Coral Coast

I had been getting on and off the Greyhound for five days by the time I arrived in Coral Bay and had met some very nice people already. My French friend Stephane who was on month nine of his year long around the world trip and two German women, Andrea and Stefanie, who were taking time off work to travel for three and six months respectively. We met three more French people and one Swiss at our hostel that we hung out with as well. It was nice to have so many people to lie out on the beach and snorkel with, in addition to eating meals together.

The soft white sand and crystal blue waters were quite similar to Monkey Mia, but Coral Bay was so much larger. The beach went on for miles and was extremely wide during low tide (which this picture does not show).

Just past this rock was the best spot for snorkeling.

I taught the French boys Patrick, Stephane, and Benjamin how to play beer pong. I obviously won-- after all, what kind of American would I be if I didn't dominate in drinking games?

A few days later, Stephane and I both headed to Exmouth for Easter weekend. There isn't a whole lot to do in Exmouth (this tends to be the case in many west coast towns) if you aren't into scuba diving. Lucky for me, I am. Now, I hadn't been diving in four months and I was a little bit nervous my scuba skills would be rusty, but as it turns out diving is a lot like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you never really forget! I did two days of diving, with two boat dives each day. The first day we went to Cod Spot and Whalebone, just off the coast of the Muiron Islands. On the first dive I went down 17M (55 ft) which is the deepest I've been to date. The second day were both reef dives at Lighthouse Bay. I saw a lot of blue spotted rays, a sea turtle, an eel, a puffer fish, lots of crabs, etc... In addition to the great dives, I met some very nice people on board. I really liked my instructor Vicki, she was only 19 years old, originally from England, and had been a scuba instructor for a year Thailand before moving to Exmouth in March. I also met three Americans, which never happens! One woman originally from LA who has been working in Sydney the past two years and a couple who relocated to Perth a few months ago.

On Easter Sunday it was Stephane's birthday, so I took him out to dinner to celebrate. The next day, I was sad to leave because I was heading off to Broome by myself and Stephane was flying to Bali. I am very happy I met him; I had fun teaching him American expressions, practicing my French, talking about anything and everything, and just having someone to eat meals with and go to the beach. I was worried about doing the west coast by myself and by the Greyhound instead of an organized tour, so it was definitely a pleasant surprise to meet nice people along the way.

Exmouth Harbor

On board the Pro Dive boat.

Muiron Islands

Fact: scuba divers are "under" achievers

As of this week, I am officially a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) certified open water diver. Yup, the girl who was once almost too afraid to jump off the high dive is now willingly exploring all that the ocean floor has to offer. I suppose it all started this past February when my grandmother Nana took my entire family to Turks and Caicos. I went snorkeling for the first time and was amazed by how natural it felt to breathe underwater and how incredible it was to see the beautiful plants and animals that lived there. I knew the second I stepped foot in Australia getting certified wasn’t a matter of if more like a matter of when, so I signed up for a three day Pro Dive course. The first day we spent in a swimming pool learning the basics: how to breathe out of our regulator, how to equalize our ears, how to clear water out of our masks, etc. The next two days we continued our skills tests and practiced buoyancy control in the ocean at Camp Cove. Even though the visibility wasn’t great in this area, I still managed to see an octopus, a cuddle fish, and a whole lot of jellyfish. Finally on the third day, after passing my written exam and filling out a bit of paperwork I received my temporary PADI card. The coolest part is the certificate never expires I just need to take refresher courses if I go a number of months without diving.

The fourth day, I went on my first official dive with some of my classmates. We took a boat out to Manly beach. The first dive was about 45 feet and I must admit it was a little scary because for the first time I couldn’t see the bottom as I went down! The visibility was amazing; I saw many schools of fish, beautiful starfish, as well as one massive blue grouper. This dive was too deep to take my underwater camera but I did get a chance to bring it on our second dive at Blue Fish Point, where I saw another big blue grouper and a many more colorful fish. Perhaps the most exciting part of the day happened above the water: our boat was lucky enough to spot three dolphins and two whales!

On top of all that, I met some really great people! Thijs (pronounced like “Taj” Mahal) and Renske are Dutch, John and Sean are Australian, Brooke is from the Chicago area and her boyfriend Jay, who also happened to be our Dive Master, is from Toronto. Many of us are planning on going for a night dive next week and then grabbing a drink together afterwards. I’m very much looking forward to it as well as all the underwater adventures that lie ahead of me.

Renske, Thijs, Sean and me after our first official dive!