Pohatu – Flea Bay Marine Reserve
If there is just a minion of truth in this story it is inexplicable and may help explain why we had such an underwhelming experience in Pohatu last week. http://ow.ly/haCFd
Second week scholars’ update:
Another week has passed (or rather, flown by) and with only one week to go in Fiji we have all been busy completing the various formal requirements of the Divemaster course. We are all also completing 5 specialties being Deep Dive, Navigation, Search and Recovery, Night Diving and Peak Performance Buoyancy which each require multiple dives and some specialty book work and with only 5 diving days left (allowing for an 18 hour stand down before flying back to NZ) we have upped the tempo to get the job done.
For every dive one of us is the designated Divemaster Trainer who takes the group (including paying customers) through a detailed dive brief about the site to be dived and then that Divermaster Trainer is responsible for conducting and leading the dive. The pressure to ensure an enjoyable dive and to return to the boat has been intense and our instructors have not held back in criticising our techniques, especially when we don’t make it back to the boat – a baptism of fire!
Today we undertook two dives, one at a site called “Circus” which no one on the boat had dived before! We conducted a navigation exercise which involved navigating a reciprocal heading and a square using a compass and counting kick cycles. During the exercise Ollie and Suzy (an open water student) had their square interrupted by a reef shark crossing their path as the rest of the group followed it. The second dive this morning was at a site called “Cleavage” aptly named due to its alluring crack between two pinnacles. Craig led the group through a cave that turned into a swim through.
Our skills are being honed and our techniques improved with every dive – something which has come in handy when navigating swim-throughs and passageways. Tonight is our first night dive on the Island and we excited to be exploring the “Hoff” in the dark – Knight Rider styles!
See our photo of the gang cooling off in the Safari Lodge Jacuzzi (aka the BCD wash-out tub) after this morning’s dive. http://ow.ly/ha6WA
Woohoo! Congratulations Dive HQ Scholars! Well Done!!! Fiji update from Matt, Craig, Kim and Ollie:
Over the last couple of days we have completed deep dive, search and recovery and rescue scenarios and the all important Divemaster exam. You can congratulate us because we all passed which we are all very pleased about and got rewarded by a half-hour massage and a field trip to the local Rakiraki town centre for a spot of shopping and some liquid supp…See more — at Nananu-I-Ra, Fiji.
Kim, Matt, Craig and Ollie Fiji update:
After a late night arrival at Safari Lodge to a warm welcome from our host and instructors, we were all really excited about the next 3 weeks…
Great first day diving at Safari Lodge, Fiji (www.safarilodge.com.fj). Heaps of coral, 29 degree water and heaps of marine life! Gear check dive for the first dive out was at the dive site, “Disney Land”. Fifty minutes at 22m with 20m vis was an ideal start to the DM trip. The weather was fantastic, and we were all keen to get out – excited to be diving through the coral crevices. A short boat trip took us to the first dive site. Once in the water, the temperature was 29 degrees – a massive contrast to what we were all used to back home! With such good vis the coral, crevices and fish life were captivating!
With gear check dive done we headed to the second dive site, “Playground”. The four of us and instructor dropped down the canyon, with Ollie and Kim trailing behind the others, all of a sudden an eruption of bubbles “BOOM”. Kim was thinking “is this a test” switching into rescue mode she quickly offered her octi and turned Ollie’s tank off. Unfortunately that ended the dive for Kim and Ollie which was just kicking off! It was later discovered that a dodgy o-ring had ruptured. As we are currently studying the PADI Rescue Diver certification it seemed quite relevant to have some underwater dramas.
This morning the team experienced their first 400m timed swim in preparation for the test later on in the course. A tough challenge it will be. Another beautiful day in paradise here at Safari Lodge, Fiji (www.facebook.com/pages/Safari-Lodge). We are all excited about a search and recovery dive for some boat ladders lost in last month’s cyclone Evan!
Will keep you posted. — at Safari Lodge Fiji
Dive HQ Christchurch 