Author: puppetartg

I mean, cmon. The sky was just on fire this morning. We sat out on Vicki and Darryl’s dock watching a mild sunrise turn into what you see above. Here’s how it started:

And then…

Nice way to start the morning. Breakfast was at the resort and equal to yesterday’s with good pastries, egg and cheeses. I mixed a little pineapple juice with sparkling water. 😋

We drive back to the ferry area and my up with Vicki and Darryl to do a little shopping and get D&M’s Tahitian Pearl bracelets resized. In case you’ve missed mine, here it is again. With bacon bugle fingers. Because I’m fancy.

We grabbed a bite and took it back to the resort. Fish-burger for me (nothing to write home about) and fried shrimp for Mike.

After a nap we grabbed a couple of kayaks and rowed around the bungalows. There was a decent downpour the moment we got out on the water but it only lasted for 5 or so minutes. Since it was overcast and we were wet it was a nice and cool adventure paddling around.

We paddled around for a while and then decided to go snorkeling. It’s great now that Vicki and Darryl have moved out to the overwater bungalows so we can kayak or snorkel over to them and bug them from the water.

I had to knock out a little work yesterday and today (run payroll and create a flyer) so I sat out on the balcony for a bit doing work. Not a bad temporary office.

We’ve been in bed between 7:30pm and 8:30pm every night and I can’t imagine tonight will be any different. We are just eating some snacks we picked up for dinner.

The horizon is too cloudy for a good sunset this evening. That’s fine. It’d be hard to beat the sunrise this AM.

Thanks for following along!

As part of a credit card perk we get free breakfast at the Hilton Resort. Since I’ve been diving early the last two days I’ve missed out. This morning I dug in to a nice breakfast. Great way to start the day. I got to briefly say hello to my dive buddy’s family at breakfast and tell them what a terrific diver their son is. They were all very kind.

As you can see from the picture above we went paddle boarding! Mike and I have been wanting to try this forever and this was the perfect place for it. The lagoon is nice and calm and today’s weather was slightly breezy and cloudy at times. This made it very comfortable to paddle around. We picked it up very quickly thanks to the several YouTube tip videos we watched before coming here. I fell in twice. It was great fun. I think we’ll do it again before we leave.

We stayed out for an hour or so before heading in to get washed up. There was a slight breeze so we decided it might be a good time to head up to Belvedere Lookout. I was hoping the breeze would keep the mosquitoes away, plus cooler.

The drive up was pretty easy. While we were taking in the view 30 French Army personnel came marching out of the jungle with big automatic weapons. Looked like it was some sort of exercise. We followed their big military vehicles back down the hill then headed off to lunch.

Everyone we talked with suggested Snack Mahana for lunch. It was hopping busy and the best lunch we’ve had so far. I had the Poisson Cru (ahi, lime, coconut milk, cucumbers) which was excellent and Mike and I split a pineapple juice which was a deliciously fresh and almost Smoothy in consistency. Yum!

Back to the resort for a nap and then sunset watching.

Another beautiful sunset. The weather today made the day so much nicer. An almost constant light breeze and time to time clouds made for a much cooler time in the tropics.

Dinner was at the crepe place again though we opted to sit out there tonight. Mike and I split a delicious mahi mahi crepe and a Nutella crepe.

A wonderful end to a relaxing day.

Thanks for following along!

We woke up around 5am after a long night’s sleep. We decided to go to the end of the overwater bungalow pier and watch the sunrise. It did not disappoint.

It’s another scuba day for me so I headed down to Nemo’z.

My dive buddy was a charming young guy from Atlanta. We had a blast diving and talking about diving.

The video above is from my first dive. We went to a place where the conditions must be just right for a good dive. They were despite the strong current we had to swim against for the first portion of the dive. We had a gray reef shark, a 3 meter lemon shark and a dozen or so black tip reef sharks swimming around us, and quite close to us. It was very cool.

We drifted with the current back to the boat and had several more black tip sharks circle us as we surfaced. Again, neat.

The second dive was a little less spectacular. A couple of turtles and lots and lots of fish. There was a giant trigger fish ( 2 1/2’ long?) that was crunching in the coral.

I was hungry by the time I got back to the resort so Mike and I headed to lunch at the little outdoor poolside restaurant. I had the fish burger again. Just as good the second time.

We went back to SAB Pearl Shop because Mike was experiencing FOMO and wanted his own Tahitian Pearl. Now all four of us have one.

We stopped by a grocery store to stock up on snacks then headed back to the room for a nap.

Sunset was lovely.

Dinner was wonderful! We had escargot for the first time. (Yum!) I had a delicious fish called Papio (the table agreed my next puppet should be named Papio Beef Cheeks, beef checks being another menu item.)

Darryl and Vicki treated us to dinner. Thank you!!

We headed back to the room and I had to run payroll. I didn’t think I’d make it though writing this blog but here I am at 9:15pm, an hour past our bedtime! 🙂

Thanks for following along!



Today is one of two days I get to do some scuba diving.

I woke up early after a really nice night’s sleep. I needed the rest after two less than optimal nights of sleep.

I skipped breakfast and headed to Nemo’z Dive Shop.

As you can see from the map above, Moorea looks kind of like a bat? A bird? Our resort is located on the head of the bird. Nemo’z is on the top of the left wing.

It was a nice drive though there are dogs that lay along the side of the road and I’m stressed that they are going to dart in front of my car!

The Dive Shop is located in an abandoned resort, the Intercontinental. It has a super creepy abandoned, haunted vibe, but the dive shop was fine.

Seems The Intercontinental Moorea shut down during COVID and have had problems reopening.

Anyway, diving was amazing. The first dive took us outside of the reef and I got to see Lemon Sharks for the first time. These big guys were 9-12’ long. Just massive. We also saw a couple of black tip reef sharks and a white tip reef shark.

The second dive was around a big lava flow and we saw lots of sea turtles.

The guides were terrific and the other divers were fun. A really lovely morning of diving and spectacular views.

I made it back to Hilton and found Mike, Vicki and Darryl in the water snorkeling in front of our bungalow. Of course, I jumped in and snorkeled with them. Have I had enough ocean yet? Nope.

We headed to a local place for a late lunch. I had this:

This was raw Ahi with lime in coconut milk. It was beyond delicious.

It was now nap o’clock. Diving knocks it out of me and the full belly wasn’t helping. I did try Nitrox for my scuba tank air mixture this time and it supposedly helps with the dive fatigue. It may have helped some.

After hanging out in bed after waking from our nap we headed out to the balcony to watch the sunset.

Not too bad.

Still stuffed from dinner we decided to split a crepe and have some of the yummy chocolates Darryl got for us. Perfect dinner.

I’d guess we’ll be in bed by 8pm again tonight. Another early morning of diving for me tomorrow.

Thanks for following along!

Several years ago Mike and I added Tahiti to our bucket list. The pictures of the ocean, mountains and overwater bungalows are so enticing. I love the ocean and the thought of leaping into the water and snorkeling right from our room sounds amazing.

We fly French Bee (a no frills airline) direct from SFO to PPT, the airport on the Island of Tahiti. We then rent a car, hop on a ferry and head to the island of Moorea. Moorea is a slightly more affordable (and not nearly as hyped as Bora Bora) island surrounded by a coral reef.

We got a good deal on an overwater bungalow at the Hilton Moorea. The resort is situated so you can see the sunrise AND the sunset. We stay there for 6 nights and then we have an overnight in Tahiti on the way home since we have an early flight home. Then an overnight in LA… more on that later.

Heres my top 5 “I’m excited about” list.

1. The Corealus Effect. (Google it.) I’ve never ventured below the equator. I’m super excited to see water swirl the other way.
2. Scuba Diving. I’ve got two days of diving booked. I’m looking forward to getting back in the water.
3. Food! French influenced Polynesia food sounds delicious.
4. Staying in an overwater bungalow. This has been a bucket list item for a while.
5. Sunsets. They’re supposed to be spectacular. Hope we catch a few good ones.

We had an uneventful direct flight and arrived in Tahiti around 4:45am. A long hour later we were through customs and in another 45 minutes in our junker rent-a-car.

We (Mike, me, Darryl and Vicki) managed to Tetris 4 huge suitcases and 5 carry-ons into a tiny tiny compact Toyota. We were convinced we’d have to make two trips to the ferry station and were just stunned we managed it. The little car struggled up the hills but got us to the ferry station. Darryl and I headed out to find an ATM so we could have some local currency. (We were trying to use Google Maps and stood in front of the ATMs for 5 minutes trying to figure out where they were before we looked up and found them. 🤦‍♂️

Also, chickens and roosters all over the place.

A 20 minute ferry ride had us in Moorea. We dropped of Darryl and Vicki and then headed toward the Hilton Moorea. On the way we stopped by a little Tahitian pearl shop. Back in August when we booked this trip I emailed this shop asking if they had bracelets for men. The owner sent me a bunch of pictures and I’ve been excited to get a bracket with a pearl ever since. Here it is:

We finally made it to the Hilton around 11:45am. We dropped off our bags and headed to one of the restaurants to have some lunch while we waited for our room to be ready. Lunch was yummy but pricey. I had the fish burger.

We shared a Kit Kat dessert which was ridiculously delicious.

Bellies full and sleep deprived we found some lounge chairs in the shade and tried to keep our eyes open until our room was ready.

Expectations exceeded with this beautiful and comfortable room.

We bathed to get the stink of travel off of us and then took a substantial nap. You know, one of those naps where it’s really difficult to wake up but you could probably sleep another two hours. One of those.

We grabbed some snorkel equipment and jumped in the ocean from our balcony to check out the lagoon. We didn’t stay in too long, we just wanted to get in for a little bit before sunset.

Dinner was crepes. We split a savory crepe and a dessert crepe. Banana and Nutella.

It’s only 7:45pm and I am already in bed. Tomorrow I have my first Scuba dives for the trip so an early start.

Thanks for following along!

Slept in today. No diving because of flights tomorrow so I was considering catching the ferry to the south side of the island and exploring a bit. Matt and Lilli were heading out on a snorkeling adventure. After scuba diving snorkeling can feel a bit lame, plus I’d already gone out snorkeling a few days ago. I didn’t need or want to go again.

As I was waving goodbye to them on the dock I could feel my feet getting sunburned and the heat of the sun plus the 75% humidity was already uncomfortable and it was only 10:30am. Walking around in this heat was off the table for me.

I headed back to the room and this guy was at the base of the stairs.

Not the biggest I’ve seen this trip but I wasn’t sure he was going to move out of my way.

He moved and I went up to the room and meditated. Did a few things around the condo and then sat out on the balcony to finish yesterday’s blog.

Several hours later…

Notice I’ve crossed my legs the opposite way.

I ended up spending six hours out on the balcony. It was hot and humid but the shade and the 15 mph breeze made it quite relaxing and comfortable. I read and wrote and watched the frigates sail in front of a developing thunder storm.

Side note, Lilli got to feed a Frigate today by holding a fish up. It swooped down and grabbed the fish! She also fed a tarpon without also feeding it her hand, unlike me. My wound is healing nicely, FYI.

We went over to the pool bar and had dinner. Knock on wood, I’ve managed to stay insect bite free this entire time thanks to various bug repellents and essential oils. Yay! Matt and Lilli got pretty bit up during dinner. Boo.

Lilli headed back to the room and Matt and I walked down to the water to enjoy a couple of Cuban cigars I picked up at the Belize airport. I’m not a cigar smoker but there’s just something rebellious about smoking a Cuban cigar. And the last time I was in Central America Rob and I had a couple of Cuban cigars in the middle of the rain forest.

I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing last full day in Belize.

Tonight we pack up so we are ready to fly out first thing in the morning.

I feel a great deal of pride that I have avoided any “can you Belize it?” And “this place is unbelizeable” jokes in this blog. It might be the most restraint I’ve ever had to practice. I can’t Belize I was able to do it.

Thanks for following along.

When I booked this dive I asked if it was as good as the Esmeralda Dive Site. They answered no but I booked anyway. They were right but it was still some fun dives, so worth it! It was just me, a diving taking a certification class, two dive guides and the boat captain. It was great to have so much room on board the boat.

The visibility in the water was ok but not as good as yesterday. Still, lots of fish, one nurse shark and a coral head filled with lobster. The biggest of these would be my lunch about an hour and a half after we saw them. But more on that later.

This is a lion fish. (look under the edge of the coral.)

They are an invasive species that devastate the reefs. So killing them is encouraged. As a result, part of today’s diving was lion fish hunting. I didn’t do any of the killing, I was just a sniper spotter for my dive guide. I spotted two which he speared and he found three more on his own. Watch the next videos if you want to see one speared.

Watching for Lion fish added an extra dimension to what could have been a mediocre dive. I chickened out on asking if I could take a turn with the spear. I wish I had. I’m not a hunter but helping protect the reef by eliminating an invasive species was interesting to me. Plus the lion fish were just so cocky. (Bruce?)

When you do two dives you have to spend a certain amount of time on the surface to avoid decompression sickness. (Something about off gassing nitrogen from the blood.) The is called a surface interval. We spent our surface interval back in Shark and Ray Alley, one of the locations I snorkeled a few days ago.

Shallow enough to stand up, we hopped in and swam with around 30 nurse sharks and several rays. Once we got back on the boat the dive guide chopped up the lion fish and fed the chunks to the sharks.

Our second dive was a bit lackluster in comparison with yesterday’s dives. Still, lots of fish and the coral head filled with lobster I mentioned earlier. Here it is.

Using the same spear, my guide caught 3 good sized lobster. (It’s lobster season right now so outside of the preserve these are up for grabs.) the largest is in the left of the video. The guide gifted this one to me and suggested I have the restaurant at the resort cook it up. While I was settling my bill at the dive shop he cleaned it and put it on ice in a bag for me. They dropped me off at the BluZen dock and I walked directly to the bar with a dripping bag of lobster (ice melts super fast in this heat).

“Hey! Can you cook this up for me?” “Sure! You want it grilled with garlic and butter?” Hell yes I did. I handed the lobster off to the bartender and went to the room to rinse off and clean up. 20 minutes later they brought this out to me.

They served it with a little carafe of garlic butter, rice and veggies (veggies under the huge lobster.) It was delicious, both the lobster and the experience.

Matt and Lilli rented a golf cart and headed out to explore the island. They were leaving as I was just getting back. I couldn’t imagine driving around in the heat of the afternoon but they had a great time despite running out of gas by the pineapple house.

Side note. The heat here is oppressive. Humidity, a blazing sun makes it uncomfortable for me. Not my ideal. Yesterday and today the wind has been blowing steadily, and as I type this I am sitting out on our shaded balcony. It is till humid and hot but the shade and the breeze makes it quite pleasant.

I took a nitrogen-in-my-blood inspired scuba nap. When I got up we all headed over to the pool. The sun was down and the breeze was blowing so it was a perfect time to play in the pool. Matt and Lilli and I exchanged stories. We told Lilli several stories of how Matt and I were complete jackasses in grad school. It was a lovely evening topped off by dinner outdoors with a live musician playing Beatles tunes on his guitar.

I have zero plans for tomorrow. I’d go scuba diving one more time if I could but my flights on Tuesday prevent me from diving Monday. (Nitrogen blood, decompression sickness, blah blah blah.)

One more thing about my dives. The coral formations and sea sponges are pretty different from what I’m used to since most of my diving has been in the pacific. Here’s a few pictures.

The sea fans were cool, too, especially when they were being moved by the current.

Thanks for following along.

Lobster pretty much sums up day three.

But first the day was very relaxing. It rained a lot so Matt and I hung out in the pool in the rain and solved the problems of the world. Lilli is an absolute delight and we laughed our butts off in the condo while she played on her computer and Matt and I watched the Olympics.

Back to the lobster. We found this place called Happy Lobster.

The North side of Caye Caulker is rural. Very rural. By the time we were ready to eat it was dark. And this is Central America so there’s snakes and alligators and bugs so I wasn’t much interested in walking from BluZen to find the restaurant. I’d read in one of the reviews of the restaurant that they might come and pick you up in a golf cart so I called and they did! Thanks god because the route didn’t feel anything close to safe.

Restaurant is a big word for this little place. It’s pretty much a shack for a kitchen with outdoor seating. Not much ambiance but the folks were so friendly and the lobster was so good. Our server (cook and driver?) told us how many lobster tails they had left and the size of each in ounces. (They had two 7 ounce and one 8 ounce.) We took all of them. Served with coconut rice and veggies it was all delicious.

A quick ride golf cart ride back to the condo and it was time for bed. We had to get up early for scuba diving.

Relaxing, relatively uneventful day. Perfect.