Diving in Egypt

[more photos from the diving in the Egypt set on Flickr]

I had an early start as today I had booked two dives in the Red Sea with Emperor Divers, who’d bent over backwards to arrange everything for us before we came out. I have dived in the Red Sea before (a handful of shore dives from Eilat), but these would be my first boat dives in the area.

It was a great day on a lovely boat (the Emperor Marcus), with a fantastic lunch, and Ryan was one of the best dive guides I’ve had – just a great personality and his rapport with Paul, the other guide on board, was fantastic.

The water was warm and the sea life plentiful. Visibility is amongst the best I’ve had while diving but I still limited myself to two dives despite a third being offered for only €20. I tend to get headaches after diving and today was particularly bad, perhaps down to dehydration. I definitely need to remember to drink more water in such hot climates.

Our rarity of the day was an eagle ray, seen at quite some distance. There were plenty of interesting fish and the like at a closer proximity to get decent photos of. My buddy, Norman, managed to find a cute little nudibranch but even without taking into account the more mobile life forms there’s no denying that the coral in the area is some of the most spectacular I have ever seen.

Diving in Egypt

I opted to cough up for the Nitrox course afterwards and was supplied with a DVD player, DVD and manual to bone up on before Thursday’s dives and short test. Courtesy of a special offer, Emperor were swallowing the PADI certification fee for the course which is now a “dry” one, not requiring any actual dive time.

Back at the dive centre, I bumped into my dad who’d had a go at a Discover SCUBA Dive (DSD) course. Sadly, he’d not been able to complete it. Due to some ill health over the last couple of years his breathing’s not top notch and he just couldn’t get the rhythm. Thanks, though, to the staff who assisted him as best they could and he has said he’d love to have another go sometime.

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First day diving

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Fit women showing you their knickers. That's class, that is.

My first full day on holiday was a) busy and b) my birthday. As mentioned yesterday, I decided to treat myself to a couple of dives, partly to try to make sure I didn’t need a PADI refresher as I’m required to dive every 6 months or I have to sit a course. Which is both expensive and annoying.

We got up fairly early and Christina decided to come along for the ride, though she couldn’t dive as she was coming down with a cold. The shop sorted me out with all my kit, including an air bottle that required a wrench to open. Not until I’d ripped the skin on my hand trying first. Ah well.

The boat was a smallish RIB with enough room for a handful of us. There were two instructors, the pilot, Christina and myself and two other divers. The trip to the first dive site was maybe 15-20 minutes during which time I managed to just about stave off seasickness. The sea was pretty calm so we’d picked a good day to go out.

Having said that, I couldn’t wait to get into the water and away from the bobbing. The sea was a moderately comfortable 19 degrees – colder than I’m used to, but fine with the full length wetsuit I’d been issued with. I was one on one with my instructor so we edged our way down the anchor rope to around 30m and began to explore.

Thing is, My mask kept fogging and I was rapidly becoming both dizzy and disorientated. I’ve never felt like this underwater before, even with mask problems. The mask was my own – I’d brought it with me and it had been fine in the past. I guess it needed a better clean before use. However, the head problems just wouldn’t go away. As long as I kept my mask clear, I wasn’t so bad but at the first hint of clouding I started to feel spaced out.

Not good.

I just relaxed and kept my mask clear as much as possible. The dive itself was OK with decent visibility, but nothing spectacular to see. However, I don’t remember too much of it which is a shame.

And more hot women in hotter pants.

When we surfaced, I had a bit of a headache and we also got stuck at the dive site for some time as the anchor had managed to wedge itself rather too securely on the sea floor. My instructor had to dive down to loosen it, and after almost half an hour of riding the waves what little food I’d had that morning decided to make an exit.

We made it to the second dive site, known for turtles, about half an hour after that where all the water I’d drunk decided to leave my digestive tracts and mix with the sea water. I decided to sit the dive out and lie down. I wasn’t just ill, I still had a sore head and felt dizzy. Not a good shape to be in before a dive, even a shallow one.

So that was most of the day. After returning to shore I headed back to the resort with a sandwich and had a bit of a snooze until I felt more human. I was in such a rush to lie down I even forgot to get my logbook stamped. Very annoyed about that.

The rest of the daylight hours were relaxed, and in the evening we caught a free bus up to see a cabaret show that Christina and her mum had booked. Not normally something I’d do on holiday, but hey – why not? It was called The Sound of Musicals and included a meal and all the alcohol we could shove down our necks.

It wasn’t bad, either. The food was pretty decent and the free wine not the worst in the world (though the rosé was the driest I’ve ever tasted and I stuck to beer anyway). The performances were good, and the song choices not bad either. There were numbers from The Sound of Music, Les Misérables, Chicago, and Joseph amongst others.

The girl sat next to me was related to one of the main cast members and on the way out I mentioned this to him as the performers waved us off. “The noisy girl at the front? Yeah, that’s my cousin!”

There is a vague possibility that Christina and I headed back to the karaoke bar when we returned to town, but there is no proof of these rumours. I hope.

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Birthday in the sun

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Got to love the token xmassy tinsel

This was fairly last-minute so I didn’t really mention it much on here, but when I finished my school placements (and for other reasons) I just needed to get the hell away from the UK for a bit. Unwind, chill out, avoid the internet and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.

Fortunately, I know some very lovely people who offered me a room for a few nights if I fancied chilling out in Tenerife. All I had to do was get there and bring some spending money. Easy.

A quick check via skyscanner.net pointed me in the direction of Scotland‘s largest airline, GlopeSpan from whom I booked a return flight from Glasgow. Oh, yes. That would bite me in the bum in a few days time…

So stupidly early on Sunday 13th, my uncle dropped me off at Glasgow Airport. Bang on time I took off and shortly before midday I landed at Tenerife South Reina-Sofia Airport. One point to note is that although Tenerife is Spanish territory, it’s in the same time zone as the UK so there’s no need to adjust your watches. Tell this to the telephone companies as my phone insisted on moving itself forward an hour due to connecting to a Spanish network. Grr.

Taxi from the airport to Costa Adeje where I would be staying is posted as being €23.50. I opted for the bus instead as I’m a  cheapskate. For those heading that way, you want the number 111 to Playa Las Américas and then 416 or 417 to Torviscas. Do note there is a less frequent survice on a Sunday and you’ll need to look for landmarks on the second leg to make sure you get off at the right place – it’s barely 10 minutes’ ride. Total cost was less that €4, so make sure you have some smaller notes or pocket change to hand.

From the stop, it was a short walk to the resort where I was staying and met up with the lovely Christina and her mother, Karen. The weather was nice (though there were a few showers over the week) and the company good!

My first priority was to book some diving. I’d tried to organise something online when I was still in the UK, but the company I’d looked at hadn’t replied. As it happened, they were based less than 5 minutes’ walk from our resort so Christina and I wandered down to sort something out.

The company was Diversity, and after some haggling, they agreed to the internet rate of €65 for two dives, all in. Far cheaper than other operations that were asking that or more for just two dives with equipment hire on top. The choice was Monday or Wednesday due to weather and tides and I decided to dive the following day.

After that, it was pretty much just a relaxing day. We walked about, I got familiar with where things were and had a McDs as my first meal of the day. Dinner was a lovely roast at the restaurant attached to the resort and in the evening I got slightly drunk and attempted karaoke at a nearby bar. Twice. Or maybe three times.

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Quick trip to Tenerife

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As Wayne has pointed out to me, Free Flow’s safety record is 100% – they have had no accidents, mishaps, deaths, injuries, lost divers or any such during the time they have been registered and keeping records. There. That’s clear.

The information I was given was from a third party PADI Professional and related to practices at Free Flow. I had no reason to disbelieve what that person told me, and to date I still have no reason. To the best of my knowledge, this individual has and had no axe to grind with Free Flow as an organisation, I had (at the time) made no mention of personally using them and it came up in conversation about diving in general and in East Timor specifically.

However, do bear in mind that I am one person who heard this from one other. While I am a PADI Professional (as Wayne pointed out) and must not defame PADI or other PADI members/organisations, I am also bound to be honest as far as I can be. As such, I reported one concern I had which had – as I stated – come from another PADI Pro (who I will now most certainly not be naming). As such, said individual is also bound by the same rules.

If the information I got was incorrect – and I knew as such – then I would unreservedly and without prompting adjust the original post and issue an apology. People who know me know that I’m stubborn as a mule, but very quick to back down if proved wrong. I am not too proud to apologise or to be corrected.

In this instance, though, I effectively have one person’s word against the other. One I regard as, if not a friend then a passing acquaintance. The other I regard as someone who – perhaps with justification, in fairness – has thrown some weighty messages my way and who I don’t know other than this.

I hope this puts my comments on the safety of Free Flow Divers in Dili, East Timor into some clarity. People, if you’re going to dig out info on a company or individual – do it through more channels than just one blog post.  My original post clearly stated that I had no personal experience with Free Flow and was only passing on something I’ve heard. Their published safety record and current  PADI Dive Resort status should also be brought into the equation when you’re weighing things up.

Even though I don’t really feel I have to do this, but to prove a point that there are many positive comments about Free Flow and Wayne himself out there if you look hard enough, do check out the “People Say The Nicest Things” post on Free Flow’s own blog. Notice that some of the sources listed are somewhat more well-respected and experienced than some guy’s travel blog.

For completeness, in his original comment (I won’t repeat his email on here as it does mention some other matters which I don’t believe are for public reading relating to Free Flow’s business) Wayne also had a go at me for my comments on pricing. Re-reading my original post, the mention of “pricey” was actually against Dive Timor-Larosae, another dive business.

However – and I have edited the post to reflect this – this was badly written on my part. I should have made it clear, or kept the pricing issue separate, as I had intended to emphasise that diving is expensive in East Timor as compared to other regions, such as the Gili Islands, Borneo, Ko Tao and the like.

For this, I do apologise.

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East Timor / Dili – A diving update

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Camouflaged cuttlefish

As I said in the last post, Leah had been ill overnight so I left her to get some kip while I looked for a new room. Big Bubbles had people arriving who’d filled the place with reservations and we had to shift elsewhere.

I tried a few places up the road until I got to Manta Dive. One member of staff there walked me around and off the beach (there are a few rows further back with equally nice accommodation) until we found somewhere that guests had vacated only minutes beforehand. As the aircon wasn’t working, they knocked a little off and I said I’d take it. OK, they only knocked $2.50 off it, but any discount is good.

The one benefit of already being on the island is that I had first dibs compared to those who would arrive by ferry an hour or two later.

Colourful shrimp

Also, a small miracle – the screen started working on the back of my camera again. Then it stopped working. Then it started again. Typically it starts when I’ve pretty much decided I won’t be doing any more dives (although never say never), but as it’s intermittent I won’t start celebrating yet. It’s still going for repair when I get home, especially as it’s started repeating the fault it had in Brisbane earlier in the year where it refuses to believe the battery compartment is closed when I switch it on. And it seems to be letting water in at shallow depths which it shouldn’t.

As a “thank you” for their help, I decided to do a dive with Manta and in the afternoon went off to do the Bounty Wreck while Leah huddled up and tried to reintroduce fluids into her body. This was a great dive and one I can definitely recommend. The beginning is a drift for 15 or so minutes until you reach the wreck itself where there is little or no current.

Juvenile lion fish

I believe it used to be a restaurant so it’s not a “ship” shape, more of a damaged cube. However, it’s teaming with life and very easy to get around. It’s also at a fairly shallow depth so you should manage a decent dive time.

One word of warning is to avoid the food at Manta. The diving is good and the staff lovely, but anything above and beyond a cheese and tomato jaffle (which was nice) isn’t worth trying. Leah had spag bol and I went for a chicken fajita. They were both so salty they tasted virtually identical.

And thence to bed in our lovely Lombok rice-barn themed pad.

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Moving around

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Nudibranch

I was up at 8:30 to get my breakfast before my dive on Shark Point. A good job as it took half an hour before it was delivered (it was only a banana pancake) and I had to check my equipment before we hopped on the boat at 9:30.

Ours was a small group – myself and our diveguide plus a French couple. Plenty to see as well, and the dive was split as the two less experienced divers were sent up (along with an inflatable sausage) while the remaining two of us continued to explore. Nice not to have to pop up when I’ve still got 80-90 bar left.

Sadly, we didn’t see any sharks. Perhaps we needed to be earlier. But we did see lobsters, cuttlefish, sweetlips, trigger fish, angel fish, bat fish, a lion fish, two turtles… Quite a busy dive, though with a bit of a current towards the end. Not bad for $35 and close to the dive shop as well being barely 15 minutes’ ride by boat.

Pretty flowers

When I’d got back Leah told me we’d almost snagged an extra night when someone had rung to cancel. Only they rang back to cancel their cancellation. Grr. I’d have told them “tough” but I don’t run a hotel business. And I’m selfish.

One thing we did discover which I was told didn’t exist – there is, in fact, an ATM on Gili Trawangan. We’ve not used it yet as we loaded up on cash before we came out (5 million between us) but I’ve been reliably informed that it doesn’t charge for withdrawals. Quite a few places seem to take Visa though there’s a fee, normally around 3%.

Random diver

In the afternoon, we headed for the beach and I went snorkelling for the first time (believe it or not). Both of us returned a vague shade of pink and in the evening opted for a restaurant nearby with an Indian menu.

The food was good, and the little black cat that sat on my lap appreciated the little titbits we fed her. However, Leah’s tummy didn’t seem to appreciate something that night and… well, let’s just say she didn’t get much sleep.

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Lazy day Sundays

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Up at Tulamben we met a honeymooning couple – Putu is taking the hubbie through his Open Water while the wife is already an Instructor with quite a few dives under her belt. To split groups, I was to take her and the two Dutch chaps (father and son) while Putu again concenrated on the student diver.

However, the younger Dutch guy had a slight cold and was bunged up. He opted to give the first dive a try, but had to resurface after barely getting to 3m. He could equalise, but said the pressure behind his eyes was like a knife. A wise decision not to push it. Unfortunately, when I surfaced to make sure he was OK and send him back to the restaurant, I lost contact with the others.

I decided after waiting for five minutes not to chase after them as by that point I’d be pretty much diving solo until I found them. Before checking on the son, I’d made sure the other two had buddied up and they already have a couple of hundred dives between them. They also hooked up with Putu and our student so their dive went well. I’m just peeved at missing out on another chance at the Liberty wreck as it’s a very good dive.

After lunch, I led them around the Drop Off which went well. Plenty of life down there although visibility isn’t what it was back in September last year. Still, there is a lot to lookout for and we saw, amongst other things, plenty of pipe fish, a huge lion fish and an eel trying to hide in the rocks.

As I said, I was late back to meet David so we’ll try and sort something for later in the week. Right now I’m hoping to find a seat at a cheap restaurant for dinner before grabbing a shower then heading up to the airport to meet Leah on her flight in from Perth.

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Delayed diving

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At least they were good ones with all three definitely improving with each descent. All the skills tests are passed and they only have their final exam tomorrow. We managed to spot a scorpion fish, the usual crowd of lion fish, a huge box fish and two trigger fish – amongst all the thousands of other more numerous species.

Once I have Andy’s email address I’ll give him a plug on here. He’s by far and away the cheapest dive option in Dili, but to offset this his schedule is based around his work hours so you’ll have to be prepared to be fluid. Also, as he’s a one-man act (although his wife is also an Instructor) it does limit the size of the groups he can take out.

I have decided to take the bike out tomorrow as Katherine’s now joining another group and renting a 4×4 from Friday onwards. They’re off to circle the island for 4-5 days and I wish they’d come up with this sooner so I could join them! Instead, I’ll try the Baucau run again (second time lucky), and hopefully join Andy and the Australian family again on Friday for two dives at K-41.

As an aside (and I’ll update the earlier post to reflect this) it is possible to get a 60-day visa from the Indonesian embassy for the $45 charge. Simply shout loudly enough and make a fuss. It worked for a Hungarian guy who just moved into our dorm and for two of his friends. Check the Indonesian Visa From Dili post for details.

In other major news, the water is back on at the hostel so the damaged pipe must be fixed. My first shower in three days!

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Final dives in Dili

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East of Dili at sunset

After sorting out the visa palaver, I legged it back to the hostel but had already missed Andy. I’d promised I’d help with three first-time divers and wasn’t going to let him down. Fortunately, I knew where the dive was to be so I jumped in a taxi and $3 later I was back at Bali Rock outside the city.

Andy was just giving the dive briefing when I got there so there was no problem with my tardiness. Our group was a dad and his son and daughter who were all fresh from the classroom and doing their skills in a pool – this was their first time diving in open water. Mum had decided to stick to important tasks like providing water and sandwiches.

The first dive was predominantly an orientation. Buddy check, swimming technique, how to sink, basic buoyancy underwater, a chance to feel the need for equalising pressures and so on. On the whole, they did quite well. The kids definitely picked things up faster than their father but that’s really not unusual – try and get a 40 year-old to learn to ride a bike. An 8 year-old will take to it far faster.

We saw some good stuff and the son was definitely in his element, really getting excited about seeing so many things.

After a quick break for water and pressure group relief, we took to the water again and practised again. This time, some basic exercises were completed at 6m – mask removal, regulator recovery and so forth. Back on the surface, weight belts and BCDs were removed and replaced.

A short dive, but more time in the water and a great bit of experience for me. Andy, as I’ve mentioned before, is a good instructor. Very patient, but firm, and knowledgeable. I’ve already told him I’ll help out on Wednesday as well when they do their third and fourth dives.

Now I know I’ll have my passport back on Wednesday, I can get the bus out on Thursday or later. I’ve already checked flight prices and Merpati (the easiest to book within East Timor) are cheapest by far on Sunday.

Outside a park in Dili

The Merpati office I was told about is inside “Hotel Timor”, the posh place along the main road where the UN staff stay. Enter the main doors, bear left towards the bar, but take a right just before it. It’s down that corridor. [NOTE: this is not the actual Merpati office. See tomorrow's post for details]

The chap there said he’d check the prices for Saturday and Sunday. Whichever was cheapest, he’d reserve at that price, and send us an email (by “us” I mean myself and the German girl, Kathryn, I was walking around with). He’d be able to hold the price until tomorrow.

My likely plans are diving tomorrow, helping Andy on Wednesday, motorbiking Thursday, bus to Kupang on Friday, whole day in Kupang on Saturday, and fly to Bali on Sunday. I’ll have three days before Leah arrives to perhaps do some more divemastering – and then I’m going to try and get her on a discovery dive or maybe even a full Open Water course.

After the flight check, we walked through a few shops and found a refugee village south of (I think) the Portuguese UN Mission. Basically a lot of houses and a lot of stalls, Kathryn stopped at almost every one to buy part of her shopping – dinner for her and the two guys she’s travelling with. Sweet potatoes here, chillis there, a 1 litre $3 bottle of whisky from somewhere else…

What a smile!

Every time we stopped, we drew a small crowd of local children who all smiled and looked cute. There’s a photo up here of a little girl carrying water bottles who just broke my heart. Absolutely gorgeous and with the most amazing smile. Everyone was ridiculously friendly and helpful, partly I’m sure because Kathryn knows how to ask for prices in the local lingo.

And thence back to the hostel where I went for a shower… then gave up when I found there was no water. Grr. By the time the tanks refill it’ll be night-time and the water will be cold!

Matt (@Vanalli from Twitter) popped over for the beer I owed him. Always good – as ever – to put a face to an email address, or a Twitter account.

There’s a good group here now and I think we’ll be sharing that whisky around after dinner. Andy’s due some time to sort out arrangements for tomorrow and I will try to wash at some point.

Probably.

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The rest of the day in Dili

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Everyone's a critic

I found a local bakery doing brightly-coloured cakes and picked up a couple for breakfast. Maybe not healthy, but I’m on holiday so I don’t care. Andrew was waiting for me when I got back and we had a short chat then jumped into the car with Krystal and Catherine (I think – apologies as ever for my pathetic memory for names), two sisters from Brisbane.

They’re here doing voluntary work up in the hills and usually only make it down at the weekends. They’ve been taking their Open Water with Andrew and the group seemed to get along well. Andy’s an easy chap to talk to with a wealth of experience. Hailing from South Africa, he’s doing contract work out here and diving around it predominantly on the weekends.

As I was partly assisting, I didn’t get to spend as much time looking at the scenery as I’d normally hope. However, I worked my way up to Divemaster for a few reasons and one of them was so I could help out with things like this and I really enjoyed it. The girls have much better eyesight than Andy or I, so in between practise exercises and working on buoyancy they spotted some excellent examples of aquatic life.

Lionfish

Pick of the bunch was probably the school of lion fish. Usually you see one or two of these at most. If  you’re lucky. We found a group of five. Also in the area are scorpion fish, stone fish and many other types that don’t actually hurt if you touch them. Krystal also spotted a ray buried under the sand.

Including a surface break for refreshments and de-toxing, we were out until early afternoon. The girls were very receptive to criticism and pointers and had visibly improved from the first dive to the second. As with many starting divers, their main issue was one of buoyancy. Hopefully the advice I gave will help them and they’ll keep the hobby up. Living in Brisbane, they’re only a short hop away from some excellent sites back home.

On the way back, Andy mentioned he had a group on Monday – a father and two 15-year old boys – and would I like to help out? No charge, obviously. Pope. Poop. Woods. This is why I did the Divemaster course! So that’s Monday morning sorted.

Stone fish

The girls were supposed to reappear to collect some of the photos, but I’ve been sat here for two hours now so I guess they changed their minds. No worries – ladies, you have my email. Drop me a line and I’ll post the pics somewhere you can get the full-resolution versions from! [Update - they passed by quickly on their way to Mass - hope you weren't too late!]

My plan currently is to spend Sunday around the surrounding area on a motorbike ($25 including fuel from the hostel). Monday for the dives and in the afternoon I’ll pop my passport in for a new Indonesian visa. I’ve calculated it’s far cheaper to do the reverse trip than to fly directly back to Bali. It’s more of a pain to sort, but it’ll save me around $150. It’s not like I don’t have the time!

Scorpion fish

I may head off into the countryside on Tuesday and Wednesday, just for the change. With luck, my visa should be collectable by Wednesday or Thursday and then I can sort out my return bus and a flight from Kupang to Bali.

All I need now is a non-ANZ ATM so I don’t get screwed for $2 with every withdrawal. ANZ – you’re evil. If I ever move to Oz, rest assured I’m not banking with you. Oh, and a cybercafe with a working printer. I have to have a printout of my flight tickets for my visa application. More details on the visa farce shortly. Seriously, they make it like drawing teeth.

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First dives in East Timor

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