Breakfast was egg burritos - melon had started to grow on me, given that it's the major fruit source. We chatted about phone dictation mistakes, then had to report to the boat at 7:30 for our dives. Steve first took a picture then did a rescue mission to grab me my camera, which I had forgotten to charge until right before breakfast. It was in the hut by the boat, and he grabbed it and passed it just as we pulled out.
Our sites were on the northeast corner of the atoll, which is a location we hadn't been to yet. Lindsey's Back Porch was our first. It was a bit of a wall, but after a week of diving, I wasn't getting a lot of deep bottom time, which was fine for the sites we were at. I hovered at around 50 feet on the ledge.
Someone spotted a tiny drumfish with its elaborate head tuft swimming in its circles under a coral patch. It got really exciting when Denroy signaled for a shark!
It was a wide, 7-foot nurse shark, in the sandy patch between two coral ridges. With Denroy at one end, and a tight swim-through at the other, it paced a few times before taking the exit route.
Another little drum was spotted, and I coasted along with a scrawled cowfish. Apparently there was a spotted moray that I completely missed while I was distracted by the cow fish and its cute little horns.
During the safety stop, Denroy got excited and started swimming in a direction. He heard dolphins, but they weren't in the mood to play with us, only the boat. John circled, but no luck at swimming with dolphins today either.
Our last morning surface interval. Our last container of watermelon. The last time Ron would eat four cookies and Lee Ellyn would share her dark chocolate. The last swim between dives (while adding a bit to the ocean, if you get my drift). So bittersweet.
We had taken shelter behind Lindsey's island, so we pulled out in front again for a trip down Lettuce Lane.
The formations with sand around the outside make it easier to see rays. I spent some time hovering and watching a pair of them - the little one was being feisty and nibbling on the bigger one.
There was also a boat motor on the ocean floor. As Alisa said, "I didn't realize we were going wreck diving."
The whole group was together for a giant blue parrotfish with a little yellow gobie on it to pop out of the coral and then disappear back in. I saw another indigo hamlet, but what everyone was crooning about when we got back to the surface was a juvenile boxfish.
The little black-and-white fish was so little, it just looked like an incorrectly colored ladybug to me. Ron equated it with looking like a die. Either way, Denroy found the little thing, and bounced it out of its hidey hole.
Lee Ellyn was getting picked up by her husband and fishing guide to do some fly fishing in the afternoon, so their boat swung by during lunch hour.
John told a few final jokes, as he does, then the group started planning on what we would tell Lee Ellyn that she missed out on when we talked to her tonight.
Well, we did see an eagle ray, as requested! We didn't see the submarine, great white shark, or a second Blue Hole, as we had discussed though.
I felt like we were swimming fast through Cockroach Shallows, but it worked to see that ray. It cruised around us, doing a wide circle with Ron churning along in the middle, taking pictures. It was a medium-sized one, but had the distinctive white spots.
I found two little sharpnosed puffers as I was swimming along. Denroy found a spider crab, but it was the size of a dinner plate. (Which reminds me - it was lobster night!)
We got back into the boat, and Denroy immediately started rinsing all the gear on the short ride back to the resort. They were going to drop it off in a few hours, then he, John, and some others were leaving on a boat tonight.
It was time to do our final bout of relaxing with a drink in our hand. First, I tamed my hair with a quick rinse, then hung out by the lightly salted pool. Lee Ellyn came by, and we moved to the lounge chairs - theirs in the shade, mine in the sun to get that last bit of a soak in.
We had managed to catch Steve the bartender in the middle of a restock, so it was a good 45 minutes of drink-less sunning and chatting. We exchanged a few pictures with AirDrop, then exchanged emails for the rest.
Between the Rocket Fuel Steve had made me and the glass of wine, I was ready for those appetizers when they came out. I ate five of the little mushroom tarts, at least. Alisa and I spent the cocktail hour talking with Mark and Colette, then took a seat at what became the divers' table.
It was a "reunion" of Denise, Ron, Steven, Haydee, me, Alisa, Lee Ellyn, and her husband, Richard, who had his own diving stories to tell (just not from this week). They had done a trip to the Galapagos, which sounds amazing... And is now on the top of the list.
Mozzarella pie, pasta primavera, lobster tail, key lime pie. It probably lasted longer than usual because we were talking so animatedly about our week.
It was 9pm, and Alisa and I weren't sleepy, so we walked to see the crocs at the beach, then hung out with the hermit crabs, then watched the stars, then wandered by the boats (with Steve advising not to go skinny-dipping with the crocs).
We took in our last night, then tucked back into our beachside cabana for the last time.
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