the night dive...

Just about to jump in - look keen!!!
see all photos »

the night dive.... a tale of fear

If ever anything could go wrong on a dive, especially one at night - it happened to me. By writing this entry however, you know in advance that I am safe and sound.

so there we were, a couple of worms floating near the surface of the water wearing black wet suits and sharing an oxygen tank.

My first night dive, what a disaster. I always say that when I travel, I do things that scare me. In Africa, I jumped out of an airplane, did the gorge swing etc.. all things to do with height. If you are unaware, my other greatest far is getting into water that I can't see the bottom of - especially in the middle of the ocean. This is where diving comes into play - and everything was going peachy keen until the night dive. Scary enough because it is night and you can't see 5 feet in front of you - this is how it all went down for little old me.

fishies!
see all photos »

My buddy and I do our checks on each other, making sure for one that we both have enough oxygen, that we have all of our gear on (it's so easy to miss something when you are wearing a million different things) and that we're "a - ok". We go through the hand signs we need to know for the dive - as they are a little different on a night dive because of the lack of light - especially the ones to do with how much air you have left etc.. Two groups went down - the pink glow sticks and the green glow sticks. We were pink...

The inside of a giant clam...
see all photos »

Getting into the water was ok - and so was the first 5 minutes of the dive. Here is what you have to imagine. 8 people all grouped together, swimming in between coral reefs that stink like fire if you touch the wrong ones, shining their single torches all over the place checking things out - some more confidant than others. I get smacked in the face with an air tank - hard enough to send things black for a few seconds. Nothing I can't handle. A little ringing in the ears wasn't enough to make me quit this experience. My buddy and I stay back a bit so it doesn't happen again. Things seem to be going well after the tank incident, until I look up and see the green glow stick group swimming towards us... then, no more pinks were to be found, and neither was my buddy. Alone, in dark and unfamiliar waters, far enough away from the boat to not be able to see it's light and then BAM! - I puke from fear. Shark bate much?!? I don't think I've ever been so scared in my entire life, swimming amongst bits of spaghetti bolognase and garlic bread, waiting for that Bull shark to come out of no where and eat me. Luckily my buddy successfully comes back to find me, and another problem arises - he's pretty much out of air! Every diver has to do a 5 minute safety stop at 5 meters before coming to the surface - so there we were, a couple of worms floating near the surface of the water wearing black wet suits and sharing an oxygen tank. When we finally surface, we're so far away from the boat be blow the saussage and get picked up by the skipper. Holy shit, what a first time! I did manage a giggle at the end of the night, after drinking a few too many beers amongst other things. I deffinatly can't wait to do it again - this time without the puke, fear of shark attack and loss of buddy. At least there's nothing I'm not prepared for now when I go diving in Thailand. You know, you read about all of these things happening in you dive books, leave it to me to actually have it happen to me all at once, and at night! Some photos I took on day dives are included in this entry, enjoy!