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)