Here we are again, ready for whatever the day brings. The morning dives are planned to be Santa Paz and Olly’s Wall on the other side of the bay. It should be a fairly quiet day today, the four of us, a couple from Finland, a new guest from Newcastle and possibly more. But before that we shall again be enjoying breakfast at SBSR which today, for me (according to my schedule) should be pancakes, let’s see how that goes.Here are the ubiquitous morning shots.

Looks like it’s going to be another hot one.And, as predicted, pancakes, yum.

We head out on to the boat with six guests and some hangers on. Phil (the boss) is on board today and is ready to unleash his weapon on the unsuspecting Crown Of Thorns at Olly’s Wall. Apparently they cease to be after a few shots of vinegar.

in the morning we spot a localised shower moving through.

It missed is, shame.

On the way we had a pod of many dolphins spend a few minutes with us.

During discussion on board, Barry was offered some posterior treatment with Phil’s injector, just like Botox apparently.

The first dive (Santa Paz) was in virtually zero current and excellent Vis. Out to the pinnacle then back to the wall and turn right, a most excellent bimble.

After the surface interval (during which we enjoyed coffee, biscuits and a most excellent serving of Pomelo) we jump in at Olly’s Wall only to be faced with the ferocious current fish. We elect to go with it (options were limited!) Thankfully, after 12 minutes it subsided to virtually zero and we enjoyed a lovely bimble along the reef for the rest of the hour or so.

A note about diving etiquette. We’re all generally a well behaved bunch of folk but there are those occasions when one of us may unintentionally stray into the path of another and there could be a brushing of fin tips or similar, and when that happens, polite apologetic gestures are made and we all carry on.

Now then, if a diver repeatedly comes from nowhere, barrels past like a torpedo on heat just to get to whatever there is to be seen before you do, with no apparent regard for any other divers on the same reef then this can cause frustration to mount, sometimes to the point whereby that brush with your fin mysteriously translates to a full blow with said fin with unexpected force to the offending diver, using her good leg.

What was particularly amazing about this particular incursion is that they didn’t seem to notice, taking it all in their stride, perhaps they are treated this way so regularly that they are now immune to it!

Ok, spleen vented….

Back on board for more coffee and biscuits and we make our way back to base for lunch.

Lunch was lovely now we have 45 minutes to change the camera lens, enjoy a dip and get ready for this afternoon’s dive.

Dip done, lens changed and back on board for a dive at the top of Bunga Bend, a pleasant bimble in the afternoon sun, no current fish.

Before dinner, a quick round of crib was played, the result being that the boys narrowly beat the girls by by around 35 points. During dinner however, the boys were trounced by the girls. One game all game all – hurrah.

For dinner we dared to be different and I went for noodles with everything in and it did indeed contain everything including pork, squid, liver and kidneys, sweet and sour pork for me next time! Jo had a vegetable curry and fried rice, naturally we had Lumpia to start with.

The beer bottle holders out here seem to have an Australian theme: