just don't get it   Needless to say, I've now made mental space in my luggage for enough tampons for myself (which I'd planned on brining anyways) and for the unfortunate female that I may meet who didn't know.....  They are small and don't take up much space anyways.  :o)

So on to the stuff that the rest of you may find interesting.   Once I land in Utila I'll take a $3 (approx) cab ride (which I suspect will be on a golf cart) to the Mango Inn to check in to the dorm room that I'll be staying in for the first few nights. Once I get that over with I'll find my way down to the Utila Dive Centre, and Hopefully as mentioned before, I'll be able to get a dive in that day! Andy confirmed that I should wait till I'm on the island before finding an apartment. I guess it's best to see them in person and also see where they are in relation to the Dive Centre.  I'm sure that my motivation to find an apartment will be high, so I'll probably spend my first few days doing some fun dives and finding a place to call home for a while.

The Utila Dive Centre & the associated Mango Inn have some great facilities!  All three of their classrooms have air-conditioning and access to internet. There are 4 dive boats as well as they have their own 24-hour back-up generator.  The Mango Inn has a lovely deck and a pool (which we can use), restaurant and more internet   :o)

The Dive Master course schedule itself runs for approximately 4 weeks, Monday through Sunday, which I do believe means 7 days a week... Days begin anywhere between 7:00am and 10:00am and go from anywhere between 5:30pm and I think around 8:00pm (even later if doing night dives)  There seems to be plenty of down time and fun-dives worked into the schedule, so I'll be able to enjoy the island while studying and working as a DMT (Dive Master Trainee).

The Island is also home to the Utila Centre for Marine Ecology and other Marine Study Projects, so I will also have the opportunity to join in on boat survey trips looking for the rare Roughed-Toothed dolphins and WhaleSharks!! (yup! I said WhaleSharks!!!) I'm sure that I'll find lost of ways to fill up my limited free time!

Isla de Utila

Útila (Isla de Útila) is the third largest of Honduras' Bay Islands, after Roatán and Guanaja. The island is surrounded by vast coral reefs with prolific undersea life and is in a region that marks the south end of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second-largest in the world. Approximately 30km off the mainland of Honduras the small island of Utila is just 11 km long and 4 km at its widest point. 

Starting to come together

Slowly but surely things are beginning to come together. Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot to organize and process before January arrives, but some of the pieces are in place.

All of my flights have been booked for a few months now. YEA!! Here is the quick run-down:

      Jan 16th      YYZ -> MCO

      Jan 17th      MIA -> SAP

      Jan 18th      SAP -> (LCE) -> UII

      Mar 6th      UII -> (LCE) -> SAP -> MIA

      Mar 8th      FLL -> YYZ

So I'll be leaving Toronto on January 16th and making my way to Orlando, arriving early afternoon. I'm thinking of staying in Coco Beach, FL on the night of Jan 16th. (about an hour outside of Orlando) I have a feeling that come January I'll be fairly desperate to jump into an ocean! Plus, Kennedy Space centre is there, and I'd love to spend a few hours checking it out!

My flight to San Pedro Sula from Miami doesn't leave until early evening on the 17th, so I'll have all day to slowly drive down the coast & explore. I wanted to give myself an extra day in Florida on the way down just incase there are flight delays out of Toronto... it will be January after all! Then mid-morning on Monday January 18th I fly from San Pedro Sula to the island of Utila (via Le Ceiba) With any luck I'll be on the island in time to catch the afternoon dive boat!! :o)

My tuition with Utila Dive Centre includes the first four nights accommodations in a dorm room at the Mango Inn, which is connected with UDC. That will give me a few days to settle in and find an apartment to call home.

As I mentioned I still have tons to figure out. Car rentals for Florida as well as my hotels in Coco Beach and San Pedro Sula still need to be sorted out, but there is lots of time for that still. Work has been rather crazy these past few months, and I'm hoping that after October 15th I'll be able to take a few days off work to relax & then begin to prep.

I've been trying to think about what I'm going to need to pack and how I'm going to bring everything with me. The flight from SAP to UII is on a local airline which has a baggage restriction of 50lbs..... given that my dive gear weights about 25lbs I'm thinking that I'll be paying some extra baggage fees on that flight.

I'm going to be bringing the following dive gear with me....

BCD, reg set, mask, snorkel, fins (split-full foot), 3mm wetsuit, booties (just in case), weight belt (no weights), dive flashlight (2), underwater slate, horn, dive computer, log books, underwater camera housing and I'm sure a few other things that I'm forgetting to mention. I won't even start on my list of drugs and lotions that I have!! Lets just say that I'll be bringing enough pills, sunscreen, bug spray & neosporin to fill up that other 25 lbs of baggage allowance! LOL!

Sooo much to think about, I have lists coming out of my wazoo!! Thank god for my iPhone and the wonderful packing list App that i have

:o)

... it begins

I've held back from starting a blog for quite some time. Somehow I just don't believe that I'll be able to be open & honest in such a public forum.... For now I'm keeping my privacy setting quite tight, but maybe I'll loosen up over time.

So why now you ask? Well, this year I have something to document!! Three days ago I got final confirmation from my supervisor at work that I've been approved for a 2~month leave of absence starting January 16th, 2010 so that I can spend 7 weeks in Utila, Honduras completing my Dive Master Internship. :o) 12-months ago I wasn't even Open Water certified, and now I have firm plans to do this!

I spend some time researching several PADI approved schools in various locations around the world. I looked at one in Mexico as well as a few in the Philippines and Thailand. I ended up deciding to go with the Utila Dive Centre in Utila, Honduras. Not only do they have a 5-star PADI  rating (the highest rating a PADI facility can aspire to) they also have been awarded the only rating of a PADI Career Development Centre in all of Central America. On top of all of that, the Utila Dive Centre was also recommended to me by a local dive buddy who works as a Commercial Diver and trained though UDC.

Sooooo much to do between now and January!! Not only do I need to set-up my role at work so that others can fill in for the period that I'm gone, I also have to organize my non-work life so that this can be possible...... Some how I'll manage :o)

Ok, well I did it. I started a blog...... :o)