Close Encounters of the Fishy Kind (66 Days & counting)

Denise just hanging around
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As you will recall from our previous journal entry Denise and I recently qualified as openwater Scuba Divers - partly for fun but primarily in preparation for our Round the World trip.

In spite of the two weeks (and two weekends) that have passed since we obtained our certification we had not been able to experience a fun dive (as opposed to the qualifying ones that were compulsory on the course).  We had planned and booked to dive on the first Saturday after the course but the Cape Town weather had other ideas - with storm-strength gale force winds wiping out any chances to dive that weekend.  Combined with the fact that Denise flew to Europe on business that Sunday and was away for the better part of two weeks, we have both been champing at the bit to try our hand at another dive and to test our new waterproof casing that Denise bought in Germany for our Cannon G7 digital camera.

Kelp Forests and Spires in Zero Visibility

We are officially certified! Our licenses to learn.
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One of the (many) strange things about scuba diving in the Cape is how difficult it is to judge which days will be good for diving and which not.  We had been keeping a hawk-like eye on the weather forecasts all week (www.weathersa.co.za) and were very pleased to see that, despite strong South Easterly winds on both Friday and Sunday, Saturday was predicted to be fine weather, maximum 26 degrees, with a moderate South Westerly blowing.  Looking out of our window this morning in Strand only confirmed this glowing outlook, with False Bay as flat and still as a millpond.

Rob in penguin lookalike suit
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So, after meeting up with our Dive Master, Pierre (who was also one of our course instructors) and gearing-up, we drove the hour or so it takes to get to Simonstown.  You may recall that we had done all of our qualifying dives at Long Beach in Simonstown (sheltered but not very interesting diving) and we were therefore very pleased to be told on arrival that we were going to try a different site - Windmill Beach (just past the world-famous penguin colony at Boulder's Beach).

Denise in the summer's latest fashions
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Windmill was equally calm and flat - with no wind at all - which looked perfect to dive...until we got below the surface.  Imagine swimming in thick pea soup that pushes you backwards almost as fast as you can swim forwards, and you can begin to visualise how poor the visibility was and how strong the underwater surge.  We were later told that it was a combination of the warmer summer waters (the Cape is best to dive in Winter), Spring Tide, and the tide just starting to turn.  You can see from the pics attached that the best visibility was about 1.5 meters.

Curious local comes to visit
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Conditions aside however, we still had great fun.  After a false start (my fin came loose and Denise and I lost the group) we got into the swing of things and had much fun exploring the dense kelp forests and towering kelp spires.  A definite highlight was the point at which we stopped to watch Pierre prising shells from the rocks with his dive knife and feeding the growing schools of silver fish with the shellfish that live within.

Denise had a brief moment of anxiety when she found three breaths that had more water than air - but without a hint of panic she corrected the problem and calmly snapped off more photos.

Rob - All OK
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The 47 minutes underwater (maximum depth 7.5m) sped by and when we all surfaced it was a fun experience to add to our growing list of pre-trip adventures.

By the way - with just 66 days remaining until we leave we have now booked our first Italian accommodation - Netunno Holiday Village just outside of Sorrento (http://www.villaggionettuno.it/english/) - and yes, you guessed it, it is a prime scuba spot!!