12 July 2014

Today we willingly woke up at 5:15am.  Yes, that’s right…..before the crack of dawn.  I managed to get a good night’s sleep, so that was good, but it was still quite a jarring entry into reality when the alarm went off!

Got a taxi and then we boarded a train to Santa Margherita Ligure so I could go diving and Meg could go snorkeling. We got into a Harry Potter car, which was lost on Meg because she’s never read Harry Potter!  As someone who’s read all the books twice and listened to them on audio once, I was aghast!  Got on and had some nice people in our car.  I was able to sleep for a good part of the trip, which was nice.

We arrived at the train station and Niccolo was there to pick us up.  He was the (handsome) dive master who I dove with in 2012.  Meg approved, haha!  He brought us to the shop and we got ready.  This was a far more relaxed event than that of a week ago.  It was still hustle and bustle, but it seemed different.  Another nice thing is that there weren’t as many people on the boat this time, so it was a lot more leisurely.

Got all kitted out and then onto the boat.  It was a little cloudy, but warm.  The moon was full and the tide was coming in, so the waters were really, really choppy!  A lot more than when I was here before.  The first dive was to a boat wreck.  I had dived it before so I was familiar with it.  What I wasn’t really comfortable with was the current.  It was really strong!  It was some of the fastest water I’ve dived in.  I dove with less weight, which helped me feel more confident….but then I put too much air into my BCD (vest) and had some trouble staying down, haha!!  But….it wasn’t terrible or scary or awful….it was just something I needed to adjust and was able to do so.  Coming back up was challenging because of the current, but I found the safety stop and hung on for dear life, haha!!  Loved the dive, it was fantastic!  

Meg wasn’t able to snorkel because of the current and the waves.  It was too choppy and a little cloudy, so she took a much needed nap.  We spent our surface interval over by the Christ of the Abyss, which is famous.  It was too choppy for me to get into the water and Meg decided that she was happy just knowing it was underneath.  Relaxed and then motored over to our next stop.

Meg's cup

The waves and current were even stronger over here, but they said as long as all the divers stayed close to the wall, we’d be fine.  We jumped in and went down to about 70 feet.  Saw some gorgeous corals….purple and orange….and a few fish at that depth.  The walls were covered in a lot of different things, so many things to see! 

We then came up a little to about 50 feet and we saw a ton of fish!!  There was a huge grouper….probably about 3-4 feet and fat, fat, fat!!  Saw a huge school of barracuda…there must have been about 20-30 of them.  Sergeant Majors and sardines too.  Just a lot going on close to the wall.  I can’t imagine that they like the strong current and choppy water either.  Bruno, the owner and dive instructor, fussed at me because I was preoccupied with my air consumption.  Both dives I sucked down more air than I usually do.  But, the current was so strong that I know I expended a ton of energy :o)

We got back on the boat and went back into town.  I showered, got dressed, paid and then we went to eat at the restaurant I loved when I was there in 2012.  The food, as I remembered, was so good!  But, the service was pretty slow.  The weather was gorgeous and there was a pleasant breeze and we sat for a couple hours watching the boats in the harbor.

dead soldiers!

After lunch, we wandered the town a little and Meg found a cute, silver compass charm to wear on a necklace.  She wanted something that reminded her of her visit there and she loves the water.  We got a taxi back up to the station, which was a ridiculous 15E!!  What a racket.  After he told us the cost, I remembered that when John and I were there they charged us a stupid amount too.  Waited for the train and got on and into our Harry Potter car again.

Tried to sleep, wasn’t too successful, got back to the station, ate dinner at the kebap place and then called it a night.  Went to bed pretty early because I have a multitude of hours to catch up on, haha!