Turks and Caicos

After Palau, we were looking for a shorter flight to a dive destination and found Turks and Caicos, where we rented a condo, which was great because we could use the washer and dryer so that we always ended up having dry towels.

 

The sand on the beaches was very white and powdery and we usually were the only ones there. The locals raise conch, which is a mollusk or sea snail, in farms and we definitely had to try them. As with so many local "specialties", they were, guess what... special, and it turns out that I still prefer bread and cheese.

Be aware that traffic is on the "wrong" side and some of the dirt roads are very narrow and it takes some time to get used to passing on the "other" side.

Little Cayman

The Cayman Islands are located directly south of Cuba. As the name indicates, there are multiple islands that belong to this British Territory and Little Cayman is one of them. A small puddle jumper takes you there from Grand Cayman and that's why there is a weight limit. As a scuba diver there is not much weight left for some shorts and t-shirts and you're over the limit, especially when traveling with a underwater camera. Luckily, there is no dress code. 

The island is so small that you can take a bike ride around the island and don't forget to get a ice cold beer at the beach.

This solderfish or squirrelfish seems to be ready to defend its territory.

Swim throughs and turtles can be observed almost on every dive.

San Diego

What can be more exciting than a family reunion in May. That's why we went to San Diego to visit an ancient relative and his friends at the famous zoo.

The USS Midway cannot be overlooked and is one of the main attractions of San Diego. The floating museum is located a stone throw away from downtown. The aircraft carrier was born in 1945 and commissioned a week after the end of WWII. Designed as the lead ship of her class, not everything was perfect.

We were lucky and stayed at the Marriott instead of sharing a bunk on the carrier like so many navy members during the 47 years of service.