OUR FIRST DIVE IN CUBAN WATERS SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST 2015
SUNRISE - had a good night's sleep, but awoke "early". Actually it's only 6:45 a.m.
We start, as always, with a checkout dive, giving each of us a chance to verify the correct amount of lead needed to manage our buoyancy, and giving the Dive Masterss their first in-water assessment of our skills. Dive staff always asks to see certification cards and quiz each diver about the last time s/he dove, thus verifying what s/he's claimed. Checkout dive sites are usually shallow and easy (no current) and over sand or dead/dying corals to protect the pristine sites from damage by "bottom walkers" - what divers call those who are overly negative buoyant.	Photo courtesy of Fausto
The first dive our our week was at Boca de Anclitas (The Mouth of Anclitas), the entrance to the channel around the Cay. It was uneventful - saw lots of the usual marine critters NO SHARK FEEDING on this dive. MOST OF THE OTHER DIVES featured a shark feed at some point. The first large grouper I saw Spotted this splendid soapfish out in the sand The "camera bucket" . . . Underwater cameras need to be rinsed of salt after each dive to keep controls and seals free from dry salt crystals that can cut like a razor, and cause corrosion. Compared to every other dive boat I've been on, this is a very poor choice for a camera tank; just one or two large cameras and strobe almost fill the bucket. There were only two such buckets and about six divers with cameras. The "gear buckets" on the port side of the boat were the same; one had a big crack down the side so only about 1/4 of it could be used. 

OUR SECOND DIVE IN CUBAN WATERS HERE