CARLISE BAY BEACH-SCUBA DIVING 2019
CARLISLE BEACH AND SCUBA DIVING
Since we always like to scuba dive in at least one port each cruise, I was struggling with actually where to pick. Kia and her daughter Michaela went diving, for the first time, on our last cruise together and they really enjoyed it and said that was a requirement this time around as well. Now, this time Kendra was going and if you think I get anxiety bad before and during diving, you should see her. She has a heck of a time getting used to the breathing with the regulator and freaks out. The last dive, she didn't even get to complete. (She ALWAYS uses some excuse...my mask is leaking, my fins don't fit right, the boat made me sick, blah blah blah). I get that anxiety too in the beginning...just not as bad as her and I know it's an excuse for her. HOWEVER, she actually said "We HAVE to go diving this time around so find us a good spot!" SAY WHAT?!? I couldn't believe she was requesting this. She said "as long as it's a shore dive". Well...I was the same way in the past, but we have done several boat dives now and I'm comfortable with it and it no longer worries me. I actually like it from the boat.
Scouting around here on cc, ABQrobin (who has given me tons of advice in the past about diving) suggested a place in Barbados...Blue Water Sports. She has them booked for an upcoming cruise and I figured why not. I corresponded with them about the amount of divers we had, ages and so on. They had excellent communication back and forth and I have TONS of emails to prove it.
We talked about transportation. We talked about how we wanted to stay at the beach before and after the dive and how long we were in port for. We talked about our group and experience and also about how the day would go, where we would dive, how long we would be out...and THAT IT WAS A BOAT DIVE. Oops...well, they assured me that it was a VERY short ride out to the site (not long enough to sit there and get sea sick which is one of Kendra's excuses) and assured me that it would be better getting dropped off there than having to swim that far. Kendra was just going to have to deal with it. They also assured me that they do the class and skills BEFORE going out on the boat and in a pool. Also great news. So we booked with them. We would be diving at several ship wrecks and I was excited.
The cost of the dive was $99 per person for discover scuba and the dive shop was supposed to be around 10 minutes away from the port. It sounded good to us!
So, off the ship we went...and of course "X" was in port with us...and like always, they arrived before us. That meant they had the "prime parking spot" and we were FAAAAARRRRR AWAY! Geesh, like REALLY REALLY FAR! It was quite some walk to even get to the port! I was about to be worn out before we ever made it to dive and I wasn't liking that.
Once we arrived to the port and out the door we didn't find anyone waiting for us nor did we actually know where to go. There always seems to be a lot of confusion at that port with taxi's and if you go inside or outside the port. Since we had been to a port (Antigua) that let the vendors on the dock, we really wasn't sure.
We ended up being put in a taxi inside the port and we were off. I asked the driver about the price and he ignored me. I wasn't getting a good feeling about that. After he dropped the other families off, I ask again. He still didn't answer. I finally had to say "Hey Mister!" He finally answered and I was told it was going to be $7.50/pp for the ride there. Kendra came in a taxi shortly after us.
When he had asked me where we were going I had told him (several times) "We are diving with Barbados Blue Watersports that is located right by the Hilton." He kept questioning it for some reason and asking if I was sure that was it. I asked if there was a dive place there by the Hilton and he said "yes". So...that's it then. The attitude and the tone of his voice just kinda struck a nerve with me as being rude. This has happened to us in the past as well with drivers in Barbados.
Now we were told it was 10 minutes away. It was around 20 minutes (with dropping off everyone in the taxi in one other location, which probably only added 1 minute total). When we arrived, he immediately jumped out, left the drivers door open and bus running, didn't open our door, and went inside. Um...ok. So we managed to get out and went up to the dive shop and he was coming out the door and said "Are you sure you have reservations here?". I said, "If you brought us to Barbados Blue Watersports by the Hilton, then yes we do". He insisted on seeing them, which I thought was really weird. I walked past him and into the dive shop and talked to the people inside and presented my paperwork with our payments. They told him we belonged there. I thought it was really strange that he was doing all of this in the manor in which he was doing it along with his tone of voice. He gave off the vibe that he didn't believe us. I don't know...maybe it's just the way they act there or something. It just didn't make me feel comfortable.
But we had made it!
After checking in, we were told to "go hang out at the tables outside the dive shop". But, we were extremely early so...I had already said we wanted to hang out at the beach. I told them that's where we would be going and no one else was even there yet. I mean why sit around on a picnic beach waiting for awhile when we could be sitting on the beach. They said ok and we went right outside the gate and found a spot in the shade.
Kendra arrived shortly after that and then came Kia fashionably late. 😉 Maybe her and Kendra were separated at birth somehow. I'm beginning to wonder since this happened the last time we dove together. LOL (I still love you Kia 😉 )
Now remember Kendra had one extra person with her...Shawna. She wanted to see if she could dive too and if not, she would just stay on the beach with Billy and Kam. They first said yes, then changed it to no. Then maybe. Then "we have too many kids". They were so confused. They said there couldn't be more than 4 people in a group (there were 2 other people diving that day in addition to our huge group). Then they said no more than one child per group. Then said it didn't matter because Shawna was 13 years old and the one child per group only applied to anyone under 12 years old.
Then they tried to figure out how to split everyone up. They said there were 3 instructors. Ok, well obviously the "split" is easy enough. Me, the hubby and Sakari (one child under 12) would be with one instructor. Kendra, Shawna and Brayden (one child under 12) would be with another. Kia and Michaela (who is also 13) and the other 2 people with the other instructor. Easy-peasy right? Or at least you would think so. I mean it made sense to me but they would get confused and say "wait, we can't do that because there's 2 children in this group (Kendras) so we need to put one child with another group". Um, ok, you just said it was fine because one is 13. ......... "Oh, ok then, it's fine". Then confusion would set in again and they'd bring it up. They talked about moving one kid from Kendra's group to either our group or Kia's. Wow, now does that make sense? No matter what, you are going to have more than 2 kids in one group. Ugh, this confusion lasted for a little bit before they finally all caught on. Whew!
We were then fitted for our equipment and told we were heading over to the Hilton. The Hilton is a bit of a walk. It's down and across the street and up a hill. Then threw the building, up the steps, down to the other pool and around. Whew.
They started putting our equipment together and those of us who "thought" we could do it could help as well. Kendra and I tackled one of them while they started on the others.
We hit the water, put our equipment on and the "class" instruction started. Now this instructor that was going over everything with us was...simply put...amazing! She said things in a way that everyone understood (even though we already knew what she was saying because we have done it before) but she presented it in a way that gave examples, in simple terms, of why this did that or how this happens, with examples that we could relate to. Wow, I really liked her! The other instructor kinda stayed there and didn't talk much but was there to help us out and with our skills for check off.
Our skills check off began and one by one we removed our regulator and put it back in. We cleared our mask. We threw our regulator over our shoulders and retrieved it....and so on. Then came....REMOVING THE MASK??? Yikes. People panicked. We weren't prepared for this. Everyone said "we've never had to do this before". She said, "it's better safe than sorry and at least you'll know the skill". People were freaking. Honestly, all I could think about is my eyelashes that I have managed not to get a single drop of water on them since the beginning of vacation and now I'm about to drown them. LOL Kendra freaked out of course and the issues started with her thereafter.
Ok, I was bound and determined to do this. When it was my turn, I did it, but my mask was never the same again no matter how many times I cleared it. Eventually I would have to come to the surface and correct it to feel comfortable. All I can say is thank goodness it wasn't done in saltwater! There was one other lady that absolutely refused. No way was she doing it and she said she would no longer be diving with them that day if she had to do that. Kendra was still struggling and ended up getting one on one attention for quite some time.
Some time during the check off skills another instructor came along and entered the pool. She immediately started barking orders, had an attitude and was just rude with her demeanor. She gave off that "I know it all and do no wrong" type of attitude. The only way to describe it is...you know how you have teachers in school for young children and you can tell those that are good at their jobs and really care about the kids and are patient versus those that are just there for a paycheck and could care less? Yea, it's that kinda difference.
Once we completed check off's we were to grab our things and head back to the dive shop where they would meet us once everyone was completed. We were one of the first to leave.
Moment of truth...we were about to get on the boat and head out.
Then off we went (about 5 minutes from shore just like they said). Kendra was looking worried. Me, I was excited and not very nervous at all this time. I was excited about doing a boat dive as well and pumped up Sakari about going off the boat to keep her from being scared like she was last time we dove from a boat. You could tell by the look on her face, she wasn't too sure.
Now I was equipped with a camera and so was Kendra. We were told we would all be in the same area, but not together. So, we would be apart enough that we wouldn't be together and would cross paths here and there. I made sure to put her camera on the water setting prior to handing it to her.
We put our equipment on and it was time to dive. Now I'm normally super nervous in the beginning and until I get going or I have something interesting to look at in the water, my mind gets the best of me. However, our last dive I was super comfortable and didn't get nervous at all. I was hoping for the same thing this time around.
Here's a short video of us jumping in. I have to say going off backwards is funner!
Sakari hesitated but did it and was fine.
We were told to swim toward the line and ease our way down then wait at the bottom. No problems there.
Here's some of Kendra's pictures. Shawna was karate chopping her way down obviously. Brayden was feeling comfortable. Then off they went.
But first a selfie...obviously Kendra wasn't having any issues this time around and no excuses. Good for her. Maybe this will be a good dive for her. I was worried.
I will start with Kendra's dive first since we really didn't even see them after the initial start of the dive.
They immediately see a Scorpion Fish. They are a very venomous fish and they look just like a rock. They are sometimes hard to spot and you definitely don't want to step on one. (I don't know the difference between the Scorpion Fish and the Stone Fish...they both look the same to me and both pretty deadly, but they said these were Scorpion fishes).
Ok, Kendra was off to a good start...then all of a sudden....
BLUE, BLUR, BLUE, BLUR...what the heck just happened? Her pictures are crap from here on out. I don't know if she hit a button and switched them or what. Ugh
Now mind you...I had no idea what they had seen on their dive trip until after we got back to the boat and we compared notes. I have to say that they had a MUCH BETTER dive experience than we did and seen more than we did and I'm totally jealous!!!!!
They managed to see a HUGE porcupine puffer and followed it for awhile and she got pretty darn close to it.
She also seen a flying gurnard...or something similar to it.
She also must have passed Kia and Michaela's group at some point because she managed to get a picture of them.
Then she joked about seeing some turtles...and said "yep, we seen them". I thought she was joking. SHE WAS NOT!!! UGH! We didn't see ANY turtles and that was what I was hoping to see!!!
She also managed to see a stingray but most of it was buried in the sand and when I did her pictures, I couldn't hardly tell it was even there.
AND THEN THIS!!! OH MY GOSH I'M SO MAD!!!
She got to see a lot of Garden Eels!!!! UGH! I didn't see anything like that. She was describing how they were all sticking up and when you got close they'd duck under the sand. I love these things (and we had one in our tank for awhile and it was so interesting to watch). I specifically went diving at West Bay in Roatan just to see the garden of eels but the weather was too bad to dive there that time and we went to another side of the island. So, I have yet to see them!
Then the hubby would tell me..."we seen them!" Um what???? He said they were there and he had seen them...but yet no one told me about it???? UGH! He said I was back taking pictures and he had no idea I hadn't seen them.
So, that was the extent of Kendra's photo's and I'm honestly not sure she's my daughter at this point. Or, she did not inherit my love for photography.
Ok, onto my beautiful pictures. 😉
Down the ropes we go to the bottom of the ocean floor.
I do have to mention that our awesome instructor also told us of another way to clear our ears that no one has ever mentioned before and IT WORKS FOR SAKARI!! We know the pinching of the nose, tilting the head, swallowing but she mentioned to swallow WITH your tongue at the roof of your mouth while holding your nose and IT WORKS FOR SAKARI! She struggles off and on with clearing her ears and goes up and down over and over until she can clear them and sometimes they don't clear and she'll have to stay in about 12-15' of water and that's it. Well, this time it worked. She had learned something new and it even works out of water for her...which had never happened before.
Then off we went with our newly learned way to clear ears.
Now I want to mention, we had the awesome instructor we liked. I think her name was Keira? Maybe Kia will remember. I know it was a K name. Kia had the mean girl, Ashley. Then Kendra's group had a guy.
Are you all noticing a pattern here...and I'm talking about the pictures themselves.
BLUE!! ALL BLUE!! WHAT THE HECK??? Somehow I also managed to get my settings on blue. UGH It's a bad day.
We had already made it down past 20' at this point and I was feeling good about the dive. No anxiety, no panic, no nuttin!
Then something caught my eye...slithering on the ocean floor...woo hoo. I scored an eel. I found a few that day.
And this is the point that I discovered it was on the wrong setting! Now notice my pictures went from green-blue to a blue tint? I have no idea what was going on at this point and my apologies because my pictures sucked this time. I'm so disappointed in them.
Now I do want to mention...when we first started, I was having some buoyancy issues. I kept sinking to the ocean floor. With each dive company, they have different rules. No one is ever consistent. Some say "DO NOT TOUCH your bcd and we will control it". Others will tell you "It's all on you and you control it". Well, this was one of those companies that said no-no! I kept having to push myself off the floor and tried controlling it with my breathing but it was just too much. I flagged her down and told her what was going on. She adjusted it and we were off again.
It wasn't much longer that I was going too high and she adjusted it again. Then too low. Well, I finally gave up and waited until she wasn't looking and did it myself. I understand why some don't trust "new divers" on a discover dive to do it themselves, but it's not the first nor last time we have dove and I knew how to do it. I'm not going to shoot myself up out of the water and get decompression sickness. Little by little I balanced myself and didn't have another problem the rest of the dive.
Did someone say is Spring blooming season? hehe
Wow, at this point we were down to a little over 30' and I was still feeling confident and good about this dive. No worries at all, controlling my breathing, aware of my surroundings and not scared at all. I'm definitely improving! I have always said I'm most comfortable around 25' but this time at 30' I felt like going just a little deeper would not be bad.
Off in the distance, I saw Kia and Michaela with their group.
Sakari was not having any issues at all and so far no stings from anything. LOL
The ships were pretty amazing to see and not at all what I had pictured for this dive. I think of Barbados and I think of sandy bottom, not much coral but I was pleasantly surprised at the things we saw. Plenty of coral and plenty of fish.
Now I'm going to zoom in to show you...
(Sorry for the terrible picture but see all the little black things sticking up?)
The next picture I have is one that made no sense to me until now. I saw Sakari and daddy pointing at something and I snapped a picture of....no idea what. Then I saw Sakari move her fins. (Now I have attempted to lighten these pics to be able to see better...but I suck and really don't know how to make them look good). Look directly below my name stamp.
Here's a zoomed in picture of the above picture and lightened a lot to be able to see them...
I guess they were just everywhere....truly a garden of eels, hence their name garden eels. The hubby said they were super long (and shows me about 18" on his hands) and he thought it was seaweed. Then the closer they got the shorter they got. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. LOL Then they would disappear or barely be sticking up. He definitely knew something was up. Of course, Sakari knew right away because we had one of these in our aquarium but she couldn't communicate this to him under water.
Here's our "Ellie"
I'm still very disappointed that I didn't really get to see this with my own eyes instead of my camera. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for shrinking seaweed next time.
Ok moving on. I'm over it (not really, but we'll pretend).
Now I will admit that I was dealing with something else during this eel event. My watch was not looking like itself! Hmmm, my watch states it's rated for 100 meters and we were only down 40' at this point. I have been down around this far before and never an issue. I have had this exact same watch since 2010 and have done dives and snorkels multiple times per year with no issues. My 2010 watch finally broke (the strap only) a few cruises ago and I went out and bought the same exact watch (which is the watch in question here). I have dove with it before as well. But this time...it would not make it out alive.
The other weird thing I noticed was my camera looked weird. The color of the pictures showing up on the screen had a rose color to it. I tried changing settings and no matter what, it was this weird color. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had no idea what was happening. Then my watch looked that color as well. Am I ready to pass out or something? What's going on? I felt perfectly fine.
I continued on and hoped for the best.
I think my camera having a funny color to it was throwing me off and my close up pictures really sucked today as well.
Our instructor made a fist and put it in her hand. I knew what that meant...stone fish (only she would later say it was a scorpion fish).
RING RING....It's for you,...
Another eel spotted. I guess I can spot them if they are big...just not small and hiding in the sand (not getting over this any time soon I tell ya).
Now I can't remember what she said the following fish were. I thought they were high hats but when I said that, she said something else. These were little babies and you really had to look for them.
Then I spotted a goby. I love gobies. They are so much fun to watch in a tank. They take huge gulps of sand and sift it and it comes back out of their gills on the side. (It's in the middle of the picture).
Below is our Goby at work
Here comes Kia's group and I guess our fun was about to end.
We headed back onto the boat.
Kendra and Shawna made it to the surface and Brayden popped up from the side. I was glad I was seeing a smile on her face. Shawna looked happy too. I honestly can't believe Shawna wasn't freaking out. I mean she did freak out over a small harmless sea urchin the other day at the beach.
So here is a Carlisle Bay Marine Park map. There are 6 shipwrecks located there. We went to 4 of them plus the barge.
We went to Bajan Queen, Eillon, Cornwallis, Berwind and the Barge. According to our instructor, we went down 40' but it says the Eillon is in 55 feet of water so I don't know. She wouldn't give an "exact" amount. She said we dove for 30 minutes. According to my pictures, it was more like 45 minutes. The water was 82 degrees and said visibility was 50 feet.
I "think" this was maybe our 7th dive we've done and I'm feeling more and more comfortable with it and I can't wait to go again!!!!
Now when we pulled up in the boat, the instructors go "Oh my! Yuck" and we looked at the beach and it was covered in seaweed. So weird how much came in while we were out there.
Back at the dive shop, we waited for quite some time for our instructor to finish what she was doing (the other people that dove had left already) and I was waiting to have my book filled out. They actually paged her several times. She didn't fill it out but gave me the info to do it myself and she stamped it.
I wanted to mention the lady at the counter is very rude. After checking in she handed us our books to fill out. We've done this enough times to know what all goes on it and so on. Then on the page beside it was the "test" you have to fill out and sign. Well, I filled out my book and did the test and she started yelling at me "You have to read the book. Did you read the book?" I told her I've done this test enough times and know the answers that I don't need to read a book to know the answers. She had a fit and told me to go outside and read the book and THEN take the test. She sent everyone out with books and said: "go read". At this point, the entire group was agitated about her attitude. I came back in and gave her my book and she said: "are you sure you are ready for the test?" ....Um, lady I've already filled it out but the last 2 questions, what do you think?
Then Sakari came in looking for me and she started to do her test. Well, Sakari has a reading disability and I knew it would take her a while to do without help. So, I read her the questions and the lady started screaming at me "THIS IS A TEST! YOU CAN NOT HELP HER! SHE HAS TO PASS THIS ON HER OWN!" Oh my god! At this point I was sick of her attitude and I said "She has a hard time reading and I'm not telling her the answers and I'm not doing anything but reading it to her and if you have a problem with this then I'm done with this place and we won't dive at all!!!!" She finally backed down. There were some other issues when we first got there so that lady was already on my bad side to begin with.
Now I have to say that this is the first place that has ever had us take the test before doing the class. Normally they do the class and go over everything, then you take the test, then you go to the water for skills. Just plain weird.
I'm also including a picture of the Hilton where we did our skills in the pool.