Black Forest, dive 25

Dive: 25
Cayman Dive: 1
Date: 12/1/08
Site: Black Forest, North Wall, Grand Cayman
Avg/Max Depth: 59/115
Temp: 79
TBT/CBT: 0:37/20:21
Buddies: Nick, Kristen, Curtis, Ted

Our first Grand Cayman dive went off without a hitch. The shuttle arrived at noon, this time to actually pick us up. We made a quick stop at the dive shop to fill out paperwork before the quick drive to the marina. We waited on the boat for a little bit, first for our divemaster Jon (swoon) to arrive, then for Melissa, a videographer.

The boat ride to the dive site was about 25 minutes. It was overcast which made the splashes of water feel a bit chilly. Jon explained the terrain and our plan. Hearing that the wall dropped off to 6,000 feet was pretty cool. Our limit for the dive was 100. Getting in was easy enough. No wetsuits (for Nick and I anyway). We just sat down and put on our flippers and mask, let Jon throw our BC on our back and rolled forward into the sea.

Much warmer than back home.

The coral seemed the same as what we saw in Belize. Most notably the purple fan coral and the bright green coral that looks like cacti. There were some parrot fish that caught my eye, as well as giant lobster, but other than that not much exciting for marine life. I bought a new wide angle lens for my underwater camera, but it blocked part of my flash so I pulled it off half way through the dive.

(note the funky flash)

The deepest I got to was 115. I don’t think I was narced up, but I did feel a little dizzy at one point before I realized how deep I had went. I think it was because I descended quickly from about 60 feet and not from the nitrogen.

After the “official” portion of the dive was over we were able to swim around the reef until our computers told us to ascend. It was nice to be able to go deep enough for a long enough amount of time to see how my computer reacted with things like warning beeps and safety stops. I used my safety stop as an opportunity to practice air rings, but they weren’t very good.

The boat, or should I say double wide pontoon?, was much easier to climb into than the small boats in Belize. And since the the bottom was flat and spacious the surface interval didn’t feel so confining.