Who dives 4 days before Christmas?!?!?

A Day at the Dive Park- December 21, 2008

8:00am - Water Temp 57 degrees

Me, feeding the fishey's!



Ok, now I think they are just attacking me

Ok you cant tell but this fish is at least 3 feet long. Its HUGE...

Who dives in the middle of winter? Apparently we do! And surprisingly a whole bunch of other people too! We had a crazy busy weekend- jam packed with all kinds of stuff. We ended it with some catalina diving. I was really worried it would be too cold but its wasnt horrible. The water visability was the worst I have seen at Catalina but there was alot more "stuff" down there compared to normal - lots of sea cucumbers and amazing shells. It was alot of fun and we had a great day!

I miss diving....

The winter sucks.

I really miss diving and my other half has been pestering me like crazy to go diving. I am worried about the weather. Its really cold lately- uncharacteristically cold, wet and windy. And I admit I am a little gun-shy after being stranded on Catalina for 2 days the last time we *tried* to dive. Its probably not going to get warmer for at least 4 months. Do I want to wait that long? That seems like an eternity! But I also dont want to get all the way there and freeze to death. The thought of diving in the water when its 50 degrees outside does not sound appealing. But then having him go dive without me, and coming home with great pictures and stories sounds even less appealing!! I dont know what to do...... stay tuned....

Happy Holidays!

November 8 (with update)

UPDATE: Above picture taken December 21. This is how the tide is supposed to be when you dive! Just wanted to show you the difference between 11/8 and 12/21 because I know the 11/8 pics by themselves didnt really look like un-divable water.

Above pic taken November 8. Too high and rough to dive :(

November 8

I decided to surprise my husband by suggesting a spontaneous overnight trip to Catalina Dive Park on Saturday night. I checked the weather- (sunny, warm), and was able to get hotel reservations (which has always been the hard part!). Everything was going so smooth! That is- except the water! Dun-dun-dun... We woke up bright and early Sunday morning- put on our wetsuits in the hotel room (which was right near the dive park!) This was a nice treat- to be able to get ready in a room instead of at the water or on a boat! I was beginning to feel spoiled! We walked over to the park- it was 8:15am. We had high expectations- 4 dives which included diving to some of the wrecks down there- which I had never done before. Imagine how cool those pictures would have been! But no one was in the water. The wind had kicked up over night and the usually calm park had huge swells and the water was crashing into the stairs where you enter. They were not allowing any divers into the water. BUMMER! Here we are, dressed and ready- with no where to go! We decided to catch the next boat home- only to find that they had cancelled ALL BOATS, ALL DAY. We were stranded!! Ok it doesnt sound horrible to be stranded on Catalina- but it was! We were freezing and did not pack appropriately for 2 nights- and I had to be at work the next morning- which clearly was not going to happen. But the worst part was that here we were in Catalina for 2 whole days- and we couldnt even dive! Oh the horror of it all!!! (Do you feel bad for us yet!??!) Anyway, here are some pictures... in the last one you can see the swell behind me- the water is usually flat- and on this day they were at least 5 feet. The top picture shows the water crashing up behind me over the stairs. It never even comes nearly that high... check out the stairs- they are completely submerged... Something tells me I wont be diving again for a while... :(

Honeymoon- Day 6..."The Finale"

Friday morning we went to a seahorse farm! We got to hold them! They were so cute! They have little personalities- come up to the surface and blow air at you to get your attention because they want food. Thats Len holding the seahorse!

Afterward we went to a spa I found somewhere hidden in the tropical area of the island. We had a couples massage, which started with time in the hot tub and then a shower in an outside waterfall. It was a really neat experience- all outside! The location was absolutely beautiful and not like anything you would experience in LA.

We ended our honeymoon back in LA on Saturday - just in time to celebrate a very special birthday! HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY LILY!

Honeymoon- Day 6 (Oct 23)

That's me with my scuba bride mask on. Everywhere we snorkeled or dove, everyone loved it! Thanks Mom!

Ok so last night I swore I would never dive again. But Len had booked us on a "luxury dive boat" and so of course I had to check it out! The boat was great! We all had our own seats (not like the benches you get on a typical dive boat) and tons of yummy gourmet food. Everything about this boat was designed for comfort- something I totally enjoy! Out of all three dive trips we did in hawaii, I think I liked this location the best. The coral was prettier- black sand and colorful coral- we saw a sea turtle and lots of eel's. Ok, after last night and my encounter with "Frank" I could have lived without that part. All in all, today was a great day and a perfect dive to end our honeymoon on! Tomorrow we fly home at 9pm... but first we are going to the seahorse farm and then to some tropical oasis to get hot stone massages! I wont be able to post pics from our last day here until Saturday. Oh did I mention we are flying First Class? Oh I am getting sooo spoiled! :)

Honeymoon- Day 5 (Oct 22)

Today started out with some snorkeling at a beautiful beach we found up the coast- this picture doesnt do it justice. Crystal blue water, white sandy beach and palm trees scattered everywhere. It was the first sandy beach we actually found here.

Then we moved on to the Manta Ray Dive.... which was going to be our first night dive- something I have always sworn I would never do! (but then I also swore I would never dive, or jump off a boat, or get my advanced certification- which I have now done all of!). Len enjoyed the dive- we didnt see manta's but we did see a Cuttlefish which is our favorite sea creature so that was pretty special! I, on the other hand, hated it so much that I swore I would never dive again. Huge waves on the boat made me seasick. The water was so cold and I was shivering so much that I had to hold my regulator (air flow) in my mouth so it would not fall out. Oh and then there was Frank. Frank is an eel, about 4 feet long. He likes to go up to the night divers with flash lights and slither thru your legs and around your neck. He started to come toward me and I screamed under the water. Len saved me, of course! Phew! We didnt get any good pictures of the night dive because we didnt have a good flash on the camera- but the third picture above is an eel we saw before the sun went down- that is what Frank looked like.

Honeymoon- Day 4

Today we did our first dive in Hawaii! Ok, to be honest, I wasnt completely impressed. Looking at the miles and miles of coral that looked the same got old quick. But Len loved it. He even found a couple sharks and chased one (the shark is in Pic 1, if you look in the light)! We wrapped up the day with a luau, which was my favorite part of the honeymoon so far. We got VIP seats and ended up sitting with a bunch of other honeymooners so it was alot of fun! The fire thrower was my favorite- Oh and Len got brought up on stage to dance with the hula girls! It was GREAT to see him embarrassed like that!!!

Honeymoon- Day 3

Today we snorkeled! We swam with a baracuda, a bat ray, and a sea turtle- that I named Fred. He was our 'tour guide' and showed us around the whole lagoon. Pic 3 is me & fred and pic 4 is husband & fred- we are actually taking that same photograph at the same time- each of us on the opposite side of Fred. Several times I forgot I wasnt scuba diving and I almost dove for a shell or something. Oopsie! Snorkel full of water!! The next three days we have boat dives planned...and a luau. I cant wait!

Honeymoon- Day 2

Breakfast at the beach (pic 1)... a nap.... and then girlie drinks at the pool (which you can only see our straws in pic 2). I had a Blue Hawaiian and a Pina Colada... yummy...

WTF!?!?!?!

What the heck!?!? I found this snail in our garden at the hotel. It has a seashell on its back. We looked around and there were several of them just like it!

Honeymoon in Hawaii- Day 1

We checked out the resort today (pic 1). It has a cool monorail like Disneyland and a boat that takes you around the resort. They have dolphins at the resort that you can swim in the lagoon with which looks like fun. (pic 2)

We drove to the opposite side of the island- to Hilo. The ocean over there is very different than the side we are staying on- very rough (Pics 3 & 4). Of course my husband (yep, I just called him 'my husband'... so weird!) had to seek out the only dive shop in town over there. But he found it! (pic 5). We found several beautiful waterfalls (pic 6) and had a great lunch there! Then we went to a place where the lava from the volcano runs into the ocean and makes a huge steam cloud. Here is a picture of what it looks like in the daytime (pic 7) and then another one at night (pic 8) when you can see the explosions as the hot lava hits the ocean. It looks like fireworks.