The flight from Gatwick Airport to Marsa Alam took about 6 hours. I had been to the Red Sea a couple of times before, but we had traditionally flown to Hurghada in the north. Flying to Marsa Alam meant that we did not have to sail for 30 hours down the coast of the Egyptian desert, to get to the south. That is a blessing in itself, as I am usually the "champion puker" of the dive group; the legacy of being a poor sailor. The marina was only a short drive from the airport. Pretty soon, we were boarding our dive boat. It was called Hurricane ( owned by Tony Backhurst Scuba), and was by far the most luxurious dive boat that I had ever been on. We sailed from Marsa Alam to Elphinstone. From there, we headed south to Daedalus Reef, Rocky Island and Zabargad. This was what they called the Deep South, and we were only about 50 km from the Sudanese Red Sea.
m.v. Hurricane. Very luxurious dive boat.
We had a big group on this trip. There were 22 divers altogether. As I had only joined the dive club, I did not know most of the members on the boat. Therefore, I approached the leader of the group, and briefed him about my diving experience. I had wanted him to pair me up with a suitable buddy. I was disappointed therefore when his response was, " Oh! We usually just dive in a group. Just feel free to tag along." I later discovered that the rest of the group had naturally paired up themselves up as they knew each other well. The next morning at dive briefing, I turned to a couple of guys nearest to me and asked if they mind me tagging along. One guy was tall and thin, while the other was huge and fat. "Sure, no problems", they replied. So, that was settled.
Tunas lining up.
During the first 2 days, I began to realise that my "buddies" seemed to disappear to the surface without letting me know, halfway into the dives. I thought that was strange, but did not question them about it, as I was still diving with the rest of the group; although I was practically diving alone. The other strange thing was that the divemaster who was suppose to lead the dive was always at about 50 metres depth or so. He was diving with a Buddy Inspiration and therefore could go deeper for longer. I did not mind diving "alone" as I was comfortable with my own diving. It was no big deal. I thought this would be the pattern for the rest of the week. However, after the dive briefing the next morning, the divemaster suddenly turned to me and asked me who was my buddy, and why was I diving alone over the last 2 days. I saw no point in telling him that the guys just buggered off and left me each time. So, I just pointed lamely in their directions.
Daedalus Lighthouse (Girls beware, the guards usually haven't seen women for 3 months....so a bit randy!!)
The first dive that day was to a depth of 30 metres. As we got into the Zodiac, I noticed that the tall thin chap was not getting into it. So, I turned to the fat bloke and asked him, " Where's Jason?". He replied " Oh! He is doing a specialty course today." So, I said, " So, who are you diving with today?" "You", he said. So, very cautiously, I said, " OK...so, we are going down to 30 metres as planned, right?" He replied, as if it was the most naturally thing in the world, " No, I can't get down there because I use a lot of air. I only want to dive to 15 metres." . I thought, "*&%$£*£% great!! Now, I have a fat arsed gas guzzler on my hands who is not going to follow the dive plan! My disaster alarm went off. " Luckily, another chap also said that he was not going to 30 metres and he would not mind diving with my buddy. I turned to the remaining 3 divers on the boat. There was a guy in his late forties / early fifties, a lady of similar age and a girl of about seventeen. So, I turned to the lady who was sitting next to me and agreed that she would buddy up with me. The four of us would be sticking to the dive brief.
As soon as we did a backward roll into the water, my buddy started to panic and hyperventilate. I thought, " Mamma mia, what now??" We were on the surface for about 10 minutes, while she tried to calm down. I peered into the water, and I could see the divemaster at the bottom signalling for us to get down. Eventually, my buddy agreed to descend, and so we all went down together. Unfortunately, she kept going and did not stop at 30 meters. I had to swim to her and pulled her up to the right depth. After I had made sure that she was alright, I looked around, and holy shit!! The other buddy pair had gone too deep as well. I signalled to my buddy to wait for me and went down to get the others up as well. Just when I thought that all was well, I looked around and realised that my buddy was missing. The divemaster was watching us from about 20 metres away. So, I signalled to him to ask him the whereabouts of my buddy. He pointed to the surface, and as I looked up, I could see that she was just beside the boat. She must have panicked again, and shot up to the top. He signalled that we should continued with the dive. Yet again, the divemasater went down deep to do his own thing. After about 30 minutes, the girl's air level was getting low, and so I decided to end the dive.
As soon as we broke the surface, she asked me " Where's me mum?" It took me a while before I realised that she was referring to my buddy. " "She has ummm......gone up",I replied. The fat bloke, who was already in the boat, immediately said, " You should have gone up with her". What a patronising prick!! He did not even bother to ascertain the facts. My response was that the divemaster had instructed us to dive on. From the point of the general diving rule where one has to "stay with his or her buddy", I would agree with him. However, there were a few factors that guided me that few seconds in deciding what to do. Firstly, my buddy was already up at the surface, and was being picked up. Secondly, in that situation, I also had the other 2 as my "buddies", whom I rapidly realised, were not very experience divers. Thirdly, as mentioned before; the divemaster had also instructed me to dive on. Finally, by the time that I get up to the surface, the boat cover would have moved on to pick up other divers as per the dive plan. This would have meant that I would be floating on the surface for a while before I get spotted again, and therefore increased the chance of me being swept away.
The joke of the day, however, was that when the fat guy and his buddy reached their own "15 metres dive plan", there was no reef to be seen, and they had to descend to 30 mteres!!! Ha ! Ha! Ha! Theirs was a very short dive indeed! Stupid arse!!
Oceanic White Tip Shark (4th. most dangerous shark?)
Lessons that I learnt from this are 1) Make sure that you have a good idea of your buddy's dive experience before a dive. Asked them direct questions if you have to. The fat bloke was a gas guzzler, and therefore all his dives were very short compared to the rest of the group. This explained why, they always disappeared so early. 2) It is unwise to switch to a new buddy minutes before you hit the water; because of Rule No. 1. I later found out that the 3 person that I dived with were husband, wife and daughter. What luck!!! Urrggggh! Head bang!! To the credit of father and daughter, they kept their cool and kept on diving. Could have turned ugly underwater. Also, I found out later that they had just done their Advance Open Water recently, and each had less than 30 dives under their belt. This was their first sea trip. 3) Diving in "buddy pairs" of more than 2 divers may not always be a good idea, especially if the sea condition is rough, or when things go wrong. I also did not know beforehand that my buddy also had a panic attack the day before and had to abort her dive; again at the surface.
One under my crotch...had to lift my legs apart for this shot.
Felt a bit vulnerable......phew!!
The most important thing is that you always have to be self- reliant, and that can only come with experience. I did not allow the above experience to spoil my trip. For the remainder days, I seek out more experienced divers in the group and had a smashing time.
More tunas
Rocky Island
Life is an uphill struggle......but, hey! Count me in!!
2 comments:
u not afraid the little fishies nibble u and the big fishies chomp u meh? LOL
PP, yes, I have been attacked by trigger fish a couple of time. The last time was in Layang-layang by a fairly large one. No worries, I always carry a "rambo knive" during each of my dives.
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