I woke up bright and early after what sounded like a monsoon thunderstorm last night and met Joe for our next two dives. I knew that I wanted to show him the Zingara Wreck as he had never dove on a wreck before. The conditions yesterday were beyond spectacular, so I felt confident it was a good day to venture eastwards along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. With Joe being super good on air, we thoroughly enjoyed the wreck even with a swim through and a quick peek at the coral-encrusted toilet (hehe – I love it!). We then decided to explore the reef that lies next door; this was my first time to see that and I was really in awe at the expanse garden of healthy soft corals. We peacefully glided over the reef all of us within our own zone of underwater appreciation and enjoyment. Joe spotted a moray eel and a couple of big lionfish in some barrel corals. I will definitely be doing the wreck/reef combo dives at the Zingara from now on!
Our second dive and Joe’s last dive for this trip was at my all-time favourite Mini Wall, just outside of Sosua Bay. I think Matt from Northern Coast Diving had replaced the old mooring line, which brought us down to 14m and two perfect shimmering squid. We gazed at those for awhile as you can get really close if you move verrry slowly towards them. They never cease to amaze me. On the way back to the boat we encountered one of the biggest schools of fish I had ever seen! A complete wall of shiny silver fish and suddenly I saw Joe swimming like mad towards them. It was like a moving picture as the fish divided and spread and we each were held within a perfect protected circle, waving to each other through the moving walls of fish that had established themselves between us. What an experience and a fab way to end a great two days diving with my new favourite Mexican diving buddy, Joe!
Enjoying an underwater park bench with Joe