Saturday June 17, 2006: It was just before noon when our flight touched down on the runway at the Bermuda International Airport and after a very calm two hour flight I was ready for some much needed rest and relaxation. Julie and I had been looking forward to this trip for months and during the planning phase we had decided to knock off a day or two of diving so that we might get to do some sight seeing on the island. Bermuda is very well known for it's wreck diving, after all the movie 'The Deep' was filmed here back in the late seventies, but it also has a host of land attractions including military forts dating back to the early 1600's.

Sunday June 18, 2006: We arrived at Triangle Divers this morning around 8 o'clock and right away it was obvious that everyone here is on island time. The Captain and crew were very nice and totally laid back, they all had a kind of a 'take your time, we're in no rush' attitude about them. It is weird that I say that because by the end of the week we had the same attitude!

Graham, the Captain, gave us the briefing on our first dive site, called Cathedral Reef, which lies on the east side of the island. It is a huge underwater dome, with several holes or windows near the top that allow shafts of sunlight to penetrate inside for the making of a very interesting picture. There are lots of swim troughs and the lava rock rises up to just below the surface.....

Dive number two was on the shipwreck Kate, an English iron steamer that sank in 1878 just off the east side of the island. The Kate struck an unknown reef 22 miles northwest of Gibbs Hill lighthouse and then, soon after that, the vessel hit Long Bar reef where it began to take on water. The ship was then grounded to prevent it from sinking until her cargo could be salvaged..... (read more »)

Monday June 19, 2006: We departed the dock again this morning at about 9 o'clock. Graham said the surge on the dive sites may have lightened up slightly over night, but the visibility would still be less than normal. Normal, according to Graham for this time of year, is 150 feet plus! Our first site was Nassa Point reef near Cooper's Island on the east side....

Dive two was on the shipwreck Pelinaion, a 385-foot long Greek steamer that sank in 1939 near Cooper's Island on the east side. This cargo vessel was loaded with manganese ore en route to Baltimore, Maryland when she ran aground on the reef. This wreck is mostly broken up now, but you can still make out the huge boilers and winches on top of the reef. We also found an anchor and tons of anchor chain but we didn't find the propeller that Dane, the Dive master, had told us about..... (read more »)

Tuesday June 20, 2006: Today was going to be a sightseeing day. We wanted to see as much of the island as we could in the short amount of time we had. We decided to start with the Dockyards at the far western end of the island and then work our way back. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to the Royal Navy Dockyards by scooter....

Wednesday June 21, 2006: This morning we took off to Hamilton to meet Mike and Cristina at the Bermuda Yacht Club. This year was the 100th anniversary of the 'Newport to Bermuda Race' so there was quite a showing of boats not to mention the parties that followed. After saying hello to the 'Raider' crew and catching up with Mike, Julie and I took off to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute there in Hamilton.....

Thursday June 22, 2006: By this morning, we have already accomplished most of what we wanted to do and see on this trip. We still have two more dives on our agenda for this afternoon and I would like to sneak in one more day at the beach to just take in some sun and relax before heading back to the real world..... (read more »)

After lunch we headed to the dock where Graham briefed us on the afternoon dive plan. We were going up north!! This was great news, because there was a shipwreck I really wanted to dive and Graham assured me we would hit it today. Our first dive was on North Rock reef; this is the northern most point of Bermuda and the northern most living reef in the world....

Dive number two was on one of the shipwrecks I had come to Bermuda to see. The Cristobal Colon was a Spanish luxury liner that sank in 1936 just east of North Rock after hitting the reef at 15 knots. She is the largest shipwreck in Bermuda at 500-feet long with a 61-foot beam. The wreck is now broken in half on either side of the reef and scattered over a wide area..... (read more »)

Friday June 23, 2006: Okay, I think this is going to be a beach day!! Tuesday afternoon, on the way back from the Dockyards, we stopped at a couple of beaches just off of South Road. One of these beaches was called Chaplin Bay Beach and not only was it very secluded, but it also had the makings of a great photo opportunity.....

Saturday June 24, 2006: The worst part of any vacation is always the last day. Just knowing that you are only hours away from having to re-enter the real world, where time speeds up to a point that it almost runs you over, is enough to make you want to cry. It is twice as bad when you have just spent a week in a place that is a poster child for a place called paradise!..... (read more »)