Checked out of the hostel and headed to the dive shop to see if there was a space available on the morning dive before heading out of town - there wasn't. Went and had a breakfast and decided to stick around for the afternoon dive. Spent the morning wandering around in the rain and shopping - bought a pair of shorts.
The conditions were not nearly as good as yesterday but it was still a very nice dive. The boat was mostly filled with students so it was just the divemaster and myself. Or, the divemaster, had an agenda - he wanted to check up on some crayfish, a turtle, an octopus, and hopefully track down a manta ray or two. I was game. The visibility wasn't as nice as yesterday but still not bad (maybe 25 feet). We didn't find the crayfish or the octopus, but Or did track down a lot of interesting things under rocks and in crevasses. A little sleeping "Wobbie" shark was pretty cool as I could pick it up and feel it. A little over forty minutes into the dive (total time just over fifty minutes) we saw a giant (the biggest I've ever seen) manta ray fly by. It was about two meters (7 feet) across the wing tips and it swam (flew) by no more than three meters (10 feet) away! Definitely the highlight and made the dive worthwhile.
Back on shore I just couldn't motivate to face driving in the rain so I decided to stay another night. That way I could also maybe go for a dive tomorrow morning on my way out of town (again). Spent the evening in the internet cafe and the checked back into the hostel. Ended up going out to dinner with Jamie, a guy I met in the lounge last night. Ended up hanging out a mixed group of expats (Irish, Canadian, English, and Kiwi) living in a shared house here in Byron. Got back to the hostel just after four.
