Nut case: Diving with Bull Sharks

Gearing up @ Tank-Ha dive shop

It’s safe to say not everyone desires to intentionally dive @ 90 feet with big Bull Sharks. I got to thinking what a nut case I am, hanging on to a safety line at depth, looking around 360 degrees to hang out with a bunch of carnivorous sharks.

From our dive boat, we descended a secure vertical line to the bottom, then crossed hand over hand to a horizontal line along the sandy bottom, hanging on to avoid being swept away by the strong current. During the dive briefing our dive master, Boris, was very adamant that if any of our group of 5 let go of the line and drifted off, we’d all have to abort the dive and miss our shark experience. Diving with the bull sharks is highly regulated, for good reasons: Stay tightly together and follow all instructions. No problem.  

I had a couple of pre-dive issues (my Nitrox tank didn’t get transferred onto the boat, my air hose wouldn’t connect to my buoyancy compensator and once I back rolled into the water with my gear on, the current was so strong I couldn’t make way past the boat to the safety float). So not a good way to start a dive of this nature. Boris addressed the issues and ensured I was OK before we descended – she was super calm and did a great job. I descended slowly, eager, anxious and trying not to suck up my air too quickly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

It was a spectacular experience. Several ~ 8’ – 9’ sharks cruised by including a mom and baby. Their dark gray masses contrasted beautifully against the white sandy bottom and the intense blue water. Our 30 minutes were up too soon. We ascended slowly up and away from the sharks and into the deep blue, that special experience already just a memory.

watermaker membrane prep

Backtrack to Mazatlán

installing the watermaker

installing a pump and wiring

We arrived in Mazatlán on December 1^st and Pura Vida was happily bobbing in the slip at Marina Mazatlán awaiting our arrival. Luis had kept an eye on the boat for us, and all was well. The humidity is intense here (most mornings start at 99%) so moisture, mold and heat can and do cause damage and problems. We have been working on … boat projects and having fun these past 2 months. I haven’t posted any stories because really, who wants to read about work. But here are few photos that demonstrate Mike’s boat yoga and mechanical skills.

head rebuild

installing the exhaust fan

Lest you think it’s all work, we’ve been having a great time hanging out with friends, exploring Mazatlán on Sundays (our day to take a break) and enjoying the holidays and winter in the sunshine. After weeks of boat stuff, Mike was ready for a break. Since we were anxious to dive again, the Caribbean coast beckoned and we decided on Playa del Carmen. We dove there in 2006 and 2018 so it was time for another visit.

2 classical concerts in Mazatlan

We flew to Cancun and taxied an hour south to the tourist mecca that is Playa del Carmen. It’s a loud, bustling place full of hustlers hawking everything from tours to T shirts to pot. With Mike’s ponytail, we often get offers of drugs (“hey long hair, don’t care”…they’d call after him since he ignored them).

every flight routes through Mexico City- off to Cancun

We arranged for 10 dives with Tank-Ha, the same dive shop as previously, and as repeat customers, we enjoyed 10% discount, free rental equipment and free Nitrox. For non-divers, Nitrox offers a higher level of oxygen to reduce fatigue when doing multiple dives.

funky but perfect - Santuario Playa Hotel

Bonus, the new dive shop location was literally a one-minute walk from our hotel, separated by a sex shop, massage parlor, pharmacy and OXXO (ubiquitous mini marts on every block - kind of like Starbucks in the US). Plus, the added interest of a shop being built out, Enzo’s Lavanderia (read on: there’s a story there).

cool staircase - not at our hotel

We selected Santuario Playa, a quaint, older bright pink hotel. Truly funky but functional, and a large apartment with room to relax and dry our dive gear. The location is great: right off 5^th Avenue, the main drag where the action is; near the shop and the beach. However, the music was so loud on the first night, we requested a room change. Score! The new room was so much better (no plumbing smells, a cushion on the concrete couch, better wall mural, views and several more items in working order). 

The Diving

One of the things I like about diving is the international community, encountered everywhere you go. We had dive masters from Uruguay, Argentina, Spain and Mexico - they each offer their experiences and sense of humor plus skills to enrich our dive excursions. They also know how to find the good stuff since they ‘know’ the reefs and dive sites. Divers we were with hailed from Austria, Trinidad and Tobago, Germany, France, Canada and the US. And that was just our little groups!

sculpture near the bus station at Playa del Carmen

beautiful tile work

There are often strong currents on the mainland side where Playa is and stronger currents on the walls and reefs on the island of Cozumel. So when you drop into the water, you start your journey at the surface and truck along – there’s no going back or stopping to check out a cool fish, shrimp or coral. And once again, stay with your group for safety. Our groups were between 3 and 6 plus the dive master.

welcome camel at the Turkish taco shop

The reefs are teaming with fish, thankfully, and we encountered many schools of fish – some probably 1000 and others, 100 fish. Since some of the dive sites are nature preserves, we’d see some pretty large specimens – giant lobsters, huge hermit crab, angel fish, parrot fish, box fish and so much more. On the large species, we saw lots of sting rays and other rays, eels, turtles, an amazing spotted eagle ray and a nurse shark. And in the tiny category, arrow and other types of shrimp, blue tangs – and the lists go on. They were good dives.

tequila tasting shops are everywhere - no thanks!

The weather was remarkably cooler, and the locals shared that this was the coldest it’s been in 20 years. That required wearing more gear above and below the waterline.

Enjoying a refreshing Pisco Sour

One day as we walked to a watch shop to get a new battery for Mike’s dive computer, we passed a sign that beckoned: when life gives you lemons, make a Pisco Sour. We chatted with the nice Peruvian owner and promised we’d be back. We enjoyed our tasty dinner at that tiny Peruvian restaurant on Pisco Sour day! We discovered Pisco Sours from our “evil neighbors” at the moorage, so we had to stop when we saw the sign in Playa.

Enzo’s Lavanderia

We walked daily past a storefront being built out and noticed an artsy mural at the entrance of a guy and a bunch of bubbles. We stopped to try and figure out the message, long enough for the guy represented in the mural to come out and welcome us in – it was Enzo. Same glasses, same hair, a good rendition. He explained he is creating a high- end laundry – we didn’t figure out what the offerings were going to be, except there was a foosball table in the empty salon. And the mural painter was busily creating yet another fabulous mural with spray paint cans, standing on scaffolding. He stopped long enough to wave as we congratulated him on his artistry!

Creating another mural at Enzo's

Enzo's Lavanderia 

Enzo offered us his biz card and entry passes to a beach resort where you can hang out for the day on rental chaise lounge chairs, under umbrellas sipping your beverage of choice. That turned out to be the perfect way to spend our last day – we had to decompress after diving for 5 days so why not relax? We’d walked a zillion miles over the course of that week so a dry and somewhat sedentary day was just the ticket.

Now we are back in Mazatlán, finishing up some projects and we hope to head south this week. Not sure yet where we’ll go.

But today is Carnaval here and Mazatlán boasts one of the most famous and large in the world so off we go to take the bus and wander around town, waiting for the estimated 4 hour parade this evening. Wish us well on that crowded outing!

iguanas at the marina- this 3.5' guy got on our boat!

marina sunset - life is good even when working

2278 Miles of Rain, Terrain and Adventure

San Carlos sunset at Charly's Rock!

Our road trip began November 11^th, after Mike carefully loaded the car and the ‘burrito’ with accumulated boat parts and other treasures. Ironically, it wasn’t raining when we departed Portland. Usually, we start with a wet load after he hauls cartloads from the house up the ramp at the moorage. This year, dry on departure then, the entire trip of 1822 miles to Guaymas, it rained. A lot.

First stop – Mike’s sister and husband’s small farm for an overnight. A whopping hour and 15 minutes from home but hey, we’ve left the barn…and spend some quality family time! Next stop, Shingletown CA to stay with cruising friends. Due to heavy rains, outdoor activities were limited to driving into the national park and helping split logs and stack firewood under their dry pole barn. And, of course, swap stories of boating life.

Oregon to Shingletown CA

Off to Reno, living large at a ‘deluxe’ EconoLodge, a short distance to our usual walks around Virginia Lake. Then off to Shenanigans Irish Pub which is right out of the old TV show Cheers. Our sweet waitress recognizes us from past visits(!) and she regales us with stories of her recent wedding. An appropriate hefty tip is left to help her as she starts a new chapter.

I'm including maps by request from a few readers!

444 miles of mountains, farmland and desert!

North Las Vegas and long-time friends await - did I mention heavy rains? LV needed the rain really badly and we managed to walk their bevy of dogs between the squalls. A requisite casino visit lightens my wallet (Mike does not partake).

After hugs and long goodbyes, we’re off to Waddell, east of Phoenix for our next friends’ visit. No pool time, but plenty of rain. And some dog walking under stormy skies. We sneak in a visit with my long-lost (and recently reconnected in September) cousin who winters there, and we’ll see them again as we head north. 

Gotta fuel up before long dry stretches...

First margarita @ Charly's Rock

Next stop: Nogales AZ before crossing the border in the early morning. But wait! A boating friend in Guaymas (think border issues) has an inverter shipping to Tucson, so we delay our travels south by a day and head back north to meet up with another friend who accepted the UPS shipment. After an afternoon visit, the goods transfer in the parking lot in the pouring rain means short hugs and goodbyes and off we go.

Border crossing @ Nogales

In Nogales after my hair appointment with Lupita, dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant and our last stop to buy bratwurst at Safeway, we are ready. The border crossing is always a crap shoot. Will they want to inspect our ‘chandlery’ of boat parts scattered throughout the car and burrito? This time, we score.  The border guy asks if I know Spanish, and to avoid lengthy conversations, I say ‘un poco’. He calls us ‘gringos’ which is quite unusual for a local to call us that to our faces. But we smile and he sends us on our way. I figured he can call me what he wants if we don’t have to pay duty on thousands of $$ of boat parts.

Handoff of the the new inverter in the dirt yard

We’ve been in Guaymas for a very busy week, seeing a multitude of friends and our favorite vendors, dental appointments, and a requisite visit to our favorite waterfront restaurant for sunset and margaritas. Our usual guy Luis has the day off. We’ll catch him next time…so many friends as this is our long-time stomping ground, so it’s bittersweet to be heading south.

This is our next leg - 456 miles south

@ Empalme: crab, shrimp, sea bass - fresh caught!

But adventures await in Mazatlán – after we make the long journey through Sinaloa, the home of the Sinaloa cartel. Plenty of recent stories abound of bad things happening to people along this route so we hope by leaving super early in the morning and driving on the toll roads, we’ll arrive safely.

Our guy Luis who takes care of our boat will remove our boat covers, wash the boat and open it up for our hopefully safe arrival after 10+ hours driving.

We’re ready for our boating life on Pura Vida, thankful for every day we have!

Sideways underwear – One more day?

Mike inspecting our luggage loading!

So, this is about doing your laundry in a sink with Woolite when you’re traveling a long time. Maybe you can relate. If not, travel with us as we explore the Philippines in October, where we dove for 11 days and explored for another 12, visiting 5 of the 7,641 islands.

We flew from Manila to Dumaguete

NEGROS ORIENTAL

We spent our first 14 nights on Negros Oriental, a few in the bustling city of Dumaguete where the airport is, and 11 at the Atlantis Dive Resort.

Our last day on this island, we did a full day tour to Valencia, to explore the island’s highlights, one of which is the world renown Red Rock Hot Spring. Family owned for years, they opened it to tourists so others could relish the healing benefits of the spring waters emanating from the red rock formations. These tropical mountains are full of springs, waterfalls and stinky sulfur vents that provide electricity to this and neighboring islands.

The Hot Spring entrance fee includes access to a changing room to prepare for your spa experience and a towel. Surrounded by the gentle sounds of the springs bringing fresh water to the pool, you relax while balancing your butt on the rocks and take in the tropical jungle and glistening red rocks. As it’s a popular destination, we are joined by four Germans and a Brit.

Hot springs and lush jungles. Not many bugs!

We sit in the pool for a period of time feeling the energy of the healing minerals. When fingertips are sufficiently withered, it’s time to move on. Plus, more adventures await and our driver beckons with a full day of exploring.

On the way in, you’re focused on getting in the water so don’t really pay much attention to the changing room experience – there’s a spa awaiting! Upon exit, you’re thinking, I want to get into dry clothes for the rest of the day’s adventures. The ‘phone booth’ size space is dark, dank and wet, with rock walls, no lights and no hooks to set your dry clothes. There is a bucket of fresh rinse water, which is also standard in most restrooms – ready for flushing the gravity-fed toilets and providing a fresh body rinse.

Okay, so I negotiate my swimsuit removal, balancing my dry clothing in various body crevices to keep it dry. I don my underwear, shorts and top – impressed with my ability to keep most items above the standing water. As I exit, Mike awaits his turn to do the circus act and I smile because I know what fun he’ll have, too.

As the day passes, I wonder why my walk is a bit wonky, but I don’t think much about it. Humid weather makes for some uncomfy clothing scenarios, let’s just say. After we arrive at our hotel, I finally realize I’d put on my sexy black underwear sideways! HAHAHA. No wonder. Then, you get to thinking – hey, since I hand wash my underwear in the sink – does this qualify for a ‘free day’? Now I know it’s TMI, however it does cause a pause in your thoughts.

Hiked 142 steps up/down to the swimming holes

Beautiful flowers abound

Butterfly garden featured many species

Our 8 hour excursion included a winding drive through the mountains and valleys to experience:

- the Forest Camp with several hot springs; 

- the Monkey Sanctuary (monkeys are no-shows that day); - raging Pulang Bato Falls with the rickety suspension bridge; - stinky steaming Sulfur Vents; 

- the Valencia Pigeon (a visit to “Chada Valencia” (basically “Beautiful Valencia”) which is the decorated city plaza where Mike feeds the pigeons; 

- a requisite stop at a souvenir shop and a bakery for a torta (muffin) baked in a wood fire; 

- the Mango Ranch where we rode for a hour on an ATV through a river; 

- a final stop at the impressive Cata-Al World War II museum.

My buddy Tim at Atlantis Dive Resort

Bohol Bee Farm -local handicrafts & lore

Rice drying along the streets

Museum had WWII memorabilia & Asian treasures

The donation-based WWII museum is run by a chatty older gent who is very proud of his collections. He regaled us with stories of the treachery imposed on the Filipinos during WWII and ultimately, victory. He quoted verbatim from Douglas MacArthur’s speech when MacArthur returned to free the Philippines from the Japanese:

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES:

I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come, dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring, upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.

The hour of your redemption is here. Your patriots have demonstrated an unswerving and resolute devotion to the principles of freedom that challenges the best that is written on the pages of human history.

Mike & Ajit on our Siquijor day tour

The extensive exhibits leave you humble and give you a feel for the Philippines’ lengthy and complicated history. And the owner is, understandably, very proud of his collections.

SCUBA DIVING – NEGROS ORIENTAL & APO ISLAND

Our dive boat was well manned, equipped and comfy

Double outriggers make the dive boat a smooth ride

We dove with Thunder Reef Divers out of Vancouver WA. There were 11 of us in the group and we all dove daily on the same outrigger boat, and dined together during our 11-day, 10-night stay at the Atlantis Dive Resort. The entire facility and all of the services are absolutely top notch – from the dive operation, the attentive staff who called us by name, fabulous food, spa treatments, easy beach and dive boat access, to the good diving and cool stuff seen during our 19 dives.

Genie & dive masters w/ Cedric, Greg

Our dive master, Genie, was a gem and pointed out lots of macro stuff like seahorses, nudibranch and frog fish, not easily discerned by the naked eye.

The wonderful breakfast wait staff at Atlantis

In addition, we spent a day at Oslob near Cebu City (where one of the 3 earthquakes happened shortly after we arrived) on Cebu Island. Seated in small outrigger canoes, we paddled out a short ways then were all instructed to fall backwards into the water – and into a bunch of whale sharks who were being fed! That was pretty outrageous.

4 wheeling through the river in Siquijor

Pigeon feeding at Chada Valencia plaza

@ Chocolate Hills

SIQUIJOR & BOHOL

We planned on 3 weeks in country as it’s a long trip, leaving Mike and I with 8 days to explore after diving. We intentionally didn’t plan anything and as hoped, the hospitality managers at Atlantis put together fabulous itineraries for us. They chose two neighboring islands easily reached by ferry. Both offered plenty to see and do and were very distinct from each other.

Panoramic view of some of the 1,268 Chocolate Hills in Bohol 

On Siquijor (sik-e-hore), we had a couple of different drivers in a private car for 3 tour days to see vistas, beaches, churches, museums, caves, and a butterfly farm.  

Man-made mahogany forest in Bohol

We ferried on to Bohol, a much smaller island where several people we’d met were born so they were pleased we visited their home. The Ocean Jet ferry system is super organized, well run and they even have live music in the ferry terminals. While some of the musicians needed lessons, hey it was very nice entertainment. With the throngs of people on each ferry, we were glad they checked bag tags and that we’d purchased large white hard sided cases for our dive gear, so our bags were easily recognized. In a tight crowd, let’s just say that’s a great benefit. Bohol offered 2 days of tours as well, all informative and beautiful.

The Fish Spa - nibbling at your toes

Loboc Floating restaurant - rained like
crazy & we got soaked, but had
a great time

On Bohol, it was rice harvesting time so along the roads were tarps with rice laid out in single layer, gently raked by the farmers to dry. If rain started, they quickly covered up the tarps as they need 2 full days of dry weather. I know, I know – the rice was drying alongside the busy roadways where there was tons of traffic – maybe that’s why we should rinse our rice before cooking?

View from our room in Bohol - the ocean awaits

We saw the tiny critters @ Tarsier Sanctuary 

Mike and Mamay, our tour guide in Dumaguete

Tarsier souvenirs in every form!

We stayed at a high-end very reasonably priced resort where we were almost the only patrons! We had a deluxe suite overlooking the ocean and the pool. We had the pool to ourselves as we soaked, sipped and watched the sunset. Pretty sweet deal and the bartenders were happy to have someone to talk to! The dining was oceanside with white linen drapes flowing in the breeze, so we decided to dine there both evenings – why take a tuk-tuk to an unknown place when life is good on the beach? After full days exploring, a little quiet was a treat.

Bolo-Bolo Healers in Siquijor 

Overall, the country is amazing. While we were there, there were 3 earthquakes and a typhoon. It rains frequently (they say it’s seasonal, although we had plenty of rain during October which is not a rainy month) – and you quickly understand why 95% of people wear flip flops. 

Filipinos are extremely nice and deferential to others, even in traffic! They drive crazy - on scooters, in tuk-tuks, and funky trucks and a few nice cars - but seriously, we didn’t see any accidents (Mike is in the background saying we did see a lot of ambulances…however). Let's just say they know how to merge and give way without skipping a beat. Crossing the road as a pedestrian is another story.  

Wood fired oven, making torta (muffins) - delish!

Everywhere, families are out and about with up to 4 on a scooter, nary a loud voice was heard in 3 weeks’ time and although there’s a lot of poverty, people are peaceful, quiet, upbeat and do with less. There are lessons to be learned from these gentle, kind people – in fact, on the Dumaguete city tourist brochure, they are called ‘the City of Gentle People’.

A great place to explore along the sea

The Filipino flora were non-stop amazing