早上六點半到機場等搭頭班 CX 飛馬尼拉。在馬尼拉乘三小時多專車再轉一小時船,下午三時半,抵達 Puerto Galera 的 La Laguna Beach Club & Dive Centre
(LLBC)。放下行李,跟等我的教練閒聊。聊了一陣,教練就說不如下水做一個 check
dive,雖然有點倦,但有熱誠支持。好,潛吧!除了教練之外,還有來自香港的英籍教練 Alex 和上海來的 DM
(又稱Divemaster、潛水長) Eric,四人到 M/V Alma Jane Wreck下潛。下水前的
briefing,我的所謂兩文三語全都用上呢!水溫26度,很温暖。臨近黃昏,水底視野也有十多米,微生物也不多,正!跟著教練在沉船內外左穿右插,有
些緊張,還好表現尚算中規中舉。
上岸後,教練開始跟談訓練的事情。他提議我放棄原先的訓練計劃,轉而上另一個要求技術較高和訓練較多的 DSAT Tec Deep Diver (技術深潛潛水員) 課程,我一聽已有決定,但仍說考慮一晚,明早才答覆。
Day 2, 27/1/2006
睡過頭,被教練拍門叫醒。吃早餐時,回覆教練決定依他的建議上 DSAT 的課程。由於 DSAT 的課程的要求較嚴格,訓練潛由原先計劃的九個增加至十二個,而原本預計六天的訓練要延長至最快九天才能完成。心想希望自己真的應付得來,另一面就是因為決定上這個課程,我下一站宿霧 Moalboal 看鯨鯊去不到了。
Day 3, 28/1/2006
今日下 了兩個潛,全是要在水面自行游七八十米,在 LLBC 外面的 Big La Laguna Beach
進行,水深10米,要模擬緊急情況處理、扣上和解下吊在左右肩帶下的兩個減壓用氣瓶 (decompression tanks)、主要氣源與減壓氣體
(decompression gas) 互換 (NO TOX) 的練習。
Day 7, 1/2/2006
昨晚早睡,在 Sabang Wrecks,二十米深的第五潛又是九十分鐘。今天開始就只有教練和我下潛。訓練中加了要追著教練潛游三分鐘用來計算
SAC (Surface Air Consumption Rate),原來這三分鐘足足用了我 10 Bar 氣呢!放 SMB
時仍然有點緊張,手忙腳亂下繩轆從手中滑出,無奈看著它沖上了水面。後來教練借了他那個我再試,這次總算成功了。
回岸後,獨自在泳池練習放 SMB。午飯後,就準備在 M/V Alma Jane Wreck 的第六潛。Briefing
時教練說餘下的訓練要做的練習會較少,不過還有些新練習要做;例如 hovering
(先要放走氣囊內的空氣,並保持自然浮力,當然還要用蛙鞋踢水。一分鐘後再用口吹漲氣囊),心情太緊張了,這次我今次做不到。
回到岸上,教練要我開始做第十潛的計劃,又是 42 米、25 分鐘、EANx24、EANx50、純氧。今次很快半小時左右便做妥。午飯後第十潛於
Fish Bowl,教練要求我做 leader 提醒他甚麼時候升水和換氣等等...... 一下水,control descend
仍是做得不是很好。整個潛也沒有太強水流,感覺也沒那麼緊張,只是打醒十二分精神,眼不停來回看著那綁在手腕上的膠板寫上的 run time
和潛水電腦錶。這裡又是灰暗暗的沒有太多魚。最後出錯,潛了六十多分鐘順利爬上快艇。
Recreational diving - defined as no stop diving with air or nitrox to a
maximum depth of 40 meters, and during penetration dives, within the
natual light zone and no more than a total linear distance of 40 meters
from the surface.
Technical diving - defined as and includes one or more of the following:
diving beyond 40 meters, required stage decompression, diving in an
overhead environment beyond 40 linear meters of the surface, accelerated
decompression, and/or the use of variable gas mixtures during the dive.
Dive 10 (Manta Point, Nusa Penida)
09:39 / max 20.4m / avg 8.8m / 50 mins / 26oC
同樣冒著大浪,在快艇上一拋一跌的情況下,我們終於到達 Manta Point,這裡其實是一個山崖邊岸,DM 在 briefing
時經已跟我們說清楚,這次下潛主要是徘徊於數米水深的地方,等候 Manta Ray 經過,而且由於淺水近岸的關係,湧流會很大,叮囑我們小心。
Gear up 之後,我們同一時間 descend 下水。由於 Manta Ray
是捕食水中浮游生物,所以牠們這個基地,水中能見度較低,我們下潛至十米左右,經已被湧流撞擊到滿天星斗,湧向前,接著又被沖回後,盪向左,之後又飄到
右,不得不隨時要找著岩石。當滿天星斗陀陀轉之際,第一架"幻影戰機"出現了!噢,真不知道怎樣形容當時的心情!
Booked dive session
on Dec 4, Saturday at 1:30pm after I collected the next day Standard
Chartered Singapore Marathon Race Entry Pack at Suntec Centre.
I took MRT to Harbourfront MRT, then take a bus to Sentosa Visitors’
Arrival Centre. Pay the admission fee and take a mono-rail to Underwater
World. Once arrived, I found that there have a lot of people lined up
to buy ticket and some people stuck at the entrance.... Joe, the staff,
greets me at the entrance. He is going to dive with me and show me
around.
We firstly enter staff area, from the top view, the pool is bigger
than I see inside the tunnel. After change clothing, without the gloves
and fins, I am now ready to dive!
We drop into water, like Joe said, the water is warm at 29 degree
and just only around 3m depth. Two nurse sharks (around 2m long) catch
my eye in first sight. They're lying (sleeping?) on the bottom and stay
together very closely, look like a couple. We swim to them, Joe touch
one of the them and she wake, then he pick and hug her vertically (head
on top, trail at bottom). I surprise that she let him "play" like that.
Then Joe gives me hand signal to do the same but I refuse, I just hug
her horizontally. Her skin feels like a sand paper, heavy, big and
friendly. She hasn’t tried to escape from my hands, until I let her go.
Then, we swim over the tunnel to next area, we meet some Rays and Hump
heads (will talk about these later), we haven't stop and straight ahead
to meet the Bull Sharks.
Underwater World split a small section for the Bull Sharks. Although my
dive called 'Bull Shark Encounter', we are not allowed to enter to
danger zone. We just stay behind the splitter (they call it 'cage') to
watch them. Look inside the area, there have two (one big, one small)
Bull Sharks with some big fishes. At the beginning, two sharks swim far
away from us, but they swim closer & closer and keep looking at me
with their black small eyes in minutes later. Why? I guess they know a
stranger in the pool and want to know who it is. Once they swim that
close to less than 1m, I could even touch them thru’ the windows of the
splitter, but of course I didn’t. I didn’t feel scare or shock, just
exciting to meet the famous ocean killer so close like that into water.
I can see more clearly to them now, the small one about 1.5m longer,
slim and young, no special of her outlook. Another one, around 3.5m
long, huge size, extremely heavy and older, and she have still bloody
large injury at her left trail, look like scratch at pool recently.
After few minutes watching, we leave and go to next door, the Dugong (Sea Ox).
The Dugong, named Gracie, she live alone in a small area. This is her
lunch time when we arrive. Her food is not a fish or reef but a kind of
glass like water plant.
Gracie is big and fat, at least 2m long. She totally ignores us to touch
her and just keep eating. Her mouth look like a big "O" sharp when eat,
look very funny. Also, she is cool… even I hold one of the plants, she
still keeps eating others in the tray which at the pool bottom. Since
she looks like to enjoy alone, so we leave to not disturb her.
We go to the final stop… Joe leads me to an area with some Rays and Hump
heads (as I mentioned before). Suddenly, they (smaller one at least
over 1m long) come around us. I know what’s going on, just a second
later… feeding time. Joe gives me some food, shell like with brown color
meat inside. Once they see I have the food which holding in my hand,
the Hump Heads become crazy to come to me and... aiya… she bite my hand
without glove. She runs away very fast to escape my revenge.
However, the Rays are gentle, they only swim around, only come when I
show them the food (just hold it between in fingers this time). I found
that they have small teeth to crash the shell and eat the meat inside.
Also, they don’t mind we touch them, slip and soft skin. I think other
than Jelly, Ray is one of the most beautiful creatures into the water.
Around 10 minutes feeding time, we say Goodbye to lovely fishes and
creatures, and back to the surface, finish the dive.