9:52 pm
I woke up again today at 7 for another dive at 7:30. Today we dove at Cistern Point and the Vanishing Rock. During the dive today, I performed harder skills which included an emergency "no-air" ascent to the surface and navigating with a compass. We saw lots more cool fish, including three large scrawled file-fish. We also saw numerous lobster and pufferfish. After the dive we ate lunch and I took a nap, went for a swim and finished the book I have been reading (The Secret Life of Bees). We prepared for what would be our first ever night dive. At 6 pm, the scuba instructors picked us up again, this time dressed in sweatshirts. I was super excited but also very scared for the coming dive. I had been told by my brother and dad that the dives were scary because you could literally only see where your flashlight was pointing.

So we headed out for the dive. We anchored the boat at a dive site called Mountain Point and were briefed on the dive. Because it would be dark, we had to use slightly different procedures, such as using flashlight signals rather than hand signals, which could no longer be seen in the dark. Finally it was time. We were given flashlights and glow sticks for the back of our tanks. We got in the water at twilight so that we could make our descent while still being able to see the bottom. But very shortly after we got down there, the darkness crept all around us and soon all I could see was the beam of my flashlight. What was also creepy was that you could only see anything if you shone your light at fish or coral, so if you shone it just out into the open water, it just caught in the plankton and you couldn't see more than five feet. At first, I was very disoriented, and twice almost went head first into a coral head, but pretty soon, everything got better and I was absorbed by the experience and my fear washed away. I climbed out of the water tonight very pleased with my day and proud that I had made it passed my fear and completed the night dive.



Hours today: 7
Hours total: 28.5

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