Day 3

Day 3

Today we started with class at the normally scheduled time, 7:30 am. Went over some history of the area and were told the names of the main people who run things around here both at the hotel and the dive center. We learned Magellan is the explorer who discovered Guam and many of the surrounding islands. He continued his quest until he made it to the Philippines where he died. Because of his journey, Spain controlled all of Micronesia (meaning tiny islands) from 1521 until 1898 at which time the Spanish-American war broke out and the US started to expand its interest in the Caribbean and the South Pacific, mainly Guam and the Philippines.

We also learned some name recognition methods and the reason why it is important to know the names of the people you are dealing with. I myself am pretty good at remembering names so this part was not too hard for me. Class lasted until 9am and then it was time to go diving.

Dive 1: Blue Corner: the current was not to strong. We did not use the reef hooks on this dive because of the lack current and others were already there. I did get some good shots of a napoleon wrasse. I had the macro setup this time, but he got in close to me. I got a couple of eye shots and full head pictures as well. I am going to be happy with these. Again there were several smaller white tip reef sharks here along with the many different fish. It is nice to be able to just float around and have the wildlife come up to you. This particular wrasse followed me around for a long time, it seemed like he was posing for the camera. I was not complaining.

Dive 2: Blue Corner: We did the dive again because it was so nice the first time and most of the divers on the boat wanted to do it again. All but one of them was loaned a reef hood, so I think they just wanted to be able to hook on the reef. This time the current picked up and hooking up was not easier. There was still a surge which moved us around a bit; it was still a good time. This time around I did get a close up shot of a reef shark, and found two hermit crabs fighting. I took a picture of that as well. I also took pictures of a hawkfish, blueface angle, and a scorpion fish. Again it was a nice dive.

One the way back to the resort we took the scenic route. The captain took us through the rock islands. We also went right by the famous Palau arch. They said next time we go out with them we will get a better tour of the rock islands. I have done it a couple of times before and it has always been beautiful. We did stop and check out one of the live-a -boards in the area, The Big Blue. Not a bad ship set up to handle about 20 people. This is the way to go if all you want to do is eat and dive well and maybe sleep. We were told that tomorrow we will not be diving with Neco Marine, but instead we will be on the Ocean Hunter 3 another live-a-board, this one is rated as number one operation in the area. I am looking forward to it.

Dinner tonight was at The Penthouse, a very inexpensive restaurant with good food. The memory I will always have from here is that I tried fruit bat for the first time. It wasn’t bad, I would do it again. The only issue I had was that it came whole. Kevin Casey, from Aqua-Dive Academy, ordered and shared it with some of us. Yes, even Liz tried it. So take that Lesley. Again it is 9pm and time to dream about blowing bubbles. Good night.