Change of Plan
Having travelled from Timor Leste through to West Timor, and been roughing it, I just wanted to relax and do a little diving. I enquired about doing a couple of days diving with a few dive centres.
Aquaddiction, they suggested that I do an SSI Advanced certification. At first I wasn’t keen because I didn’t want to do any study. But they explained that:
- There was no study involved.
- I’d need to do five dives (rather than the four I had wanted).
- I’d need to ensure the dives include all the compulsory modules and the correct mix of the optional ones.
- There was a small surcharge for the certification.
Further, all the various staff and the boss that I spoke to were nice and approachable. They weren’t pushy at all. And they told me that they do only small groups (4 customers) for their dives. I had just walked past other places that were buzzing with too many customers so I appreciated this.
I was sold on the idea and turned up that evening to start with my first module … the night dive. My dive instructor, Mike (a Texan with an Iranian wife who was a Dive Master), was a super nice guy. I was the sole student (in fact, I was the sole student on three of the five dives).
My first-ever night dive!
On land, Mike went through some essentials of night diving.
- Be careful not to blind your dive buddy/master/instructor with the torch!
- You need to illuminate your hand signals.
After dark, we set off into the night for our dive at Bounty Wreck. Armed with a primary and a secondary torch, we took the plunge.
It was a really weird feeling in the dark underworld with only our torches providing the only source of light. I felt like my life was in Mike’s hands. I felt that I should be scared but I wasn’t!
We dived around the wreck and Mike pointed out some strange critters and a squid. But the highlight had to be the photo-luminescent plankton. We had to turn our lights off, leaving us in absolute darkness. Mike moved his hands and that activated the luminescence of the plankton.
There were some normal marine life that would be visible during the day as well, eg. lion fish, decorated crabs and moorish idol.