SCUBA diving, near death experiences, and Mexico

Chris and I just got back from yet another vacation (This is Chris, I'll add my comments when needed ;). It began here:

That's right folks, the airport. We arrived for our around 3:30 for our 4:55 flight only to find out that it was delayed. Not just a little delay, 3 hours! (Somebody decided to have a heart attack on our plane before it came to Salt Lake.) Here is us waiting in the airport:




We got really worried because we thought we needed to be in California on our dive boat by 9:00, and our delayed flight was scheduled to arrive at the Long Beach airport about 8:30. I called my dad in a panic, but he assured me we didn't really need to be on the boat until about 4am. So we waited and read lots and eventually arrived in Long Beach around 8:30. My brother Eric picked us up from the airport and we went to a small hole-in-the-wall brewery with the wobbliest table EVER and ate dinner. (The waitress messed up multiple times on my check, lost my credit card, and she wouldn't stop touching me, but it was still fun.) Then we went to the port and hopped on our dive boat.

(A little background on the SCUBA diving stuff: My uncle is a SCUBA instructor, and over the past 3 or 4 years, he has certified many of my family members. All of my immediate family and several of my aunts, uncles, and cousins are certified. Chris also got certified right after we got married. Because of that, our family decided to rent out an entire dive boat for a few days.)

We spent 2 days around Catalina Island at several different dive sites. We slept on the boat and the boat captain drove us to different dive sites all day long. It was a ton of fun having a boat just with family on it. (It was great except that I get seasick!!!) Here are some pictures from the dive trip:

Chris and me in the galley

On the back of the boat

Chris climbing into the boat

Eric and Brandon

Isn't diving the most flattering sport ever? (I think so :)

My dad how he usually looks :)

Ben's giant fish

Sean holding another smaller fish

Kiersten and Jean

Me climbing into the boat


Just kidding, this is in Disneyworld

Chris, Brandon and me planning our dive

So overall, our dive trip was very good. Except the time we almost died...

So, at our third dive site on Friday, Chris and I decided to go down with my dad and my cousin Becky. The whole trip, visibility was very low, only 5-10 feet depending on the site. Chris and I went down, and we immediately lost my dad and my cousin. It wasn't a huge deal because Chris and I were together, so we stayed down for about 15 minutes and saw some cool stuff. We stayed right near our boat the whole time (or so we thought...) We surfaced to see where the others were, and we saw that there was some commotion going on. A few of my younger cousins that were too young to scuba dive were snorkeling and there was suddenly an extremely strong current that was pulling them close to some boats that were docked and close to the shore.
Here is a visual aid to help you understand:



The dive boat was equipped with a smaller boat that could help in an emergency called a dinghy. While Chris and I were diving, my dad had realized there was a strong current and that the kids couldn't make it back on their own and had blown his emergency whistle. The two deck hands that worked on the dive boat got in the dinghy and picked up the stranded kids. In addition, they took back Becky and Ben (who swam over to help them). In the meantime, Chris and I decided we had better get back to the boat because of the strong current. The dinghy was still going to go back and pick up my dad from the buoy because he was really tired, but we figured we could make it back fine since we were so close. Chris and I went down about 10 feet and swam about halfway back to the boat. All of the sudden Chris told me we needed to surface. I was kind of annoyed because I just wanted to get back, but I did it anyway. Lo and behold, we surfaced and we were right next to my dad...all the way back near the boats. Chris had looked over and seen my dad and we realized we were actually going backwards even though we were swimming forwards. Stupid current... Since the dinghy was coming back for my dad, we figured we had better join my dad on the buoy and wait for it to take us back.

Now, floating in the ocean with a tank of air on your back and an inflated vest with weights (all in all about 50+ extra pounds) on sounds like an easy task, but it is not, at least when there is a crazy strong current pulling you into the shore. We had to fight just to keep hold of the rope. So the dinghy arrived back to us and they had us hold on to the rescue rope they were dragging to take us back to the dive boat. However, the current was so strong and we were so heavy with all of our equipment and weights that the current starting pulling the dinghy into the rock! The deck hands decided they could only take 2 of us at a time. Chris volunteered to stay back and hang on to the buoy while the dinghy dragged my dad and me back. Unfortunately, we were still too heavy and we were still getting dangerously close to the rock.

Don't forget, this whole time we are ridiculously close to our dive boat and it is super embarrassing that we can't get back on our own.

They decided it would be better to go the long way around the rock so we wouldn't crash into it. We were still holding on to the rescue rope, and the dinghy was going as fast as it could to hurry and get us back so they could go back and save Chris. Imagine water skiing with your face under the water. Fast dinghy+rescue rope= Rachelle's eyes, nose and mouth completely full of salt water and no breathing. Bad idea. I had to let go when we were about halfway around the rock. They decided to have me take off all of my gear and pull me into the boat with them. They decided to do the same with my dad because he was having the same issues I was having plus we were both really tired.

Now, a word about the deck hands. Imagine the skinniest, most petite 15 year old boy you have ever seen. Now cut him in half. That is how big the two boys in the dinghy were that were trying to pull me and my gigantic father into the boat. They did well though, and after a graceful face-first entry into the dinghy by me, we were ready to go on.

By the way, the whole time we were being pulled into the boat, Chris was patiently waiting on the buoy and trying not to die.

It's my turn to tell my side of the story. I volunteered to stay behind because it was only my second dive of the day and Rachelle and Ron had been diving all day (not to mention that I would never leave my lovely wife alone in the middle of the ocean) so I was still pretty fresh. After they left me I took a look at my air supply and knew that I had enough to last about 40 minutes. I decided to just hold onto the buoy and float on the surface face down because that was the most comfortable and energy efficient way. I knew that they were headed to the boat, so every few minutes I would look up to see if they were there.

About fifteen minutes later they still hadn't made it back to the boat and I couldn't see them at all. I didn't know that they were going the long way around the rock and I figured that they were going to the shore to get into the dinghy. Anyways... about fifteen minutes later a military helicopter flew over me and for a brief moment I thought they were there to save me, sadly it flew off into the horizon :( After twenty minutes of solitude I was utterly exhausted and decided that it was about time to drop the weights on my vest (not my air supply) and try to swim to one of the yachts or the shore. At that time the people on the yacht closest to me noticed I was in trouble. They asked if they could help and I was excited to accept. As they were preparing their dinghy our dinghy returned from behind me with Ron and Rachelle inside. They pulled me in, much like they did the others and all three of us just layed there like dead fish until we returned to the boat (I never thought I would ever be happy to be back on that boat because of my seasickness).

So that was our drama of the day. We were all so tired that none of us did a night dive because we were pooped. We definitely slept well that night though :)

Before we went to bed, we went to the back of the boat and tried to spot some of the sea lions hunting the flying fish. We saw the coolest thing ever. A flying fish was jumping in the air right by us, and while it was midair a sea lion jumped out of the water and swallowed it whole! It was awesome! When the sea lion went back in the water, it made a huge splash and got all of us wet. Chris says it was the highlight of the day for him :) (Can you blame me after reading that story?)

The next morning we woke up and did a dive to see some giant sea bass. They were so big! They were as big as a person. Rumor has it that they can get as big as a VW bug. They were fun because they didn't really care if we got close to them. They just stayed in place and looked at us. (We also saw a cute fish that wouldn't stop flirting with my wife. Good thing I didn't have a spear gun...)

Later that afternoon, we got off the boat and went to the hotel that we were staying at in Anaheim. (Boy was I glad to be back on dry land.) My parents and my brother and his family were staying there too. We went to dinner and then went home and went to bed. We were all tired from the trip.

The next morning, Chris and I got up and went to the Angels v. Yankees baseball game. It was Chris's first pro baseball game and we had a great time. It was SO HOT though and we were in the sun the whole time. The Angels won which made Chris happy because he hates the Yankees. (I love watching the Yankees loose!!! Especially when it ends with an A-Rod strikeout :)





We went back to the hotel, went to dinner with my parents, and then went to the pool at the hotel to swim and relax.

While we were at the baseball game, my brother took his family to Universal Studios. They had a good time, and when they went out to their car to leave, it was gone. Someone had stolen their van! Who steals a minivan? They were supposed to drive back home to Colorado in just a few days. My sister-in-law had left her purse (with iPhone, keys, and wallet) and Eric left his plus diving equipment in the van. The perpetrator had already charged nearly $3000.00 on their credit cards by the time they canceled them. My dad went and picked them up from Universal Studios and they got back late and went straight to bed.

We found out a few days later that the van was found in perfect condition in Compton. They didn't take the DVD player, the satellite radio, the dive equipment, or the $300 purse. Just the wallet and the iPhone. They even returned something they bought with the stolen credit card and the store credited it back to the card. Stupid criminals...

We got up the next morning and my brother worked on getting a rental vehicle for his family. We entertained his children. By the way, my niece and nephews don't even like me anymore. Everytime they see us, they say "Rachelle!" and they start coming towards me....and then they see Chris. "Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris!" Their path immediately changes and they run into his arms. All thoughts of Rachelle are forgotten. Lame... (Mwa ha ha...)

That afternoon, my parents drove us to our cruise boat, the Paradise.





After convincing the front desk to switch our room because ours was REALLY STINKY, we went to dinner. We sat with two couples from California. They were nice and it was fun to get to know them a little bit.

The next morning we woke up and we were at... drum roll please... Catalina Island. Although we had just been diving there, neither one of us had ever actually been on the island. (Believe me, there were many times that I had wished I was on the island while I was sick on the dive boat.) We wandered around Avalon and got some fine jewelry (that changes colors in the sun!) for free.


Later in our lives, we are planning to move to Catalina, live here



and drive this.


After walking around the town ,we decided to go back to the boat. We got a highly coveted spot on the soft beach chairs on the back of the boat and napped and read for the rest of the afternoon.

That evening we went to dinner and ate with the same people. Here is us right before we left our room:


The next morning we woke up and we were in Ensenada, Baja California, Estados Unitos Mexico!


We had signed up for the "La Bufadora Adventure", so we went to our designated spot and met our tour guide, Selene. She was very good. They drove us on a bus out to La Bufadora, which translated is The Blowhole. It is one of 3 natural blowholes in the world.

At La Bufadora

At la Bufadora, there is also an open-air flea market that you have to walk through to get to the blowhole. We had a lot of fun shopping there and bargaining with the salesmen. Chris is so good (Thank you Brazil!!!), he got me a purse that was supposed to be $120 for $30. Not bad. After the flea market, we went to the cultural center in Ensenada (where, according to Selene, the margarita was invented...right...) and learned some history of the city. We also did a little more shopping. After that, we went back to the boat. We did NOT want to be wandering around Mexico at night.

The next day was a "Fun Day at Sea" which we are pretty sure meant "A Fun Day Anchored in the Middle of the Sea". We could see an island, and it didn't move all day (I'm pretty sure it was Catalina Island). We relaxed and got lots of naps in :)

On Friday morning, we got off of our cruise boat about 9 am. We didn't have to be at the airport until 6 pm, and we didn't really have a plan. We sat right outside the cruise terminal for a while discussing our options. We sort of felt like transients with no where to go and no means of transportation. We also had all of our luggage with us. We finally made some calls and found out there was an aquarium a few miles away that would let us check our bags at the front desk while we wandered the aquarium, so we went there. We had a good time seeing all of the stuff that we wished we had seen on our dive trip (if the visibility had been better). There were about 5 million 5th graders there enjoying it with us. Here are a few pictures:

Me by the shark touch pool

Chris by the shark touch pool

A lionfish (get it? Lyon fish? ha ha)

Some cool birds

By all the Nemos and Dorys

After the aquarium, we went to lunch and then braved the Long Beach public transit system and went to the airport and paid $1.10 each. On the way, Chris made a friend. There was interesting guy who told us about his experience in 'Nam. He proceeded to pull out his cell phone and play all of his messages for Chris, most of which were random people calling him and asking if he was in jail again. When we were on the bus, the driver kept telling him to sit down and stop bugging everyone. The bus driver called him a gift. We also met a man on the bus that told us how he had driven through "Mormon Country" once when he found out we were from Utah. He wanted to come back with us, he said Long Beach is the town of "fruits and nuts". He told us how much he liked Brigham Young, too.

We finally arrived at the airport and got home and went to bed. We had a really great time on our trip. It is so nice to have the summer off!!