I decided to go back to the Bahamas and dive again. I spent an evening in Miami and of course got a nice run to Miami Beach in the morning before headed to the cruise ship terminal.

The first time I visited since the last time was back in 2007 (blog posting) and much has changed on the island since then.

Now, this time, I took a cruise ship there.  I got a good deal to try out the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas. a 1-week cruise, balcony room for < $1000 and a $250 room credit.  Cannot complain about that.  It is huge ship and it was a zoo.

On the inside, it was like the huge shops and walkways in Las Vegas.  It almost felt like the Venetian or the Bellagio.

Now, the good thing is a found this surprise in the room when I boarded…cannot complain about the Platinum American Express concierge travel service!

As mentioned above, the goal was to go diving and I scored a big run with this excursion…the ship arranged a dedicated dive master and boat for myself with Stuart Cove.  I could not believe there was not a single other diver on this huge ship.  They missed out!

There are a large number of great wreck dives and coral walls to check out.  They go deep and can have some strong current, so you need to be experienced.  I was exploring a 12 old military ship at around 65 feet when I noticed this sea turtle above.  I had to be careful and not rise up to the surface to just take better video of him.

Here is another fun video of the remains of a DC-3 plane wreck in the ocean.  These are fun to explore — the only challenge is you do not have enough air to spend more time probing through all the wreckage that is spread out!

This one was a surprise.  I am still not sure what it was.  Was it a sea cucumber?  It was so big, yet, so light.  It felt like it weighed less than 1/4 of a pound.  Any ideas?

I was also confused by this underwater grass?  What is it?

I forgot to mention at the start, the ocean was filled with these very small jellyfish.  They are EVERYWHERE.  You have to try and avoid them, but it is hard.  The dive master warned me they do not hurt when they sting, but they make your skin itch horribly.

This was one was a little easier, but it moved fast.  It was a very large barracuda.  Apparently they can get quite big and are not just skinny fish.  Learn something new every dive!