On Saturday, we went for our first open sea dive. Sis no.3, her hubby and me were going to be tested on our skills. Hubby came along too to do other 'stuff'. Sis no.2 chickened out and will join her hubby for the next round! :)
We left early for breakfast and started off for Lundu. It took 1 hour plus to reach the jetty. From there, we took a boat to an island off the coast. This took around another hour.
First we anchored near a small rock island which was basically just an underwater hill with it's tip jutting out. The first batch of students went down while the 3 of us snorkeled near the boat. The water wasn't very clear, so it was a bit creepy, swimming about in water too deep to see the bottom. As usual, my imagination went into overdrive... if I actually saw a fish then, I think I would have screamed!
Sis no.3 was already sea-sick from the boat ride and preferred to stay in the water as opposed to sitting in the rocking boat! I was too lazy to kick about in murky water with nothing to see. The reef bit with all the interesting stuff was quite far from the boat, so I just lazed on deck, waiting for our turn and wondering what we had gotten ourselves into!
By the time the first group was done, it was time for lunch. Yay! More excuses to stall time...
After lunch, we moved to another site, nearer the bigger island. By then, the visibility underwater had improved a bit. It still wasn't at it's best though. Now it was our turn! *eeek* So we just pretended to act cool and did as we were told.
BCD on, check air, flippers on, all clear?... back roll and "splash"... let's do it! So we were now in the water with all our all gear on. We now had to swim to the front of the boat and hang on for dear life, to the anchor line until the instructor came. Sis no.3 was already sick and now couldn't catch her breath. Then the instructor came and told us to go down slowly, using the anchor line as a guide. We had to equalize the pressure in our ears frequently. I was quite scared of this part, as I have a bit of a sinus problem and once experienced extreme pain when I went too deep in the pool. This time I took Clarinase before the dive and hoped it would help.
So, this was the creepiest part. Going down to who-knows-what down there. I was worried Sis no.3 would panic, so I didn't dare look back, lest I lose control as well! We went slowly down the line. Breathe with mouth, don't use nose, mouth, mouth, in, out, in out, equalize, equalize... I felt a surge of relief when we reached the sandy bottom. No, there were no sharks or creepy crawly creatures waiting for us with mouths agape down at the sea bed. No, I didn't choke and flood my lungs with salty sea water. This might not be so bad after all.
We stopped at a spot a bit further and knelt down in a circle. It was then that I noticed Sis no.3 was missing! :) Anyway, we did the skills which included removing our regulators, filling and half-filling our goggles with water, then blowing out the water with our noses. After that, we swam about, looking at the marine life and coral. Even though the water wasn't very clear, the fishes and coral were an amazing sight. It was really beautiful and made all the suffering in preparation for this ordeal totally worth it! And this was just in Kuching! I can't wait to go to even better diving spots, like Sipadan Island in Sabah, which is ranked world no.2!
Once we got to the bottom, and could see what was down there, it wasn't so scary anymore. I guess it's the fear of the unknown that creeps me out the most. When you are submerged, it's hard to tell what depth you are at, so even though it was 12m deep, it was pretty much the same as the pool, which was only 3m deep!
We climbed back onto the boat and had a rest while the other group went for their 2nd dive. Sis no.3 started puking out lunch... followed by breakfast. The rest of the girls guessed correctly that she had 'kueh chap' that morning! Luckily the vomit floated in the right direction, out towards the sea. Interestingly, the toilet on board was also basically just a hole, leading to the water! You won't catch me diving under the boat anytime soon.
There's obviously no 5-star bathroom either so here's how we 'bathe' after diving.I was getting pretty sea sick myself and took a Novomin tablet. A bit too late I guess, but worth a try. When it was our turn to dive, I was still nauseated and pretty bushed. I was considering passing, but what the heck, get it over with, I thought. Just don't puke into regulator.
During the 2nd dive, the current was a bit stronger, so we had to hang onto the anchor line like laundry flapping about. We did the "hey Buddy, I got no oxygen" skill and the "take-off-mask-and-sting-your-eyes-with-saltwater" trick. Then we went for more sight-seeing while fine tuning our buoyancy. I wished I had an underwater camera to take some pics of the cute clown fish hiding among the anemone, to show the kids.
So we survived the dive, not bad. I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open on the trip back home, some cellotape on the eyelids would've come in handy. We stopped for dinner and had one of the fish hubby 'caught'. Then we picked up the kids from grandpa's place and I made hubby drive home faster before I passed out from exhaustion!
Now that I've conquered my fear, I am rather looking forward to the next dive this coming Sunday! Hopefully the water will be clearer then. After I get my PADI licence, it's off to Menado in mid-June!
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