Grand Cayman 2023
Day 9: Diving and a white dress
We were able to sleep in until 6:30am this morning but I'm sure being out and up so late the night before took its toll on us and contributed to this.
Today we were going to have to figure out what we were doing for meals because the stores are not open in Grand Cayman on Sundays. Plus the fact that we were trying to use up all the food we had brought with us so that our luggage would be lighter on the way home and less to pack. I had brought a smaller suitcase with us this time that contained just our food and my goal was to be able to pack that small suitcase into the larger one and only have to lug around 3 suitcases in total on the way home. So....everyone eat up the rest of the food please!!
Sakari woke up at 8am and then quickly disappeared. She didn't even stick around for breakfast even after we had waited on her to get up before we ate. I started looking for her and found her back out on the dock fishing. I guess she knew that she had to take the fishing pole back today and she wanted to get the most out of it.
I walked down to see if she was having any luck and she had not caught one fish. They had actually wised up and was stealing her bait this time around.
We had a few visitors this morning around the pool and in the tree. The bird in the tree was a little more vocal and sang for us for awhile. It was kind of blending in with the tree and took me forever to find it but it had an American Idol voice for sure.
Sakari was on her last piece of squid and managed to catch...absolutely nothing. The water was real stirred up today as well and it started to sprinkle again. So, the fishing gig was over and it was time to take her pole back to the bait shop but she had a great experience. We will have to do this again on vacation because she enjoyed it so much.
When we returned the rod, the lady (Millie) was there promptly at 10am and said "Oh, I thought you would at least keep it a little longer". I told her she was out at the dock early this morning using up the rest of the bait and about all the fish she had caught. Millie was so nice. She told me to make sure to give her a good review online...and I still need to do that because she was awesome. So if you are staying in Grand Cayman on the North side, make sure to go to NORTH COAST BAIT & TACKLE at Old Man Bay. They also do fishing trips where they'll take you fishing and cook your catch at a private beachside setting with picnic tables and hammocks. If I would have known about that, I probably would have inquired a little more and done this fishing trip (because from the sounds of it, they can do by shore or at the reef).
When she returned my money, I ask if I could have change in Cayman Dollars and she obliged and I was happy to have some very pretty money handed to me to add to my collection at home.
Once back at the house, I had the hubby lug the luggage downstairs and I started to pack and get some more of our laundry done. Then came the chore of trying to put together a puzzle piece of stuffing things in the smaller luggage and then putting that luggage into the bigger one. I tried every way I could possibly think of and nothing was working. Remove luggage, insert luggage, rearrange luggage. Nope! It just wasn't fitting and wasn't going to no matter how many times I arranged it. I was defeated. I guess we were going to be carrying 4 luggage home with us after all.
We watched a movie as I did this...waiting for our time to count down until it was time to leave for our scuba diving at Eden Rock. I knew that the water was a little churned up from the storms the previous day but was hopeful that it wouldn't affect us during the dive.
We arrived at the dive center at 1pm and the guy I spoke to about diving was there and he was going to be the one to take us out. I was glad because I really liked him. We signed our forms and I showed him Sakari's dive book filled with all of our previous dives and the dive we just took the other day.
He put all of our equipment together for us and I psyched myself up for the dive, hoping that I wouldn't have any bloopers this time around...because you just never know with me...and this would be the first time we would dive and NOT doing any class OR the skills prior to the dive. This was going to be as if we were actually divers...only with a guide. Get in water and GOOOOOOO.
He gave us a key to the lockers and we shoved our belongings in it. We were armed with a crap ton of photography junk to take along with us so that I would be able to do this review and show all you fine people what you are missing out on if you have never went diving and then it was time for ME to put my equipment on. Yes, you heard that right. The other day diving gave me new hope. Hope I had never had before about trying to walk and dive with my equipment on.
I told our instructor about my leg and showed him my battle scars and elephant foot. I told him I had not been able to carry a tank on my back since 2019 BUT I had managed to come out of the water, on a ladder, the other day by myself and was quite proud of it. This time around I wanted to try to do it all. I wanted to go down the ladder and get in the water. He told me this was ok and that there are 2 ladders to enter the water. One was straight up and down and the other had a bit of a gradual decline and we would go down that one. If for any reason I felt like I couldn't do it, he would take my equipment down for me. I WAS DOING THIS!!!
Sakari went in first to give me courage and show me how easy it was going to be.
Then it was my turn. I slowly approached, reversed and started to climb down. The hubby looked on like it was an accident waiting to happen and held his breath all while saying "You ok? You got this baby! You can do it". To took each step one by one and eventually I MADE IT! I was so proud of myself that I almost forgot to get a picture of the hubby coming down.
Everything was good and we gave the thumbs up and I could tell the hubby was proud of me by the expression on his face behind the mask. I gave him a thumbs up and I didn't even think about my beginning dive anxiety that I sometimes get.
This would be our dive map of where we were heading:
And out by that boat and beyond is where we will be.
Then off we went to explore. Now the instructor did tell us that visibility wasn't the greatest and he had taken divers out all morning and it was gradually getting better so we really didn't know what to expect.
We came to one of those neat little valleys and went down. It's such a different experience when you are down there going through them than at the water surface looking down. They feel so much bigger down on the ocean floor and it's such a cool experience actually looking at everything along the wall and under the rock.
As we went along, the coral was abundant and fish everywhere. It was so pretty and so much to see. So get ready for picture overload.
Sakari was busy doing her macro photography and getting up close with everything.
Then we spotted a beautiful anemone that was white with a purple tip.
The hubby was equipped with the GoPro and I decided to just let him do all the filming instead of switching. I did have to redirect him a few times to get up close to the wall because I always find him out in the open or above the coral. The closer you are to the coral and fish, the better the quality of the picture instead of just getting a distorted blue picture.
We came to an area where some really HUGE Tarpon was hanging out. They just stayed in one place, not moving, watching us. Sakari didn't even notice them at first because she was on the ocean floor getting close ups of everything. Then she turned around and looked up and was shocked.
Going along the huge walls was so incredibly beautiful. There was so much coral and sponges growing under it and it was so brightly colored. It's so hard to capture the beauty of it sometimes and of course the deeper you go the more distorted the colors get. The instructor was right, the water clarity wasn't the best at times and you could see stuff floating in the water, but I'm still happy with most of the pictures and the way they turned out.
I found a spot on the ocean floor with 2 large Damsels and the sand was PURPLE! It was weird. I'm not sure what it was.
All the dips and valleys made me just want to swim through them.
We found anemone's with blue tips and purple tips. They were so pretty.
I spotted a spiral anemone and Sakari must have spotted it too because she got a picture as well. Of course hers is always going to be a close up and look a lot better. There were more than one down there too.
Sakari would also find more purple tip anemones. They were so pretty and I don't think we have seen so many of these all on one dive.
Harlequin Bass
Tobaccofish Bass
At one point I looked over at the instructor and he was just there with his arms crossed and legs crossed watching us and not moving. So, I had to mock him and do the same. lol
I was taking a picture of this rather large sponge hanging down from under the rock and managed to see a really large Parrot fish swimming by.
Well this is neat! I didn't see this but Sakari did. It looks HUGE! It looks like it was a very large sea biscuit at one point. Would you look at the size of this thing??
Look at the "fuzziness" of this coral. It was so cool.
A beautiful Rock Beauty Angelfish
Yellowhead Wrasse
Our instructor motioned us over and we found our only Lionfish of this trip.
We came across an area that was somewhat a swim through but no top. The rocks along the sides were beautiful and I noticed a very large sponge hanging off a rock. The hubby got a neat video as he went by it with a close up. It was really pretty. Pictures really don't show how large things are under water.
After we went past this area, we came out on top of a reef that was absolutely gorgeous and LOADED with fish. It was so beautiful. The hubby caught a picture on the GoPro of Sakari taking her close up pictures and there was a Honeycomb Cowfish going by her that she didn't even notice it.
Now I'm almost positive these are Chubs. We always see Bermuda Chubs everywhere we go (Mr Pedro San Miguel) but these were BLACK! There were tons of them swimming in a group. But for some reason I can't find anything online about them ever being black. It was really cool to see.
The hubby seen 2 French Angelfish using the GoPro. I did not see these but did see one later on as we were coming back.
Notice above there was a Flamingo Tongue Snail? Remember I told you about them getting spooked and they will "suck in" the giraffe looking part on their shell? Well, this is what it looks like when it does this. (There are 2 of them in the next photo) Can you spot both of them?
Barracuda close by watching us.
Spanish Hogfish. It was so pretty but this one had a red face.
Queen Angelfish
Rainbow Parrotfish
Can you spot the Goby?
Smooth Spotted Trunkfish
Can you spot the Flounder?
A beautifully colored Longfin Damselfish
Squirrel fish
Bandtail Puffer
On our way back, we spotted several Squid.
Did you know: Squids also have 8 arms like an octopus? But they also have 2 tentacles. Their head also have 2 fins. Their lifespan is usually 9 months to 5 years.
Squids usually live in large groups in the open ocean, but they can be solitary as well.
Squids do not offer any parental care to their eggs. The eggs are left to fend for themselves in the ocean. The male places sperm into the female's mantle and she stores it until she is ready to use it.
Squids can change color and can produce ink as a defense mechanism to escape from predators.
Squids have 3 hearts!!
The dive was over and I managed to actually get up the ladder by myself with no issues. Yes, it was heavy on my foot but I wanted to start and end this dive all by myself with no help. I now have confidence that I can do this from now on...as long as it's not a long distance to go. Yippee for me! New accomplishments and it shows just how far I have come since my last surgery in January.
So our dive instructor said we dove for 56 minutes and that was about what my pictures said too. He said we went down 48', which is as far as the reef there goes. He said "You guys dive like you are certified. Why don't you just get certified???" He also mentioned that he seen us checking our air supply while we were down there and he doesn't think he's ever seen any other non-certified divers do that before. Yep, that's what we do. Probably just because we've done it so many times and I like to keep track of not only the air, but how deep we are as well. I also made a comment about how neat it would have been to go to Devil's Grotto and swim through the holes and that we had done this before (a small swim through) and he then mentioned "yea, we could have done that". Well gosh golly!
I think this was the absolute first time that I actually gave getting certified any serious thought whatsoever. The hubby and I talked about it later and being a possibility in the future...just so we don't have to do any classes before diving again. I still have no interest in going below 60' EVER or any scary night dives. So I would be good. Just being able to get there and go dive without the repeated class and skills WOULD be awesome.
In the end, he only ended up charging us $125/pp instead of the $150, which I thought was great. Maybe because he treated it like it wasn't much of a DSD and didn't have to take the time to do the class and skills?
Here is our video from our dive.
We headed to the car and back home satisfied with our dive and it was time to just go home and chill.
Once home the hubby made some tacos and we chowed down then Sakari disappeared...this is where I found her:
I guess we were going to spend the rest of the day by the pool relaxing.
Steve was hanging out with us on his shell like always. He would come over to our chairs every so often to get a closer look at us.
A friend showed us. We called her Stevette. Appropriate I think. :)
Steve got real comfortable around us and spread out. Look at those legs! LOL
Sakari and I found a crab in the pool. We watched it climb up the pool wall, using the grout, and it was quite interesting to see. When he escaped...Sakari pulled out her phone and did this...
I noticed there was a mother and son out snorkeling (they were staying in one of the condo's next door to us) and I decided to head out to the dock and let her know where the snorkeling reef was. (They were going up and down in the grassy/rocky area instead). She said she had just bought a case for her iphone and was testing it but thanked me for the info on where to go next time.
We stayed out there until dusk and decided to head for the showers and we were going out to eat on our last night here to celebrate a great week in Grand Cayman.
I had read several people on the GC facebook say that they liked the restaurant Tukka and it was just down the street from us not far. So, Tukka it is.
We were seated out on the covered deck and it was nice. There was a breeze and they had fans.
I ordered the Hot & Cold Seafood Platter for $42. It came with a Grilled Spiny Lobster tail, Large King Prawn skewer, fish ceviche, fried Calamari and Caybrew battered Mahi Mahi. Served with fries, Tukka salad and trio of dipping sauces & citrus wedges.
Everything was good other than I didn't care for the ceviche. They were very large chunks, I could see the redness still and the mixture in it was not your normal mixture of onions, tomatoes and such. It just didn't taste right.
They hubby ordered the Sizzling mixed Grill Plate for $45: Rib Eye Beef, Lamb Cutlets, Kangaroo Sausage, Speck Bacon, Jerked Chicken & Crocodile. Served with caramelized onions, sauteed peppers, wild mushroom risotto & creamy peppercorn sauce. He said it was good.
Sakari decided she wanted pizza. She always likes to have pizza at least once when on vacation and this was her time. She ordered the meat lovers pizza. I don't remember how much hers was though and I didn't take a picture of that portion of the menu. She said it was good.
Looking at the menu, I just noticed it had the following on it....
6 Pack of Beer for the KITCHEN STAFF $15. Buy the Kitchen Staff a THANK YOU six-pack of Cayman's very own Caybrew BEER and hear the clattering of pots and pans in appreciation.
I don't think I have ever seen this on a menu before. I also didn't hear any clattering of pots and pans during our visit either.
We finished our meal and was satisfied with our choice to come here.
Time to head back home...in the dark, which I was a pro at driving in the dark now. ;)
Once we got home...Sakari ran to put her bathing suit and dress on. "Let's go get in the pool" she said with excitement. Why do you ask? It was her idea to take pictures in the pool at night, up against the light in the pool, in her dress while it was flowing. She had been asking about it all week. Of course we couldn't do it before we did the beach pictures so tonight was our last chance. We were doing this. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out because I had never actually tried this before. She had a vision in her mind, but I didn't. I know how hard it is to take photo's in the dark and this was going to be quite the task. We have taken pictures in the pool at night before, but nothing like this.
So, we were off to give it a shot.
Thank goodness this pool is like bathwater is all I can say.
Flip, turn, up for air, down, dress flowing up too much, dress not flowing, pose not right, light blinding the subject, not in focus, I can't stay down long enough, shallow end, deep end....ugh. It was rough. A lot of fun...but rough. Let's just say we laughed A LOT during this process.
I took 218 pictures and hoped for the best but knew they weren't going to turn out quite like she was hoping for. But here's what we did get...the best of them, but yet still not the greatest. LOL
So that was that. Next time I'll have to look up how you do these and get better pictures when all you have is a pool light and a point and shoot camera. lol I think the "look" she was going for would have been better in a long flowing white dress. I don't think her dress was long enough for this to make it flow the way she wanted it to. None the less, it was a neat idea and we had a lot of fun with it.
Time to head back in for a shower and more packing and cleaning up the house because tomorrow we leave for home BOO HOO...WAH!!!! (Wait until you see our little surprise we got on the last day...yikes)