Our Saturday began early as we packed up our scuba gear, had a healthy breakfast and a quick coffee, and jumped in a taxi bound for Abyss Dive Centre. When we got there we got the items we do not own, including scuba tanks, weight belts and full body wetsuits. I don't think you will ever meet an unfriendly group of scuba divers, and the group we headed out with was no exception! If you scuba dive, you have an instant group of friends just waiting for you all over the world! Kurtis and I loaded up our gear in the dive master's car, hopped in a car with our new friend Andrew, and away we went to Botany Bay!
The dive site is in a cove around an island called, Bare Island. The weather was pretty grey and rainy, but the water temperature was about 20°C, and with our 5mm/7mm semi-dry wetsuits, it was the perfect temperature for very comfortable dives. Our first dive was 21 minutes long, and the second one was 37 minutes long, both at a depth of about 15 metres.
Considering the fact that our first real dive was back in Canada (Banff!) in October, in drysuits with a 6°C high, seeing nothing but silt and preserved tree stumps, this was an awe-inspiring experience! On the first dive when we submerged the visibility was very poor. Right away I was searching for my dive buddy, which was Kurtis, and our dive master Kirsty (her buddy was Andrew). While they were only about a few metres away, I could not see them through the murky water. That was a scary moment! However, we all found each other at the bottom and as Kirsty led us deeper towards the reef the visibility increased and we entered into an entirely new and busy world!
There were schools of fish everywhere - some big fish, and some small. Colourful coral, seaweed and sponges lined our path, as we peered under ledges and into crevices to see what could be hiding inside. Kirsty had an underwater flashlight, and this helped us see into the dark spaces. We had our underwater camera with us, trying it out for the first time. Our pictures do no justice to the colours, textures and movement of the underwater world, but they are proof of our adventure!
We managed to see quite a few interesting creatures throughout our two dives, including a giant blue grouper fish, some octopus, many varieties of fish (though I do not know all of their names yet) both big and small, cuttlefish, sea urchins, barnacles, crayfish, sea slugs (amazing colours and patterns, like white with black polka dots and one that was purple with orange swirls on it!), moray eels, sea stars, sea worms, and of course all of the corals, sponges and plant life.
The grouper fish reminded me of a puppy. He followed us around and at one point he swam right up to me and let me pet him! He felt very smooth and was about the size of my torso. As I was informed later, he was not necessarily being friendly, but had an ulterior motive: he was looking for free handouts of food! Divers will often feed the groupers, but as Kirsty explained, this is not good for the fish, as it causes them to become lazy and expect their dinner to be given to them, rather than to hunt for it themselves. It was pretty neat how comfortable he was with us though!
The cuttlefish were also very cool. We actually saw 2 of them sitting together, but we almost mistook them for rocks, as cuttlefish take on the exact appearance of whatever they are near, or whatever they want to be, emulating both colour and texture. We startled them and as they sprang up from the sand, they turned the colour of sand to try to trick us, thinking we were predators! Then Kirsty shone her light on the cuttlefish and because of the light wavelengths, the cuttlefish turned pink trying to disguise themselves as the beam of light! Very cool to see.
The octopus tried it's best to look like a rock, but we could see it swirling it's tentacles around and focusing one of it's big eyes on us: keeping an eye on what we were doing! The moray eel was also in hiding, but we found him under a ledge peering out. Eels look very menacing because their mouths are always open, as if they are threatening or about to attack, but this is actually how they breathe. Even knowing this did not make me want to get too close! In one of the pictures you can just barely make out the eel peeking his head out.
All in all, we had a great day of diving! Two beautiful dives, new friends, and new discoveries! We are already planning on going diving next weekend! :)
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