Day 2 in St.Croix: Diving at Sweet Bottom, and moar Christiansted

Date: 09.03.2014

Today was something I was waiting for some days - I had the chance to go diving again! I have to admit, I'm addicted and little bit annoyed I didn't find this hobby when I was younger and did a lot of free diving. Well, now it's time to take back all those lost hours under water :).

Great star coral

Timo didn't feel well, so I booked two shore dives for me and stnz from Sweet bottom Diving, which was located in a expensive looking resort. For me it seemed that most of the tourists were located in these resorts, where they had everything they needed and because of that, they didn't have any reason to go outside and see the towns or interact with the locals. Or bring their money to local businesses - which is really sad.

I got reaaally close to this guy and had my time to take pictures of it because I was first to notice him

My peacock flounder on the move

The diving company had some really sweet place in the resort, good places to storage their equipment, good washing places and also places for dry their and other people's stuff. And of course they were located just next to the wall, so there was lots and lots of beautiful diving places for many days..

Flamingo tongue

Ocean Surgeonfish and French Grunt

We did 2 shore dives with one other guy who worked with the military. I was sooo envious when he told us that he dived at the Bikini Atoll inside of a sunken aircraft carrier some years back.

There was lots of more different species of fishes than  I saw in Vieques, but in Vieques the fishes were much bigger. I would've loved to dive here couple more dives without 'supervision', so I would've had all the time I wanted to explore very nook and cranny.

Sand diver not giving a single F... about me hovering around him

Mmmm... brainns... coral.

Ocean Surgeonfishes

On our second dive we saw a small shark far away, or I should say deeper. Because of that, I couldn't go there to see the guy. I really need some training with nitrox before I get back to St. Croix, so I could see more of The Wall. And I also need a bigger camera - or just the red filter / good light for my current one. I'm still pretty pleased what my 300EUR little camera can do without extra lightning nor filters :).

stnz diving above me

Small shark and me

The image I got of the shark, probably a small Caribbean reef shark

On our last dive we heard that it started to rain on top, so we dived a lot longer along the shore in 1,8-1,5m depth. When we got on top, it flooded. It was pretty funny that you felt more wet above the water than when you were diving. Putting on your dry clothes wasn't really a good idea because there was more water coming down in bigger pressure than any of the showers we used during our trip..

Banded butterflyfish

These guys weren't scared at all, they just hanged around and didn't seem to mind at all.  White spotted filefishes.

It's raining (and yet again, not men)

Ewww it's wet up here, I want to go back down where it's nice and warm...

After the dives stnz was supposed to go and fly with Diamond DA20, but because Joe Biden was just leaving the island (evidently he had a cabin there) he couldn't go yet. We went back to our apartment and I did fell a sleep pretty quickly on my bed.

When I woke up, stnz was gone (called to do the familiarization flight after Biden and his entourage was gone) and halen was watching Netflix in the living room. I asked if he wanted to go outside and photograph some stuff, and in 10 minutes we were out.

There was a little carnival next to our apartment where the kids were playing in a bouncy castle and music was playing. We took some photographs of the nearby ruins, and went to see the same place where we were at a bar yesterday and noticed some really cool liana around the buildings.

The sunset was pretty cool, and the town was somewhat quiet. We were hungry and stnz was still nowhere to be found, so we decided to head back to Angry Nate's and eat some food. When we got our food - stnz decided to show up and ate his dinner with us.

After that we left to drive around the countryside, and of course I didn't have my 15mm with me - so the good weather for taking night pictures was lost yet again :).

Lianas wrapping around few buildings

From San Juan to St. Croix

Date: 08.03.2014

It was time to move again. This time we were using a small airline company called Cape Air. I was just barely surviving standing up and walking after last night's migraine, and it almost hit back when we were standing in the line at the package drop/check in. Fortunately I had some painkillers inside my bag, so I managed to kill the oncoming storm before it was too late.

Airport terminal in San Juan

We did know that our aircraft would be small, and it was confirmed at the check-in when they weighted our hand luggage and asked about our weights. It was really interesting, because hell do I know my weight in imperial scale; something from "a lot" to "too freakin' much" :D.

Our "tour guide" talking with our captain

Almost in St. Croix

We were escorted to the aircraft and all our personal luggage was put to the space in front of the aircraft or inside it's wing. I will never get used to the american way that people talk to you and say your name when they are addressing to you, I heard my name during the walk and going inside the plane more times than I hear my name said in a month back in Finland. Yet I can say that it's pretty nice custom, and makes the service / conversation a lot more personal than "yeah you, you there" -yelling and pointing :). And it's also cool that people say my name usually right on the first time, even though some people from the main land first try to make me "Maya" before they start to use the correct pronunciation "Mia". Puerto Ricans seem to get it right on the first time :).

At the St. Croix airport

Stnz managed to fail our car rental and we ended up with more expensive premium level car. Well, the only problem is that it's not a car, it's a Ford. Ford's aren't cars. And this one (Taurus) has some odd level of accessories; it has bluetooth, computer, but no park assistance or turning assistance lights.

Spotting hydroplanes

Our apartment wasn't ready before 15, so we headed to the marina and stumbled upon another airline, which made its flights using hydroplanes. While the guys were photographing the plane, I started talking with a stranger who said he had adoptive parents from Sweden / Denmark and stuff. This was the second person in an hour who just came to me and started talking with me about random stuff about their lives - I think I'm gonna like this place :D.

All the artwork is for sale from a local artist

Finally some real food!

It was time to EAT, and I chose us to go to Angry Nate's seafood restaurant which was close by.  Finally I got a real salad when I ordered one, which wasn't coleslaw or some iceberg lettuce inside a bagel. The smoked salmon was nice, but for a northerner like me the salmon should be more.. fatty and the.. uhmm.. ..smokening could be stronger :).

After we were done, it was time to head to our apartment. Next to it, I found one of the many of the town's ruins, and of course I had to go inside (yes, I still have a huge problem staying away from places which seem interesting enough and worth the risks :D). I found some old machines inside of it, which seemed to have something to do with printing.

Our apartment is looking really nice, and from all the places we've stayed so far, it's the one which reminds me of our building standards the most. It seems to be a solid build, and even the tiles on the kitchen or bathroom walls don't make my eye twitch and make me want to scrape all the plaster out and do the tile work again properly.. It's also cleanest one so far, in a way that you could do the "Scandinavian" way of being indoors and leave your shoes off all the time. I could see myself living in this kind of apartment on here, or in Vieques, or on some other neighboring island :).

This time I won the bed lottery, because the guys thought it was "too gay" to sleep on the queen bed together, so I got the bedroom to myself and they shared the couch in the living room :). I'm not complaining!

From the living room to the kitchen

The beautiful little kitchen

Timo in his bed, stnz's bed on the floor (pic by stnz)

And me in my own private bedroom, doing the exactly same thing in same position as what I'm doing now :) (pic by stnz)