Day Two

Day Two

Slept well, woke up multiple times from 6 until 8:50, when my alarm was set for. Had a shower and headed down to the dive shop. There is a restaurant attached so I had some breakfast since the owners told me there weren't open until 10am on Sundays. Ate Banana Pancakes, they were FANTASTIC, best pancakes I've consumed hands down. After about 5 coffee’s and some more fresh air, The dive shop opened and I headed down there to see what I would be doing all day. 

I did some dive theory, and then took a break for lunch. I had fish taco’s, they were deep fried and had some sort of spicy sauce on them. They were fantastic, best fish taco’s I've had hands down. And I've had them many times in mexico and the Dominican. After that, we suited up with our dive gear. Good lord – it is HEAVY. We walked down to Half Moon Bay, and went in for my confined water dives, the first of 3-4. Well I was the only student, and according to my teach, I did awesome. So we finished ALL of the material in one dive. Some interesting stuff was covered. The ones that worried me most was taking my mask off and swimming for 20 years, and breathing through a “busted regulator”. I passed them both on the first try – thank god. We went back to the dive shop, unloaded, hung out for a bit and then I was off to the hotel to get freshened up. 

Got to the hotel, my neighbor was on the deck so I chatted with him. They are almost done their trip, and he wanted to go to the sailboat in Half Moon Bay that has a rope swing attached. It is an abandoned sailboat that you have to swim to, and it is not a quick swim – takes about 10-15 minutes to get there. I chilled for a bit, and then grabbed the GoPro camera, and headed to the beach in front of the hotel. We swam out there – it surprised me how far it was – Thank god i have been swimming a little bit in the last month. It was fun, there was a bunch of islanders on it, they were swinging three at a time from a really high platform they had built. I got a video of me, and then we swam back in to get ready for the night. 

Showered up and then walked down the main road, stopped at a place called “Monkey Bay” Ordered some delicious Ceviche and a beer. I met some Americans from Phoenix there, they were nice – one of them was doing his 100th dive today, and he had only been diving since 2009 – I have a feeling I may get addicted to this.

Shrimp & Conch Ceviche - Add a little hot sauce and a Salva Vida Beer - Delicious

 After that I headed down to the Sundowners beach bar again for the end of happy hour. Happy hour is 5-7 here, and beers are half price (30 Lempira, which is $1.50) Ordered 2 beer, right at 7pm. Sat beside a local islander, didn't get his name. He claimed he had married a Canadian who was from Alberta, although he said she lived on the west coast – I don’t think he knew his geography that well. Chatted with him for a while about random stuff – he wanted me to come with him to another  bar down the road, for some live island music and a good time. I didn't like the sounds of it, even though he seemed like a legit person – so I finished my beers and told him I was tired and was going back to the hotel. 

Now here I am, sitting on the deck chatting to friends on Facebook and writing about my trip so far. I cant believe this island, I have never experienced something so different in my entire life. I've travelled to Mexico twice, and the Dominican three times since 2009 – I also went on a cruise when I was younger. This place beats all of them, immensely. I’ve spoken to many people here so far, tourists, islanders, and people who now call this island home. It sounds like a lot of people move here after visiting. I'm not kidding, I would say literally 50% of people I’ve talked to so far, have moved here after visiting here. Well that is it for tonight, I’m going to finish my last Salva Vida of the day, and head to bed. I have to get up early to study my dive book since I didn’t do any of it tonight. Maybe ill get some more banana pancakes.... maybe ill cook some eggs and bacon in my room – haven’t decided yet. All I know is that I’m going to bed tonight with a new perspective on travelling, and people in general. I can’t believe i’ve been so lucky so far in this trip. I'm sure Ill have more to report tomorrow.