The time is 7:00 am, it's time to get up. The time is 7:00 am, it's time to get up. WTF is that rudely telling me to get out of bed?? Appears as though Larry was worried that I wouldn't wake up in time to go out for my dive so he set the alarm clock on the cellphone! Sigh, it's 7:00 am and now I'm up.
A bit slow moving this morning, didn't pace myself all that well last night, but after coffee, juice, and a little fruit and banana bread I'm good to go. Donovan (aka Rambo) showed up with a bag of fruit from the market this morning. A pineapple, a couple of papaya, an enormous mango, some regular bananas and some honey bananas. What a sweetheart!
It's time to go diving! The driver picked me up with 3 others and we made our way (very quickly!) up to the dive shop where I meet Sabine and get fitted with my BCD and weight belt. Back in the car and we are off to Sunset at the Cliffs. Ken greeted me like he has known me forever (probably feels that way with the amount of emails that I sent him while I was doing my PADI e-learning course). After some quick paperwork and a little test to see if I've retained anything from the course it's time to gear up and get in the pool. It will just be Ken and I as the other divers are German speaking and working with Sabine. Pool skills go smoothly and now it's time to see if I can do the same thing in the ocean. I must admit I was a bit nervous, it's hard to trust that all of this equipment will keep you breathing and alive 40 feet under the water. But as it turns out, the hardest part was convincing myself that I would not die jumping off of the 6 foot cliff with all of my gear on. Saw a nice variety of fish, coral, fans, etc. unfortunately on this dive we didn't get to see anything extaordinary, but it was still a beautiful dive. It is so peaceful under the sea. I must say that Ken is a patient, thorough instructor and I am glad about my decision to use Dream Team Divers. Hehe, did that sound like a commercial?
With plans made to meet next week at Catcha Gardens to finish up the pool skills and then a dive off of the Cliffs at Catcha, we are back on the road again with Willie (who at this point has made my books for being the fastest, craziest driver in Negril).
Back at the room I find Larry completely relaxed with a huge grin on his face. He has spent the day chit chatting with people around the hotel, had his grilled snapper for breakfast, and is in his "happy place.". He even got to see Two4 and GG as they were out and about and made it to Coco.
We decided to head up the beach to White Sands and get some of these great 2-for-1 drinks that we keep hearing about. The bar is empty and we order the special of the day (mudslide). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think that 700j is such a great price for 2 small plastic cups. Oh well, live and learn! Realized we forgot the camera battery so have to head back to Coco instead of just catching a route taxi to Canoe out front of White Sands. But that happened for a reason as we ended up with a driver called Tyrone who was just outside of Idle Awhile. Asked him to take us up to Canoe for $5, he says "even if you told me that you had no money, I would take you there as they are my friends". Awwwwww.
Door side service to Canoe and I am more than ready to try these rum punches I keep hearing about. Rob and Lisa are there setting up and we meet a young couple that are on their honeymoon (his mom is a boardie). I do NOT know how these kids are old enough to be married, they look like babies and make me feel terribly old! Are the rum punches as good as everyone says they are ...... hell yeah! No sign of Two4 and GG or Groove and Janet. Sitting and chilling is very easy at this place. Kirby makes you feel welcome and keeps the drinks flowing. Needed some food in me if I'm going to continue with these drinks so we order a variety of appetizers. Delicious in every way! Groove and Janet appear and the party begins! Rob checks for me to see if The West End Gang are playing at Bourbon Beach tonight, yep, yep they are!! So excited to go and see them as these are the guys that will be playing at our wedding in November.
Originally Posted by rinakim
