Sandie7
Registered
I am back from a small island in the Azores. The dives were fabulous, in several environments, and I can say I learned a lot.
Azores sea can be rough, especially with strong currents, so it was all new to me.
One of the dives was in a spot that is considered difficult, (but I only learned about that later ! ) … and when the conditions were bad. The sea was especially bad that day … and it got worse when we ascended.
The spot is a steep rock / seamount. The top is 6 meters below the surface, and the bottom is at 96 meters. The plan was to go to 40 meters to see a resident Mero (Grouper – Epinephelus marginatus), then come back to a platform at 20 meters. However, the current was not only strong at the surface (we jumped tied to ropes) and there were dozens of mauve stingers (Pelagia noctiluca). We reached the seamount, “jumped”, only to realize the current was not better. We tried the other side of the seamount, circulating it and grabbing the walls. We did go to 40 meters, but my husband and I moved quickly upwards, as nothing was making sense. At 20 meters, we felt the current again. There is a movie where we all can be seen going up like hikers, grabbing the rock in the middle of big algae. One of the unexperienced divers (who was 63 years old) was almost panicking and had to be grabbed. At 6 meters, on top of the seamount, when we were starting the safety stop, the group “leader” discovered a strong current going downwards and rushed everybody to the anchor cable. I felt the tension there when lots of mauve stingers were passing by and we almost looked like flags on the cable.
However, I didn’t know what was expecting me at the surface. The conditions had worsened and it was like entering a washing machine ! I was grabbed by my husband, then the skipper, tied to the boat, and could hardly do more than keeping the regulator in my mouth
. When the skipper took off my equipment, I had to wait for long minutes holding on to the boat, and trying not to loose strength.
Unfortunately they left the panicking diver the same way. He said he would never dive again. To me, it was an amazing experience. However, I could not discuss it objectively, as there is so much to learn, as the leader of the group simply made excuses about what happened.
I would certainly love to hear from you and your experience …
Azores sea can be rough, especially with strong currents, so it was all new to me.
One of the dives was in a spot that is considered difficult, (but I only learned about that later ! ) … and when the conditions were bad. The sea was especially bad that day … and it got worse when we ascended.
The spot is a steep rock / seamount. The top is 6 meters below the surface, and the bottom is at 96 meters. The plan was to go to 40 meters to see a resident Mero (Grouper – Epinephelus marginatus), then come back to a platform at 20 meters. However, the current was not only strong at the surface (we jumped tied to ropes) and there were dozens of mauve stingers (Pelagia noctiluca). We reached the seamount, “jumped”, only to realize the current was not better. We tried the other side of the seamount, circulating it and grabbing the walls. We did go to 40 meters, but my husband and I moved quickly upwards, as nothing was making sense. At 20 meters, we felt the current again. There is a movie where we all can be seen going up like hikers, grabbing the rock in the middle of big algae. One of the unexperienced divers (who was 63 years old) was almost panicking and had to be grabbed. At 6 meters, on top of the seamount, when we were starting the safety stop, the group “leader” discovered a strong current going downwards and rushed everybody to the anchor cable. I felt the tension there when lots of mauve stingers were passing by and we almost looked like flags on the cable.
However, I didn’t know what was expecting me at the surface. The conditions had worsened and it was like entering a washing machine ! I was grabbed by my husband, then the skipper, tied to the boat, and could hardly do more than keeping the regulator in my mouth
. When the skipper took off my equipment, I had to wait for long minutes holding on to the boat, and trying not to loose strength. Unfortunately they left the panicking diver the same way. He said he would never dive again. To me, it was an amazing experience. However, I could not discuss it objectively, as there is so much to learn, as the leader of the group simply made excuses about what happened.
I would certainly love to hear from you and your experience …
