December 10, 2010 in Review

December 10 was busy! We started off the morning diving with Nick on a single tank dive. After our dive, we went to the other side of the island to view the villas, then had lunch at Madhoo. We called our island host, Hassan, and he took us back to the spa villas, to look inside. They were beautiful, spacious...and great decks! Next we golf carted off to a deluxe beach villa. It was beautiful as well, with lots of room and an outside bathroom/bath/shower. Each deluxe beach villa also has its own pool. Despite the benefits of each, we decided to stay in our superior water villa, overlooking the ocean, because what we are staying in, is quite simply the best for us. Hassan dropped us off at Vilu for happy hour, where Eric had red wine and I had the cocktail of the day...Bacardi gold and orange juice. Yum!

Dinner was at Mandhoo, again, and as always--delicious and perfect. I had a vegetarian dish of three different salads. Every single thing there is amazing. :)

After dinner we hung out for a short time and prepared for our night fishing excursion. Sadly, I suggested we not take the camera, because I thought the camera would get water splashes. I didn't realize we would be on a dony, hand fishing!! 14 of us boarded the dony (a smaller boat--just like the scuba one!) and were briefed on how to fish. We were given fishing line, wound around a card (much like kite string wrapped around the white plastic handle). At the end of the string there was a weight and further down the line, a hook. The boat helpers put bait (fresh tuna) on the hook, and then the person fishing would drop the hook, line and sinker into the water. The point was to get it to fall to the bottom (about 30 meters), then lift it up slightly. The minute we felt something, we were to pull the line up, hoping to hook the fish. It was easy. :)

Within minutes of dropping my first line, I got a bite, and had a fish! The host of the excursion pulled the fish out for, as it was a big one. He pulled up a BIG snapper (he said it was a red snapper, but it wasn't very red). I didn't have a camera, so no photo. Sad. It was the biggest catch of the trip. It was also the only fish I caught. Eric had much better luck. He caught four, but one was a fish that is not eaten, so he threw it back. Overall, it was a lot of fun and we are planning on going back for more on Tuesday.

The coolest thing...they cook your fish for you the next day!!

It was late by the time we got home...around 11:30pm, and we had a two tank dive early the next morning. We'd be really tired.......