18 June - Malta

June 18, 2019

Well, if you’re thinking that we slept in and got a late start this morning, you’re wrong. We were scheduled to make port at 08:00, and we had a private excursion at 08:30, so we wanted to get ready and have breakfast all before 8. So, that’s what we did. We were off the ship and waiting down on the street near the polizija station by 8:15...plenty of time to wait for our ride. The problem was that by 08:55, they still had not arrived. We began to think that maybe they had to cancel like our snorkeling trip in Nice, so I went back to the ship to get my iPad so that I could check my messages. When I got back, 10 minutes later, the guy was already there...no need to check the messages. We got to know our driver, Stephen, from Ireland, who spent a couple of years in Michigan, where he learned to SCUBA, then went back to Ireland, where he taught SCUBA and brought people to Malta 2-3 times a year and finally decided to just move here. When we asked him why, he just said, “Have you not seen the weather here?” Gee, that sounds a lot like what we say when people as us why we chose to live in St. George. Anyway…

Stephen was also our PADI instructor for the dive with Dive Systems Malta. We got there and watched an introductory video, then took a short True/False test afterward. I got one wrong. I dropped to the bottom of the class. Then we went downstairs and got fitted for wet suits, boots, masks, and weights, and learned how to use the equipment so that we could have a fun and safe dive. We suited up and headed down to the water.

At first, we just went a couple of meters to show that we had learned the required skills and could safely demonstrate each one. We learned how to clear the mask of water, stabilize the pressure on your ears, how to remove the regulator from your mouth underwater and put it back, how to find your regulator if you drop it from your mouth, how to shar air if your partner runs out fo air, how to adjust your boyancy, and how to purge water from your regulator. Then we went a bit deeper, and did most of the same exercises. Then we were able to go for a swim, I saw a lot fo sea grass, a bunch of fish, a couple of sea centipede things, and a crab down there, as well as a lot of shells. Those 45 minute under water went by so fast I couldn’t believe we had been down there that long. Of course I loved it. Sherry Ann was right, it was something I could totally get into and certify when we get back home. After the dive, Stephen drove us back to the port and dropped us off.

We walked around at the waterfront for a. Little while looking for souvenirs, but didn’t really find anything that screamed out to us, so we didn’t buy anything here. We didn’t even take a lot of pictures today, since we didn’t have an underwater camera. Since I did have my iPad, we did get online and send a couple of messages to the kids. Back on the ship, we showered and got ready for dinner. We had a little time, so we just walked around, and played some games on our iPads. Dinner was nice. Sherry Ann didn’t feel to great today, so we went and had her lie down a bit before gong to the show at 21:30. It was like a mini-musical (45 minutes). It was a lot of fun.

Finally we took a stroll on the deck and got our bottles of water before returning to our stateroom. I have to say, the moon was full tonight, and it shone across the water just like it does in the movies. It was so relaxing and beautiful, and (dare I say)...romantic! Malta was definitely one of our favorite ports, and we would love to come back again some day and see what’s above the waves!