We brought our own gear, which included 7mm wetsuits, and thank goodness, because those that didn't bring their own suits, used what the boat operator could give them, summer gear. There was a lot of shorty, vest, etc. layering going on making for some interesting-looking divers.

The diving wasn't good enough to justify the water temperature, with just small to medium fish swimming around in cloudy water. Although, I must admit, I was sooo cold, I could have seen a shark and not have been impressed.

The next day, the person I was traveling with went out again and went to some big underground rock in the middle of the ocean. The water there was so rough, the divemaster got sick! But, my friend had a great time. He saw huge mantas, he didn't care about the cold and he had taken his Dramamine (is that how its spelled?).

We checked out all the different scuba tours and chose ones that combined diving with a boat trip, lunch and, that first day, a trip to a deserted beach (we started out very tour-happy). It was a big boat that stopped just about everywhere to pick up people, which was good for seeing all the different waterfront hotels and bays, but it got old when we had to drop the people off and we just wanted to get back to a hot shower.

The service was wonderful and the food was more than I expected on such a boat (plus all those free drinks). And, the service excelled when they took only those who were diving out in the smaller boats to the special location they were diving that day. We were treated very well.