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Scuba DivingThe diving and snorkelling around these islands is supposed to be some of the best in Asia. What better place to learn to dive, then? I also decided it was about time I did something constructive, rather than just lounging around. Luckily, Flora Bay had its very own dive school (Flora Bay Divers).On my first afternoon on the island I signed up for the PADI Open Water Diver course. Because it wasn't quite peak season they weren't too busy so the class consisted of just two of us which was good as I was quite nervous about the whole thing. The diving course consists of watching cheesey, American videos, reading the textbook and, of course, diving. My first dive was quite an experience. It was done in very shallow water and the purpose was to get used to the breathing apparatus and the general feeling of being underwater. It was a very strange sensation, and breathing through my mouth took a lot of getting used to! Normal functions such as coughing and sneezing present all sorts of problems when underwater. After the initial dive (which was a great experience) we went on to work on things such as swimming technique, controlling bouyancy and emergency procedures. Part of the course involved reading about the medical problems that you can get if you don't follow procedures - such as Nitrogen Narcosis. That was enough to make me pay attention! It was good to be learning something new and putting the old brain to use (it needed a bit of a kick-start!). The course took 3 days and was great fun. The diving itself was excellent and my instructor, Sunni, was really good. In order to become a certified diver you have to complete all the practical parts of the course and also do a multiple choice test. With this all completed I was now an Open Water Diver! 
Above: Some of the Flora Bay Divers gang at one of the many piss-ups. The guy in the blue pyjama trousers in Sunni, my instructor. The only thing left to do was the initiation! When a course is completed, the dive staff get the beers in and prepare for Module 5 (there are 4 modules in the course proper). This involves sitting the unsuspecting newbie in a chair, giving them a snorkel and mask and then pouring a can of beer down the snorkel! The victim has two options - drink or drown! I opted for the latter, obviously! I can highly recommend this technique if you want to get very drunk very quickly, although it may not be quite the same doing it in a pub in Edinburgh with a pint of McEwans! Just when I thought it was all over, I was persuaded to go on and do the Advanced Open Water course. Those guys really should be in sales!! This involved choosing a number of specialised dives and aims to give you more experience in the water and get an insight into the wide range of activities. I opted to do a Deep Dive (down to 30m), a night dive, a wreck dive, navigation and a bouyancy control dive. For the latter, Sunni had me swimming through hoops like a dolphin at Sea World (although not quite as majestic, I imagine!). The night dive was the best dive of the course. Its a whole different world down there at night, the fish are sleeping and little shrimps and crabs are wandering around doing their stuff. At the end, we switched off the torches and sat on the bottom waving our hands around like lunatics. This made all the little plankton glow green and was a pretty cool effect - oh for a camera! The wreck dive was the most challenging one I have done to date. The wreck is of a vietnamese refugee ship which sank in the early 70s. However, I didn't get to see a great deal of the boat so it could have been a shopping trolley for all I know! The visibility was very poor (about 2m) and the current was very strong on some sides of the boat. I spent most of the dive just trying to keep Sunni in sight. There were loads of fish around, and when I did get a chance to look I was amazed at how much life exists around the wreck. I guess its just another reef to them! So that was my diving course. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone, even if they're not really into water sports (I wasn't). Its an entirely different world down there and its great to be able to explore it. My only complaint was that I didn't see a shark :-( I'd just like to thank all the boys and girls at the dive school (lets see how many names I can remember!): Tom, Emer, Lisa, Sunni, Ejam, Pablo, Emma and everyone else who I've forgotten. The school had a great atmosphere and everyone was really friendly. I think quite a few of these guys have gone on to become Divemasters now so you may well end up following them around a reef somewhere - just check when they last completed Module 5 before you sign up! :-)) |