Friday I dived Old Club Reef. As I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my camera (it's like it freezes up underwater), I took it down to play with it some more. Originally I thought the housing was bad; however, now I'm wondering if the computer in the camera isn't ruined. The camera works fine at depth for a bit, then it freezes up. I can't access any menus, or zoom, or take photo. It's strange.
But back to the photos. On our second dive Dave, Brad and I got a real treat (no, it wasn't the cow-kicking Koreans who not only shoved me out of the way, but then kicked me in the head while we were doing our safety stop), when we happened upon a pair of cuttlefish. These were smaller cuttlefish than I saw at Sipadan over Christmas, but I must say I've never seen cuttlefish in the water here. They weren't spooked, either, by 3 divers watching them. We also saw nudibranchs galore, and heaps of fish. We did see the baracuda that hang out.
Bidet. Old Club Reef is made of toilets, bidets, ships, cars, buses, pipes, and other things.
The Ambassador's Car
Cuttlefish
(I kind of like this photo...)
Today we went offroading (my Envoy did quite well, and yes, driving in sand is like driving in snow... only you deflate your tires when you go offroading), to the Barge. That was the first time I had dived the barge. The barge is a 10-12 minute swim, and you have to take a 105 degree heading to get to it. There are a couple of ropes you can use, as long as you can find them.
Although we didn't see anything of huge significance, it was good to see something else besides toilets and old cars. On the second dive, Janis and I did see a school of trevally, which I've not seen in Qatar before either.
In ruminating about my first 100 dives, so far I've:
-Dived in 7 countries (the Philippines, Japan, the US, Mexico, the Bahamas, Qatar and Malaysia), spanning 4 geographical areas of the world--Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, North America, and the Middle East.
-Earned my Padi Open Water, Advanced Open Water, and Rescue levels.
-Earned my nitrox and buoyancy specialties
-Purchased all my own kit, minus cylinders and weights.
-Learned to identify a number of fish families from shape and behavior (although I'm not an expert at all-- I barely get by)
-Made friends in a number of places, whom I'd be honored to dive with and learn from anytime.
-Gained appreciation for our environment, and protecting it.
So? What's next?
By December 31, 2008, I hope to:
-Log another 100 dives. This should be a reachable goal, as it is only the beginning of April, and plenty of diving to be done here and abroad.
-Earn my PADI Master Diver certification. This should also be reachable, as I only have to complete 3 more specialty courses.
-Travel on at least 1 liveaboard.
Dive travel this year may or may not include (here's my wish list):
Oman, Croatia (when I go to my conference, I may dive one day during my holiday afterwards. I don't know yet), Maldives, Seychelles, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan.
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