Dive, dive, dive, dive.
Up early again to see the sunrise with the first dive at 07:22. Nicola and Nora went swimming for an hour.
Second dive was at 11:15. This one completed the PADI course and we all became Open Water Divers able to dive to 18 metres.
The next dive (our first as qualified divers) meant we could now attend the briefings given by Chris. They were excellent. Informative and fun with lots of guidance.
My buddies were Xander from the Netherlands and Max "Jacques Cousteau" from Paris. We navigated through the Gates of Paradise to Mickey Mouse and proceeded to film anything and everything. Saw giant clams, butterflyfish, Parrotfish. Nicola was taken to the reef in the rescue boat and saw lots of Black Anemone fish (Nemo's relatives), Wrasse, Parrotfish. The water was very clear and warm. It was like swimming in an aquarium.
The final dive of the day was my first night dive. The briefing by Awesome Jack was great and being Halloween lent a special perspective. His description of how to survive a shark encounter was very graphic and the description of the Ring of Steel defence spooked some on board.
Night dives provide a different perspective on the life around a reef as some fish sleep while others become more active. I missed the sleeping turtle in the cave although most did not. However I did see a LionFish (DO NOT TOUCH!!) and a small Stingray.
Again an early night as the next day would see us in the water even earlier!!