Fri 13th of August first days fun diving :)

So the plan today was to go and do 2 dives with Jason and then back to do the theory that was still outstanding, but Nando had to come in and cover Rosalla as she has got Dengue!!! Bloody mozzies! So theory on cave formations then accident analysis, its fri the 13th today and I get a lecture on all the different ways to die! I almost told Jason to forget the fun dives :)

Off to Dos Palmos which turns out to be a lovely Cenote there are a few houses there but not too much else, however there was a collection of animals the normal dogs, cats and chickens but also a spider monkey that was having great fun swinging from tree to tree, it was so cute, I'll try and upload the video I took tomorrow.

As we were walking down to look at the Cenote a huge iguana was just sat on the wall looking at us, when we got down there it was amazing there were bats flying around and nesting, birds flying back and forward and even turtles in the water!

We kit up and get ready for the first dive, no reels today as the line is already set, Jasons leading and off we go, we start going against the flow of the river and its not too bad but noticeable compared with before, its a great cave very low with quite small restrictions, nothing that I couldnt do though we turned the dive when I got to my sixths and just came back almost not finning with the flow, when we finally saw the cavern area we both turned our lights of and slowly moved forward into the light, we could see bats flying above us through the water quite amazing!! It was like the largest aquarium I've ever been in.

Back up to the van and a nice lunch and plan the second dive, this time we're going with the flow, Jason says its not as small as the last cave with less restrictions, we go back to the water kit up do our briefings and spend a minute visualising the dive. We're off and into the cave almost immediately it gets smaller and lower than the previous one I'm guessing Jason was winding me up :) we just float along and I'm really enjoying it, we get to 24 minutes in and it kind of hits me mmmmmm we're a long way in and I'm using no effort at all this means it could be hard work on the way back and its a long way, then I think actually its a very long way. I do my notes and we turn back and yes the flow is against me, I know I have plenty of air but even so I decide to make an effort to get back a bit quicker than we got there, so I start to fin quite vigorously, I'm not panicking and am controlling my breathing, trim and buoyancy but will be happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel :) I keep looking from left to right to keep my mind off of the distance back and recognise landmarks along the way, everything goes well and I'm back on the surface all safe and sound. I explain to Jason how I was feeling and he's fine with it and could see that I was anxious but in control. We checked my air and I had only used the same as on the way in and had taken the same time to exit. Guess it was that Fri 13th feeling :)

All told I did around 90 minutes under the caves on half my air so quite pleased with the day and how it all went.