Maldives Diving Dec 2003

http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/cshum2006/Maldives#

Maldives Diving CLOSE ENCOUNTER

Introduction

What is Maldives?
It is a small country consisting of many inlands. It lies in the southwest of India. The capital is Male. Its population is about 260,000. The major attractions are sunshine, beaches and crystal clear sapphire water. However, the highlight of Maldives is the underwater sea life.

Most holiday-makers will join a tour and stay in a resort for a couple of days. I have joined a one-week live-a-broad diving trip during the Christmas Holiday.

Whale sharks Encounter

24 December
We went to a dive site near Sun Island, South Ari Atoll. We drove a speedboat to search for whale sharks. We jumped into the water while whale shark swam up to surface. They swam slowly and gracefully.

I have used up every once of energy to keep pace with it. Its mouth was large enough to swallow me and its tail could splash me out of water. However, it was so timid, harmless and friendly to allow us to swim along it and even touch it!!!
It is such a wonderful and everlasting experience.


Manta Ray Encounter

24 December

It was the 2nd dive in the afternoon. The water visibility and sunlight were not good. It was so boring in such a diving condition for 20 minutes in the depth of 20 meters. All of a sudden, my dive buddy had pointed something. It was unbelievable that a 5-meter wide manta ray was swimming across us. I picked up my camera immediately and swam towards it.

I was totally exhausted after chasing it for several minutes. After a while, it turned back. Pictures from all directions were taken. I had used up all the air in my tank and had to make emergency ascent and used the skill of oral inflation to inflate my BCD. It was the first time out of 300 diving logs. These stunting nearly cost my life!!

Napoleon Wrasse Close Encounter

25 December

I met a 2 meter long Napoleon Wrasse in the dive site called Fish Head, North Ari Atoll. It swam closely, made circle around us and looked at us curiously. It was very lovely and friendly. I swam with it in a slow and elegant pace within an arm distance.

Photos were taken from 360o. One of my friends said that I had to use one of the amazing pictures to produce a year calendar card.

Sharks Encounter

26 December Night dive

It was the first night dive in this trip. We had seen a "BLUE PANET" DVD about the feeding habit of sharks. Our dive guide said that this scene would be seen that night.

We descended onto a platform in depth of 10 meters. I had seen two sharks moving slowly. We descended to 20 meters and back to 10 meters again. We had seen many sharks with our torches. Sharks were moving faster and faster.

All of a sudden, I saw a shark feeding on a small fish crudely or I had better to use the word instantly. My adrenalin level had risen to supreme level. These sharks swam closely and made circle around us. They appeared from all direction within a touching distance. I was sacred as I could only see them using a torch while they were extremely close to my feet.

It was the first time I wanted to quit the dive in my 7-years diving history. It was the most thrilling experience in my life!
Conclusion

Fish life in Maldives is very rich. The fish life that I have seen in this week is not less than what I have seen in my 300 dive-logs experience. Besides fish life, I also enjoy the BBQ night in a deserted island under twinkle stars. Moreover, I enjoy the comfort and cozy environment of the living boat "Island Safari I".

Personal Diving Education

Dive Level Date Venue
Open water Aug 1996 Sabah
Advance Open water Dec 1996 Philippines
Rescue Diver Sep 1999 Hong Kong
Master Scuba Diver Jan 2001 Hong Kong
Dive Master Nov 2001 Hong Kong
Assistant InstructorApril 2002 Hong Kong
Instructor ? ?

Open water diver is the first entry level for scuba diving. You can dive any where in the world with this C-card. However, it is not sufficient for me as I am a person of searching personal achievement through out my life.

PADI system provides a continual education for divers to enrich their knowledge, skill and experience. I lack one step to be the instructor. I think it is not far from teaching diving instead of Mathematics.