Location: Gili T
Today, the students of Vela set off early in the morning to complete our first dive of the trip. We climbed aboard the water taxis for a riveting shuttle ride over to the dive shop. We gathered our dive gear, set up our tanks at the dive shop, and then hopped on a different long-style boat to take us to the actual dive site. Our experienced divers and new open-water students rolled off backward into the clear blue/green water and entered a new world. Excitement was in the water as all kinds of colorful fish swam around the sloped coral landscape. Some notable species some people saw were huge sea turtles, small white-tip sharks, lionfish, trumpetfish, triggerfish, and many more exotic reef dwellers. Finally, when it was time to surface, there was excited chatter debriefing everything we saw.
Next, we were left a good chunk of time to explore the island on our own. People branched off to enjoy the authentic food offered and then explored the town. Ponies pulling carriages ran up and down the town, bikes and mopeds speeding about. The town was very lively. Back roads led to some interesting shops, chickens and their chicks, baby goats, cows, and curious but not totally friendly cats. Some explored the beaches that were had to offer, such as turtle beach where sea turtles were spotted while swimming! Others roamed the stores and bought souvenirs to commemorate the visit. Then, after ending the day with some ice cream, we gathered back at the dive shop and hopped back on the water taxis back to Vela.
Back at Vela, many enjoyed a pleasant ocean shower and hung out in the water for a while before enjoying a delicious meal, with the main course being pollo asada.
All in all a fantastic day and a great start to many more diving adventures.