Reef, Anyone?

This is a reef. Cody wants you to look at it. We snorkeled on it and happened to have a camera that takes underwater video with us. This is the result. It's not very polished as far as the videography is concerned and the storyline is a bit choppy, but for those of you who have never seen a reef this is a pretty good representation.

Actually, that was a lie I just told. In real life, in person, reefs are far more dynamic and vibrant than a video taken on my shitty little camera could possibly show. And while this was beautiful (it is the second largest barrier reef in the world, off of the island of Roatan, Honduras, if you're wondering), I have dived at more pristine sites. Still, considering that this is one of the most heavily dived spots in the Caribbean and we really only saw a tiny fraction of the whole thing, I was highly impressed. It mostly has to do with the dedication of these guys:

http://www.roatanmarinepark.com/index.htm

A quick word on diving:

If you try it, it will become a lifelong passion.

It's true. You might think no, not me, if I ever tried it I probably wouldn't like it and definitely wouldn't spend huge amounts of energy and money on it, but you're either telling lies (for shame!) or you're skeered (it's natural). Trust me, I have seen many people take their first plunge and every single one of them has come up with a burning desire to get a license, do it again, can we go again like, now? what do you mean when do we fly? who cares? i want to go again and again and again...most of them did get licenses and now spend all their time on land looking at their photos in a daze and planning their next vacation/hit.

Many, many, people decide right then and there that fuck the bullshit, this is all I want for the rest of my life, this and only this, and I'm not just talking about the younger, granola fed types that you would think prone to these types of decisions but people of all ages and persuasions. Dive shops the world over are, in fact, staffed with these people. They are all tan, all in amazing physical shape, and all deleriously happy with themselves...and I mean dreamy-eyed partial trance happy. They also tend to party really fucking hard when they're above water... mindblowingly hard...like they don't like all the air and are trying to drown themselves in whatever's handy hard...

I like these people. I have been one of them for brief stretches a few times in my life. On Roatan it was a little different as we were the only sailors on an island of divers (which made us the last word in cool), but I still felt the comradery. In fact, y'all almost lost me to the combination of comradery, salt water, and sun but fortunately, I ultimately realized that it was my mission to bring you this video and make you jealous.

The upshot of this lil' rambler is that I heartily recommend the diving on Roatan. In fact, let's go together, hey?

Turn your volume up for maximum bubble effect and enjoy!

[Editor's note: The video was too large, I'll try to get another one in its place tomorrow. Right now I must pressure wash bird shit off of my deck...]

By the way, sooner than later I am going to buy land on the neighboring island of Guanaja and build a dive shop/retreat/bar/playground. You should all visit me there when I do...