Scuba Diving

Hafa Adai (Hello)

I (Benji) got certified to go scuba diving a few days ago. The certification process was kind of long and tiring but it was definitely worth the diving experience. We started out in a class room learning about all of the different aspects of diving. After 2 days of that we went to an area along a sea wall called “Outhouse Beach” (even though there was no beach, it was just a parking lot, but there were several outhouses) and spent a day learning how to put on our gear and do basic skills in the water. We were there from about 10am to 5pm so it was a tiring day. The next day we went back to the beach to finish our first skills, and then went to a small marina for our final diving skills. We all got on a boat and went to the edge of the harbor to where there was a sunken tanker. After spending some time briefing, we put on our gear and jumped in. From the surface you couldn’t see the bottom so we had to follow a rope down to a massive concrete boat called the “American Tanker”.  At the bottom there weren’t many fish but the wreck itself was really cool. After about 45 minutes we got back in the boat and went to our final destination called “Western Shoals”. At the shoals we mostly just swam around and looked at things. There were a ton of fish and we even got to touch the bottom of a sea anemone. The bottom of it doesn’t have the stingers so we didn’t get stung. I am very excited to go diving at some of the world famous diving spots on Guam such as the Fish Eye and Gun Beach. http://theguamguide.com/blog/12-best-dives-on-guam

Tumon Bay

This week we went to Tumon Bay to go snorkeling. This bay has a lot more to look at while snorkeling then our bay because it has a lot more coral and fish. There were a lot of tiny fish that would surround us and when we put our hands out, they would nibble on them to see if we were food.  Benji and I would dive down and chase the fish and look at them up close, and Benji spent about 30 minutes playing tag with a fish. He would go under water and chase it and when he would come up for air, the fish would turn around and wait for him to come chase him again. We are going to try and post that video, but not sure if we will be able to.
 While we were at that same park, Benji and I climbed a really cool tree and started throwing figs at my dad. We had a picnic lunch there and had a really fun time. Over all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon and I'm sure we will visit this park many more times while we are here.

Other things we have noticed is there is a Japanese movie being filmed at our bay. I am not sure what it is about, but they keep on doing the same take over and over and over again! It looks really tiring. I am planning to find out what the movie is about soon.

 Also, there was this firework show the other night and it really cool! The fireworks were being shot from a hotel near us and we could see them from our balcony. It was really pretty how the firework's reflections shimmered across the water.

So, while we are here we are trying to take advantage of things that we normally wouldn't be able to do. Benji started scuba lessons and he goes on his first dive on Sunday. He is really excited. Also,  my mom joined a rowing group and said it was a lot of fun.  She was really sore from it afterward.  She said on Thursdays they stay after and have beer and pizza.

Tumon Bay

The tree that Benji and I climbed.

Fireworks shot from the hotel.

The Japanese movie being shot from our bay.