Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today was a very action-packed day with two dives, sailing, watersports, dingy rides, and drawing/games. The day started at 6:00 am and we went underway to our first dive site called “Shark Planes” at The Dogs Island. While underway, we had cereal and chopped fruit for breakfast. The dive was a fun dive for both Dolphin and Neptune. The dive site was awesome and exactly what it sounds like fiberglass shark-plane statues on a sand patch next to a reef. It was about 45 feet down, and many of us took photos and swam around the dive site. We saw a Barracuda and basically had an underwater photoshoot with the statues. After we surfaced, Katie, Parker, and I went to the roof to relax, and many of the Dolphins worked on their underwater naturalist book and fish ID books.
We then went underway to our next dive site called “The Chimneys” and prepared for lunch. Our chefs, Megan and Sean, prepared Ramen, which was delicious. Katie and Parker took the lead on sailing to the dive site. Once we arrived, we set up our dive gear and had a briefing for our underwater naturalist dive, where we worked on identifying different types of underwater organisms. This was the 2nd naturalist dive for the Dolphins and the first for the Neptunes. Then we hopped in and went down. The dive site was overall really amazing. There was beautiful coral with many different types of fish and other species. Some of my favorites were the flamingo tongue snails and parrotfish. There was also a swim that we went through, which was super amazing, and we got to see a lot of hidden fish and animals. On the dive, we focused on looking at symbiosis between species and identifying those relationships. This was our longest dive so far which lasted around 43 minutes. After we surfaced it was about 2:30 and many of the Dolphins including Will, Paloma, Jasper, Megan, Reese, Malea, Sean, and I sat at the table outside to fill out our dive logs and work on our fish ID packet. Paloma specifically made some amazing and detailed drawings in her fish log.
Meanwhile, Parker, Katie, and Maya worked to sail and steer the boat to our anchorage for the night. After finishing the fish ID packets, we relaxed and chatted before the water sports. Dinghy showed up to take five people waterskiing. Paloma, Parker, Sean, Jasper, and I went. Parker and I wakeboarded while Paloma, Sean, and Jasper knee-boarded, and all did amazing. The rest of the crew took the dinghy out and went for a swim. Mason, Reese, and Katie all did flips off the dingy and banana sunset photos were captured. The rest of us soon joined them at the dinghy for a swim and more photos. We then headed back to the boat and Kyler had prepared a scrumptious dinner. It was veggie burgers, beans, and mashed potatoes, which were all really good. After dinner, we cleaned everything up, and then we all took a nighttime ocean shower filled with many interesting stories and laughs. Maya, Malea, Megan, Will, and Reese are now playing qwirkl inside, and we are getting ready for squeeze and forum night. Overall, the day was super nice, with gorgeous weather and very interesting dives!
XO, Forever For Now
PS: Hi, Mom and Dad! I survived night diving😛