My OneWorld Around The World Trip: Dive Day 2

We slept peacefully and deeply, and I jumped out of bed like lightning the minute I heard Oscar knock on the cabin door to wake us up at 6:45am the next morning. I have to admit, I wanted to show the guys I was not a lazy late sleeper (as I actually am!), so I made sure my feet hit the ground within a second of hearing the call. And immediately thereafter, we were off to suit up for our first early morning dive. This was also at the whale, but off the front of the boat now, and we improved our dive time significantly, to almost 40 minutes in fact! We were much calmer now, starting to get our wits about us, and really starting to take the time to enjoy the experience without fear, and look to see just what our eyes could find. It was amazing how much vivid detail there was to see. Each crevice and nook in the coral contains new wonders, thousands of varieties of fish, plants, and animals of every kind. We saw so many we could not name if we tried! But we also saw many we know and have seen in movies and on Discovery Channel – brilliant pink anenomies with jolly bright clown fish swimming through their fronds… barracuda… parrot fish!... one school of 50 or more, all huge, 18” or more, schooling around one bommie, turning to face us as we drew near… tiny glass fish, millions hovering around another bommie, with one large Baramundi cod happily satisfying his hunger in their midst, to their detriment I’m afraid! Many zebra fish… and one special treat, a small reef shark, about 3 feet long, nestled in a little cave in the rock, just resting during the day… and giant formations of coral, walls stretching 10s of meters high in places… canyons, caves, overhangs, great ancient piles upon piles of them. Each dive location seemed to open up greater beauty than the previous. I think they plan it that way on purpose, to surprise you and impress. And our dive times continued to improve. Our longest dive turned out to be a respectable 42 minutes, at 17 meters depth. Now we were starting to hang in there with the more experienced divers, and felt our confidence grow.

After 3 more increasingly beautiful and wonderful daytime dives, three more lavish delicious meals, and a number of desserts and tea times later, the second night dive arrived! This one was suggested to be independent, and although the dive master would guide us if we wished, he recommended we try it alone, all reassuring us at every step. We almost decided against it. But in the end, since we had come so far, and done so much already, we decided to do exactly as they suggested. At exactly the same moment, we both looked up and answered Oscar’s question in unison – “independent”! We got our glow sticks again, and Oscar made a joke that their lifespan being just about 40 minutes! It took me a second to realize he was kidding, before he laughed and reassured us their life is many hours long, and reminded us also that at night, the boat is visible for hundreds of meters in every direction, even at the deepest depth. Navigation in the water is actually much easier for that reason.

So for our second night dive was to out to a bommie and back, in search of a giant turtle the size of a table, around a century in age. We missed the old boy as it turned out (although Glenn and Naama did spot him), but we did successfully navigate to the bommie, search for him in a little cave, and return safely to the boat, after which time we followed Enya’s lead, to wait and watch directly underneath the boat, with our torches turned off, as the sharks began to feel more comfortable to come close again! Oh, what a thrill! We began to see them circling in the distance. They were not in the least bit interested in us though. They were going after the massive bass which trailed the boat at night in droves. We saw one go after a bass, and they must have accelerated to 40 miles an hour at least, in just half a second. As it turned out, the poor bass lost the battle that day, but what a show. I did think, I am glad I don’t live in the sea and have to fend for life and limb each day against such predators! I also took a camera on the second night dive, and tried to capture a bit of it. Due to low light, most is not very clear, but my intention was to hopefully catch just a moment or two even of good video when the light was just right. And I did! There are shots of circling sharks clearly visible, and some surreal ethereal shots of divers floating up under the boat, and some other-worldly ones of us finding our way to and around the bommie, deep breathing through the regulator, and bubbles in the background, the only sounds to reach the camera, just as with our ears during the dives.

So we completed our second night dive and enjoyed another evening basking in the glow of our wild success. I intended to get to bed earlier since we knew we had to rise an hour earlier on the last day. But somehow, I still ended up being one of the last to hit the hay! Still, I did not feel slightly tired. I guess adrenalin was still coursing through my system.

Anenomie (an animal, not a plant), closed up having a "snack", with "Nemo", clown fish, nestling safely

Family portrait - when "Momma", the largest, dies, the male turns into a female and takes her place! There is only one female in each family at any given time! Weird!

OK, I confess... It should be fairly obvious anyway I'm sure! hahaha These much better pictures were taken by Mark, our skipper, a much more experienced underwater photographer. In fact, David and I never saw the turtles ourselves! :( Good reason to go back though next time... And these pictures ARE from our trip at least, so they still "count".

He really does not like you much, and does not care if you know it. hahaha

Who are you looking at bub?

Actually, that is just the way they look all the time. They are very friendly animals. But we shouldn't touch them since they are covered with a protective "slime" that prevents infections, which we corrupt with oil on our skin if we contact them directly. They will get sores then and are miserable. So just look, don't touch.