We checked in with the dive shop and immediately seen Eva, who was our dive instructor last time. The hubby made the comment "Weee'rrrreeee baaaaackkkkk" and laughed. I said with excitement "Are you our instructor again?" She told me no, that she already had another group going out with her that day. But she wasn't really smiling and didn't seem friendly for some reason. I felt like she was looking at us weird and almost biting her tongue about something. You know how you walk into a room and everyone shuts up and you just know they were talking about you? That's the unwelcome feeling I got at that moment. 🤔

Then we started talking about our "plans" for the day and then that's when they hit me with the news...they were NOT going to be taking me out with the scooter. They said it was against PADI rules for someone that is not certified to be on the scooter diving...even with an instructor. I told them about my conversation with the OWNER and he was the one who suggested it to begin with otherwise, I wouldn't have even scheduled a dive because I can't kick with my foot/leg. I told them everything that had happened to me and to my surprise, everyone already knew! They let it be known that I was the talk of the entire office and staff and they had all read my emails. Well, if they read my emails, then they knew what my intentions were for the day and SOMEONE should have told me that this was not going to happen. They explained to me they could get their license yanked if they did it. They called the owner of the company to discuss what to do next.

Meanwhile, I'm super hot about the situation and thinking I just wasted my time and money getting here for no reason because I really didn't want to just hang out on the beach and be hounded by the locals to buy stuff. By no means do I want someone to get their license taken away but I should have been told!

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As they were on the phone with the owner, I took Sakari out to the beach to get our "Christmas" photo.

I went back up to the office and they explained the situation again. They did say the owner said he was really sorry for the confusion and he wasn't aware that they couldn't ride tandem with a non-certified diver. But, what they were willing to do was to give me my own instructor and if I couldn't kick with my leg/foot, they would pull me along. While that doesn't sound too appealing to me, for the simple fact that I like to get close to the coral and take pics, or whatever the case, it was all I had to go on. I do know that some dive companies offer handicapped diving and people dive without even having a leg. So, if they can do it, so can I.

I WAS DOING THIS NO MATTER WHAT!! I told them I'd play it by ear and if I couldn't do it or it became too uncomfortable, then I was stopping. They said we'd go super slow and at my pace and my instructor would be right beside the entire time. At any time we could stop. Ok, I agreed.

Also, we were going to do a BOAT dive. I had told them that I already did Mandy's Eel Garden 4 months ago and wanted to go somewhere else. They had given me a list, prior to coming, and I had looked over a couple of places. Turtle Crossing sounded interesting, somewhat shallow and hopefully we'd see some turtles.

We had our "class" and then I headed over for a quick bathroom run while they took our equipment out to the water for our skills test. When I returned, my instructor was standing at the dive shop deck and said "I'm sorry, I will not be able to take you. I just dropped the tank on my foot". GASP!!! Oh em gee....his foot was terrible! A HUGE knot on the top of it and continued to swell as he stood there. He said he was in so much pain and his girlfriend was on her way to pick him up and take him to the hospital. Meanwhile, they were trying to call someone to come in to help with the dive. I felt so bad for him!!

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So we actually arrived here at 11:30am. Between all the talk back and forth about how to dive, doing our class and skills, then waiting on someone to arrive as another instructor, we did not get out on the boat until around 1:45pm. It was a long wait.

Then after the instructor showed up, they gathered all of our equipment, put it in a wheelbarrow and said "We're heading to the dock". But wait, where's the dock???? It was quite a walk for someone like me without a boot or shoe or anything. Sand is very hard to walk in when you don't have a broken foot. I tried to stay on the part where the water comes in and hardens it a little, but of course your feet sink somewhat and with it being on a slope, it was a very hard walk for me.

When I finally made it to the dock, we passed about 8 armed guards standing on the dock, in uniform and all with machine guns. Now that was somewhat scary!

Then came the task of trying to get on a moving boat...oh boy. It took me awhile to gather the courage and then some more time to maneuver onto the moving boat. I was so freaked out and holding on for dear life to the boat. I hate when someone tries to "help" you by giving you their hand. Your hand is attached to an arm. Your arm moves. I don't want to hold your unsteady hand trying to get on a boat. Give me something solid to hold on to because I can guarantee I'm not letting go of it. I held onto the top of the boat bars and eased my way down to a seat. Whew!

Off we went.

It was a very short ride. We stopped down at Bite on the Beach to let someone off there and then on to Turtle Crossing.