Lets go diving!
I was excited for the chance to have the experience of diving again. I enjoy the feeling of being underwater and the quiet environment it gives me. This dive was something I was looking forward to.
As the dive boat headed for the first cove I could see sea lions swimming everywhere. The sight of so many sea lions playing in the water was spectacular. The gear was easy to get on; all we had to do was put on the mask, BCD, and fins and we were all set. However, the minute I hit the water my mask fell off and it was freezing. We first started off snorkeling and the sea lions were getting inches from our faces. It was neat to be able to swim so closely with them. I was proud of myself on the tech dive because I beat my dad on all the tests like mask clearing and regulator recovery. Ha! Ha! I said to my dad, “I am faster!”
At last we headed for Kicker Rock, the amazing dive site. As we repeated the steps of gearing up we used the rear entry technique to enter the water (this was how I lost my mask on the tech dive). This time I had the technique perfected and had no problems. Finally, we got underwater and the Kicker Rock channel wall was bright with orange, purple, red, and blue colors. We saw green sea turtles, an eagle ray, and multitudes of fish. When we came to the surface after our dive we saw many tropical birds flying everywhere. The wildlife was magnificent.
We also did a second dive at Kicker Rock, which had a really powerful current. It was pulling me up and down through the whole dive. It made it difficult to stay at one depth and equalize. We saw lots of fish, sharks, rays, and turtles on this dive. We even got the chance to see a large hammerhead shark swimming above us. One of the highlights was getting up close and seeing a huge moray eel.
Unfortunately, we had to finally get out of the water and end our time diving. I had a great time and was sad that we couldn’t stay in the water.
When everyone was back on the boat we headed to a new location inside of a cove and had lunch. My dad told me a story about how Japanese treasure hunters discovered loot in this cove that was from the pirates that use to hang out in this area hundreds of years ago.
I had a great time diving in the Galapagos Islands with my dad. I thought to myself that this wasn’t something I would be doing back at school.
-Alex Owens
5discovertheworld 