Location: Les Saintes
On day 5, if we had told everyone that we were waking up half an hour later for the second day in a row, it wouldn’t have seemed that exciting, as hey, what’s the difference between 7 am and 7.30. Yet, by day 18, that seemingly insignificant half an hour suddenly becomes a luxury! Our morning began tidying Ocean Star, getting sail covers on, launching the dinghies, and setting out dive gear ready for the day ahead. Students quickly scribbled down the last few answers for their knowledge reviews, and soon, it was time for another first aid class. On today’s agenda, alongside choking, spinal injuries, shock, and strokes, they got taught the most useful thing for a college student to learn….the recovery position.
After lunch, it was time to get back into diving. The dive today was all about compass use and navigation. During the Open Water course, each diver learned how to use the compass swimming in a straight line and reciprocal. Today, this became more advanced with a square and then a triangle. A key fact was learned. It is true. There are, in fact, 360 degrees in a circle, not 365 as some may think…
Our evening activity was a night dive! The bioluminescence was wicked, and we saw crabs, morays, and all sorts. Diving at night is a very different experience from diving in the day, even at the same site. There are tons of nocturnal animals, and so there are tons of species that a lot of people hadn’t seen much of before. The night sky here is beautiful, and I always love coming up from a dive to see the sky full of stars.