High tide and sunset were almost exactly at the same time so my three Advanced Open Water students and I were a little pressed for time. We didn't have permission to do a night dive so a little after sunset we had to exit. Our dive to the east bridge was only about forty-five minutes which was fine with one of my students who, despite two 3mm wetsuits, was getting chilled in the seventy-two degree water. The other two (also in two 3mm suits) were quite comfortable. Whimp that I am, I am in my drysuit now and have been for several weeks. The vis was ten feet. Unfortunately, there were quite a few moon jellyfish, AGAIN! None of us experienced any stingies as we were careful to avoid them. Because we were shooting bags and deploying a lift bag we were not looking for fish, but an ENORMOUS southern ray lifted off from the bottom as we passed it on our way to the object of our search, an old plastic pail. I am a little disappointed that two of my students who have not been at the bridge before didn't get to see more of it. I thought we would have a little more light after the posted sunset time. It was like a light switch; at 5:53 it was lights out and dark! Now I know. If I dive that close to sunset again, I will make sure that I have permission to do a night dive and end the session as a night dive. We could have gone on for forty-five more minutes easily (although my chilled student was certainly glad we didn't!). Always learning! Get in the water, Ham
