I Swam With Sharks. On Purpose.

And I took their teeth. These were recovered from the bottom of the shark tank. We had to get up early to begin our shark day adventure and I was nervous the whole time. Right up until I climbed out of the shark tank.


Before we could begin there was a slideshow we had to watch about scuba diving. Then they split us up into two groups and began the dive lessons. They wouldn't let Teresa and I dive together, which I guess is okay, cause she was able to get good pics of me from inside the tank.




Then it was my turn to suit up and hop into the training tank. This is where they teach us all of the lessons that we will need should we decide to breathe while in the shark tank. I, of course, am a breather, so I made sure to pass this part. It wasn't easy.





There were living things in that water. That's an eagle ray getting in the way of my lesson. They weren't scary, of course, just fragile. Those things were just all over the place and definitely not paying attention to where they were going.



Swimming with sharks was wicked sick and I was mad scared, but I did it anyway and it was all cool. They come right at you, but always change direction. They never touch you. They're good like that.



That's me with some sharks. They're not small. And some of them had their teeth out and ready to take off a hand. I worried about my dive buddy who couldn't seem to keep his hands in.

He looked like he was trying to bait the sharks or knock out my regulator. By the end I was hanging onto my air hose and secretly hoping the shark would bite his hand off.


That guy was the Scuba Steve. I paid attention this time. I kept those tasty hands in. No worries. If one of these guys had taken that british dude's hand off, the Dive Instructor would've just become my dive partner. I would've been safe.


When I first stepped into that shark tank I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. Teresa wasn't with me and I didn't have a shark cage. I've seen the movies. Sharks aren't smart. And they had just been fed. What if they were still hungry? I tried to keep my mind on my breathing, though, which definitely helped. I figured there were 5 of us down there, so I only had a 20% chance of being eaten, but I only have two lungs and they work in tandem. So breathing needed more attention. When I actually got down there, I stopped worrying about breathing. Staying calm and all that. I turned around and saw the crowds. Little kids everywhere waving. I, of course, waved back. Teresa thinks I was being silly. I was missing the sharks swimming by me.

I admit it. I liked waving and throwing up my antennas every time I saw a camera phone. But I was NOT missing sharks. If anything, my way was better. It gave the sharks a chance to sneak up on me. That was quite the thrill. I'd be waving at kids with no peripheral vision and all of a sudden I would be a foot away from some bucktoothed 6 foot nurse shark. That face makes for a much better picture.


I climbed out of the shark tank, rinsed off and we headed back to the hotel to meet up with New Guy. He was too chicken to do the shark dive experience, so he had to amuse himself all day. It was sunny, I'm sure he was fine. He claims he wasn't scared, but I know better. Bears aren't the only animal that will eat you.

Team Awesome had an excellent day. We headed out for Mexican food and ended up on a rooftop with Korean beers. All in all a successful friday off.

Back at the hotel we had a TV and hours of NCIS fun. Teresa passed out first and I forgot to ask her how to turn off the other lights. She had found some button somewhere that did just that.

NG: "Where did she say the button was?"
E: "I dunno. I think she said it was on the floor."
NG: "Negative. Definitely no buttons on the floor."

After about 10 minutes he found the control box next to the water cooler. Floor level, but not turning off lights. New Guy was just pressing the buttons and nothing was happening. We stare at the box. Then the lights all start flickering. They're off. Then some of them are back on. Then they're all on. Then the bathroom light is on.

No one was touching buttons anymore. We had a ghost. For the next 20 minutes the lights continued to go skitso as we sat and watched America's Funniest Home Videos. Finally, having had enough, New Guy walks over to give it another go. Everytime he would stand up or move the lights would all come back on.

E: "Maybe they're motion sensored."
NG: " Shenanigans."
E: "Try it. Stop moving."

He stops. The lights all go off. He slowly walks back to bed. Done. Lights off, air conditioner ON. Well done.