Day 2

First morning on the island and it is stunning. Sun peeping over the clouds and dancing on the water. It helps that this view is maybe 10 feet away from my bedroom door. I love getting the hear the waves. The breakfast bell rang at 7:30 and much coffee was consumed. We spent the morning gazing out onto the water and watching sea turtles swim in the lagoon. We even caught a short glimse of a rainbow far in the distance.

After our lesiurly morning we got to work. First we met the rest of the staff at CCMI, then we started by unpacking all the gear we brought, and drilling holes in slates for the students to write on underwater. Its the divers way of taking notes! (The holes are for caribeaners to attach to the dive gear and for pencils to attach with string). Each student got to drill their own plate and put it together, and before we knew it it was lunch time.

After lunch half the class started learning coral IDs and the other half went off to get their checkout dives completed (they need these to be officially certified as divers). I decided to go with the diving crew cause I was itching to get in the water! (And a refersher in skills never hurt anybody).

Diving was wonderful, even though we didnt go very deep the life we saw was amazing. From 3 foot barracudas to rays to groupers to little wrass, it was teaming with activity. The coral was beautiful too. Having crystal clear water made the experience even better. Seeing everything in such clarity is really a treat. I cant believe I get to dive here for a month! (Gonna be so spoiled). I cant wait to see what this trip as in store for me, and better yet for the class. There is no way they will leave without a love and a passion for the reef.

Its almost dinner time as Im writing this, and Im ready to feast! Gonna spend my night crunching away at my thesis data (I can never really escape school work) and working on an abstract for a conference this summer -- its in hawaii, my life is so hard I know. Excited for tomorrow, the rest of the class arrives first thing in the morning, then its a full day of diving! It doesnt get much better than this.

- J