The first dive was at The Canyon - one of my favorite sites (this was my third time diving it). The dive is (obviously) in an underwater canyon. The other times I've done this dive we've entered the canyon at 30 meters (100 feet) then followed it up to the "fish bowl" at about 18 meters (60 feet). The fish bowl is a small chamber made by the coral closing off the top of the canyon. It's spectacular due to the intense blue light that enters from an arch on the side, and the nearly transparent glass fish that are always there. This time we entered the canyon at the fish bowl and then continued down the canyon. This meant the canyon walls were highlighted by this incredible deep water blue. We followed the canyon down to 35 meters (114 feet) then swam up through cracks in the roof. We then re-entered the canyon and swam back up into the fish bowl. There were an incredible number of glass fish there. With the blue light from the side it really was like floating in the middle of living chandelier. After exiting the canyon I had to end the dive early to take one of the other divers back to shore since he was out of air. The joys of diving as a dive master in training.
Instead of going back to the dive club after the first dive those of us doing a second dive (luckily not the heavy breather) continued north to the blue hole. We spent our surface interval having lunch and hanging out watching all the snorkelers in and around the lagoon.
The second dive was from the Bells to the Blue Hole. This used to be my favorite dive, but when I dove it with Amy I was a little disappointed. Today it was great again. Maybe it was the expectations last time. The visibility was awesome (30+ m. / 100+ ft.) and I was even able to see the actual hole that the blue hole is named after - a tunnel leading from the lagoon to the open water at about 60 meters (200 feet).
Back at the club I hung out and did some reading for my dive master class. Spent the rest of the afternoon working on my journal and doing email. Met up with Stacy (she was working on her Rescue Diver course today so she didn't get to dive with us) and walked down the beach away from town looking for dinner. Had a nice lighter meal (I need to remember the place for lunches) on the water then had a beer at Nesima's bar. Back at our room we made a very unfortunate discovery - our hotel was hosting a late night party. There was almost no one there, but that didn't stop them from blasting bad techno dance music. Unable to sleep I went out and called home and talked to my parents, then ended up buying some batteries for my walkman in an unsuccessful attempt to block out the noise...
