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Our last day of diving kicked off at 0715 at the Hin Kong pinnacle. Pinnacles rise up from the ocean floor and maintain ecosystems of coral/fish.
This sounds prosaic, but pinnacle-dives are magic. You can get in close for macro-photography, although my simplistic underwater digicam has a straight-on flash so sediment particles in the water reflect as white blobs (better rigs have flash-units at angles, sticking out on metal arms).
To avoid this, either I shot without flash or got in damn close, which given buoyancy/topography/currents and of course the fact that my viewfinder had given up, isn't the simplest task. The fish often think you're a predator and attempt to flee or hide. If they were models, I'd fire the lot of 'em...well, not the morays, they usually stay put (although they are stunning when they swim: eel-like undulation). And of course the corals are stationary, so if you can stay still and check things out there's often some good shots to be had.
I've already posted most of the primo pinnacle shots (check the previous entries) so here's some onboard stuff:
From the scuba deck steaming past an island—the big green cylinders hold nitrox, an enrichedair mix popular with fundivers of late.
Those are three of our hotshots diving from the top sundeck into the ocean...it's great to be young, heh heh.
Frogman tattoo on one of the Bangalore Boyz: design drawn by his son. The red/whitestripe background is the internationally known scuba flag.
A coupla other boats, island, sea.
So that was the first dive, up for breakfast (bacon is what fuels scuba-divers!) and then back down at 1100 for the final dive of the trip: the Boonsung wreck. It wass a tin-dredger (likely being towed somewhere) which sank in a politely shallow 14-18 meters of water about 20 yrs back. It was all in one piece until the tsunami of 2004: the waves picked it up and disassembled it into large components (ironically, making it a more interesting site).
Chris with the dive plan meticulously choreographed on the whiteboard.
Divers gear up as David gives me an impish look.
Calm down ladies: it's Dilip from Bangalore, sure to be the next Bollywood sensation?
Dilip again...white socks and fins...tres chic.
Owen making sure the Big FishWithoutGills are all set to leap off one last time.
The wreck...all I can say is: baby moray farm. I saw at least five, including one that swam straight up at me (it was in a wreck-compartment and wanted to get over to the next one, they swim to find a better hiding place).
I got a macro-shot of this cute black/white honeycomb moray, a baby one who'd found a niche in the wreck and was posing for foto-ops.
Aha, another moray. Now, open your mouth and look FIERCE! Give me your war face!
You don’t scare me! Work on it!!
A nudibranch: these tiny critters are beloved by divemasters. There are many varieties and they are cute little guys, just a few centimeters long.
The wreck is home to yet another fishblizzard.
Visibility was limited, otherwise the huge encrusted gears and other industrial stuff would make some choice fotos.
Once we get back onboard the dive-boat becomes a scramble as everyone's rinsing down their own gear and packing it away: I get the baby shampoo and give my wetsuit a wash. Then it's time to eat lunch/exchange cards and email addresses/grab last-dive fotos (thumb-drives are essential) and of course check out of our "hotel rooms": the cabins where none of us have gotten quite enough sleep, but have been commodious enough (some of the boat crew slept on the top deck, some of the guests too for all I know).
The crew set up the rental BCDs and octopus-rigs on tanks for the next batch of divers. I like these shots: a forlorn array of modern faux-samurai armor...
The scramble of packing, saying goodbye and settling bills keeps us all busy, and then we wait in the blazing midday sun for the minivans to be sorted. I snap a few fotoz...
Diveboat for sale.
If you do buy the boat, puhLEEZE do the world a favor and paint over this depiction of a fish cuz it is ugh-a-LEE.
A few of my diving-homies wave bye-bye, see you next time, the fish will be happy to see us again!
Once I'm in the front seat of the minivan back to Phuket, I'm dozing...most of the way into town. Back to the hotel in relatively good shape—i.e. my "land legs" return fairly quickly. Went to a local massage place for a powerful Thai massage to help press the nitrogen outta my tissues. Keeping it simple: an air-conditioned look-over the massive image-database I've acquired and a good night's sleep.
STUFF I LEARNED ON THIS DIVE TRIP:
- A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol is supposed to be useful: a drop or two in each ear prior to dives wards off potential ear infections. I mixed up a small bottle and used it as a prophylaxis, as your ears are constantly under pressure when undersea. I didn't get any ear infections, then again, I've never had any ear probs related to scuba diving.
- I have been told since I was a tiny tot that human saliva is the best anti-fogging agent available. You spit in your mask and rinse it out a bit. But on this trip people would use a squirt of baby shampoo, and rinse it furiously with the fresh-water hose. I found the shampoo a great help in keeping the mask fog-free. You want the mild stuff—don't drench your mask with antibacterial-strength cleanser. Baby shampoo, it works.
- You can fit up to three baby moray eels in a single coral-hole.
- My fins wanted a divorce. Well, actually it was me that wanted the split: I got them years back, on sale, and while they work fine, they're too big/heavy/stupid to haul around. I donated them to the diveboat. Will get some new ones, smarter ones, maybe neon orange or green.
To complete the sequence, the last entry will have fotos of the area I stayed in, wacky signs and semiotics, minimalist culture thereof. And of course the JungCeylon mall...
This sounds prosaic, but pinnacle-dives are magic. You can get in close for macro-photography, although my simplistic underwater digicam has a straight-on flash so sediment particles in the water reflect as white blobs (better rigs have flash-units at angles, sticking out on metal arms).
To avoid this, either I shot without flash or got in damn close, which given buoyancy/topography/currents and of course the fact that my viewfinder had given up, isn't the simplest task. The fish often think you're a predator and attempt to flee or hide. If they were models, I'd fire the lot of 'em...well, not the morays, they usually stay put (although they are stunning when they swim: eel-like undulation). And of course the corals are stationary, so if you can stay still and check things out there's often some good shots to be had.
I've already posted most of the primo pinnacle shots (check the previous entries) so here's some onboard stuff:
From the scuba deck steaming past an island—the big green cylinders hold nitrox, an enrichedair mix popular with fundivers of late.
Those are three of our hotshots diving from the top sundeck into the ocean...it's great to be young, heh heh.
Frogman tattoo on one of the Bangalore Boyz: design drawn by his son. The red/whitestripe background is the internationally known scuba flag.
A coupla other boats, island, sea.
So that was the first dive, up for breakfast (bacon is what fuels scuba-divers!) and then back down at 1100 for the final dive of the trip: the Boonsung wreck. It wass a tin-dredger (likely being towed somewhere) which sank in a politely shallow 14-18 meters of water about 20 yrs back. It was all in one piece until the tsunami of 2004: the waves picked it up and disassembled it into large components (ironically, making it a more interesting site).
Chris with the dive plan meticulously choreographed on the whiteboard.
Divers gear up as David gives me an impish look.
Calm down ladies: it's Dilip from Bangalore, sure to be the next Bollywood sensation?
Dilip again...white socks and fins...tres chic.
Owen making sure the Big FishWithoutGills are all set to leap off one last time.
The wreck...all I can say is: baby moray farm. I saw at least five, including one that swam straight up at me (it was in a wreck-compartment and wanted to get over to the next one, they swim to find a better hiding place).
I got a macro-shot of this cute black/white honeycomb moray, a baby one who'd found a niche in the wreck and was posing for foto-ops.
Aha, another moray. Now, open your mouth and look FIERCE! Give me your war face!
You don’t scare me! Work on it!!
A nudibranch: these tiny critters are beloved by divemasters. There are many varieties and they are cute little guys, just a few centimeters long.
The wreck is home to yet another fishblizzard.
Visibility was limited, otherwise the huge encrusted gears and other industrial stuff would make some choice fotos.
Once we get back onboard the dive-boat becomes a scramble as everyone's rinsing down their own gear and packing it away: I get the baby shampoo and give my wetsuit a wash. Then it's time to eat lunch/exchange cards and email addresses/grab last-dive fotos (thumb-drives are essential) and of course check out of our "hotel rooms": the cabins where none of us have gotten quite enough sleep, but have been commodious enough (some of the boat crew slept on the top deck, some of the guests too for all I know).
The crew set up the rental BCDs and octopus-rigs on tanks for the next batch of divers. I like these shots: a forlorn array of modern faux-samurai armor...
The scramble of packing, saying goodbye and settling bills keeps us all busy, and then we wait in the blazing midday sun for the minivans to be sorted. I snap a few fotoz...
Diveboat for sale.
If you do buy the boat, puhLEEZE do the world a favor and paint over this depiction of a fish cuz it is ugh-a-LEE.
A few of my diving-homies wave bye-bye, see you next time, the fish will be happy to see us again!
Once I'm in the front seat of the minivan back to Phuket, I'm dozing...most of the way into town. Back to the hotel in relatively good shape—i.e. my "land legs" return fairly quickly. Went to a local massage place for a powerful Thai massage to help press the nitrogen outta my tissues. Keeping it simple: an air-conditioned look-over the massive image-database I've acquired and a good night's sleep.
STUFF I LEARNED ON THIS DIVE TRIP:
- A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol is supposed to be useful: a drop or two in each ear prior to dives wards off potential ear infections. I mixed up a small bottle and used it as a prophylaxis, as your ears are constantly under pressure when undersea. I didn't get any ear infections, then again, I've never had any ear probs related to scuba diving.
- I have been told since I was a tiny tot that human saliva is the best anti-fogging agent available. You spit in your mask and rinse it out a bit. But on this trip people would use a squirt of baby shampoo, and rinse it furiously with the fresh-water hose. I found the shampoo a great help in keeping the mask fog-free. You want the mild stuff—don't drench your mask with antibacterial-strength cleanser. Baby shampoo, it works.
- You can fit up to three baby moray eels in a single coral-hole.
- My fins wanted a divorce. Well, actually it was me that wanted the split: I got them years back, on sale, and while they work fine, they're too big/heavy/stupid to haul around. I donated them to the diveboat. Will get some new ones, smarter ones, maybe neon orange or green.
To complete the sequence, the last entry will have fotos of the area I stayed in, wacky signs and semiotics, minimalist culture thereof. And of course the JungCeylon mall...
Defog
Honyecomb eel!
Nudibranches!
Cool stuff - glad you had a good trip-
Lara
Nudibranch