Bubba has developed a love for scuba diving that has taken him to Aqaba, the city on the Red Sea, for some reef cruising. He has had the fun without me, but this past weekend, I decided that it was time to get some sun on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

Aqaba is not really the resort town that it believes itself to be. There isn’t much of a coastline, and even the private beaches of the two fanciest hotels are mere slivers of beach. Apparently, the beach at the Royal Dive Club is nice, and is where one of the spouses spent the day, sipping margaritas. The skyline is nice too……with hotels and houses dotting the coastline, with giant rock mountains in the background. The Gulf of Aqaba is so small, you can even see the Israeli town of Eilat across the water.

In fact, one of the guys on the ship (there were other people besides our small party) was a diving instructor from Eilat who made the unfortunate decision to go diving in his tighty-whiteys. Yeah, it was gross. And see-through. BLECH.

So, we got on the boat with our friends Tom, Kate and Frank. Kate and Frank were certifying, Tom was just along for the ride, and Scott was simply doing fun dives to get his log book full. I sat on the boat, listening to music, swimming in the ocean and trying not to get too overheated in the baking 120 degree weather. Tom was a little bored, as was I, so I probably won’t choose this option again should I choose to go with Bubba to Aqaba. I will probably choose the beach-margarita path.

After a full day of diving, we went back to our budget but very nice hotel, and got ready for dinner. The restaurant we chose was the Floka Seafood Restaurant, right on the main drag. It was decent……at least probably the freshest seafood you can get in Jordan. They even had a fish display where you could choose your fish. But the best part of the evening was when a guy riding a camel came walking down the SIDEWALK right by our dinner table, asking if anyone wanted a ride. It was a nice looking camel, but he could have used the street for pete’s sake!

The next morning, the worn out and bored spouses rode home while the divers went on a few more dives. They got to look inside a ship that was purposefully sunk off the coast to create more reef. They seemed to have a good time, and I definitely had a tired Bubba on my hands when he got home.

The worst part is that I seem to have contracted some sort of upper respiratory infection. Probably from the dehydration and heat…….or maybe from the Israeli in the tighty-whiteys. Who knows.