06 Apr 2008 07:42:37

Daniel Kessler

Afraid to go near the water?

There are some places where I've been to dive that were a little scary... Madagascar - island of Nosy Bé. While diving in the Indian Ocean off the island of Nosy Bé and in between dives ...had a tour of the island...one of the things to see - according to the guide who arranged to afternoon tour of this very beautiful island...was a rathe impressive waterfall of a stream that fell 50/75 feet into a large pool. The idea of taking a dip seemed an inviting prospect -- but then, I had heard that some of the fresh water there might be the home of bilharzia -- schistosomaists -- or snail fever, a disease caused by parastic worms that somehow gets beneath the skin, mostly found in Africa... Salt Water Crocks...and how about diving in the murky waters of mangroves that fring an island, such as Palau? On my 2nd trip to Palau -- arriving too late in the day for the dive, I did ponder going near the water jsut below the Palau Hotel - the water murky around the mangroves, but thought better of the idea. Diving with the Sea Snakes off Marion Reef in the Coral Sea -- After a 27-hour steam on a dive charter, we finally arrived at Marion Reef, which is so far off Australia and you have to look at a map of the world to find it since it doesn't show up on any map of Australia that I've ever seen. Of course, these greenish/blue sea snakes are quite long and very curious about humans, and have a deadly venom -- it is not unusual for a 6-foot denizen to approach you the minute you jump into the water out at Marion. Somehow, they seem more loveable than most snakes --so it is possible to get used to them approaching except when I was all hunkered down photographing some tube worms and had failed to notice one that came right over my shoulder and right up to my face mask - I almost freaked out! I just couldn't help it! Thank God these greenish/blue sea snakes are not like those nasty coral banded onces...I find them even more scary. At another point on Marion, the diver master had arranged a "shark feed" and everything was going well --all of the divers - some very experienced with their cameras were photographing until a huge leviathan, a shark of immense size -- caused all of us to immediately head back to the boat as fast as we could...I don't think it was a "great white" but it was very scary, arching its back and behaving in a very agressive fasion... Fiji...Miles of Viti Levu on the way to Vanua Levu, we stopped the diver charter for a dive -- I couldn't help but notice that the water was "boiling" and when we jumped in...all of us were thrown off guard by huge currents that scattered us everywhere. One of the downward pulling current had some divers at 150 feet before they knew it. Very scary... Maldives - and speaking of strong currents -- I've never expericenced any thing like the strong current carrying water out of a lagoon as I did one time in the Maldives...if you turned your face ever-so-slightly to the side -- you were in danger of the current ripping your face mask off...that's how strong it was. They had a well-known current dive in Palau - but nothing like this. Also, the current one in the Maldvies was a long, long ride. Some time after, I was down in the Bahamas where I dived the so-called "current cut"...and that was puny by comparison and only lasted seconds.

06 Apr 2008 07:50:52

Jer

Re: Afraid to go near the water?

Daniel Kessler wrote: > There are some places where I've been to dive that were a little > scary... >=20 > Madagascar - island of Nosy B=E9. While diving in the Indian Ocean off= > the island of Nosy B=E9 and in between dives ...had a tour of the > island...one of the things to see - according to the guide who arranged= > to afternoon tour of this very beautiful island...was a rathe impressiv= e > waterfall of a stream that fell 50/75 feet into a large pool. The idea= > of taking a dip seemed an inviting prospect -- but then, I had heard > that some of the fresh water there might be the home of bilharzia -- > schistosomaists -- or snail fever, a disease caused by parastic worms > that somehow gets beneath the skin, mostly found in Africa... >=20 > Salt Water Crocks...and how about diving in the murky waters of > mangroves that fring an island, such as Palau? On my 2nd trip to Palau= > -- arriving too late in the day for the dive, I did ponder going near > the water jsut below the Palau Hotel - the water murky around the > mangroves, but thought better of the idea. >=20 > Diving with the Sea Snakes off Marion Reef in the Coral Sea -- After a > 27-hour steam on a dive charter, we finally arrived at Marion Reef, > which is so far off Australia and you have to look at a map of the worl= d > to find it since it doesn't show up on any map of Australia that I've > ever seen. >=20 > Of course, these greenish/blue sea snakes are quite long and very > curious about humans, and have a deadly venom -- it is not unusual for = a > 6-foot denizen to approach you the minute you jump into the water out a= t > Marion. Somehow, they seem more loveable than most snakes --so it is > possible to get used to them approaching except when I was all hunkered= > down photographing some tube worms and had failed to notice one that > came right over my shoulder and right up to my face mask - I almost > freaked out! I just couldn't help it! Thank God these greenish/blue > sea snakes are not like those nasty coral banded onces...I find them > even more scary. >=20 > At another point on Marion, the diver master had arranged a "shark feed= " > and everything was going well --all of the divers - some very > experienced with their cameras were photographing until a huge > leviathan, a shark of immense size -- caused all of us to immediately > head back to the boat as fast as we could...I don't think it was a > "great white" but it was very scary, arching its back and behaving in a= > very agressive fasion... >=20 > Fiji...Miles of Viti Levu on the way to Vanua Levu, we stopped the dive= r > charter for a dive -- I couldn't help but notice that the water was > "boiling" and when we jumped in...all of us were thrown off guard by > huge currents that scattered us everywhere. One of the downward pullin= g > current had some divers at 150 feet before they knew it. Very scary... >=20 > Maldives - and speaking of strong currents -- I've never expericenced > any thing like the strong current carrying water out of a lagoon as I > did one time in the Maldives...if you turned your face ever-so-slightly= > to the side -- you were in danger of the current ripping your face mask= > off...that's how strong it was. They had a well-known current dive in > Palau - but nothing like this. Also, the current one in the Maldvies wa= s > a long, long ride. Some time after, I was down in the Bahamas where I > dived the so-called "current cut"...and that was puny by comparison and= > only lasted seconds. >=20 I can't tell if he's bragging or complaining. --=20 jer email reply - I am not a 'ten'

06 Apr 2008 08:53:07

Greg Mossman

Re: Afraid to go near the water?

On Apr 6, 5:50=A0am, Jer <gd...@airmail.ten > wrote: > > only lasted seconds. > > I can't tell if he's bragging or complaining. When he comes back to accuse you of being jealous, you'll know. Besides, everyone knows that the really strong current dives are in the Tuamotus.