We had a 6:30am wake up call scheduled for this morning. Why so early? Well, this was the port that we were going to have to be tendered into. This means that instead of walking down a gangway to a dock, we were going to be getting on boats. Tendering is supposed to start around 8:00am, once the officials clear the ship as usual. However, we had a dive scheduled for 9:30am with Diver's Down and we weren't sure where they were and how long it would take to get there so we wanted to make sure that we were on the first tender to the island. Hence, the 6:30am wake up call. We also had our dive gear to deal with which we thought would cause some problems in the tender. We were relieved to realize that golf bags, strollers, and so forth took up as much room if not more, so we were not a problem.
For tendering, everyone was supposed to meet in the Buena Vista Theater, once the all clear was given, and be placed into groups which would be escorted down to deck 1 for boarding into the tenders. We really wanted to be on the first tender so we showed up an hour early around 7:00am and waited. We were the first ones in line, the first ones on the boat, and close to the first ones off. For future reference, pretty much everyone waiting in the theater at the time was on the first launch so getting there an hour early was really overkill.
The tender took us right to the dock, but then we had to wait a little bit while they jockeyed for position. There was a lot of emergency radio traffic we could hear. Apparently somebody that was pregnant on one of the other cruise ships at the port, there were about 5 cruise ships in port that day, needed an ambulance. However, they were told that the hospital was just a few blocks away and once the person was on a tender they would call for the ambulance.
We finally got a position and we got off the tender, slung our dive gear on our backs and started looking for a taxi to take us to Diver's Down. We saw a sign for Taxi Dispatch at North terminal so we headed that way. That wasn't right because that is where the Taxi driver's were getting assigned duties not where we catch a taxi. Now, we knew that our directions from Diver's Down said go north, just past the big two story blue building, and it is within walking distance, but “walking distance” for some may not be so for others so we still thought a taxi was a good idea until... we saw it. The big two story blue building. Ok, maybe it was within walking distance. We headed that way and found Diver's Down easily. We checked in for the dive, and yep, we were rather early. We headed across the street to a local bakery and got some coffee, some great fresh orange juice, and a sausage roll. We ate our fill and then headed back across the street and met up with some of the other divers in our group.
Sherri didn't know what the dive plan was exactly, she just knew it was a two tank reef dive. So, when we got back to the shop, we asked. There would be two dives. The first was a 100 foot wall dive, and the second around 50 feet. This instantly made Sherri nervous because she had only been down to around 70 feet before and freaked out. Good at 60, but wasn't so sure about that depth. They reassured her that she didn't HAVE to go down that far, she could hover shallower if she was more comfortable.
At almost exactly 9:30am, we were loaded into a van and headed to 7-mile beach. On the way we talked with some of our fellow divers. We told them that we were from Las Vegas, and they asked were we dive in Las Vegas. We said Lake Mead. It is cold, murky, and full of silt so we were really looking forward to this dive. They said that they dove in worse conditions than that, but we wouldn't know where they were talking about. Then they proceeded to tell us they were from Rigby, ID. We surprised them when Chuck said that his kids live in Idaho Falls (about 10 minutes from Rigby). Sherri knew that Rigby was birthplace of the television. They were on the Celebrity Cruise ship. About that time we were at the beach and it was time to unload.
Sherri was admiring that group's dive bags. They had these big roller bags that held all their equipment. That was until we got to the beach and realized those bags had to be carried. It was easier to sling ours up on our backs than tote those big bags across the sand. However, on the street they sure looked more convenient.
We trekked across the beach to the dive boat, Cassiope and met our dive master Matty. He was a great dive master. Made everyone comfortable, explained the dive plan, and also explained how to get off the boat into the water and not do a face plant. Also again reassured everyone that they could swim shallower if they were not comfortable with the depth. Sherri was sure Chuck would keep an eye on her and if she was starting to freak, he would end the dive.
The first dive was at Trinity Caves. The plan was that we would exit the boat, follow the anchor line down and meet at a sandy area below. From there we would see two holes, a light one on top and a dark one on the bottom. We would be going through the dark one, and not to worry there is plenty of light in the hole. We would have to go single file, and come out the other side. Then we would swim up and over some new growth so not to disturb it. At that point we would be on the reef wall where there is a 6,000 foot drop off. We would be at about 100 feet, explore there, circle around, go back through the eye of the needle, where we would feel our own bubbles coming up through the rock, then we were to exit through the light hole and then ascend with a mandatory safety stop on the anchor line.
Sherri was nervous again, going through holes??? 100 feet??? 6,000 foot drop off??? Reassured by Chuck and wanting the adventure, she checks all her gauges again and heads for the edge of the boat and her turn to do a face plant. Ok, she kept her chin tucked in so she wouldn't do a face plant, but it is funnier to say that she did. Chuck goes in first and Sherri follows. They go down the line and meet the others at the bottom. The dive master finds a conch under a ledge and shows it to Sherri who quickly takes a picture.
Once everyone is there, we follow the dive master into the “dark hole”. When we come out of the dark hole, Sherri checks her depth gauge and then signals Chuck. They reached 97 feet. She was really excited, but had to keep her breathing under control. At one point, Sherri was so busy taking pictures she let her depth slip to 105, but luckily Chuck had set the depth alarm on her diving computer and it alerted her. Chuck was also aware that Sherri was a little too low, got her attention and told her to come up a bit. “No lower than the dive master”, he signaled to her.
We headed back through the holes, being bathed in our own bubbles as we looped back through the “eye of the needle”. We ascended, with a mandatory safety stop, up the anchor line of the boat. Once back in the boat, Sherri and Chuck were absolutely elated. To steal a line from the old pirate ship battle at Treasure Island here in Las Vegas (now the Sirens of TI), “this here is what we bloody well came fer!”. Sherri decided then and there that perhaps another cruise was NOT in their future. The idea of diving more at this particular location or even doing some night dives had some appeal and these would not be something you could do from a cruise ship. However, this we would not have known without having experienced a little taste of diving at the different locations that only a cruise ship could offer.
The day was not done yet. We still had another dive to get done and if we had thought the first dive was awesome, the second dive was even better. Although, we were not going as deep on the second dive at Peter's Reef, we were going to go look at the wreck of the Oro Verde and there was a guarantee of a lot of life. After about a half hour surface interval, that included a lot of bad jokes and a story about the wreck we were about to see, we each face planted off the boat again.
We descended down the anchor line as before and met as a group at the bottom. Then we were off following the dive master around the reef. Everywhere we looked there were fish. We could just float there and look at all the life above us. It was rather surreal.
We explored the reef for a little bit. Sherri apparently making a friend along the way. An angel fish went to each of the divers and then came right up to Sherri's mask. She would move and the angel fish moved too. Sherri flipped around to see if Chuck had noticed this, a smile so big she was lucky her regulator was still in her mouth. When she flipped around, so did the angel fish to get back in front of her. All she could figure out is that it liked to have its picture taken and Sherri was happy to oblige. That angel fish followed or lead us pretty much the rest of the dive, even while we explored the wreck. Sherri was absolutely thrilled with the entire experience.
Speaking of the wreck, the wreck of the Oro Verde, well, was a wreck. Hurricanes had taken their toll and the wreck was strewn across the bottom. There was one piece of the hull intact; however, and in this hull lived a huge fish. Sherri tried to get a picture of it but it didn't come out too well. They even saw a sting ray out in the sandy area around the wreck. Again, tried to get some pictures of it, but it was too far away to make out. Chuck didn't even see it at all. In addition, the dive master pointed out things like arrow crabs, tube worms, and the parrot fish. The dive master told everyone to cover their elbows because the parrot fish have been known to nibble on elbows. Yikes! We have seen them nibble on coral, elbows don't have a chance.
Sherri was getting low on air so we signaled the dive master and started our ascent. We swam over the reef and ran into a couple of puffer fish. The puffer fish followed us over the reef, Sherri's angel fish finally abandoning us, and we were able to watch them as we ascended. Our final visitor was a parrot fish nibbling on some coral as we went up. Glad it wasn't anyone's elbows that day.
The rest of the divers came up just a few minutes after we did. This gave us a chance to shed and pack our gear and get it out of everyone's way. This worked out really well for us. Sherri dropped her camera into the rinse bucket specifically designated for this purpose, but was paranoid that she was going to forget it. She hovered around it for a bit, before she decided to just retrieve it. Sherri and Chuck bundled up in their dive coats to keep warm while the others got situated. Then boat took off, and headed back to 7-mile beach to unload.
After reaching 7-mile beach, we piled out of the boat through the water. Sherri noticed hoses being brought out to the boat to refill the tanks. It was a very efficient operation. We trekked back across the beach to the van. Loaded up our gear and waited for our dive mates to join us. Everyone was really happy after the dive.
When we got back to the dive shop, everyone spent a few moments using the hose at the side of the shop to rinse off some of the sand. We decided to finish cleaning our gear once we got back to the ship. We thought about getting something to eat at the Hammerhead Pub next door to the dive shop and we asked what the people thought about it. They proceeded to tell us how good the food was at Rackam's Pub. Ok, it was the OTHER pub next door, but it had such good reviews we went there instead. We liked the location because we could see the ship and watch the snorkelers.
We had a great lunch at Rackam's but it was time to head back to the ship. We stopped back by the dive shop and bought a couple of t-shirts, then headed to the dock. It wasn't too far a walk as we said before, so we got to the dock, through security and back on the tender in plenty of time to watch the last tender come in and the ship leave the island.
We stayed on the upper deck for a little bit to wave good bye to Grand Cayman. There is no doubt in our minds that we will be coming back here for a much longer visit sometime in the future. While we were there, we could see down on the crew's deck that there was some first aid and CPR training going on. We watched for a few moments, but then turned our attention back to our departure.
Once we bid our farewell to the island, we started to head back downstairs to catch the 6:15 showing of Twice Charmed. We stopped at Goofy's pool for a few minutes to listen to the band rocking out down there. Goofy's pool is the family pool on the ship. We then continued our way down stairs to the Walt Disney Theater.
The show was terrific. We really enjoyed all the shows on the trip so far. After the show we got ready for dinner. Dinner was at Lumiere's again that night and was wonderful. After dinner we headed to our room happy and exhausted. Sherri stopped momentarily to get her picture taken with Cinderella.
When we got to the stateroom were were greeted by an Angel, a towel angel actually. We admired her for a few moments and then added her to the growing menagerie on the back of the couch.
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