Wow...finally back from a long-awaited dive trip...This trip is full of first-times, risks and experience.....
Bear with me if you arent a diver....
07/09(Wed)
Gastic wasn't feeling very well still...but it did not stop me from dipping into the blues...
We started our first dive with a group 5 divers: HQ, YS , Joseph (49 yrs), Corrine (28 yrs) and I plus the divemaster, Imran, who planned the trip and 2 local indonesian divemaster and instructor Noldi and Richmon respectively.
Was being paired with Corrine who had not done muck diving before...Muck diving means the creatures u see are all macros in size..tiny-weeny..
It was the first-time for me too...that's y we were lost....why did everyone manage to see so many things except for us???That's because the creatures are so small and u have to know where to look for them...
The first thing I saw was a puny shrimp~1cm...I was trying to figure out where the head was and I got a bad headache after focusing for too long...
Because all of them brought down their cameras, except for me....everyone was diving by themselves...so we were a little disorientated as we dunno who to follow...
I really think I can't appreciate macros...So it was quite a boring dive for me....was a little disppointed too...
08/09 (Thur)
Woke up early in the morning to take pictures of the surrounding environment...My dear couple was still snuggling in bed...
Had lunch and set off for 3 dives. Buddied up with Corrine again. The dives were slightly better due to good visibility. However the current was strong on 2 dives and the DM had to hold on to me to prevent me from drifting away. Though still didn't managed to spot many marcos I got to see my first reef octopus and a baby rock lobster....
Noldi, one of the local DM went down with a spear and caught a big cod and a 50 cm Jack...
That's what was served for dinner....;
09/09 (Fri)
We set off for a 1-day trip to Bungka Island which was a 3-hr boat ride from Manado. The weather was good so I sat at the bow of the boat to feel the morning sun...Noldi and Richmon were out there too. Saw a handful of small flying fish popping out and back into the water. Suddenly, Richmon told me he just spotted a dolphin. I turned to the same spot, hoping to catch a glimpse...True enough....The same dolphin did a high jump and disappeared back into the water. The rest of the people were sleeping in the boat..so I was the only one who had seen it...and it made my day..:)
I decided to "dump" Corrine and follwing YS and HQ to search for macros...HQ has this amazing ability to spot minute creatures....
We came across a mantis shrimp...it was lobster-sized so i managed to spot it. These stomatopods uses their specialised appendages to "spear" or "smash" their prey...The force of the strike is able to break a double layered safety glass.
We took our metal pointers and "fought" with it. It retaliated with loud "clangs" when we took turns to disturb it. This chap is really formidable...:)
I gradually saw more and more critters as they unveil the curtains of the soft corals. This is where I started to appreciate these beautiful and amazing shrimps and crabs of different colours and prints.
YS took many pictures along the way to the extent that we spent too much time on each creature...
I decided to proceed on to check out what others have beneath their lens.
I ended up hopping from one diver to another and ran out of air soon. I was left with 15 bars before and ascend after completing my 3-min safety stop.
I came up alone...without any buddy and waited for the rest on the boat. HQ came out some time after and told me I should do a 20min stop instead due to the long time we stayed in the deep. Need more time to out-gas..I was unaware because I did not have a dive computer. YS's newly bought camera got flooded because a strand of hair got stuck in the o-ring....there goes $600. Thank god he managed to salvage the SD card.
My 2nd dive was longer and I ascended with 10bars of oxygen....I told myself that I should stop this habit of completing a dive with so little air. Noldi and Eric caught more fishes this time and an octupus. I cant imagine myself eating Batfish..
We reached Bungka at about 3pm. The water was so clear and the corals were so rich even in the shallows. Some of us went for a dip. The crew began pitching tents and setting up fire...The deserted island suddenly turned into a makeshift kitchen and camp. We ended our day with a night dive at this virgin site.
Wendy and I sticked closely together in the dark. The site was amazing... many critters came alive and we saw many things. Before I knew it, 50 min had passed and everyone was still exploring. I checked by pressure gauge...10 bars, so I signalled to HQ and she shared what was left of her 50 bars with me. I thought she's preparing to ascend, but she continued following Eric,a 21-yr-old DM, for another 8 mins. Because she was wearing a computer, I guess I can trust her to do a proper safety stop. We were halfway through our sefety stop, when we started gasping for air. She signalled the ascend handsign and we surfaced without completing the stop. We found that we were the only one surfaced and the boat was beyond our sight. A few minutes later, someone else surface and the boat picked us up....
1-hour of night dive and ran out of air....This was listed as another "first-time".
We had a quick shower and dinner was ready... Lots of fishes, squid and juicy vege. The crew sang and played guitar to keep us entertained....
They had good voices and they sang throughout the night.
HQ and YS went back to the boat to sleep. Corrine was supposed to share the tent with me, but she changed her mind and slept on the boat too.
I left bags of my barang barang in the tent and went to the toilet in the boat. When I came out Eric carried every single bag of my stuff, hands full and attempted to wade through the waters to put them back into the boat. He thought I wanted to sleep on the boat too. I told him that I'll be camping and he hurried off to put my stuff back...hee...so pai seh...
I felt tired but I couldn't sleep, because I could feel the tree roots beneath my vertebra. However, I enjoyed the peace and warmth as the hospitable crew continued to sing throughout the night. Even though I was alone with a group of people whom I knew for less than 3 days, they made me feel like home.
10/09 (Sat)
We were lucky to be in time for the window period where the currents were less strong. The first dive site is known as a "washing machine"- as the name implies if we were to hit the current that occurs in the late morning, it'd be hazardous.
The last dive site is called "Paradise". Ironically, the island is known to be haunted even in the day. We dove at the jetty and there was an enormous variety of marine life:- frogfish, harlequin ghost pipefish, sea snake, shrimps, scorpionfish, porcupinefish, mantis shrimp, crabs,etc...A paradise indeed. There was also a small hot spring at the seabed resulting in warmer waters as compared to other sites.
We set off back to Manado as the weather turned stormy... The waves were furious and we were all shivering as the cold wind blew against our wet bodies. The boat had come to a halt at a small village because the waves were too big.
We saw a boy pulling a rope attached to a sampan as he made his way though the water which came up to his shoulders. Why would anyone do that especially in the rain? He was actually trying to anchor the sampan. This scene would never be found in Singapore. The children there have to make a living, and to them this is nothing. Imagine how much our mothers yelled at us when we tried to play in the drizzle....
You do not have to teach them customer service...and you do not need to fork out a single cent to pay service charge... yet you can get the best service from this crew of Barracuda Resort operator...
Eric, offered to buy Goreng Pisangs from the village. Like the boy, he jumped into the water which leveled up to his chest and waded 200m across to the shore. After some time, he came back with bags of fried bananas raised in the air, making sure that they don't touch the the saltwater, and waded back to the boat.
So nice to have hot goreng pisangs on a cold day.....
We continued the journey as huge waves surged into the boat...slippers floated everywhere...the sea was still rough and there were times I was pretty frightened. I shivered throughout the 3-hr journey and curled myself up..totally frozen.
Thank goodness...we got back safely to the resort before dusk.
11/9 ( Sat)
Our aim was to do 3 dives today before 1.30pm.
On my first dive, I shot up without doing any safety stop because my tank was low on oxygen...again and I was too light. On my 2nd dive, I did only 3 min instead of 20 min because I was left with 10 bars.....HQ stayed on to complete her safety stop but ran out of air too. YS ascended to grab a 2nd tank for her, when he's supposed to complete his too....
By then, my Nitrogen level should be quite high as I did not do proper stops on 2 consecutive dives...Imran decided to give our last dive a miss because it was too risky. One nitrogen bubble could have caused paralysis...
We went for a massage in the evening and came back to log our dives.
12/9 ( Sun)
Diving in indonesia makes u feel like a king....All you need to do is dive....No need to assemble, no need to change tank....they'll do everything for you...they'll wash your equipment and dry it for you. Excellent service.
We brought back nothing but fond memories....
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