My mermaid alter-ego

When I came up from my first dive in Mexico, one of the American guys I was with turned to the other and said (about me) 'she's like a little mermaid'. This made my day. Not only because it meant I was up to standard - always a relief when with a group of very experienced scuba divers (one had nearly 1,000 dives under his belt) - but since I was five (when I first watched Disney's The Little Mermaid) I have aspired to be one.

You're almost certainly thinking how immature of a 25 year old, but short of growing a tail and gills I can't see how you can be any closer to being a mermaid than scuba diving. That's why I love it so much.

Under the sea is a whole different world, and it's like all the different sea creatures have their own personalities. In the words of Sebastian the crab, 'darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me.' 

I've done some great diving since my travels began, seeing ship wrecks, eagle rays, stingrays, turtles, lobster, Lion fish, morays, big parrot fish, barracuda, and masses of huge jelly fish. I even found my own little Flounder in Key Largo, a little yellow fish that decided to follow me on my second dive.

And with the Great Barrier Reef in Oz and Koh Tao, Thailand still on the hit list, I'm positive there'll be plenty more to come.

Heaven on Earth

After an eventful start on Friday (with a forgotten credit card mishap) we picked up our car, or KiKi as we affectionately call her, and got out on the road. That road brought us to a place I think is actually heaven on earth, The Florida Keys.

Stopping off in Islamorada to eat the best food we've had so far, as we sat looking out on the palm trees, sunshine and sea, I knew it was going to be a good few days.

It took literally minutes to spot our first bunch of dolphins, then we arrived at our glorious hotel in Key West. Located right near the sea and a short walk from the marina and all the bars, with a lovely swimming pool, jacuzzi and breakfast included, we are living the life.

From biker bars to aligators, crazy dancing, meeting special agents, late night swims, moped rides, beer by the pool, key lime coolers, key lime pie, amazing views over the sea, giant iguanas, tropical storms, we've had it all. 

And we left our mark in Key West attaching our dollars to the ceiling of the dollar bar.

We even found the most scrumptious veggie cafe (much to Soph's delight) in Key West, with Sezchuan noodles, falafel pittas and Moroccan vegetable and lentil soup. Good job we weren't there longer or Soph may literally have spent her whole budget in that place!

And importantly for me I got to do some diving in Key Largo. Diving of many firsts, first time I've been out on a boat without someone I already know, first time I've dived in the rain and first time I've seen eagle rays, lobster and a whole load of jelly fish.

I really couldn't ask for more. And we've not even swum with dolphins yet - that's what we're up to tomorrow morning before we head on to the Everglades, where I plan to cement my nickname of Ray Mears.