3 out of 3 ain’t bad

(written 31/08/09, posted 13/10/09)

After 2 days diving with C and various other Divemasters along for our dives, I’m put with B ‘for a change around’. After our first dive the instructor with the newbies tells us he’s spotted a Black Tip Reef Shark. He adds the newbies didn’t notice anything he was pointing out as they were playing around with their masks and trying to get their buoyancy right. I tell B I’ve only seen a Leopard Shark so far here and can he find me a Black Tip and an Octopus. He promises me he will and I’m sceptical.

We get the opportunity to swim over to Phi Phi Lei (see pic) and walk to Maya Bay where The Beach was filmed. It’s stunning but sadly filled with tourists. On the second dive of the day, not long in, B points out a Leopard Shark lying on the sandy sea bed. They don’t seem to be bothered at all by divers. We’re later told it’s only if you get in front of them that they spot you and will swim away. They are much more frightened of us than we are of them. Another ten minutes or so into the dive and a Black Tip Reef Shark swims past just off the reef in the distance. It’s a great spot as they are so quick they’ve usually gone by the time someone spots one. I can see why the one I saw last year was a baby Reef Shark now as this one is much bigger and the colouring different.

So with about 20 minutes to go I’m thinking 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, according to Meatloaf anyway. I’m willing an Octopus to appear from the rocks but I haven’t seen one yet so I’m sceptical. I enjoy the surge that we’re diving in as it pulls us in one direction towards the reef under the cliff and pushes us out again with each surge. It’s a different experience to any I’ve had diving before although the girlfriend of an experienced diver with us is not liking it at all. As a consequence of struggling to fight the current she runs out of air much quicker and the couple are told to surface by B. Once he’s checked they’re on the boat safely he comes to join me and my buddy who have been waiting for him about 8m underwater watching the reefs intently for signs of anything unusual. The third group of five divers doing their Rescue Diver qualification are near us too and we have about ten minutes until the end of our dive. Suddenly we hear a tank-rapper from one of them and we swim over. And there it is...a beautiful big Octopus, undulating and twisting its way over the rocks on the sea bed and investigating the sea bed with its tentacles. I clap B and signal my excitement to him and my buddy. All 8 of us do our safety stop at 5m watching the Octopus slowly move away. It’s definitely the best finish to a dive I’ve had so far.

After a brilliant day, I’m back to the dive shop again at 6pm for my first night dive. I’m nervous but hold it together. It’s a completely different experience and really enjoyable. There is much more light than I’m expecting, perhaps because there are four of us and we’re not very deep. My favourite bit is when we find a sandy patch on the sea bed, empty our vests of air so we kneel on the sand. I swam in phosphorescence algae in Vietnam a few times but nothing that compares to this. Torches against our thighs so they don’t give off light we wave our other hands through the water and everything around us sparkles. It’s brilliant and I can feel my mask leak as I’m grinning so much. What an amazing end to another great day diving.