Finally
what we came to Banda for, apart from the cultural delights, the
diving. Our guide from yesterday, Andy, has arranged with his friend
Eddy from the dive shop to take a groupd of us out for a couple of
dives.
Eddy
collected us and our gear at 8.30am and we headed out of the
anchorage and around to the other side of the volcano for a wall
dive. As ever, the more divers there are on a boat, the longer it
takes to get everyone in the water. A new diver had to adjust
weights, someone else had a new suit and had to adjust the lead they
were carrying and one guy had forgotten to bring his weight belt and
was borrowing a kilo here and a kilo there.
We
started the dive minus two who couldn't descend and dropped down the
wall, a vertical all with many gorgonian fans growing a right angles
to collect the maximum passing current and nutrients. Eddy was
looking for pygmy seahorses in the fans but no luck today. There
were some nice fish and colourful sea squirts and a small shrimp on a
whip coral. Our second dive was on the wall and sloping foot of
Karak island at the entrance to the harbour. This time weights
weren't an issue but one unlucky diver had lost their mask over board
on the trip back. The volcanic wall was fun and the shallow coral
garden pretty with some unusual ruby red clown, or Nemo, fish in red
anemones.
Two
good dives today and good company including an English girl called
Nicky who's back packing through the islands on her own. After we'd
finished our diving and had returned to base we invited Nicky to come
aboard for a sundowner. David met her at the steps and brought her
across and she had the royal tour before we sat down with a cold
beer. Her comment on Jackster was 'she's like a Tardis', that is
bigger on the inside than she looks for the outside. Well we do
travel in time and space...
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