No posts yesterday. We got up early to drive down to the southwest part of the island, to a little fishing village called Parguera. There's a wall a few miles offshore that constitutes probably some of the best diving on the island itself (the very best diving is actually off shore, at the islands of Desecheo, Mona, Culebra, and Vieques, of naval bombardment/protest fame). Puerto Rico has been heavily populated for too long to have good reefs--the outflow from the mountain rivers and waste have probably decimated them, relative to their pre-Columbian (if not prehuman) condition. Thus, Puerto Rico is a good base to operate from for diving at other islands (the Virgins, Saba, Bonaire, etc.) but not for diving itself.

We went with Paradise Divers (based in Parguera) who I heartily recommend. They have just the right degree of safety consciousness (unlike most operators, they'll actually hang a safety line from the boat with regs at forty feet) while allowing you autonomy to go explore on your own (unlike some of the German "dive nazis" over in the Dominican Republic).

Anyway, though the sea was a little choppy (2-4 foot swells), which made entry a little problematic, the conditions were good (84-degree water--no wet suit required, at least for someone who, like me, learned to dive in cool California waters), about seventy feet of visibility. Saw a lot of fish (large schools of black durgeon) and a few angels (gray, french, and rock beauties), but nothing big, other than a barracuda (though some divers on the second dive claimed to see a white-tipped shark).

On the way back, we stopped in another little seaside town named Guanica, found a little shack that had a sign saying "Pescadero." There were some guys hanging out in the yard (fishermen?). We bought a couple langosto, supposedly right off the boat, at six bucks a pound. We didn't know the Spanish word for "fresh," and were unsure how to ascertain their quality. Finally, brilliantly, Patricia asked "Hoy?" (today?). The proprietress nodded eagerly and said, "Si, hoy!" Of course, she might not have been referring to the provenance of the crustaceans in question, but just agreeing with the idiot Yanquis that it was indeed today, and not yesterday or tomorrow, in that part of the island...

It should be pointed out that it's not as good a deal as it sounds, since probably over half the weight is shell and body, but still, it's fresh lobster dinner for two for twenty bucks. We got home, butchered and threw them on the grill, nuked a potato and made a salad (Caesar, with Spanish olive oil). A delightful post-dive repast, with a bottle of Chardonnay from South Africa. Viva globalizacion!

Now back to your regularly-scheduled posts...