So I survived Scuba training and am now PADI certified. We went out the day before yesterday for the last 2 dives of the training. The first dive went well and I did all the exercises perfectly. I was with the instructor and 2 semi-retarded girls who weren’t doing exercises, but were managing to float all around in the wrong direction, kick starfish off their rocks, and tearing up about as much coral as one can tear up without causing a whole reef to die. One girl had to be dragged around but the collar by the instructor because she literally could not use the flippers. After 45 minutes at 40 feet or so, we ascended to end the first dive.

Upon surfacing we realised the weather had turned for the much worse and we were in the middle of a tropical storm of some sort. Waves were crashing in over our heads and rain was pouring down. The boat had a hard time finding us and picking us up, but in the end it was fine. The only problem was that I had 3 more exercises left to complete for my certification.

So we are on the boat and the other divers and the other instructor are all ready to bail on the rest of the dives because the weather is so shit and pretty dangerous. So we start making our way back to shore and I am getting annoyed because it has been so long and so many postponements for this fucking certification, and I’m all like, “I really think we should just just jump back in and finish this off.” Literally people are like, “Seriously!?” But my instructor is cool as shit and has like 2500 dives and agrees. One of the guides is like, “I am going to film this if you don’t mind.” Haha. So we changed our tanks and jumped back into the swell. Fuck it, you know, we’re under water anyway. I was seriously like some Navy Seal shit. So literally it took only about 10 minutes to go down to 20 feet, remove my mask completely, put it back on and clear it, then float for like a minute at completely neutral buoyancy, and then navigate a little by compass. When we got back on the boat people were cheering and shit. THAT was fun as hell.

So then I went home with water in my ear, as usual, went to bed early, and then got up yesterday morning at 3:40am. My friend Sarah and I got on a bus at 5am headed for the Panama border. No tickets, no reservations, no hotel, nothing. Completely last minute decision. 4 hours bus ride to the town nearest the border, then a 15 minute cab ride to the actual border, an hour waiting on lines for stamps and whatnot. Crossed the border on foot, jumped in a bus to David for 1 hour and a half, the transferred buses to a bus headed for Bocas Del Toro which is another beautiful 4 hour drive through the mountains. Upon arriving at Bocas, we hopped on a water taxi and drove out another 30 minutes to the island of Colon and Bocas Town, where I am now sitting in an internet cafe.

Bocas has recently become the second biggest Panama tourist destination after Panama City. It’s a sleepy little Caribean island off the north coast of Panama. The water is literally crystal clear and whole town is probably 4 miles long. We’re staying in a small bed & breakfast and have no idea when we’re leaving. I think we’ll stay here a few days, snorkel, dive, swim, drink, etc, and then take a REALLY small plane to Panama City for $70. Not sure after that, but I only have a few weeks left so I guess it can’t be for too long.

I probably won’t be writing much while I’m here, but I’m safe and taking pictures and having a good time. See you all too soon.