Chris Long tagged posts

Morning boat dive from Filetheyo to ‘Fish Pan’ – about 30 mins. Jumped in and straight down to 28.4m. Water warm and very little current. Lots of Coral fish and maintained an everage depth of 16.1m for the dive. Tracey didn’t come so I dived with Bob and Angela and Yan from the dive school. Might be slightly overweighted – having to inflate my BC a lot at depth. First to 100 bar again!! Made a slow accent to to 5m. Bob was on 60 bar and so we both made a safety stop and surfaced 50m from the boat. It came to get us. Great Dive!!

First night dive!! Entered the water from the shore at exit 6. Current was to exit 7 so we finned towards exit 5 for a bit. Within a few minuits it was completely dark. The lights lit up the coral and the colours were amazing. Bob buddied with Angela and I buddied with Tracey. Iris Hug was our instructor. Dive was a bit difficult and Tracey was very uncomfortable. There was a current and I was trying to dump air from my jacket, use computer, hold tracey’s hand, hold a torch and stay close to Iris. Tracey was actually very brave (as she told me afterwards she was terrified). Saw a Moray, large Snappers, soft Coral. Average depth for this dive was 10.5m and water temp was an amazing 28C! Helluva experience – felt sorry for Tracey but I loved it!!

Boat dive with Tracey, Bob and Angela. Our instructor was Martin. There was a medium current under the surface and quite choppy so we had to jump in all together and be quick! Pulled Tracey down to 3m as she was having problems with her bouyancy. Lots of fish and really nice coral. Descended to 23m. Saw a 5 foot white tip reef shark – my first one! It was beautiful and came quite close!! Most of the other boat divers were around and I expect it was a bit inquisitve. Lots of Snapper. Like always my air was to run out first (50 bar), so I buddied off Martin’s Nitrox tank – cool! Slowly ascended to 5m for our safety stop. Average depth of dive was 13m. we surface as a group about 10m from the boat. Bit choppy getting back on boat but overall, really nice dive. Loved it!

Reef dive with Bob and Angela off exit 6. Drift dive to exit 4 at 18 – 21 metres. Saw a Napoleon Wrasse really close up. Massive fish with a big eye that looks a you all the time. Easy dive with gentle finning. Still using more air than anyone else – but getting better! Still using 5k of weight and feeling more comfortable. Ascent rate pretty good. Found the channel ok at exit 4 and finned into the beach – right up to the bar! Loved it – great dive!

Great Dive

The learners go it alone!! Tracey, Angela and myself going solo! We planned the dive from exit 6 of the house reef. The current was running to exit 5 and so as planned, we did a drift dive to 20m. Trace had a bit of bouyancy problems at beginning but I pulled her down! Everything went like clockwork – super dive! Came up with 70 bar to 5m and di a 3 min safety stop. We then surface together – really controlled – not one computer beeped! Saw a huge Napoleon Wrasse and many other fishes. Finned in from exit 4 through the channel and right up to the beach! Looked pretty cool walking back! Loved it!

First boat dive!! Travelled to ‘Two Brothers’ about 40 mins by boat from Filetheyo. Dived with and instructor, Bob, Angela and Tracey. Straight down to 27m (deepest yet!) to a sandy bottom with outcrops of coral. Lots of fish and very clear viz. Water temp was very warm. We finned to reef and slowly ascended. Saw a Moray, soft corals, and loads of fish! Getting used to things now and felt slightly overweighted at depth. Great dive. Loved it!

First dive without an instructor! Dived with Bon off the house reef at exit 6. Checked current and decided to drift dive to exit 5 and take an air check. Did so and had 120 bar. We decided to go on to exit 4 but missed it! Came up at 70 bar and had 3 min safety stop at 5 metres. Had to fin to exit 3/4 – hard work! Really good for first real dive. Not a lot of fish but did see a Napoleon Wrasse from a distance! Controlled my air better .. and bouyancy!! Overall pretty pleased with my performance. Loved it!

Dive 4 of my open water exams. A bit deeper this time – 59 feet! Wow! Did a snorkell/regulator exchange; removal and replacement of scuba and weights. Started to look around for the first time. The fish are incredible and the coral amazing! Beautiful dive! I loved it!

Second open water dive! Undertook flexible skills: Cramp removal and tired diver tow. Love this! Joined by Angela Bawtree. She is doing open water exam too!