After about ten months in Costa Rica, I'm moving on. While I was able to get a few decent photos in the past couple weeks, (mostly during my parent's vacation), the visibility has been continually dropping and I'm finding myself ready for new terrain. I've had an introductory taste of free-diving, a sample of Spanish, and a little brush with Latin culture. All in all, I'm ready for more.

Static holds and I have had somewhat of a falling out in the past weeks, but I'm glad to say we're back on good terms. After just a few days of conditioning I was able to reach 4:30, a new personal record. The preparation took no more than about six or eight minutes. It included three "packing" stretches to full capacity (and a mouthful of air to apply continuous pressure), some deep breathing, and about thirty or forty seconds of hyperventilation just prior to the breath hold.

Ever since my camera case sprung a few leaks a couple of weeks ago, I've been far less motivated to post anything about diving. Spotting new types of fish has been a bittersweet experience, a mix of excitement and appreciation tainted with a doleful regret that I'm unable to capture any evidence.

This week has been fairly good. I added yet another few images to the creature register, achieved a 4:15 static hold, and dove to 53 feet. I'm hoping to push that up to 4:30 and 60 feet by next week. I need to work on staying relaxed at depth; as of now I tend to get a little heeby-geebyish. Also, I need to find deeper water (still), 53 feet is the deepest I've found so far.

Last night I was able to hold my breath for four minutes and ten seconds, that's twenty five seconds longer than my last personal best. It's been fun making steady, if slow, progress, and while static holds are anything but fun, longer holds generally tend to translate into more comfortable bottom time on a single breath.