Utila – Week 3, Day 5: Pirates of the Labyrinth
UTILA
Week 3
Day 5: Pirates of the Labyrinth
December 01, 2022
We woke up to dark and stormy skies. As menacing as it looked, we’d still go ahead with the two fun dives booked for the morning. The word ‘fun’ was questionable at best as the boat rocked from one side to the other amidst the tempestuous grey seas – each wave threatening to capsize our beloved Miss Tamara.Â
The first part of the first dive was admittedly a complete flop – for all of us. As we jumped into the sea, we immediately found ourselves drifting away from the boat, with Lucy, the instructor who’d be leading the dive, trying her best to gather us at the surface before we headed into the water. Try as we might, we kept drifting further and further, so we decided to descend a few metres to avoid the surface current. Even this seemed futile, as the strong currents dragged us along their paths. I honestly had no idea what to do next – whether it would be better to abort the dive and try again later or somewhere else. As unsafe as it felt, Lucy instructed us to descend to the bottom, expecting conditions there to be more favourable.Â
As I struggled to keep up, I noticed a strange, purple, opaque, snake-like creature wiggling onto itself. Turns out, it was a pyrosome – a free-floating colonial tunicate. Seemingly undisturbed by all the chaos going on, the tubular blob had me in awe as I did my best to avoid getting separated from the rest of the divers.
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Finally, we managed to descend and meet at the bottom of the Labyrinth. Here, it felt like a completely different world – peaceful, calm, and tranquil. We didn’t see anything extraordinary but did see quite a lot – from angelfish and arrow crabs to yellowtails and parrotfish. Now that I had my GoPro, even the ordinary seemed out of this world as I tried my best to get some cool footage!Â
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Back at the surface, we were reunited with the storm once again. Getting back on the Miss Tamara proved to be an arduous feat, to say the least – each wave threatening to bash us against the boat. But I gotta say, standing on deck in the middle of a friggin’ tempest made me feel more alive than ever. As I stood there – freezing my ass off while the wind blew hard, the rain pelted us, and the waves crashed against our boat – I realised this was nothing for Captain Hoover and the rest of the team. I guess it’s true what they say: a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
How sheltered I had been all my life… Under any other circumstance, I’d probably have written this off as something crazy – like, who in their right mind would choose to go out in the middle of a storm for a fun dive? But being there made me realise I had no idea what living meant – you know, to really live. To now know whether the next wave is gonna send you to your death – meaning you have to be fully immersed in the moment and be present, to feel every single thing going through your mind and body. To feel completely free and alive. I felt exactly like a pirate. I was meant to be out there…
Water Skills: The Toughest Tests Yet
Our second dive at Black Coral Wall was just as chaotic as the first. The surface was rough and we descended to the bottom as fast as we could. The dive itself, much like the first, was calm and tranquil, with sights of fish we had grown used to seeing keeping us entertained throughout.Â
Back at Underwater Vision, wishing I had bought one of those diving ponchos Amelia had been frantically searching for, I did my best to warm up and prepare for my next job – the water skills section of my programme.  First up was equipment exchange. This involved going underwater and exchanging all my scuba equipment with my buddy – Omar. Lemme just say, it’s way easier said than done. He had to put up with my clumsiness, taking me four tries to get it right!Â
Then I did a 100-metre tow, an 800-metre swim with a mask, snorkel, and fins – which left me rueing the day I signed up for this damned course – and finally, a fifteen-minute floating exercise, which was a welcome break at the end of such a long day. Just like that, I had four more checks on my divemaster scoreboard!
Beer Pong Blunders
Coming back to shore, I was surprised to find Michela chilling in a hammock. She’d broken one of the infamous Utilan rules and decided to extend her stay till the following Monday. With that in mind, we had to make the most of the little time she had left with us, so we headed to Captain Morgan for the weekly beer pong competition.Â
Beer pong was pretty boring. After the MC explained the rules, he told us the winner would get a free bottle of rum. That’s it. As soon as he announced the frugal prize, I immediately lost all my competitiveness and dedicated my time to drinking and hanging out with fellow Utilans.Â
Amelia, my buddy, managed to get three balls in the cup compared to my big fat zero. Needless to say, we were out by the first round. Meanwhile, Louis and some other random guy made it to the final. Them losing was a hard blow for us Underwater Visioners, but seeing Louis get pissed was a source of pleasure to most. I have yet to meet a worse sore loser!
I started calling him the ‘Angry French Guy’ after that, which only made him angrier still, considering he’s actually a Quebecer and not French.
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
On the way to Captain Morgan, we saw a giant crab crossing the road. It crawled at an atrociously slow pace, skilfully avoiding both human and automobile traffic – until one motorcycle came along, driving straight onto its trajectory. Amelia, Michela, and I barricaded the road and saved the helpless creature’s life – almost ending the motorcyclist’s in the process.