Superman & Spiderman Skills Needed at Gordon Rocks and the Unexpected ...
prepared myself and arrived at the Dive Shop at 7am. we left from the Port here in Puerto Ayoro on the South end of the island, and traveled North. there were 6 of us diving on the boat. our Dive Master, Jaime, is assisted by 2 of his children (20 & 21), nice family business. our first dive was as Las Plazas, and it was a 'check out' dive. the other 4 divers were also kind of 'newbies' to Galapagos diving. .... we were briefed on our Dive Plan and struggled into our equipment. it took a long time to get my wetsuit on ..... the tighter they fit and the thicker they are, the more they insulate you from the cold waters .... and mine was thick and tight .....
it's been said that Scuba Diving is an 'equipment intensive' sport ... and that sums it up pretty good. there's a LOT of stuff that needs to be done and put on, fitted and tested ... it's exhausting! the Dive Team really earn their pay. in Utila/Roatan, you are responsible for assembling your own equipment, and sometimes even carrying it across the street, into the water, and on the boat ... maybe that's why it's so much cheaper there. but in the Galapagos, they do everything for you ... $35 vs $110-200. :)
the water is colder than in the Caribbean, and colder than when i've been snorkeling here; (it's off shore, and deeper). it was an easy dive, with a little current; .... i'm down and ready to go ....
....first thing we saw a large Marbled StingRay ....
another Marbled StingRay ...
and a whole 'field' of Panamic Cushion Sea Stars .... they look black in the photos ...
but they actually have a really intricate design on them ... and sometimes are red ....
the Dive Shop takes photos and then you can download them onto your computer ....
here's me taking a picture of another kind of Sea Star ...
our Dive Master pointed out this Scorpion Fish .... they are so hard to see, even though they are right out in the open ...maybe someday i'll actually see one first ....
we made our way to Gordon Rocks. this is a 'famous' Dive Site for seeing rays, turtles and sharks ....including HammerHeads ... and is also known for it's strong currents, which can make it a difficult dive. you can see, it's a bit rough out there .....
we all 'passed' on the last check-out dive, so we're ready to tackle it. the area is actually a group of 3 main rocks that form the rim of what is left of a volcano, with sloping sides ... and the center being the crater, ... in the middle at the bottom is sand. here is a drawing ...
i guess there are a lot of 'Kicker Rocks' in the Galapagos ... and i thought it was something special when i was in San Cristobal ....
we still had some time before we could dive again, so we got in the water and snorkeled one side of the inner rim of the volcano. this was fun ...... we stayed close to the 'wall' and saw lots of fishes ..... were visited by a White Tipped Shark passing by ....
as well as this Marbled Stingray ....
and a couple of large Sea Lions that came too fast and close to take pictures of.
i saw a lot of Hieroglyphic HawkFish hiding in the crevaces of the rock .....
and an ENORMOUS one that wouldn't budge out of his hiding place :( tucked way back into the crevice ...
that White Tipped Shark cruised by us several times ....
then it was time to get our equipment on and take on Gordon Rocks! yes there was a pretty strong current as we descended, but we all managed to stay together at the bottom (hanging on to rocks when we got down there) and started our dive .... we moved through the current down to the area of sand in the middle and the current wasn't as strong ..... there was a whole colony of Garden Eels ....i had seen them in Utila (in much calmer conditions). but they are really cool. they look like snakes that are stuck in the sand, with only the top part of their bodies sticking out .... i don't know how well you can see them in this photos, but there were hundreds of them .... if you got too close, they disappeared back into their holes. they were cool !
i saw this Streamer HogFish with something in it's mouth that looked like a Pencil Sea Urchin ...
i guess he decided it wasn't so tasty and spit it out ....
here's a picture of me trying to check my gauges to see how much air i had left ...
it was cold down there too ... and there were places where it was VERY VERY cold ! how cold? ...the one girl had a dive computer and it registered 16C .... which is 61F !!!!!!!!!!! ......you wanted to move out of those areas quickly. i had a 7mm wetsuit on, (i usually wear 3mm, with temps in the 80s) ....and i was ok ... just my face was cold when we hit those cold currents.
there were schools of King AngelFish .... i've only ever seen 1 or 2 together before. one of the things the Galapagos is famous for it is abundance of marine life when you get in the deep waters ....
that was the last picture i took ..... i needed to concentrate .... the current got really strong .... at times, you literally are holding on to the rocks to keep from being swept away ! thank God there are rocks and not Corals like in warmer waters ... because Corals are living creatures and you have to be SO CAREFUL not to touch or kick them .... here there are mostly rocks/boulders that you HAVE to hold on to. it's hard to describe ... let's just say that i kept my eye on our Dive Master, followed him very closely, and tried to do just as he did!
you can see 3 pinnacles in the drawing that are under water that are part of the rim of the volcano .... it was an adventurous remainder of the dive ..... you would hang on to one pinnacle, and then 'fly' like Superman to the next one, ......grabbing and holding on for dear life, like SpiderMan .... before you 'flew' to the next one .....
i suppose when you get used to this type of diving, you can actually look around you and see things and enjoy ... but for me ... mostly, i was just trying to not get swept away. ..... i didn't want to end up back in San Cristobal !
one of the girls has done quite a bit of diving here and she said she has always seen at least one Hammerhead .... we did not see any Sharks ... i think they can smell me, and they leave :( .....when we got back in the boat, Jaime said that wasn't a strong current, but just a 'surge' from the waves .... ok, so i do not want to experience a strong current :(
my first diving in the Galapagos is over ... and i survived :) i want to do another one, maybe at Seymour. Will said he liked that best.
the boat docked at the North end of the island by Baltra and the Airport. so now i know how that works for when i leave. and we got in a taxi and drove across the island back to town ..... it was about 45min drive ... i nodded off a couple of times.... i worked hard ! when we got back Jaime said he's like to buy me a beer ... i guess he saw the look on my face, he said, 'or a glass of wine'. that brings back memories. when i first meet Capt, he asked me go to for a cup of coffee several times, ... each time i said i didn't drink coffee; ...and that was the end of the conversation. we laughed about that many times ..... back to the Galapagos .. i said i'd meet him at 7pm
i needed to get something to eat and went back to the place i was last night where i had 'Pelican' ... he said they were having Crab tonight ... i wanted to try that! .... that guy wasn't there, but i was seated in a little courtyard and a very good looking sweet young guy came to the table. he said they were serving Crab with salsa, rice, and plaintains ... i said i'd like to try it. so he puts the plate on the table ... and i am staring at a Crab ... sometimes called Blue Crab or Ghost Crab in Belize ... the kind that dig holes in Madi's yard in Caye Caulker, and the kind that i saw by the hundreds eating the garbage in Glovers Island .... OMG ! .... disgusting things !
i asked him how i was supposed to eat it. he said he didn't like them and he would ask his Grandad .... Grandad came over, but then left. he said i should just hit the claws with the mallot and then i could eat what was in the head too .....
i was the only one there, i didn't know what to do .... i pulled tiny bits of meat out of the claws and ate a little bit of it ... hoping like hell that i didn't get sick !!!!!! .............. it tasted kind of like crab, but like dirty crab .... but that might have been my imagination since i know what they eat ... i cracked more of it and messed up my plate so it looked like i ate it ...... i cracked open the head ..... and it was BLACK inside .... YUCK !!!!!!!! ...i quickly closed it back up! ...... the salsa, rice and plantains with a sauce were very good :) .......the sweet young boy, who has '20 years' came over and talked with me and asked me how i liked it .... since he already said he didn't like it, i told him i didn't think i liked it either. he stood and talked with me for awhile .... excellent English and so damn handsome! .... he's a bartender on one of the Cruise ships .... (too bad not the one i'm on) .... he's been working hard and 'saving his money' .... he has 'big plans to go to Hawaii in August' ....to surf. .....my dinner was $4, i gave him a $10 and told him to put that towards his goal. i hope he succeeds; i'm pretty sure he will !
so i met Jaime back at the Dive Shop at 7pm and we went around the corner and had a couple glasses of wine and an order of Patagones with Cheese. then he asked me if i wanted to go listen to a woman sing Jazz .... Jazz????? ...actually the day i got here i saw posters up around town about a woman who was going to be appearing here; but i had forgotten. of course i said YES! ..... his son and daughter joined us and off we went ........ what a surprise .... this is the LAST thing i expected to be doing on the Galapagos Islands ! ..... her name is Cristina Morrison, and is Latin American and American, currently living in NYC; and is also an actress. i found this on line: "Cristina Morrison, I LOVE, has been selected as one of 2012 BEST JAZZ CD’s & Cristina Morrison as one of the BEST FEMALE VOCALISTS by jazz journalist & blogger from JAZZ STATION! The results of the 34th Annual Jazz Station Poll" ..... she had a keyboard, base, drums ..... and a sax ! ...the music was wonderful ... love that sax. she sang "What a Difference a Day Makes" and i think the rest were her own songs, ... all in English, thank you! .... she knew a lot of people in the audience and called them by name ... including Jaime ! ...he said he worked for her at one time years ago .... you can read about her here .... http://cristinamorrisonilove.com/cristina-resume.html ... what a treat ! ..... she is a very tall woman ... and was in bare feet ! ....
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