Deep wreck diving in Thailand?

Two and a half years ago I got trimix certified and followed an advanced wreck diving course in the Philippines. So it was about time to put the two together. But where? Having been invited on an exploratory deep wreck diving expedition in Sri Lanka, I needed a place relatively nearby where I could refresh my skills, in preferably similar conditions. Subic bay in the Philippines not being my favourite place, I checked out my options in Thailand.

Even though Thailand doesn't immediately pop up as a possible destination when thinking about technical diving. There's some deep diving going on on its west coast, with Mark Ellyatt having put Phuket on the tec diving map thanks to his 313m deep record dive, but there are -as yet- no wrecks to speak of. And on the east side, the Gulf of Thailand is a rather unknown place when it comes to wreck diving. That is, until you start looking a bit deeper.


Somehow, a Google search resulted in a link to the M/V Trident. And it immediately caught my interest, offering exactly what I was looking for: exploratory deep wreck diving! Co-owned by Jamie McLeod (tec instructor trainer) and Stewart Oehl (tec instructor), two British expats living on Koh Tao, the M/V Trident is currently the only ship organizing deep wreck diving expeditions in the Gulf of Thailand. Besides the owners, there's also Michael (tec diver), another British expat, who acts as divemaster & gas blender, and of course there's the ship's Thai crew: captain, cook, engineer & deckhand.


In less than a year Jamie & Stewart have found over a dozen wrecks, lying in 50-70m deep water. From wooden fishing boats to cargo vessels to WWII war ships. And they've got plenty more marks and sonar glitches to check out. One wreck in particular has gotten them a lot of media attention, both good and bad: the USS Lagarto, a WWII United States submarine sunk by the Japanese in May 1945 and now lying 70m below the waves. Considered a war grave, it's alas a no go site.

Thanks to the M/V Trident, the Gulf of Thailand is indeed becoming a serious wreck diving area, with virgin undived wrecks waiting to be found.

The Tattoo bar

When not looking for wrecks, the M/V Trident's dive crew can often be found in the Tattoo bar, a beach-side British hang-out, only a short stroll from Master divers in Mae Haad bay. Cold beers, English pies, American burgers, New Zealand steaks, beautiful Thai sunsets, ... What else could you wish for when stuck on dry land?

This is where I first met Jamie & co after arriving on Koh Tao a couple of days ago and it's here we all gathered yesterday evening before sailing out into the Gulf. Stewart rejoicing over the fact that, yes, I do occasionally have a beer too.

Boarding & departure

I'd actually already boarded earlier in the day, as I'd had to vacate my bungalow, check-out time being 11am. A group having cancelled last minute, it turns out there's only one other diver besides me. Meaning I've got a three bunk cabin all for myself. And being the first one on board I even got to pick which one. What a luxury!


My few non-diving-gear belongings quickly thrown in one of the lower deck cabins, the first thing I did was to take advantage of the bright daylight to check and set up my gear. After which I just made myself at home and relaxed.

A little after 8pm we took off, with an offering of noisy fire crackers to appease the gods, before heading out to sea. Once we'd left Koh Tao behind, it went all black around us.


Sitting on the upper deck, Jamie tells me about the HTMS Pangan, the wreck we'll be diving the next few days. Weather & time permitting, we might also check out an unknown mark. The last two days are reserved for Big Boy, an as yet unidentified wreck, which they've only dived once before in rather rough conditions. In other words: adventure guaranteed! Briefing done, Stewart shows me how to use his dive planning software. Just so as to keep my feet on the deck.

The HTMS Pangan's history

The HTMS Pangan was a Royal Thai Navy Transport, built in Japan in 1927, about 60m long & 10m wide, 1874 tons empty & 2442 tons full, with 2 diesel engines and 3 guns (60, 40 & 20mm).

She sank the 19th of July 1961, at 10pm, off the coast of Surathani. Her entire crew (81 souls) was saved six hours later by a Japanese freighter. Why she sank however is not too clear. She'd left Bangkok earlier that week carrying 'damaged' ammunition & gunpowder to be dumped at sea.

Officially she went out of control and the crew abandoned ship when her main engine broke down after battling heavy seas for several hours. Supposedly a large wave had hit the ship, some of the cargo broke loose and rolled to one side, making her list heavily and take more waves. Totally swamped the pumps & engines failed. Rough seas would have been very unusual at that time of the year and the cargo might not have been as properly strapped down as it should have. More probable however, from the damage on the wreck, a fire broke out and she went down ablaze...

Deep wreck diving stop by stop

How to find a wreck

Basically, it takes a lot of dedicated research to find a wreck. Knowing what you're looking for is probably a good start. Knowing where to look is next. Or vice-versa. There're bound to be some kind of records somewhere, be it maritime archives or battle reports. Anything that might give you an approximate location will do. After that it's search & explore.

Wrecks attract fish. So having your ears tuned into the fishermen's grapevine might give you some good clues as to where to look. Though they're most likely to be very protective of their best fishing locations.

And while you're out there anyways, why not keep your sonar on. Who knows, you might just get lucky and stumble upon something.

One way or another, Jamie & Stewart have already found several wrecks over the past year and still have a whole bunch of probable & unknown marks and mysterious sonar glitches to investigate. All written down in Jamie's little book of secret coordinates.

Getting there

We sailed all night, arriving in the early morning, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It's actually the sudden quietness that woke me up, after having been lulled to sleep by the constant throbbing of the engines.

Using GPS coordinates the captain steered the M/V Trident to the wreck's approximate position. After which a search pattern was performed using the sonar to pinpoint it as accurately as possible. On his signal a deckhand then let go of a drop line, a relatively thin line weighted down by about 10kg of lead at one end and kept afloat by a buoy at its top end.

Anchoring

No anchor was actually dropped. In stead, Stewart jumped in the water, fully geared up for action, to go and tie down the M/V Trident directly to the wreck.

Depending on the conditions, one or two crew divers jump in the water near the drop line's buoy and are handed the end of a ticker line, after which they descend into the blue looking for the wreck.


If they're lucky they'll be able to see it on their way down, or find it thanks to the fish that usually hang around a wreck's vicinity, using it as shelter. If the visibility is bad they might need to perform a circular search using a reel attached to the drop line. If unlucky they may have to resurface and the whole procedure then needs to be repeated from scratch for another try.

Usually though, as was the case this morning, they find the wreck on the first try, tie off the line, give three strong thugs to signal the surface crew of the successful tie off and either resurface immediately or after performing a short dive. At this point the M/V Trident is securely tied to the wreck, thus ensuring a direct line of descent & ascent for subsequent dives. No need for divers to search for the wreck each time they go down, loosing precious time and running the risk of not finding it in bad viz.

Stewart having done the tie-off, Michael then jumped in to set up the deco rig, a horizontal metal bar hanging 6m below the ship, where divers can perform their last deco stops, breathing surface supplied oxygen.

Dive planning

With recreational diving, assuming you have a dive computer to keep you out of decompression trouble, you can basically just grab a tank, jump in and surface when you feel like it or when your tank is almost empty.

When deep diving however, you can't be that careless. A dive plan is crucial for a safe & successful mission. Once you get into decompression diving, every stop is a virtual ceiling. There's no such thing any longer like an immediate ascent. Unless of course you want to experience your body bubbling like champagne. The effect however is more likely to have you convulse & scream than relax & laugh. So you'd better make sure you'll have plenty of breathing gas for your planned bottom time at maximum depth, more than enough for all the mandatory deco stops on your very slow way back up to the surface and some extra just in case you got delayed.

Any plan should have a back-up. Dive plans are no exception confirming the rule. Issues like exceeded maximum bottom time or depth, loss of gas, inability to return to the ascent line, etc must be addressed beforehand. Leave nothing to chance. Be prepared.

Luckily for me, each dive crew member has his own laptop and I can use anyone of them to plan my dives. Which is pretty cool, as it allows me to play with different dive planning software programs, e.g.: Pro Dive Planner and ANDI Dive Planner. Of these two, I personally prefer the first one.

The programs are pretty straight forward actually. Basically you enter your breathing rate, maximum depth, planned bottom time, bottom & deco mixes and you get a nice table with run times, deco stops & gas needs.

Pre dive preparation

Having a plan is one thing. The right gear to execute it is another. And as for the plan, any life critical piece must have a back-up.


A set of doubles was waiting for me when I boarded, so I just had to screw on my Dive System wings and stainless steel backplate with harness, followed by my two Scubapro MK-25AF regulators. After that I also prepared, analyzed & marked my two decompression stages. Then put all the other stuff in a storage crate: Cressi 'BigEyes' mask, Mares 'Vedra' back-up mask, Suunto 'Viper' computer (gauge mode), wrist slate, Dive Rite primary & safety reel, Oxycheck spool, Buddy & Dive Rite SMB, TillyTec primary & Tektite back-up lights, booties & Mares fins and my 7mm Camaro suit.


All in all about 60kg of equipment... and that's without my Sea&Sea DX8000G compact digital camera. Everything mindfully readied for the dive, my mind itself is next to claim some attention. The danger factor can not be ignored. Anything that goes wrong down there might be fatal. Pre dive stress & nerves. Doubt. Fear for the unknown. Standing on the upper deck, breathing in the fresh morning air, my worries slowly retreat as I refocus on the dive at hand. The sun's high enough now. Mission time!

Deep air dive

The dive deck is spacious enough for four tec divers to gear up simultaneously. But right now it's just Michael and me. We'll be diving together, as it's my first dive of the trip and I haven't been diving deep for a while.

Suited up, double tanks strapped on my back, wings partially inflated, deckhands help me hook up the two deco stages, one on each side. After a last minute check, I duck walk the few meters to the ship's aft platform and splash in. A line runs from the bow to the stern and I immediately grab it, so as not to drift away with the current. Half pulling, half fining I make my way to the bow, where the down line is. This part can be a bit hectic and strenuous due to all the gear and the inevitable drag it causes, no matter how streamlined it is, especially if there're waves and current. But this morning it's not too bad. Still, we take our time at the bow to recover our breath before deflating our wings and start our descent.

↓ 5m. We briefly pause for a mutual bubble check and to pressurize our deco tanks before continuing on our way down. 10m. 15m. 20m. Down. Down. Down.


↓ 25m. Michael's already way ahead, pulling himself effortlessly down without loosing time. Descent time is bottom time. No sense in wasting precious minutes hanging around now. Steadily dropping deeper, I check all my gauges & instruments once again. 30m. The anchor line keeps disappearing into the blue below me. 35m. The wreck's still nowhere to be seen. 40m. Being on air, I can feel the first touch of narcosis. Suddenly, there she is. Just a vague shadow looming out of the blue.


↓ 45m. I pump some air in my wings to slow down my descent. 50m. We're on the wreck. Viz is poor, but Michael knows his way. I follow. It's as if the wreck is shrouded in a cloud of silt. I'm definitely slow-minded narced. I need to double check my instruments just to register what they're showing.


The wreck's alive with hundreds of small fish using it as refuge. Jack fish gangs dart in and out.

It being the first dive, we keep it simple. Staying on the outside, following the wrecks contours, just looking into the larger openings.

↓ 55m. Planned maximum depth. The bottom's maybe another 5m down, but barely visible. There're still some ammunition shells lying there in the sand. But somehow I don't particularly feel like messing around with those.

Soon it's time to return to the ascent line. We've been down for almost half an hour already. Narcosis sure has a way of playing with time. I guess it's because of my mind running at half speed, that time seems to pass twice as fast?


↑ Back at the line, we start on our slow way up. First deep stop's at 36m, where we switch from our bottom gas (air) to our deco mix (nitrox). Up 10m and another short stop. And up again. Then, from 18m onwards, we stop every 3m, holding on to the line to control our depth and avoid being carried away by the current - even though it's only slight at the moment. The narcosis actually sticks quite a while, my head only clearing up totally around 12m, long after I've left the deep!


↑ 9m stop done, we swim towards the deco rig below the ship, move up to 6m and switch to surface supplied pure oxygen to speed up the off-gassing of the nitrogen absorbed by our bodies during the dive. Still, it's a long wait just hanging there. Breathing in and out. In and out.

Time up, I let myself drift towards the ship's ladder, take off my fins and climb aboard. Michael's there already. Having a multi-gas dive computer, he can follow a real time deco schedule, in stead of a max-depth max-time pre-planned one, thus giving him shorter stop times. All in all it took me more than 50 minutes to come up. And that's for a relatively short shallow deep dive, with accelerated decompression.

In between dives

Getting back on board with 4 tanks requires quite an effort actually, but the deckhands are there and quickly help me unload the stages. After which I just sit down and take a couple of deep fresh air breaths before slowly taking off the rest of my gear. My body's still off-gassing. No sense in shaking up more bubbles.


A quick rinse to wash off the salt crystals, a rehydrating cup of water & some food: English breakfast or Thai style lunch. Bring it on! After that, it's truly time for a post dive rest... On the shaded upper deck, watching the sea rolling by, I doze off into yet another world.

Trimix dive

Jamie's found the HTMS Pangan's officers mess and is planning a treasure hunt together with Stewart. Michael's spotted some brass port-holes ready to be hammered out of the wreck's rusted steel hull. My plan is to get further acquainted with the wreck and shoot some pictures of the encounter. The sea's almost as flat as a mirror, reflecting the few clouds in the sky. With a bit of luck the viz won't be too bad. While the crew keeps diving on free air, I decide to go on expensive trimix. After two days of diving on air I'm still getting pretty narced. And while I do think it's a great 'Shadow Divers'-like experience, I would like to remember a bit more of my dives.

Batteries recharged and the camera carefully replaced in its waterproof housing, I'm ready to get seriously wet once again. But first I need to analyse the gas in all my tanks, a precaution not to be neglected without potentially fatal consequences. Satisfied with the oxygen percentage readings, I then suit up and strap on all my gear.

↓ 5m. My trimix being hypoxic, I breathe nitrox for the swim to the down line and for the initial descent, only switching to my trimix back gas around 5m where it's safe enough. Nitrox regulator stowed away, I wet my camera's wide-angle lens, pressurize my oxygen tank's 1st stage and check all my instruments: depth & pressure gauges, dive watch & computer. 10m. Lots of things to think about & do when beginning the dive. 15m. 20m. All the while sinking deeper and deeper, equalizing regularly and monitoring my breathing, as there's a bit of mid-water current and I actually need to pull myself down along the line. 25m. 30m.


↓ 35m. The wreck's already clearly visible, at least for my twilight adjusted eyes, parts of its structure sticking out mysteriously from the silt cloud enveloping it. 40m. Jacks are circling around and around on top of the wreck. 45m. I inflate my wings to brake my descent.


↓ 50m. There's no current on the wreck. Cool. I take my bearings, unhook my camera and head off. Thanks to the trimix, there's only a hint of narcosis - and that probably only because of the task loading. So my head is remarkably clear compared to my previous air dives. And the viz is good enough that I don't need to use a reel. Unleashed, I'm free to wander about at will. Having planned for a max-depth of 60m, there's no risk of me dropping too deep, unless I start digging. Still, I constantly monitor my depth, time & gas consumption.


↓ 55m. The wreck's covered in silt, clams and fishing nets. It's pretty hard to recognize any detail from or object belonging to the old ship. There're plenty of swim-throughs and drop-ins, and this time I do venture inside, keeping in mind that entanglement is a real hazard here.


Every now and then I stop and try to take a couple of pictures. The ambient light however is barely enough for snapshot photography and lots of the shots come out blurry, but some are acceptable and will do as souvenirs.

Soon I've almost used half of my back gas. Time to find the ascent line again.

Having a fixed line of ascent is really a great advantage not to be underestimated. The alternative, a blue ascent with SMB deployment is always a risky business. Currents might take you for quite a ride, requiring patrolling chase boats with an alert crew on the look-out for your SMB. Especially in heavy seas. SMB deployment is an art in itself. If something goes wrong (read: your reel jams) you might end up being jerked up by the buoy accelerating towards the surface. Thereby potentially breaking one or more deco ceilings.

↑ No worries here however as I slowly, hand over hand, climb up the anchor line. Switching to my deco gas as soon as I can. As the current grows stronger in mid-water, all I have to do is release my tight grip just a bit in order to be pushed up along the line like an elevator to my next stop. Cool, but tiresome. Each time I move up I also release some gas from my wings to remain neutral. I try to focus on one stop at a time, not thinking about the total remaining time to surface. Keeping an eye on both my timers. Minute by minute. Staring into the blue. Down the line disappearing into nothing. Watching plankton drift by. A sea snake undulating its way down again after having taken a fresh gulp of air. Changing my grip to avoid tension build up. Watching rising & expanding bubbles from divers somewhere down below.


↑ As my 9m stop comes to an end, I turn around and let the current push me towards the deco rig, making sure I maintain a level depth. With more than half an hour on pure oxygen, it's good to have it surface supplied. Though I do carry an oxygen tank, it's only meant to be used in case of an emergency (read: blue ascent). Surface supplied does mean somebody up there must keep an eye on the supply! With up to four divers decompressing at the same time, even big surface tanks do get sucked empty, in which case a fast switch to a new tank is required. Pure oxygen is strong stuff, so after about 20 minutes I temporarily switch to a lower oxygen percentage for a so called air-break. A couple of squids are hovering nearby. Distracting me from the endless wait.


After almost 90 minutes of decompression, I finally resurface, with a camera full of snapshots. Jamie & Stewart come up with a bag full of china. Michael loaded with a heavy brass port-hole. Mission accomplished. As you can, I hope, tell from the pictures.

Letting go

After the last dive on the wreck, Michael goes down to untie the anchor line & release the M/V Trident. As the thinner drop line was pulled up already previously, he can't use it to come up. In stead, he inflates & lets go of his SMB, so the surface crew can keep track of him during his blue ascent, should he be drifting away with the current.

The M/V Trident by the way has a chase boat at the ready during dives, should the need arise. And a drift line of course trails behind the ship in case a surfacing diver misses the ladder after decompressing.

More wrecks

After the HTMS Pangan, Jamie decides to investigate one of his little book's unknown marks located in the vicinity. On site, the sonar signature promises something big. Local fishermen say it's only a small wooden wreck. Guess who's right.

Too tired from the previous days multiple deep air dives to risk going down for nothing, I decide to wait and see what Stewart, down doing the tie-off, will have to tell. As it turns out the visibility is excellent, the whole wreck visible from 30m, but it isn't too interesting, just an old wooden fishing boat covered in nets. At least at first sight.

However, we're not staying around for a more in-depth exploration, moving in stead towards another nearby wreck, still unidentified, nicknamed Big Boy.

Big Boy rests in peace entirely below 55m, too deep for my camera. Not that it matters, the viz is so bad I feel compelled to use my safety reel so as not to get lost. Orientation remains difficult though. I'm not even really sure where I am on the wreck. I let myself drop down to 66m, before heading up again and reeling my way back to the anchor line. None the wiser. But then, it usually takes quite a few dives to get a feel for a new wreck.


During my last stop, I witness a trevally doing an apparently crazy bubble eating dance, but it turns out it's actually being pulled up by somebody on the ship and fighting for its -literally- expiring life.

Aboard the M/V Trident, the crew's indeed fishing. And giant trevally are biting one after another.

Return journey

As we head back towards Koh Tao, the sun slowly sets. For me, it's been a great trip and a lifetime experience.

Risks & dangers

Both deep and wreck penetration diving require specialized training. Each has its own particular risks and dangers. To mention but a few: nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity, carbon-dioxide build-up, gas mix-up, out-of-gas, decompression sickness and silt-out, disorientation, entanglement hazard, brass-fever, structural collapse, equipment failure, etc.

Deep wreck diving indeed is not without risk. People die. No matter their experience level.

On the trip before mine, an experienced closed-circuit-rebreather diver died. Another diver, on open-circuit scuba, got badly bent trying to save him. Luckily, despite the Thai navy's helplessness, he got away with it after several hyperbaric chamber treatments.

My own trip got cut short when the other paying trimix diver got lightly bent, even though he'd followed his dive plan. For twelve hours, most of them breathing oxygen, he had to lay down, convulsing in pain each time the decompression sickness waves hit him, until he got to the hyperbaric chamber on Koh Samui. Luckily for him, one five hour treatment was enough. Followed by a shorter one for good measure just in case. After which he felt like nothing had happened.

I myself got some 'niggles', deep divers jargon for decompression stress, in my left fore-arm, probably due to the strain of holding on to the line in strong mid-water current, preventing normal off-gassing. A bit more and it would have been decompression sickness too. Requiring hyperbaric treatment. Live & learn, as Michael would say.

That said, I consider my daily bicycle trip to & from work, 5km through the Copenhagen city traffic, as a dangerous activity too, not to say a hazardous enterprise, considering the frustrated, aggressive & irresponsible behaviour of some automobile drivers. Indeed, in the traffic too we venture in an environment we do not fully control, in conditions we do not fully master. But it doesn't stop us from going out there!

DIR?

If you have a very set way of doing things, whether it's DIR or not, you should definitely check with the dive operator beforehand that your demands can be satisfied. But even if you have a more flexible approach to things, it's a good idea to check that you can live with the dive operator's way of doing things.


I mention this because things are not that standard when it comes to deep diving. The three places I've tried it so far: Egypt, Philippines & Thailand, each have their particular way of setting up gear, planning dives, using bottom gases & different deco mixes.

M/V Trident

The M/V Trident started its career as a German Navy coast guard cutter in the Baltic Sea, before being transferred to Thailand to first serve as a Thai customs ship, and later on, after being converted for recreational use, to be used as a dive tour vessel based in Phuket, before being bought by Jamie and Stewart.

The M/V Trident is an exploration ship, not a deluxe cruise ship. But while you may not get pampered, it's got everything needed for some great adventures.

The ship's lower deck has six dorm style AC cabins, with 2, 3 or 4 bunks each and two common showers with toilet. Thus providing space for theoretically up to 16 passengers. Practically the ship's big enough to accommodate up to eight tec divers comfortably, but not more.

Behind the captain's wheel house, the main deck currently has an unfurnished AC TV and luggage storage room, behind which is the ship's compact kitchen. All the way in the back is the dive deck, where up to four tec divers can gear up simultaneously, with direct access to the water.

Also on the dive deck are several large O2 and He tanks for convenient continuous blending of any gas mix, whereas the compressor's located below in the engine room. When anchored at a dive site, a deco bar is set up below the ship with four surface supplied oxygen regulators.

The upper deck is a spacious open air shaded sitting area, where most of the day is spent.

Meals & drinks
+ Early morning toast & coffee before the first dive.
+ English breakfast (eggs, beans, ham, bacon, sausages) after the first dive.
+ Late lunch after the second dive.
+ Dinner. Both lunch & dinner usually consist of Thai food.
+ Water, coffee & tea are freely available.
– Sodas (20 THB) & beer (70 THB) can be purchased.

Thailand & Koh Tao

Surf the net and you'll probably find some potentially useful snippets of information...

Technical live-aboard dive trip from 23 till 26/04

There's nothing like being out at sea, with nothing but water around you. At least when the sea is as peaceful as it has been on this trip and the sun is shining.


I kept it real easy, doing only one trimix dive aday, to max 55m for max 30' of bottom time (resulting in 110' dives including the many decompression stops). The M/V Trident was tied directly onto the HTMS Pangan wreck, lying 60m below, just sticking out of a misty cloud, reducing the visibility on the wreck itself to only 5m, but giving the whole experience a mysterious feel. Especially with a touch of narcosis, despite the helium. A small school of jacks circling above the wreck added to the fascination.


I definitely could get addicted to this kind of exploratory wreck diving. But depth is a dangerous factor not to be underestimated. A source of both stress and thrill.

PADI Open Water Diver course

18/04/2006 - I've started Bjarne's Open Water Diver training. Having already done all the theory and theoretical exam back in Denmark, we could jump straight into Buddha View dive center's small swimming pool for a first 2 hour session of basic underwater exercices: mask clearing, regulator recovery, etc, besides actually breathing underwater and finning around.

Yesterday we also went snorkeling in a nearby bay (so I could check that he can actually swim) and Bjarne saw his first sharks: black tip reef sharks cruising just 5m below us. Pretty cool indeed! So now he's really hooked for more.

19/04/2006 - Second training session, this time straight into the deep blue sea. That is, in a shallow protected bay. After completing the mandatory exercices, with curious fish swimming around us, we had a short sightseeing tour around a beautiful coral reef known as Japanese Garden.

20/04/2006 - First real training dives #1 and #2 (each 40' long with a maximum depth of 12m).

21/04/2006 - Bjarne is now an Open Water Diver, having successfully completed dives #3 and #4 of the course. Maximum depth reached: 18m. At South-West pinnacle we saw a dozen or more squids hovering in a neat line in the blue and a cloud of yellow fish. In Ao Leuk bay we got surrounded by a school of small barracudas and saw two blue-spotted stingrays, besides a whole bunch of reef fish. Not to mention hordes of other bubbling divers.

Technical live-aboard dive trip from 12 till 16/04

It was a great experience to be on board the M/V Trident for four days of deep wreck diving in the Gulf of Thailand. And I'll need some serious e-time to write down the full story - so that will have to wait till I'm back. The trip was cut short, but to compensate for the two lost days, I've been invited on the next trip, from 23 till 26/04 for some more deep wreck exploration. So of course I'm on!

Koh Tao: Check-out dive

What should have been just a quick check-out dive actually took up most of the day. But I got wet, went 33m deep at Chumpon pinnacle, and got to make sure my gear still works. Well, some of it. My dive watch for example decided to inform me that it's running low on battery, and so it will no longer tell me the depth nor time I've been submerged. Now that I can't do anything about it. A real nuissance, since it's my back-up depth meter and bottom timer. You really want instruments whose battery you can change yourself!

The dive itself wasn't too interesting, there's just too many divers and the visibility's rather poor (less than 10m). I did find out some interesting things though. The tec guys here dive with double bladder wings. Use primary reels so as to be able to release SMBs from the maximum depth (e.g. the wreck), not just from 20m, which usually is the first deco stop. And, they actually do deep air dives down to at least 60m. Meaning each place I've been to so far for deep dives follows it's own rules.

After the dive I quickly checked out some of the dive gear shops. As I always seem to need yet another piece of equipment. Unfortunately their prices are not really competitive. But then, I haven't tried to get a 'best price' yet. Tomorrow however, I'll have to do some power shopping before the ship leaves!

Dinner at Baanyaay, on the sea front. Green curry (70 THB), plain rice shaped like a teddy bear (15 THB) and a rather tame Tiger beer (60 THB).

Koh Tao: Hanging around

I've just been hanging around, checking out the island, getting over the last bit of jetlag. The nights are not as hot as in Bangkok. But the humidity is pretty high here too. It's been kind of cloudy until now with a tropical shower every now and then.

The food is great (and cheap at 40-80 THB): green or red coconut curries, chicken with cashew nuts, fried ginger porc, sweet & sour porc, ... And they make excellent shakes with whatever fruit you may fancy (20-30 THB). Not to mention the banana pancakes sold by small street stall vendors (25 THB)!

I met Jamie yesterday at the Tattoo bar. He's the owner of the M/V Trident, together with Stuwart. Wednesday evening we'll be sailing out for a one week technical live-aboard trip. To do some deep dives on known but rarely dived wrecks in the Gulf of Thailand and we'll also try to find some new ones. I'm quite curious and looking forward to be out at sea.

Koh Tao

I don't know what I imagined it would be like. But it's worse than I expected. Something between Puerto Galera and Kuta beach. Long gone are the peaceful days by the beach. As a matter of fact I can't recognize anything from my first visit. With Songkran -the Thai new year- coming up the 13th, the place is packed. Luckily I should be out at sea by then.

The good news is that there are ATMs on the island now. And plenty of internet cafes. And whatever you may wish for. Like a paintball warshop. 7-11 stores. Scooter rental places. And more dive shops than I care to count. It's also still possible to have a Thai meal at a reasonable price: fried rice with porc (40 THB) and coconut shake (20 THB) at Yang's.

from Bangkok to Koh Tao

17:30 - After a cheap but very tasty early supper in an Indian restaurant (50 THB/person), we check out of the guesthouse and hail a taxi. The driver does not want to do the ride by meter and demands 100 THB! Maybe because it's rush hour, maybe because we're there with all our bags and need a ride now. Anyways we cough up the money. It's not worth the hassle of arguing about it.

18:30 - We arrive at the station in good time. The train is already waiting and we're allowed to board immediately. Departure however is delayed half an hour for some unknown reason. It's a no smoking train, which is pretty cool.

21:00 - Bed time. The seats are converted into comfortable beds, with pillow, sheet and blanket. Sleep is cut up in short naps, as I'm worried about missing my stop at 04:00.

04:55 - Arrival in Chumporn. No need to be nervous. Somebody actually comes by to tell you your stop is next. And the train actually remains in the station quite a while.

06:20 - It's possible to buy ferry tickets (550 THB) right in the train station. And an AC bus brings you to the ferry pier. A 25' ride. At least for the fast catamaran which departs from a pier out of town.

07:10 - The catamaran sails smoothly to Koh Tao in about 2h15 over a flat sea, including a stop at the Nang-Yuan resort.

09:45 - Master Divers is located close to the disembarkation pier on the right side. So I just drop my dive gear there and check out the place they recommend, called "Save bungalows". A stone bungalow up the hill, with fan, private toilet and cold water shower. No view to speak of, but it seems quiet. 400 THB/night, to be paid up front.

Bangkok: Copy bag

I need two cups of coffee to wake up, then head for the railway station (an 8' ride by taxi from the guesthouse, for 40 THB) to buy a train ticket to Chumporn for Marianne (2nd class fan sleeper, 420 THB).

Express river bus from stop #1 to stop #13 (18 THB). With all those travellers, there are plenty of bag and suitcase shops around Khao San road. My dive bag not having survived my last trip to Mexico, I buy myself a 110l Lowe Alpine copy bag for 1100 THB. It's got backpack style shoulder and hip straps, trolley wheels, an extra 10l zip-on city backpack and even a fanny pack... An unresistable offer. Probably too good to be true, but it's worth a try. Let's see now if it can handle the weight I'm lugging around. The test starts tonight as I finally head south towards Koh Tao!

Bangkok: A bit of sightseeing

River bus from stop #2 to stop #13 (11 THB). From where we head for Khao San road, the world's most famous traveller's hangout. And it's as busy as ever, besides having expanded quite a lot to neighbouring streets over the last 10 years.

After lunch we walk towards the Royal Palace, but just before getting there we get intercepted by a friendly young Thai man, who says we won't be allowed in in shorts and suggests some other interesting places to see. He even arranges for a trustworthy and at 40 THB very reasonably priced yellow-blue government tuktuk to do the tour. Smells fishy? Maybe, but we go for it anyway. First stop: a big sitting buddha in a very nicely decorated temple. A monk is teaching some students. Another one is meditating.


Second stop: a tailor. To please the driver because he gets a gasoline voucher for every tourist he brings in. Third stop: a TAT office. If we stay more than 5' he gets another gasoline voucher. We aren't too interested, but give in. The tourist office is 100% a travel booking office with no information whatsoever. The agent knows we don't want to be there. We're loosing our time. He's loosing his. We last 1'. The driver is disappointed. Fourth stop: a very tall standing buddha. When we get back to the street, our tuktuk is gone... He's not getting any commissions with us as we're not buying anything. So he's probably off to find some better clients. We don't really mind. It's only a short walk anyway to Khao San road and the river bus pier.

Bangkok: Day 3

02:00 - I can't sleep. So I drink some water, eat some fruit, chat via sms, do some exercices...

03:00 - Still awake.

10:30 - I wake up with a start by a knock on the door. It's the cleaning maid. I guess I fell asleep at some point... Bio-ritme is a powerfull thing. And it looks like my bio-clock just refuses to accept reality, stubbornly sticking to its own time, pretending the world is wrong and it is right. Two time zone shifts in short succession must have upset it.

11:00 - Metered taxi to Pantip plaza (65 THB), a rather chaotic hardware & electronics mall. Green curry brunch at one of the point-and-pay-with-voucher food stalls (30 THB). Sweaty walk to MBK, a huge multi-level mega shopping complex.

14:30 - Just for the fun of it I take a tuktuk back to the guesthouse (60 THB). But to be honest, a taxi is probably cheaper, less hassle and more comfortable. The driver of course offered to take me to a special massage place.

17:30 - Arrival at the guesthouse of Marianne, Bjarne & Annedorte.

Bangkok: Day 2

09:00 - While I had trouble staying awake yesterday, I just couldn't fall asleep last night... and then barely managed to get out of bed this morning. That's jetlag for you.

10:15 - 25' walk to Hua Lam Phong, Bangkok's railway station, where, in the advance booking office, for 600 THB, I bought a 2nd class AC sleeper ticket for the night train to Chumphon (leaving Friday 07/04 at 19:15 and arriving the next day at 03:58). Fruit stall vendors sell bags of freshly cut up jackfruit (20 THB for 300gr) and pineapple (10 THB).

14:30 - Another stroll around.

19:30 - Buffet dinner in the guesthouse (150 THB). Though I'm not that hungry, the food is so tasty it revs up my appetite: the fried rice with shrimps is excellent, the sweet & sour sauce delicious and the chicken wings are just yummy.

Bangkok: Day 1

05:30 - It's still dark outside when the Thai airways jumbo touches down after a short 9,5 hours flight. But by the time I get stamped in by immigration, have picked up my heavy bag and have walked through customs the sun is already shining brightly.

06:15 - Outside the airport terminal I grab a taxi -read: a cab driver grabs me- and give him the address of the New Road Guest House. Despite a big sticker on the window proclaiming 'We speak english' the driver only speaks Thai. It being pretty early, there's barely any traffic, and we make it to Charoen Krung road in less than half an hour. After which the driver slows down so I can look out for a sign of the guest house... which amazingly enough I do spot! (fare: 360 THB, incl. the 60 THB toll way fee)

07:00 - The guest house being owned by Jysk rejsebureau, it's basically a hang-out for Danish travellers. I've gotten the key to a basic fan room, with private Danish style hot water shower & toilet 2-in-1 and minibar fridge (370 THB for one or two persons/night). Not having slept at all on the plane I allow myself a short nap.

10:30 - I finally manage to get up. All groggy, my brain just refusing to boot up. As I step out of the air conditioned guesthouse, Bangkok's humid warmth hits me full force, like walking into a wall. This is so great! The street's bustling now. It's a short 8' stroll to the Robinson mall where I do some shopping for toiletries and have an almost milkless iced cafe latte at Black Canyon Coffee (65 THB) and a spicy porc salad (65 THB). Luckily the waiter advised me to order it 'little spicy', so it only came with a handfull of red hot chillies. On the way back a tuktuk driver offers me a one hour city tour for only 40 THB. But I decline. It's probably a commisioned shopping scam anyway.

14:00 - Getting my e-fix for today. It only costs 1 THB per minute to get plugged right into the WWW from the guesthouse's terminals.

16:00 - Afternoon walk along Charoen Krung road, which seems to be the street for jewelry vendors (silver & gems), and down some of the side streets, one of which leads to the Chao Phraya river.

19:00 - Dinner in the guesthouse: rice with chili basil chicken (70 THB). That's the second time today I forget I'm in Thailand and that the chilies here are live! Result: burning lips.

---

Visum
Belgian citizens automatically get a four week visum upon entry. For longer stays a visum must be requested beforehand. In Copenhagen, a two month visum can be obtained from the Thai embassy within a week. Besides your passport you must bring two pictures, a copy of your Danish residence permit & travel documents, fill in an application, and pay 175 DKK.

Time
Bangkok time = Copenhagen summer time + 5 hours.

Weather
Air temperature's around 35°C, very humid with occasional tropical showers. Water temperature is a balmy 29°C.

Currency
1 Euro = 46 THB , 1 USD = 37 THB

Repacked

Not having the same allowance as for Mexico, I had to re-evaluate my packing list and managed to drop 10kg. Resulting in an 8kg city backpack and a 25kg gear bag.

Yucatan, Mexico, March 2006

In March 1997, when I first stepped off the bus in a sleepy little town known as Tulum, I knew nothing about Yucatan's hidden underworld.

But as soon as I did, I was spellbound and remained until September 1998, working as a dive instructor and cavern guide for Aktun dive center, to earn my keep and be able to submerge into darkness as often as possible.

Ever since, Mexico for me is Tulum, its endless beach and its sacred cenotes. I can still feel the blazing Caribbean sun, see the Mayas going about their business, taste the fajitas, caldo de pollo, mole, quesadillas, guacamole, frijoles, naranjadas, dos equis, ...

I can still hear the stillness of the caves. And whenever I remember, I want to gear up, strap on some double tanks, route the long hose, check the primary light & back-ups, clip on some reels, jump in a cenote's refreshing waters, perform a bubble check, tie-off, do some jumps & close some gaps, dive through restrictions, turn around according to the rule of thirds, and experience the always magnificent return to the blessing of light...


Despite all these fond memories, or maybe exactly because of them, it took more than five years before I returned for a short two weeks holiday. Tulum by then had finally awakened and lost its drowsy charm. Tourism had arrived. But, while relatively popular above ground, its underworld luckily remained unvisited by most, a privilege for the few that dare leave the daylight behind.

After that short re-reconnaissance trip in April 2004 I knew I had to go back for more...

travel blog

TillyTec HID 35 underwater light

I met Tilly at Boot 2006. He's one of the original men behind Green Force. Until he went his way and formed his own company. TillyTec's modular lights are fully compatible with Green Force's components.

Disappointed by Green Force's misinformation and lack of improved models, and having some reservations about their HID lights, Tilly had no trouble convincing me to try out one of his new power lights.


⊕ Modularity & expandability. Not to mention compatibility with my Green Force set-up, i.e. umbilical cable & Flexi II battery pack.

⊕ Power: with an output equivalent to a 125W halogen bulb, this High Intensity Discharge light shines very brightly indeed (5500°K).

⊕ Burn time: combined with my Green Force Flexi II NiMh battery, TillyTec's HID 35 burns for about 90'. Coupled with a TT 3 battery pack, it can shine for up to 200': enough for long exploration dives.

⊕ Robustness is a critical requirement when cave or wreck diving. Luckily this light head is build so as to withstand some rough treatment. Meaning the bulb shouldn't burst just because you bump or dump it. And supposedly it will even keep burning should the light head get flooded for some reason.

⊕ Great light for technical diving purposes.

⊕ A HID bulb's lifetime is primarily measured in number of times one can power it on & off. With an expected 2000 switches, this one should last for a while.

∅ HIDs have a warm-up & cool-down delay, meaning they can't just be switched on & off at will.

∅ It is not possible to dim the light's output, nor change the beam's angle from spot to flood. Remark that while you can slightly adjust the beam's focus while underwater, it's not really recommended to do so, due to the risk of flooding should any dirt have lodged itself on the lens's o-ring.

⊕ You can choose from two reflectors and two glass types depending on your lighting needs. The standard light head comes with a 10° reflector and clear glass lens providing a nicely focused beam.

⊕ For use with my digital camera, I also bought an 80° flood reflector and frosted glass lens, in order to reduce, if not avoid, any hotspot. The frosted glass spreads out the light more evenly, further increasing the flood reflector's beam angle to about 100°, thereby however also reducing its intensity. Note that while adequate, this solution's not quite optimal yet for videography. Compared to a dedicated video light head though, it's a very affordable alternative.

⊕ A Goodman handle is available as optional accessory, and highly recommended for e.g. cave or wreck diving, where having one's hands free for other tasks may be crucial.

Hvar, Croatia, September 2005

Adriatic cavern & wreck diving.

trip blog

Croatia - info sheet

Visum	A valid passport is required.
Transport	• Charter flight from Copenhagen to Split: 2½h. • Bus transfer from Split airport to Split city: ½h • Fast ferry from Split harbor to Stari Grad: ¾h • Bus transfer from Stari Grad to Hvar town: ½h
Time	Croatian time = Danish time
Weather	Air temperature: 25-30°C. Sunny except for the last two days. Water temperature: 20-23°C.
Currency	1 Euro = 7,35 Kuna
Language	English, besides German & Italian, is spoken by most - at least in the tourist places.

Dive safari to Brac & Solta

It takes about two hours to cross from Hvar to Brac on the spacious but rather slow boat, loaded with twelve divers, and after a short translated breefing upon arrival, we’re pretty eager to get wet.

The water's 23°C fresh as I giant-step into it from the stern of the boat, but several short swims the previous days have somewhat prepared me and my snugly fitting 6+4mm rental suit does an excellent thermal insulation job.

Barely 3m deep two relatively small holes in the slightly sloping bottom allow easy one-diver-at-a-time access to a vast dome-like cavern. As usual, you can't see anything upon entry, as the eyes need time to adjust from bright daylight to twilight, but then, slowly, the cavern takes shape as its encrusted walls start looming out of the dark.

We’re supposed to spiral down and up along the walls, but my elderly Austrian buddy just keeps dropping down all the way until he hits the floor, after which he just stays there on his knees, silt bellowing around him. The cavern's also known as the church, so maybe he feels like praying. Luckily for him, right below the entrance holes, a mount of rubble rises up from the bottom at 42m to about a not-that-deep 25m. After a questioning look at the guide, we both drop towards the mesmerized diver. He doesn't seem to recognize the guide however, nor does he react to the guide's signals. So I firmly grab him by the arm, establish eye contact, and signal him to stick by my side and follow me. Which, surprisingly enough, he does for the remainder of the dive. Though in a rather trance-like state.

Supposedly there's some stalactites on one side of the cavern and a few stalagmites down below. But as there are several inexperienced divers in the group and the water being rather murky below 25m, the guide wisely chooses not to go that deep.

The cavern's large enough that two groups can dive it without really being aware of each other. Below us, several big tuna fish endlessly keep circling the cavern, but otherwise there's not really much to see and the whole experience only takes 35'.

After boarding the boat, the captain takes us to the next dive site, about one hour away near Solta island, this time for a wreck dive on a sunken fishing boat.

The water's noticeably cooler here, about 20°C. But it's a nice wooden wreck, lying between 18-22m, about 15-20m long I'd say, leaning slightly to one side, with some super-structure still remaining and giving it character. Too bad I don't have my camera with me as there's some neat wide-angle shots to be taken.

There's not too much fish life here either and the one nudibranch I notice, clinging on a rope, is lost the next moment in the tumult caused by a bunch of Polish divers, apparently not caring too much about marine life. The bottom though seems to be covered with sea cucumbers.


After the second dive it takes us a rather long three hours to sail back to Hvar.

Nautica dive center

Nautica is a Polish dive center located right below the Sirena hotel. Most of their customers being -you'll never guess- Polish, only a few of the staff actually speak English. The service is adequate, but you're expected to take care of your own gear & yourself. That includes making sure you've got another tank on board the boat for the second dive!


The dive season runs from May to September.


Prices
• 15 Euro for a mandatory Croatian dive permit (valid one year)
• 25 Euro/dive (tank, weights, boat-ride to nearby site & guide)
• 15 Euro/day for full gear rental (Technisub mask, Mares full-foot-fins, Eques 6+4mm suit, Scubapro jacket & regulator)
• plus 35 Euro to join a dive safari to Brac & Solta (1 cavern + 1 wreck dive)
• plus 40 Euro to join a dive safari to Vis (2 wreck dives)

Hvar

Hvar is a nice little coastal town that attracts both charter tourists and super-yacht owners. Overlooking the town and harbour is an old restaurated fortress offering some great views. It's a fairly easy walk up. The entrance fee is 10 Kuna.


There's plenty of restaurants to choose from (e.g. Pape, Junior, Paradise garden, Macondo), most of them serving decent seafood.

Prices vary from 20 Kuna for a sandwich & 40-60 Kuna for a pizza or spaghetti to 120 Kuna for a fish plate. And at 15-20 Kuna for 1/2l of good Croatian beer or about 30 Kuna for 1/2l of decent Croatian white wine, you won't leave thursty. To seal the meal, many restaurants offer a glass of grappa on the house. A can of Coca-Cola costs about 5,25 Kuna in a supermarket. Tap water is potable (= free).


Sirena, our communist era hotel, is located in a perfect little bay, just a 30' stroll from town.

Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2005

Looking for critters specialized in remaining strangely invisible.

travel blog

Indonesia - info sheet

Visum	A visum is required for Belgian citizens! And there's a departure tax of 75000 Rp. In Copenhagen, a one month visum can be obtained from the Indonesian embassy within 2 weeks. Besides your passport you must bring two pictures, a copy of your travel documents, fill in an application, and pay 350 DKK.
Transport	• Flight from Copenhagen to Frankfurt: 80' • Flight from Frankfurt to Singapore: 12h • Flight from Singapore to Manado: 3½h • Taxi from Manado airport to Manado city: ½h. • Boat transfer from Manado harbour to Bunaken: 25'
Time	N-Sulawesi time = Copenhagen summer time + 6 hours
Weather	Air temperature: 30°C. Often overcast with some downpours every couple of days. Water temperature: 28°C.
Currency	1 USD = 9000 Rp (Indonesian Rupiah)
Language	English is spoken by some.

Singapore

It's a 45' ride from Murex Manado to the airport. Followed by a 3,5 hours flight to Singapore. The airport's left-luggage charges about 5 SGD/bag/day. Not cheap, but very convenient. The MRT to Bugis takes about half an hour or so. We've got 24h to shop, before continuing our journey back to reality.

After previously having tried trendy Japanese conveyor-belt sushi (3-6 SGD/plate) and popular food court Chinese noodles, we now choose for a no-nonsense dinner served on banana leaves in an Indian eatery (4,5 SGD).

From Little India to China Town only takes 5', thanks to Singapore's speedy MRT. Most of the smaller stores are closed on Sunday, but not the big shopping centers like Sim-Lim Square, Funan Digital-Life Mall or Raffles Shopping Arcade. In Singapore, to shop is to be. And with the bargains to be done here, it's hard to resist the urge to acquire a few things just to confirm your existence. In my case: Arena & Speedo swimming trunks (35 SGD/piece), 'Shadow divers' by Robert Kurson (20 SGD), 'An essential guide to digital underwater photography' by Michael Aw (25 SGD) and a pair of Merrel walking shoes (50 SGD). I managed not to buy an ultra-portable Sony Vaio laptop (3700 SGD) for writing my reports while on the go, a Suunto Mosquito dive computer (500 SGD) as back-up for my Vyper, and a lot of other things.

Before you know it, time's up, and you've got to head back. From City Hall to Changi airport, 45' by MRT (1,5 SGD).

Murex dive resort outside Manado

While aboard the Liburan, a headline in a dive magazine jumped out at me: 'Betlehem, better than Lembeh'. Betlehem being pretty near to Manado, we decide to leave Bangka a day earlier, to check it out.

From Bangka we're first transferred to the mainland, stepping off the boat onto the black sand beach of a small fishermen's settlement. Our pick-up arrives soon afterwards and drives us to Murex's dive resort just outside of Manado. A long 1,5 hour ride, through the city's maze of lanes. Once there we're given a nice bungalow with a remarkable sense of privacy, thanks to lush vegetation and cascading water, creating a double wall of green & white noise.


The next day we're on our way to Betlehem. Hoping to see a rhinopia scorpionfish. But they're here no more. Still, it's an enjoyable muck dive with four seahorses, a weedy spider crab, some anemone crabs, several nudibranchs, a line of sharp looking razorfish and a school of small barracudas.

Murex dive resort on Bangka

On our way from Lembeh to Bangka, a pod of dolphins graces us with their presence, effortlessly riding the ship's bow wave, before veering off to go somersaulting in the stern waves. The crossing only takes a slow 2 hours, after which the Liburan drops us at Murex's small resort, where we accommodate ourselves in one of the spacious sea view bungalows. Our guide here is Kennedy, who does his best to keep all the tourists satisfied. The food's excellent and for once there's no noise disturbing the peace.

The diving here is mainly around pinnacles overgrown with soft corals or along sloping walls. Currents can be pretty strong depending on the tide. Making it totally impossible for me to photograph the tiniest seahorse I've ever seen. Actually, it being only a couple of mm tall, I can't even say I had a good look. Not a dive goes by without at least one frogfish being spotted. Considering they pretend not to be there for a living, it must seriously undermine their self-confidence to constantly be in the center of divers' attention.

Dedi had some problems with his ears, so I left my eardrops on the Liburan. Only to get hit a couple of days later by a double ear infection myself. Despite preventive action. Luckily some Dutch divers staying in the resort had some eardrops I could use. But I still had to stay dry for three long days. I guess there must have been something nasty in the water, because three other tourists also had ear problems during our stay on Bangka.


My favourite site here is actually located on the mainland. A 15' crossing from Bangka, Paradise Pier is first class muck diving with more critters per square meter than I've ever seen. The pier is heaven for all kinds of creatures, from refuge seeking juvenile batfish to hidden daemons waiting in ambush for innocent souls. Hot springs keep the water temperature comfortably warm. An ideal playground for photographers indeed. But beware where you put your hands!


A sea fan is home to several wonderful harlequin ghost pipefish. At some point four of them even posed together. With sunlight in their back they almost seem to have a halo. A beautifully colored frogfish, inspired maybe by the pipefish's typical head down position, tries hard to keep his precarious upside-down position between a sponge's arms. Among paradise's rubble you can find devil scorpionfish and false stonefish, moody cuttlefish and small seasnakes looking for some morsel. Nudibranchs are all over too, should you run out of usual subjects.


Surrounding the pier are three different habitats: seagrass, sandslope and coralreef. There I saw green pipefish, baby frogfish, small stingrays darting out of the sand, a whole colony of frantic hingebeak shrimps and even a hovering army of ghost shrimps...

Liburan live-aboard in Lembeh strait

For 150000 Rp, Ron arranges a boat to bring us back to Manado, as there's no public crossings on Sundays. It's a rainy boat drive, together with some islanders going to the big city for some shopping. At the mooring quay, Mr Anky is waiting for us, and brings us to Bitung, N-Sulawesi's main harbour city and the Liburan's home base. A 1,5 hour drive. After settling the payment, we're then brought to the Liburan, a basic live-aboard that will be our floating home for the next week. The crew gives us a cordial welcome, taking care of everything as we settle in. Dive gear is set up immediately, as they fully expect us to go diving straight away. We don't object.


The Liburan can supposedly take up to eight passengers, besides a crew of at least six. However, as it happens to be, we're the only ones to have booked this trip. So we've got the whole ship for ourselves, and the full attention of the very friendly crew. A real luxury. Now, I can't imagine eight divers on this rather small ship, as even six would be crowded. The crew's the most professional I've ever seen in Indonesia, working together efficiently as a team, to make our stay as pleasant & comfortable as possible. Rudi, the German owner, isn't there, but Ferry, the captain, and Dedi, the dive guide, make sure everything goes smoothly.


After lunch and a small siesta, we're ready for our first dive. The site: Aer Prang. 70' later we surface, after having seen a small blue-ringed* octopus, a rare golden-orange* giant mantis shrimp, a fingered dragonet, a big stone fish dug out of the sand by Dedi, a seahorse, a black crinoid squat* lobster and various nudibranchs. Without a doubt one of the most fantastic intro dives I've ever had. Now this is what I call muck diving extraordinaire! Am I glad I just acquired a digital UW camera, allowing me to shoot and shoot without concern of running out of film.


Lembeh strait is not that long actually, and there's absolutely no need to be on a live-aboard. All the dive sites are within a short boat ride of the resorts here. But make sure that they have a 'maximum 4 divers per guide' policy. Especially if you're into photography. In our case it couldn't have been more perfect, with Dedi as our personal guide. For a trip like this to be successful, the guide's the one who has to deliver. He's got to find the critters. Knowing where to look is one thing, seeing is another. Especially in Lembeh, where what you see is not always what it seems. On the strait's mainland side, the sloping bottom mainly consists of black lava sand. Here's where incredible critters roam and hide in full sight. Pretending to be sponges, weed or sand. You could spend a whole dive without seeing any of them but for the guide's gift of detection.

I spent about 3,5 hours underwater every day, doing 18 dives in all, seeing at least one (for me) new critter on 14 of those. I've marked them with an * in this report. It's truly amazing actually. Normally I'm happy to see just one new creature on a whole trip.


After our wonderful first dive, Dedi kept us thrilled with more of nature's amazing creatures: Giant, painted, warty, hispid* & white-striped hairy* frogfish; a yellow* shortfin lionfish; devil, leaf & ambon* scorpionfish; false, reef & estuary* stonefish; cockatoo & longspine* waspfish; velvetfish*; pink & yellow* pygmy seahorses; various kinds of hippocampus; a winged* pipefish and two robust* ghost pipefish; a pair of scrambling seamoths; a mimic* octopus quickly floundering into its hideout in the sand; cuttlefish; blue, black & yellow ribbon eels, snake eels and several moray eels; longnose*, bubble-coral, cleaner, anemone, emperor & mantis shrimp; hermit, box, boxer, anemone, decorator, whip coral & soft coral crabs; tiny pink squat* lobsters on a sponge; cockatoo* flounder; flying gurnard; mandarinfish* romancing at dusk; coral & banggai cardinalfish; a small bamboo* shark; stingrays; tiger & egg cowries; electric* clams; lots of nudibranchs and a polyclad flatworm.


This list is by no means complete, but it should give you an idea. Besides being a magnet for critters, the strait's sandy slopes are also a kindergarden for various fish species. One thing we did not see, is the rhinopia scorpionfish. Next time maybe.

On the Lembeh island side of the strait, corals are more abundant, with plenty of soft corals and sponges, should you get bored with the black sand. There's even a wreck or two.

M.C. homestay & dive center on Bunaken

As agreed beforehand, Ron, the Dutch manager of M.C. DiveBunaken picks us up behind the Celebes hotel at 10am, for a free 25' boat ride to his homestay on Bunaken, right beside the village, facing mainland Sulawesi. At 9 Euro pp/night, including three meals, it's a bargain. The food is excellent. Even though we had fish and rice twice a day, for most of the week, I never got tired of it. Coffee, tea and water are free of charge. With even a big 19l water bottle in the bungalow for our convenience.


The bungalows are basic, with an Indonesian style mandi and a small terrace. They're a bit too dark for my taste, but OK. All the front row bungalows are being renovated at the moment. There's no power during the day, but at night the homestay is connected to the village's generator. The village's proximity is a bit of a nuisance due to the noise from the public addressing system in the evenings and mornings. Imagine a woman rallying people to donate for a new church or house for the priest, every evening, again & again. And religious pop songs at 5am... Interesting local customs indeed.

Two boat dives cost 35 Euro (including, I think, equipment). There's a 7 nights (room+meals), 10 boat dives and 1 night dive package for 210 Euro. Visitors must pay a 150000 Rp Marine Park fee, valid for one calendar year. Jimmy, one of the two dive guides, is friendly, but doesn't speak much English.


The wall dives around Bunaken are relaxed and nice, with quite a few soft corals and big barrel sponges. Fish life is abundant especially at reef corners, but don't expect anything bigger than an occasional napoleon or a turtle. With a bit of luck though, you might spot an eagle ray passing by or a reef shark down below. And if you're really really lucky, as was a Vietnamese girl during our stay here, a juvenile whale shark might cruise in from the blue for a closer look!


The wreck between Manado and Bunaken is definitely worth a dive. Especially for wide-angle photography. With a maximum depth of about 39m, it's a bit deep, but it allows some nice swim throughs.

Manado

Only a short flight away from Singapore, but a whole other world. There are no trolleys in the arrival hall. Besides it being only a short stroll to the outside, they would cause too many jobless porters. After having checked our options, we take a taxi, for 50000 Rp, from the airport to the Celebes Hotel, a slow 30' minute ride due to some traffic jam.

The Celebes is perfectly located close to the harbour, right where the small boats moor and depart for Bunaken. The basic room, at 50000 Rp for two, including undrinkable coffee and a toast for breakfast, is just four walls around a bed, but we don't need more. It's just for one transit night anyway.

Having nothing else to do, we walk around town. Checking out some supermarkets & malls. They're quite something actually. Besides the AC being rather chilly when entering from the sweaty streets, you almost get blasted off your feet by the noise level of the public announcements and music. I mean, it's just impossible to think, let alone talk, while in there. But Indonesians seem to like it. The louder the better.

A Coca-Cola can costs about 3000 Rp, as does a 1,5l bottle of water. You can get a basic meal in a street side eatery for 6000 Rp.

Sea&Sea DX8000G underwater camera

Though branded as a Sea&Sea underwater camera, it's actually an eight megapixels Ricoh Caplio GX8 digital compact camera in a polycarbonate Sea&Sea underwater housing.

At time of purchase, this camera was the best solution considering my requirements: a very compact underwater set-up both with wide angle and macro capability, at least 5MP, no shutter-lag to worry about, a maximum depth rating greater than 40m and an affordable price tag.


⊕ Sea&Sea's housing perfectly envelops Ricoh's GX8 compact camera, and allows easy access to all its functions.

⊕ Very compact package. I want to be able to take the camera into caves & inside wrecks, so the smaller it is, the better. Besides, with my dive gear already taking up most of my travel weight allowance, I just can't afford an extra case with bulky camera equipment. Another advantage is that the DX8000G's small size allows for some great shot angles from 'dirt'-level.

⊕ The 0.6x wide angle conversion lens, which can be put on or taken off underwater, turns the already wide 28mm* into a very wide 17mm* lens (* focal lengths are 35mm film camera equivalents). Perfect for pictures of large subjects - when they dare come close, underwater sceneries or wrecks.

∅ Zoom range. With a 3x optical zoom lens going from 28mm* wide angle to 85mm* portrait, I can take both diver pictures (without having to back off too far) and super-macro shots of pretty tiny subjects (as close as 1cm with wide angle or 10cm with tele lens).

⊗ Zooming badly affects image quality, making it quasi useless.

⊕ Maximum depth rating of -55m.

⊕ Auto-focus. What a great feature after the manual guessing with Sea&Sea's analogue Motor Marine II EX.

∅ The camera does have some trouble auto-focussing in low light low contrast situations. There is however also a manual-focus option, but I haven't bothered yet to try it out.

⊗ Lacking optical image stabilization, a.k.a. anti-shake, it's hard, though not impossible, to get sharp pictures in super-macro mode due to hand shake, body movement or restless subjects. You really need to be able to stabilize yourself (e.g. with a stick). Plenty of light of course helps too.

⊕ Instant feedback! Allowing for corrective measures on the spot when necessary.

∅ Rather small 1.8" LCD.

⊕ MMC or SD memory cards up to 1GB. I kind of like the fact that I can use these multi-purpose memory card formats, in stead of the more brand specific ones like xD, compact flash, memory stick, etc. I use Sandisk SD Ultra II (512MB) & Extreme III (1GB) cards, good for about 150 & 300 photos respectively, in JPEG format at maximum resolution (3264x2448 pixels).

⊗ Internal memory of only 26MB. A joke really. But as far as I know, this is the case with most digital cameras, e.g. none really have any useful internal memory.

⊕ Almost unlimited number of exposures, with adequate memory-card & fully loaded batteries. No longer limited to 36 film exposures, this gives me the freedom to try again and again with various settings & angles, allowing me to experiment & try things out (without it costing anything).

⊕ Image quality is arguably not quite the same as with film cameras. The original JPEGs often have a certain flatness, missing the vibrant quality & depth of celluloid. However, with adequate editing software a lot can be done :o)

→ underwater snapshots taken while shark diving in the Bahamas

∅ Rather poor low-light performance. Due to the small 1/1.8" CCD sensor, using ISO values above 100 immediately results in very grainy images.

⊗ While it's really great to be able to take AVI video-clips at 30fps, the maximum resolution of only 320x240 pixels is sub-standard.

⊗ Lighting issue: I did not buy an external strobe for this camera, because I don't like the fiber-optic cable slave-mode solution. In my opinion, it drains camera batteries for nothing besides slowing down the camera too much - as it takes several seconds to reload the built-in flash, during which the camera is out-of-action. In stead I've tried to use my dive torches:

• Green Force's TriStar Diamond (less than 30W halogen equivalent), with its three little LEDs, doesn't quite come close to providing the necessary light for macro shots, but using it may help afterwards during post-processing to restore some of the reds.

• TillyTec's HID 35 (125W halogen equivalent) with flood reflector, in conjunction with TillyTec's LED 1000 (100W halogen equivalent) with diffuser, provided just enough light for an underwater video project in Mexico's cenotes. In the total darkness of the fresh water caves, photography however still wasn't practically feasible with this camera.

⊕ Battery type: Two universally available AA cells (alkaline or rechargeable), custom-made high capacity rechargeable battery or AC adapter. So far I've used:

− Rechargeable AA NiMH cells from Sanyo (1.2 V, 2300 & 2500 mAh). While kind of satisfied with their performance (good for about 100 shots w/o flash), they completely self-discharge within a week and totally give up after about a year's moderate usage.

+ Rechargeable AA NiMH cells from Ansmann (1.2 V, max-e 2100 mAh). These provide enough power for my camera to be almost always on, even on 2h long dives! Remarkably better than my supposedly more powerful, but unreliable, self-draining Sanyo cells.

⊗ Battery indicator: Consisting of only 3 rather imprecise levels (3/3, 2/3 & 1/3), the battery indicator isn't of much use, except as a very rough & unreliable estimate.

Singapore

Singapore's hot & humid. 6 hours ahead of Copenhagen. 1 USD = 1,6 SGD. 1 Euro = 2 SGD. It's probably the cleanest city in the world. And Singapore's pretty efficient mass rapid transportation system, MRT for short, brings you anywhere in no time. Especially with an EZ-link card, getting in & out of the subway is a breeze. Or you can walk. The center's not that big actually.

If you need to find a specific road, street or bridge, check out this pretty cool city map of Singapore. Good old unfoldable city maps are available for free in the airport (among other places) and pretty handy once you're out on the street trying to find a particular place, be it a street, mall or subway station. Street names are well-posted at each intersection to help you around.

We're staying at a backpackers place called the Inn Crowd. They've got mainly dorm beds, but also some double rooms at 48 SGD/night, including basic make-it-yourself breakfast. It's located in Bugis, Little India, close to Sim-Lim Square, a big shopping mall full of all kinds of electronics.

However, the Adelphi's my primary target, as that's where Singapore's Sea&Sea dealer is housed. And I'm lucky. The DX8000G, Sea&Sea's latest UW digital compact camera, has just arrived. Replacing the less than a year old DX5000G. It being brand new, I can't get a special discount, but the promotional price is a pretty good deal. And I do get 3% off for paying cash. After that I can relax. I got what I came for. Besides the camera & housing, I also bought a 0.6x Wide Angle Lens, rechargeable batteries, and a couple of SanDisk Ultra II 512MB SD memory cards (90 SGD/piece).

A Coca-Cola can costs about 1,2 SGD, as does a 1,5l bottle of water. You can have a nice meal for 5-10 SGD.

Flight #1 cancelled, #2 delayed, #3 missed

Summer vacation means busy airports. So we make sure to be there in good time. There being no check-in queue, we find ourselves in Copenhagen airport's departure hall way too early to have a gate assigned. So we just stroll around while waiting for a gate. Waiting for a gate in fact till 17:10 our planned departure time. At which point we're finally told that Maersk has cancelled its flight to Frankfurt. No reason given. We're just redirected to a service desk, where they're not quite prepared to face a whole flight of stranded passengers demanding a solution. However, all other direct flights to Frankfurt are fully booked. But they assure us they'll get us there no matter how nor when.

In our case that means we're rerouted to Prague first, at 18:25, on a SAS flight, stuffed in the tail end between the MD80's two engines. That's a very noisy place. But hey, we're flying. And with a bit of luck we should make it to Frankfurt, even though only half an hour before our flight to Singapore. We've been told to go for it, change terminals as quickly as possible and run for the gate upon arrival in Frankfurt. And just forget about our luggage...

In Prague's rather provincial airport, there's no personnel at our supposed departure gate. 20:35, our planned departure time, comes and goes without any information whatsoever. Until at 20:50 we're being told that our flight will be leaving at 22:00. Meaning there's no way we can make the Singapore flight. We've been told repeatedly that all subsequent flights to Singapore are fully booked. The little hope we'd left, now totally evaporates. At last we're on our way to a city we no longer have any reason to go to. It's 23:30 when Czech air drops us in Frankfurt's deserted airport. Our luggage is actually waiting for us by the time we make it to the belt. But it's too late to get anything done. All airline offices being closed, we head for the airport's Sheraton hotel, only to find out that there's some international football match in town and not a single room's available. However, one of the clerks knows about a small family run hotel only 5' from the airport, at 140 Euro for a double room, half the Sheraton's price. A bargain we sure hope to get paid back. A bit later a friendly Turkish looking man picks us up and cramps us in his old Mercedes together with another traveler. It's hot and humid as we drive through the night to the Taubengrund hotel. It could be any town, almost anywhere. The room's decent enough, and after a quick shower I just crash into bed.

Next morning, as we have breakfast in the Mediterranean looking dining room, Marianne calls Singapore airlines. What was just totally impossible yesterday, is no problem at all today. We can fly at 12:35! With our luggage. Once again we have a holiday, thanks to Singapore airlines' helpful attitude. We're given a ride back to the airport, where check-in is a breeze, making it all real. The flight is on time, we've got decent seats, with private view-when-you-want movie displays, the food's pretty good and we even land on time. Only 12 hours later than originally scheduled.