Mediterranean Dive Club, Perissa
My first few days in Santorini have been great so far. Shortly after I arrived at my hostel (where the guy who works at the front desk is actually named Adonis!), I walked down the beachfront about a quarter kilometer to the nearest dive shop. It was open, and the girl who works there, Vicky, is super-cool. It’s nearing the end of the season here, but they still have some dives going out each day. They had a group of advanced divers going out the next day (Thursday) and then again on Saturday. I signed up!
So yesterday, I headed over to the dive center around 930. I met a couple of guys who would be diving with me. One was from Chile and here on his honeymoon, but his new wife isn’t a diver. The other has been traveling for a couple of years too. He’s from South Africa originally, but now usually lives in Florida. Our dive guide is a guy who reminds me of a Greek Slater (yes, a Saved By the Bell reference). After he and Vicky got us suited up (in both a long dive suit and a shortie over the top, since the water is only 21-24 degrees here), he drove us over to the docks. I rode in the back of the truck with one of the guys and the equipment, which was fun. Then, they loaded the gear into the boat, a zodiac speedboat, and we were off around the island. We passed the Red Beach and then the White Beach before arriving at our first dive site.
Mediterranean Dive Club
Our first dive was a very lovely dive, with a couple of caves that we got to go in and a tunnel that was quite tiny. It was pretty chill, we were all relaxed and it was an enjoyable dive. I saw one of those cool little tubules that creep out the end and then suck back in when they get scared. I don’t know what they’re called, but they’re fun!
After a rest on the boat and some chocolate croissants, we headed over to the lava caves for our second dive. This area is called Black Mountain by the locals and has a rock there that they say looks like the head of Bart Simpson sticking out of the water. I guess it sort of does. I felt like it resembled a muppet or Fraggle, more than a Simpson, but…
Back in my Hostel Room at Anny’s – a kitchenette!
The lava caves was a neat dive because all of the black lava rock as a background made for completely different colors than one normally sees during a dive. It looked different even from the dive we had just done, literally just around the corner of the island. There was also some coral that was very brightly colored and really stood out against the rock, especially in the caves. One of the caves we went in was so deep that by the time we got to the turnaround point, I could barely see the flashlight of the dive guide, let alone the neon of the flippers right in front of me! It was fascinating. When I turned around, after finally distinguishing the guide’s finger in the flashlight, giving me the turn-around signal, I saw in the distance, the blue irregular circle of the cave’s opening where we had entered. It was quite beautiful. I really enjoyed it.
We boated back, then had another fun truck ride, and then were greeted by Vicky with cookies at the dive center! Not a bad deal! I’m going back tomorrow. After I went back to my hostel and showered, I went to a restaurant near the dive center that had played reggae music earlier in the day, which, as far as I’m concerned, is almost as much of a draw to a restaurant as the menu! It’s called Tranquilo. I had a tasty salad and mushroom pie.
Wismine, Shelby, and Adonis
This morning, I slept in a bit and then was sitting on my balcony, checking my emails, when I overheard the conversation of a couple of girls sitting by the pool. I chimed in – they were talking about a tv show I watch – and next thing I knew, I was down by the pool making friends! We all decided to go to lunch and I suggested the reggae place down the road, since there was a delicious salad on the menu I still wanted to try (and I had heard their salads were awesome). By then, we were a group of five. Sydney who is in fact from Sydney, Wismine who’s American, Chanae who’s from Australia too, Ryan, who is Canadian and I all headed over to Tranquilo, where we had some delicous lunch.
Can’t. Hold. Too. Heavy. Salad is ENORMOUS!
We ordered a bunch of dips first, one of which was Fava Bean dip, which is an island specialty. It was great, and reminded me a little of one of the types of lentils that my parents make. The salad, when it came, was larger than my head! Several other people from the hostel had gone hiking in the morning and came by as we were eating. They stopped to eat too.
After eating, we decided to go to the beach. It’s directly across the street from the hostel, which is awesome and convenient, and tonight there’s a live reggae band playing at Tranquilo. So, we’re going to head over there again…. I like Santorini!