I’ve discovered that if you spend an hour per day with your body fully submersed in the sea, all of your pimples and minor lesions will soon disappear; you’ll be able to chew your finger-nails at will without having to worry about first washing your hands; and you won’t have to use shampoo to wash your hair—a good fresh water rinse after each sea exit will do the trick. If I’ve done a dive just before dinner I’ll oftentimes bypass the rinse, tell the waiter I want no salt on my meal, then just give my arm a little lick if I feel the food is too bland.  

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If you’ve ever considered getting away from it all by learning to live like a creature of the deep, there might not be a better place to do this than in Roatan, where many a reef sit just a five - 10 minute boat ride away. And I can’t think of a better dive operation to do this at than Native Sons on Half Moon Bay, in West End. 

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Over the past 10 or so years I’ve done way more snorkelling than diving. When you snorkel, especially finless, as Elenka and I do, arm movement is required. When you dive however, arm movement is barely needed. My new amigo, oceanographer, Ken Fidalgo from New Jersey, created some excellent undersea videos showing the offshore reef. Two are promos for Native Sons, showing the beautiful reef and the creatures who live there. And there’s also a clip that is all about me, which leads back to my mention of underwater arm movement. In it, I look much like a duck with a broken wing as I flip my arms about. I’m better now, though—there’s no self-help that can match watching oneself make an arse of him/her-self. That said, Ken’s master-editing, which has me thrashing to the beat of Corazon Espinado, by Mexico’s venerable rocker band Maña, almost makes it look as though my arms are flailing to the beat. 

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Below is the Native Sons & Hotel Chillies link. If you click on ‘Mango Studio’ you’ll see where Elenka and I stayed, with the kitten named Mango, who adopted us.

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The first two videos are Ken’s Native Sons promos. The third one is the it’s all about me clip. At first I was embarrassed, now I find it comical.

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If a secluded beach is what you’re looking for, consider this link:  https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g944573-d9790407-r826323152-Bonito_Beach_House-West_Bay_Roatan_Bay_Islands.html  The owner Tammy Ebanks can be reached at 504 9647 5653. 

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Our Roatan adventure has ended. We’ve returned to the CTU, in the country we now affectionately call the Great-White North. Mango loves it here too.

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