When confronted with the decision to certify in a  cold, dark, murky, quarry in Manassas Va. (complete with a school bus and an old Bobs big boy head at the bottom) , OR certify in the warm clear waters of PR with Reefs and colorful curious reef dwelling fish, My daughter and I decided to go south that November where we met Angel Of Parguera Divers and his assistant Matt.  The trip was not an expensive one from Va. but the choice of location and dive outfit turned out to be priceless.

• Rincon

My first impression of the Hotel we chose was of relief to see the place was real and it looked like the Internet photo.

When we decided to certify in warmer waters, the dive instructor in Virginia at the Dive Shop in Fairfax suggested we try Parguera Divers . But they didn’t have a hotel name for us so we surfed the net until we found what had the promise of a decent place at a price we found palatable. As I’m sure You can understand , our Internet based decision for a hotel was weighing on us during the flight (3 hrs ) and the drive from San Juan to Rincon ( 1.5 to 2 hrs ) . We rolled our rented Ford Escape through the gate and were comforted to find the hotel was the right choice for our family. Palm trees gently swaying in the tropical breeze framed an adobe styled tri level Jersey cream colored building with the tranquil backdrop of azure carribbean water and clear blue sky just past a well manicured white sandy beach ….

Touching down in St. Thomas I found myself warmed by the fiery tropical sun and caressed by the humid welcoming breeze . Just hours earlier my skin was accosted by frigid biting snow filled  air blown horizontally by a brutal northwesterly storm in Northern Virginia .  I knew this Scuba trip was going to be just what my inner doctor ordered. My wife , 14 year old daughter, 3 year old son and I were going to spend a week of quality time in a small place called Bolongo BayBolongo Bay , sunning , funning , diving , and building sand castles .

Anticipation was the feeling of the first morning on the island for me , the same hopeful, joyous anticipation I  felt and shared many years before with my brother and sisters when we were kids on Christmas morning , the expectation of adventure and curiosity wrapped within the colorful packages under the tree. I now felt the same expectation here with my wife and 2 children  looking out at the colorful surface of that sea dreaming of what was hidden within the coral recesses below.

I think most divers would understand ,  The moment I surface from a dive , with empty tank bound to my Back by an inflated BC, waiting my turn to ascend the bobbing ladder to the dive boat , I am looking to get back under the surface a few atmospheres where the world is alive with a silent  reality playing out, knowing that for millions of years this has been going on without human intervention or aid .Only the bubbles from my regulator remind me that I’m not actually from down here but merely a voyeur looking into a primal landscape and its finned or webbed inhabitants going about what is their reality

Whether in Curacao or St.Thomas I have found the underwater world to be one  of  beauty and exitement .

so here I am in the blogosphere …………………………… what to do what to see who to talk to

~scuba_guy_mc_blog