Utila – Week 6, Day 4: The Final Skull
UTILA
Week 6
Day 4: The Final Skull
December 21, 2022
By this point, my divemaster training programme was almost over. I’d been busying myself trying to get as many skulls and crossbones on the scoreboard as I could, and finally, I had only one left – a brief and lead.
With everyone so close to finishing their training and needing to move on with their travels, we were all fighting for the opportunity to lead some dives. Amelia and I, on the other hand, had a couple of weeks left so we were in no rush at all. Plus, as much as we wanted the title of divemasters, we were in it mostly for the journey and we wanted to make it last as much as possible.
And so, we both waited on the sidelines and did more specialty courses and fun dives until everyone else had had their chance.
And finally it was mine. The first dive was led by Ava, who, just like me, had only one brief and lead left before she’d be ready to graduate. We went to the Aquarium, and just like that, she was done. The second one would be for me to lead. Captain Paul – a nearly blind guy who replaced Captain Hoover for a few days while he was on his Christmas vacation – announced we’d be going to Ted’s Point.
At this, all the veterans on the boat rejoiced. Turns out it’s an incredible dive site they used to go to all the time, but ever since they removed the buoy, Captain Hoover had been against the idea of going there. But Captain Paul was more of a laissez-faire bad boy. I have to admit I was a bit conflicted about this. While I was excited at the prospect of visiting a new dive site, I really wanted my brief and lead to be somewhere I’d actually dived before. Luckily enough, it would be a drift dive, and, as such, my life would be way less complicated.
Drift Dive Drama
Having to brief a dive site without having actually been there myself wasn’t an easy task. That said, I focused on the general aspects of the dive and it went along smoothly.
As soon as we got to Ted’s Point, I made sure everyone was geared up and we took the plunge. As we descended, I saw a medium-sized wreck taking shape under my eyes. Being the dive leader, I couldn’t go in, and when Ava did – despite not being certified (although, admittedly, for most people it’s just a formality) – I had to give her my best angry-disciplined face and signal her to come out. We made our way around the ship, with a giant-ass barracuda hovering calmly at its bow, and then swam toward a coral wall.
This is where I finally understood why everyone was so excited about diving at Ted’s Point. I can say with 100% certainty that I had never seen so much sea life condensed in one place. From pufferfish to barracudas, sandy eels to moray eels, spotted drum fish, angelfish, groupers, snappers, lobsters – anything and everything we’d seen on previous dives, all in one place. It was practically an underwater paradise!
When it comes to the leading portion of the dive, I can’t say I excelled. That said, the blame wasn’t exactly mine. Noah was so excited to dive here that he practically zipped through the whole site, sometimes taking the lead instead of me, and sometimes pointing me toward a cool swim-through we could check out. My input was minimal, to say the least. I still did my best to lead as much as I could, and in the end, I did a good job – we did the three-minute safety stop, I inflated the DSMB, and we ascended uneventfully.
It was right at the very end, when I was ready to get back on the boat, that Corys lightly tapped my shoulder: “Marius, your reel is falling…”. I saw the reel a few metres below me, the thread slowly unraveling. “NOT AGAIN!” I screamed internally. I knew I could let it fully unspool, hold onto the thread, and pull it back slowly and calmly – but given last week’s disaster, I couldn’t let it happen again.
I checked my air, deflated, kicked down, and got it within seconds. As heroic as that might sound, by the end I was a tangled mess – the thread tied across my entire gear. I untangled myself, had Levi help me reel it back in, and, exhausted by my own dropping skills, decided to just let it go without making a big deal of it. You have no idea how tiring it is to be me. But oh well, yet another mistake I’ll never make again – or so I hope.
Holiday Costumes and Existential Crises
After we returned, I ran straight inside the dive shop office and drew my last skull and crossbones on the divemaster trainee scoreboard. A few weeks before, looking at this same board – still empty and sad – I thought it’d be impossible to fill it all out before I’d leave. I couldn’t quite believe it – I was done!
After this, we had some ambitious plans. We’d be graduating the following day – something I had completely forgotten about given all the that had transpired over the previous week. The theme we had agreed upon was Chrismukkah and, up until then, we had no idea what costume to wear. I’d had the idea of dressing up as either a dreidel or a menorah and embracing my Israeli friends’ culture – but when all of them started mentioning the exact same things, I decided to back off.
Much like myself, Amelia isn’t a fan of the holidays. For her, Christmas brings up all her family trauma – being unable to celebrate cause her mom was either drunk or in rehab. I, on the other hand, always look back on the incredibly happy childhood memories of my dad going crazy decorating the house – something he couldn’t do anymore once he got sick (more so after he died). Plus, my relationship with my mom and brother sucks, meaning I don’t really get to celebrate it with my family either.
I might not enjoy the holiday but I’m still a total sucker for the lights and Christmas markets though – so warm and soothing. In Central America, though, there wasn’t much of that. So yeah, you can imagine how enthusiastic we both were about celebrating the holidays.
We set out on a seemingly wild goose chase, trying to find costume ideas. For Amelia, it was pretty easy. She’d dress up as the Grinch – a green dress, a fake beard we’d spray paint green, and a Santa hat. Me? No idea. I was completely clueless.
I had the idea of getting a fake beard and stealing some bedsheets to go as Jesus, but having been told it’s a big no-no to use the hostel’s bedsheets, I was back to square one. Until, I happened to come across a tiny lacy white dress, that is. That’s when it hit me – a full-blown eureka moment. I’d dress up as Baby Jesus. It was all so clear in my head. I’d put on the dress and find a star or a golden plate to tie to the back of my head as a halo. A cardboard box filled with straw or leaves would double as the manger. And, to top it off, a pacifier – cause it’s Baby Jesus. Everything fell right into place.
It took us a couple of hours, going through every shop we could find, rummaging through all their stuff, but eventually, we had it all. The Grinch and Baby Jesus were all set to graduate!
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
The five Dutch guys left Underwater Vision, putting the final nail in the coffin and dashing all remaining hopes of Amelia getting with Gary – the man of her dreams.