The Bolter
Registered
One more dive to tell you about and then we have to pack up and leave this magical island. This morning we went to a site called Turkey Beach which earned it's name when a relative of the Swiss owner of Wakatobi swore she saw turkeys in the water. She was adamant about it. What she really meant to say was turtles. The story got around and the site has been known as Turkey Beach ever since.
Immediately upon descending we encountered a huge sea turtle coming to the surface for air. Everyones cameras were clicking away and the turtle came within a foot or so of some of the divers. It was amazing. We saw six turtles on the dive, a mixture of hawksbill and sea turtles. My favorite was a huge hawksbill sitting along the reef munching away on a sponge. He would stretch out his long neck to reach for the next bite and then he would slowly chew it like an old man. I also learned about remoras, long and slender gray fish that attach themselves to turtle bellies with a sucking disk on their heads. The turtles then carry the remoras about while they act as cleaners removing external parasites.
Since this was our last dive I asked my dive instructor to take a picture of my husband and me as soon as we descended. We posed and then tried to match our breathing so we could hold our breath at the same time for the photo (otherwise all you will see of our faces is bubbles). As soon as the photo was taken I tried to move away and swung my arms out to propel me toward the wall. Instead of this motion giving me a boost, I hit my husband in the face, knocked his regulator out, and partially flooded his mask. (Please dont try this at home. I work very hard to mess up at this level.) He recovered beautifully and our dive instructor complimented him on his reaction by clapping her hands and giving the OK sign. I, on the other hand, got one look of, What the hell is wrong with you? from my husband and another look of, You really need to try harder from my dive instructor.
OK, so I have buoyancy issues. I think Ive been getting progressively better, though. I use my hands way too much. On my first couple of dives I was so over weighted I stood straight up in the water. After we resolved that issue my weights were unevenly distributed so I would roll to one side. After evening out my weights I was able to stay horizontal for 80% of the dive but I couldnt figure out how to turn around without using my hands. I also couldnt figure out how to back away from the reef wall after the guide has shown me something tiny. Turns out the trick here is to put your finger on a dead piece of coral and push yourself backwards. This was brilliant! As for turning around and general maneuvering in the water, I was told to fold my arms over my chest and only use my shoulders to steer me and use my feet to propel me. All I know is that this is easier said than done.
Back on the boat I had to hear about Newtons Third Law for the second time. You know what I'm talking about - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, a fish uses its fins to push water backward in order to move forward. So if youre waving your hands around youre not really helping anything....Right? Im not sure I really get it yet, but I suppose its much more efficient to use your fins instead of your hands, anyway. And, although its passive-aggressive fun to hit your husband in the face and cause him a few moments of panic, too many more incidents like this and he may kill me and feed me to the fishes.
Before the trip a few of the divers decided it would be fun to award a member of our group with a Woody Award for that one diver on every trip who just cant do anything right and slows/ruins the experience for everyone else. The title of the award is a more PC, cleaned up version of the original title, The D_ ck Head Award. We borrowed a whiteboard from Wakatobi and set it up on the dive boat to log points every time a diver does something stupid or inconsiderate. For example, one diver got a point for losing a fin as he entered the water and another got a point for not being ready when the rest of his group was already in the water. Ive amassed three points for dunking my BC in the camera water tank, dropping one of my weight pockets, and hitting my husband in the face which knocked his regulator out and partially flooded his mask. There is some debate as to whether I deserve these points since this is my first dive trip but its all in fun so who cares? You should see the trophy. Its obscene.
So, thats all for my Wakatobi reports. This has been a truly amazing week and I cant say enough about the facility and the staff. If anyone has questions, especially from a newbies perspective, please feel free to ask away. New divers are not the norm here but you can make it work. This place is simply magical and I wish everyone could experience it. After one particular dive, my dive instructor came up and said, "I can go home now because it just doesnt get any better than this.
Immediately upon descending we encountered a huge sea turtle coming to the surface for air. Everyones cameras were clicking away and the turtle came within a foot or so of some of the divers. It was amazing. We saw six turtles on the dive, a mixture of hawksbill and sea turtles. My favorite was a huge hawksbill sitting along the reef munching away on a sponge. He would stretch out his long neck to reach for the next bite and then he would slowly chew it like an old man. I also learned about remoras, long and slender gray fish that attach themselves to turtle bellies with a sucking disk on their heads. The turtles then carry the remoras about while they act as cleaners removing external parasites.
Since this was our last dive I asked my dive instructor to take a picture of my husband and me as soon as we descended. We posed and then tried to match our breathing so we could hold our breath at the same time for the photo (otherwise all you will see of our faces is bubbles). As soon as the photo was taken I tried to move away and swung my arms out to propel me toward the wall. Instead of this motion giving me a boost, I hit my husband in the face, knocked his regulator out, and partially flooded his mask. (Please dont try this at home. I work very hard to mess up at this level.) He recovered beautifully and our dive instructor complimented him on his reaction by clapping her hands and giving the OK sign. I, on the other hand, got one look of, What the hell is wrong with you? from my husband and another look of, You really need to try harder from my dive instructor.
OK, so I have buoyancy issues. I think Ive been getting progressively better, though. I use my hands way too much. On my first couple of dives I was so over weighted I stood straight up in the water. After we resolved that issue my weights were unevenly distributed so I would roll to one side. After evening out my weights I was able to stay horizontal for 80% of the dive but I couldnt figure out how to turn around without using my hands. I also couldnt figure out how to back away from the reef wall after the guide has shown me something tiny. Turns out the trick here is to put your finger on a dead piece of coral and push yourself backwards. This was brilliant! As for turning around and general maneuvering in the water, I was told to fold my arms over my chest and only use my shoulders to steer me and use my feet to propel me. All I know is that this is easier said than done.
Back on the boat I had to hear about Newtons Third Law for the second time. You know what I'm talking about - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, a fish uses its fins to push water backward in order to move forward. So if youre waving your hands around youre not really helping anything....Right? Im not sure I really get it yet, but I suppose its much more efficient to use your fins instead of your hands, anyway. And, although its passive-aggressive fun to hit your husband in the face and cause him a few moments of panic, too many more incidents like this and he may kill me and feed me to the fishes.
Before the trip a few of the divers decided it would be fun to award a member of our group with a Woody Award for that one diver on every trip who just cant do anything right and slows/ruins the experience for everyone else. The title of the award is a more PC, cleaned up version of the original title, The D_ ck Head Award. We borrowed a whiteboard from Wakatobi and set it up on the dive boat to log points every time a diver does something stupid or inconsiderate. For example, one diver got a point for losing a fin as he entered the water and another got a point for not being ready when the rest of his group was already in the water. Ive amassed three points for dunking my BC in the camera water tank, dropping one of my weight pockets, and hitting my husband in the face which knocked his regulator out and partially flooded his mask. There is some debate as to whether I deserve these points since this is my first dive trip but its all in fun so who cares? You should see the trophy. Its obscene.
So, thats all for my Wakatobi reports. This has been a truly amazing week and I cant say enough about the facility and the staff. If anyone has questions, especially from a newbies perspective, please feel free to ask away. New divers are not the norm here but you can make it work. This place is simply magical and I wish everyone could experience it. After one particular dive, my dive instructor came up and said, "I can go home now because it just doesnt get any better than this.
