Monday, June 23, 2008

The Long Flight Home

Thursday, June 19, 2008Friday, June 20, 2008

I just realized that I have been dating this wrong, or I think I have. Palau is 13 hours ahead of us here in Virginia so today technically is the 20th. Oh well, whatever. I didn’t even know what day it was when I was there. I was on vacation and didn’t care if it was Wednesday or Saturday. Unfortunately I knew that it was the day to leave and I can tell you that after being here for only nine days, I am missing it already. We are being picked up from our hotel at 11:30 pm and taken to the airport. From the airport we are going through customs, which actually didn’t take long at all. Our first flight is from Koror to Guam, which is about three hours. We had a layover in Guam for about an hour then got on a 767 to Honolulu for just under eight hours. Once in Honolulu we have about an hour and 15 minutes to get our checked luggage and then go back through customs and catch our flight to Houston, another eight hours. In Houston we have a five hour layover then hop on a “puddle-jumper” to Dulles Airport, about another three hours. In all it took about 27 hours to get home.

The funny thing is, we leave Palau at 1:45 am on Friday the 20th, and return in Virginia at 5:30 pm on Thursday the 19th. Just crazy the way time works. I am glad to be home but know I could have stayed much longer in Palau. I will go back someday and this time, I am flying first class. Hopefully I will be able to update this more with another diving trip to some exotic place. Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures. If so, leave a comment, would be nice to see what you have to say.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Tarzan Kayak Tour, Day Nine

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I slept great last night and woke up bright and early to the sun and that damn rooster. Met up with Joe and Andy for our regular mornings’ breakfast but didn’t stay long since our morning pick up was at 7:45 am this time. I got back to the room and started organizing and packing a bit. I wanted to get a head start since I wasn’t sure how long we would be out kayaking and then what we were doing afterwards. The driver picked us up and all we had with us was our mask, fins and snorkel. Well cameras and dry stuff as well but that was the only gear we needed for today’s events.

We got to Sam’s and found out we were kayaking Tarzan Tour with guide TJ. Kelly joined us for that day since she has really enjoyed our company and we enjoyed her company as well. Another couple was also with us for the tour. We got on board a boat with all the kayaks loaded up and headed out to our starting point at the Natural Arch.


It was quite fun stepping off the boat into an unstable kayak but we all did it with ease and no one fell out. We kayaked around and through the arch, got some nice pictures and then headed along some of the Rock Islands into a beautiful lagoon area for our first snorkel of the day. The snorkeling was great and I got to see lots of enormous Crown of Thorns stars. Unfortunately I was not able to get as many nice pictures because I could not stay down long enough to get some good shots. I need to bring a weight belt with me next time to help me sink because I am very good at floating. After a bit of snorkeling we maneuvered ourselves back into our kayaks and paddled towards our next place where we had lunch and TJ gave us a short history lesson about the islands and the war. I listened but didn’t retain too much because I am just not into history that much…I wanted to get back into the water. After lunch we got back into the kayaks and paddled a long way through some nice current to another natural arch and snorkeled some more. This time I saw lots more Crown of Thorns stars, Linkia stars, tons of gorgeous Clams, lots of beautiful soft corals and huge Acropora corals. It was TJ’s favorite free-diving spot on Tarzan Tour. After a good 20 minutes we got back into the kayaks, this time with a little more experience and ease. Before we got too far, TJ took out some betel nut and Kelly and I decided to try it out. Betel Nut is actually a drupe which is the seed of a Betel Palm. The betel nut is chewed for their effects as a mildly euphoric stimulant. It increases the capacity to work and has a similar but milder effect as drinking a cup of coffee. Chewing it is an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries. The betel nut is bit in half and then sprinkled with lime (calcium hydroxide or ground up coral skeleton) then wrapped in a pepper leaf (betel leaf from the Piper betle plant). Some people also put chewing tobacco or tear a piece of a cigarette and chew it with the nut. As you chew, you spit out the fibrous residue which is a nice red color commonly seen on the streets of India and Pakistan, I know this because I lived in both countries for four years. If chewed with the tobacco you get the similar drug effect nicotine in cigarettes gives you. I did not chew it with the tobacco and kind of glad I didn’t since it tasted horrible enough without it. Kelly and I had some interesting faces when we first started chewing and continued to laugh at each other as we tried to spit out the red juices. We kept getting it all over our kayaks…gross. I have to say it was interesting to try and at least I know what it is and what it tastes like. I think we paddled our canoes twice as fast as everyone else after chewing it though…just kidding; we are just strong ladies.





We then paddled a shorter but still long distance through more Rock Islands to a cove where there was a boat wreck. It wasn’t a very big boat and it was on its side. Not much coral to see other than what was growing along the wreck but I had also noticed a faint stinging sensation every now and then. I thought it was probably just stuff floating in the water from the wreck. I was fine, no lasting stinging sensations after a while. From the wreck we paddled around the Rock Island to a cave leading into a beautiful shallow lagoon. It was a good thing it was low tide or we would have not been able to get in. Oh, by the way, I spit out the betel nut. We didn’t snorkel because jellyfish congregate in the lagoon because of the still waters so we paddled around for a short bit and checked out all the pretty soft corals and clams, and then headed out back through the cave. It was really neat and beautiful. From there we paddled back to the boat which was keeping up with us from way behind as to not get in the way. We got on board and TJ loaded up the kayaks to take us to our final snorkeling destination.











It started raining but we were all wet anyways. Joe, Andy and Kelly said they were going to sit out this last free-dive but after we got there TJ went over that it was going to be a snorkel through a small cave then we were going to climb up the rock island through the cave and come out higher up for a nice jump back into the ocean. Andy and Kelly found that pretty interesting and decided to come along. TJ was going to first jump in and make sure the tide didn’t come in too much to not be able to make it through the cave. He jumped in the water and within a few seconds hollered at us not to jump in behind him. He managed to make it into a small school of small jelly’s. We all decided to skip that tour and just head back. On our way back the rain was coming down so hard you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. Well at least our last day started out nice and allowed for some good kayaking. We all got a nice bit of sun too.


We got back to the dock and showered and dried off to sit around and watch the crazy rainstorm and have some drinks and a light dinner. Joe, Andy and I decided that it was time to head back to the hotel to pack and try and rest up for our pick up at 11:30 pm for our 1:45 am flight home.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A Fantastic Last Day of Diving

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Another early morning but a good nights sleep. The morning seemed like it was going to be nice but the water seemed a bit rough and there were clouds forming so we knew it was going to be a rainy day. Joe, Andy and I had breakfast again at Palm Bay. It’s a nice little restaurant and being right next to our hotel makes it easy to get an early start on digesting. We got back to our rooms to prepare for our last three dives.

Again we got to Sam’s before everyone else so got our gear ready and situated on the boat. It is nice to get things done early so we can relax and not get in anyone else’s way. Our first destination was Blue Corner again. It is such a great dive and the hooking is so awesome! It took about an hour to boat out there and man were the seas rough. Andy said they were about 4-5 foot swells. We were all already wet by the time we got to our dive spot. Jason went over the dive profile, checked the currents and then we were in the water and straight down so we didn’t get swept away in the surface currents. The currents were also quite strong at about 40-60 feet but it was a nice drift. We made our way along the wall and then made our way up to a hooking spot. We all got our hooks ready and as we approached the top of the wall, the currents really picked up. I had to kick hard against the current to stay in the group and then find a good spot to hook in. I inflated my BC and then relaxed and watched the view into the blue waters. There were dozens of sharks, lots of Barracuda, Jacks, Grunts, Triggers and many more struggling with the currents. It was our best Blue Corner dive yet! Jason signaled us to unhook and then swim down a bit and re-hook in. I am glad he did because the action was more intense farther down. Unfortunately within minutes after our first hook in, my camera battery died. I forgot to replace the batteries before hand and really was quite irked. Oh well, it was nice to just chill and enjoy the dive. We did our safety stop and waited for the boat to pick us up. When I surfaced the currents were so intense but so fun. I held on to the rope of the boat and waited to get on the ladder and climb up as the swells took us up and down. What a ride!

Once all on board we made our way over to a spot to relax and have our surface interval. We didn’t have lunch then because we planned on doing all three dives before even going back to Sam’s. The area we anchored in at had a nice shallow snorkeling spot so I of course got wet again. I saw lots of Boxfish, more than I had seen the whole time we had been there. I didn’t stay in long b/c I was getting tired and cold. After about an hour we made our way over to our next dive spot, Bid Drop Off.

The waters had calmed down a bit so the ride wasn’t so rough this time. Once we arrived at Big Drop Off Jason instructed us to still go straight down and wait about 30 feet since the surface currents were still quite strong. The wall was a nice relaxing drift dive and I saw many more anemones with Clownfish, lots of huge beautiful Sea Fans, enormous soft corals, lots of Acroporas, Anthias, Nudibranchs, Basket Stars and so much more! I was able to get some pictures because during out SI, I swapped out the batteries from my small dive light to use in my camera. I just wish I had thought of that before Blue Corner. Oh, and even a great video of a Green Sea Turtle very close up!









Jason took us to Bablomekang Island where we had lunch and Andy played with huge sand crabs. I had seen him walking away from out lunch table in a hurry towards the beach and then walk back with a curious demeanor about him. He got back to the table and placed a big sand crab that he had caught onto the table. The crab danced its way down the center towards us all. We all scurried just as fast as the crab to get out of its way. It was quite a funny event. We hung out on the island for a bit then headed back out to sea! Our next destination, Iro Maru Wreck.



We arrived at Iro Maru a short bit after leaving the island still with rough seas. This was a nice stationary dive so we just went down the line, checked out the wreck for about 30 minutes then headed back up. I saw huge Bubbles corals, Pearl corals, lots of Heliofungias, Rhodactus Mushrooms, Goniopora coral, and even a Hammer coral. It’s amazing to see what lives in certain areas where the water is murkier. Since I was diving on air and everyone else on Nitrox, Jason wanted to keep us in a group so we came up when my computer said it was time for me to surface. No one minded as it was getting chilly and as we were at our surface interval, we could look up and see that it was raining. Such a neat sight to look up from below the surface and you can tell what the weather is like above. We got back on board and took a short ride back to Sam’s.






Once back at Sam’s, we rinsed our gear really well and hung it out to dry. Since we are leaving late tomorrow night, we wanted to make sure all our gear was nice and dry so we didn’t have water weight in our luggage. Andy went ahead and ordered us drinks and munchies. Joe, Andy, Kelly and I sat around eating and drinking at Bottom Time Bar and Grill and enjoyed the evening after a long day of diving. We watched the rain come down and the staff at Sam’s move out the boats from the dock. They moved the boats to offshore anchors so they didn’t get banged around too much. Like I had mentioned before, Sam’s Tours Dive Shop has a great setup and great staff. We got all our gear together and finally decided to head out and get some sleep. I got to my hotel room and hung all my stuff out in the bathroom, it looked like a mini SCUBA shop in there. I was crossing my fingers for nice weather since tomorrow is our off-gas day and we are taking a kayak tour around the islands.