One one things

The five of us returned to Hikkaduwa the following Saturday at the crack of dawn. We opted to stay in Hikkaduwa itself this time, setting up camp at International before heading to the dive centre for the 9am start. It had rained buckets in Colombo the last couple days and it had been the same story in the South. The first thing that struck me as we got there was the lack of ppl. Last weekend the dive station was almost full - something was amiss this time. All morning chaps had been talking about poor visibility and generally sub-optimal conditions. We didn’t take much notice - the first two dives were such a pleasant experience it couldn’t possibly be as bad as they made out. We started the day with the final confined water dive, simulating running out of air scenarios, regulator malfunctions and compass navigation among other exercises. This time Manu joined us as well to speed up the process so we were done having used up only a fourth of our oxygen. It was time for open water.

Before we set off Somay had a long discussion with Raina and basically said not to go to Sandfield since conditions would be pretty bad. Raina and Manu figured we’ll give it a shot anyway so we set off. On the boat they kept emphasizing to us the importance of sticking together since visibility would at best be around 5m. The water was very choppy and it was quite tough getting the boat out of the reef. We came to a halt at Sandfield and Sarath threw out the anchor. The water was nowhere near as clear as last time - and the waves kept rocking the boat making me feel mildly ill. We jumped in fully kitted and had to struggle to avoid getting bashed against the boat by the waves. Having settled together near the anchor line we began our descent, Manu leading the way, A behind her and I was next. The water was awful and I could only just see A in front of me and Manu in front of her - I didn’t even bother looking up because I couldn’t see anyone above me. We kept descending and the water got murkier and murkier - after about a minute I could not see past my own arms and was relying entirely on my grip of the anchor line. It was impossible to stay in one place as the water kept throwing me around. I kept lowering myself along the anchor - barely able to distinguish A’s silhouette in front of me as it became pitch black. I thought the light was blocked by the boat being directly above us and for a moment I felt mildly claustrophobic. But I maintained my grip on the anchor line and Manu had come between A and I and I felt comforted by her presence. In reality the drop in visibility had nothing to do with the boat but just the terrible conditions at that depth - later Manu said it was like night diving without illumination. I was worried about A bc she really struggles when she can’t see the bottom - but she seemed to be reasonably calm at the time. Finally my feet hit the ground and I could feel the chain attached to the anchor in my hand - I didn’t know if this was a good thing or not and at one point I almost let go - much to Manu’s horror. Things deteriorated and soon everything became a daze, I was completely disoriented due to the absolute lack of visibility and the constant flux of the water. I had no idea what was happening and just kept breathing and holding the anchor line. I still had not seen any others besides A and Manu - I had no idea if they had aborted the dive already. I really didn’t see any other option. Eventually Manu gave the signal to A and I that we’re aborting - thumbs up, time for ascent.

We got to the surface relieved - I was finally able to think clearly and act on my own accord, it was incredibly liberating to be in control of myself again. Looking back it’s amazing the extent to which depths can disorientate you - I had absolutely no control over myself when I was at the bottom, my senses were completely compromised and the only thing I could do was to breathe, try to stay calm and follow the instructor. I guess if I was on my own I’d have just gone back to the surface in a normal ascent. After the spectacular dives of last weekend, this was a dramatic crash landing. We got back on the boat - slightly shocked but in good enough humour to try again. We decided to try a different dive spot at Hikkaduwa Gala. When we reached the new spot the visibility from the boat was better than it was from Sandfield so we decided to go ahead. We had just enough oxygen in the tank to last about half an hour so we didn’t waste any time on lessons at the bottom.

Hikkaduwa Gala was much deeper than Sandfield at about 18m - the descent took longer, and while visibility was nowhere near the previous week, it was much better than the aborted morning dive. The currents were a lot stronger than on our previous dives so it was an effort getting through some of the valleys formed between the underwater rocks. Within a few minutes I settled down and began to enjoy the dive. Hikkaduwa Gala was nice - the geography was quite interesting, far more rocky and plenty of stunning fish again. I saw a beautiful green star fish and lots of much bigger schools than we had seen earlier. Within a few minutes the disaster at Sandfield was out of my head and I was loving it all over again - and these were still sub-optimal conditions. We had dived 18.7m this time so Raina wanted to do a safety stop 5m below the surface where we’d hover for 3 mins. As we ascended the visibility improved and at 5m it was absolutely stunning. There were scores of fish of all manner of colours busily tending the large rock next to us - it felt like day 1 all over again, beautiful. I got back to the surface faster than I should have - but I didn’t even notice it bc I felt I was in line with everyone else when all of a sudden I was at the surface while the rest took a good 25 seconds to join me. As we were heading back to shore Manu said that the conditions in Sandfield that morning were the worst she’d ever experienced and that they were extremely happy how we’d maintained composure in the circumstances. Pat on the back chaps.

That afternoon we were due to have our final theory lessons on the dive tables followed by the big one - final exam. We needed a hefty lunch at Refresh to recover from the morning adventure and to prepare for the afternoon’s work. By 2 pm we were so full we all but headed out to Top Secret to put a nap, but eventually dragged ourselves back to the dive centre for the final push. The last theory stuff was all about nitrogen build up with depth - nitrogen narcosis and the bends. The theory itself is quite simple - and what is more relevant is the dive table and how to calculate times between dives based on depth/length of dive etc. While it looks a bit complicated at first glance it only requires basic mathematical and reasoning skills. We did several calculations for practice and then it was time for the final PADI exam. 50 MCQs, covering all the theory we’d looked at over the past 4 days. You need 75% to pass - ie. 38/50. It was far from rocket science - and with only a couple of tricky questions most of us got over 90%. We did it, we had all but completed the PADI course, just one more open water dive the next morning and we’d be licensed. We celebrated in style that night. Dinner and wine at Spaghetti & co, G&Ts at Why Not (plus some drunken table tennis) all topped off with some silliness at Mambos. A great day, a great night.

Thankfully there was no hangover the next morning and we were at the dive centre by 9am. There were no more lessons or exercises so it was straight to the boat. Unfortunately the water hadn’t improved significantly over the last 18 hours or so. Following the rains of the previous week things were still sketchy due to the mixing of fresh water closer to the shore. This time we went straight to Hikkaduwa Gala which is much further away than Sandfield, a good ten mins by boat. The water was proper choppy and this time I felt really seasick. I kept trying to focus on the land but it didn’t work, I had a bad feeling I’d throw up at some stage. We got to Hikkaduwa Gala and as the boat stopped I felt as bad as I’d felt all day. Sarath saw my face and told me to get in the water as soon as possible. I quickly kitted up and went to the edge of the boat. Just as I stuck the regulator in my mouth the first taste of dry air was too much for me and I threw up a mouthful of the Milo I had drunk earlier. Tough - jump in. I felt much better in the water - and while the dive was much like the previous day, it was somewhat less satisfying in that there were less fish to be seen. I didn’t feel in great form throughout and kept looking at my pressure hoping we’d finish soon. Nonetheless I saw some nice stuff, specially a huge purple Boraluwa. After 45 mins we were done, it was bitter sweet for me, I wanted to get back to shore bc I wasn’t feeling great, but I knew it would be my last dive for at least 2 weeks. As soon as we got back on the boat and removed gear, I threw up furiously over the boat’s side. I didn’t feel any better till just before we reached shore we saw a massive Green Turtle swim by - it was easily the biggest I had ever seen. He followed alongside the boat all along the shallow water. But by the time we got out of the boat he had made his way back to the open water.

After 5 days, 4 open water dives, 3 confined water dives, 3 theory tests, one final exam, some amazing dives in perfect visibility, scores of fish in colours beyond description, one disastrous dive in zero visibility, sea turtles, eels and experiences to cherish forever, we were licensed scuba divers. After lunch we had a small tea party for the crew and for Raina, Manu and Somay - they were fabulous teachers and made the whole experience an absolute joy. I’m glad they’ll be in Hikkaduwa till April so I’ll get to see them again - in fact I think I’ll do that this weekend.

I woke up on independence morning with a dodgy throat and a few sniffles. I shrugged it off - nothing a bit of coffee and fresh air can’t cure. The others hadn’t woken up and there was half an hour to kill before the dive so I padded down to the Zimmer, still in sarong. Tilak was away but I enjoyed a fresh cup of Kandyan coffee and played with the pups till S came by and we eventually made our way back to Hikkaduwa. We were to start the day with a quick video screening followed by our second open water dive after a quick on-shore briefing by Raina. It felt like we were learning really fast - which was good in that we could progress quickly but at the same time I was concerned about retention. But so far so good. The 2nd dive was all about the unconventional - getting equipped in the water, secondary breathing and so on. The reports from morning divers suggested that the water was good but not as great as the previous day. Sarath brought the boat to shore and we were ready to go - again the starting point would be Sandfield but we were going to go on a different dive path this time.

The nerves of the first time had all but disappeared, the circumstances were also different - we were to jump into the water with only the wet suit, fins and mask on. Soon as we were in the water the crew chucked in the BCD and oxygen tank into the water - we had to kit up in the water. It looked complicated when Raina did it but it was quite easy in the end. Then followed the weights which were a bit trickier bc if it slipped out of grip it would go all the way down. As it turned out there were no problems, we were good to go down. I had a few problems equalising this time and felt myself struggling to go down smoothly. Theory lessons kicked in - if there’s difficulty equalising go back up a bit and try again. Eventually it worked and I was able to get to the bottom without any pain or discomfort. We began the dive with a few exercises including octopus breathing - which is basically breathing out of your buddy’s secondary oxygen supply in case you run out of air, buoyancy exercises, mask removal and so on. After about 15 mins we were ready to go exploring. As expected visibility wasn’t quite like the previous day but it was still good at around 10m. Again there were loads of fish and I felt I was able to take more of the surroundings in since I was more used to the circumstances and procedures. Equalising happened almost automatically, the buddies were synchronized better - everything was a lot smoother, allowing us to pay more attention to the fish and other marine life.

The highlight of the dive was the “cave”. When Raina said we’ll try the cave I expected a long dark tunnel - but it turned out to be quite small and you could see the end from the beginning. Nonetheless it appeared challenging to control buoyancy such that you don’t go crashing into surrounding rocks and the roof of the cave. The whole buoyancy thing remains a bit of a mystery to me - it seems to happen very naturally for me simply by controlling the air in my lungs which requires no concerted effort on my part. But as Somay said on our return, buoyancy is the most important factor and if buoyancy can’t be controlled you can never dive properly. Maybe it becomes more complex with greater depth. We went through the cave one at a time, led by Raina. It was a breeze, and though the cave itself had nothing to write home about, coming out of the cave was fabulous. There were loads of fish on the outer roof of the cave and the bubbles were pretty cool. It’s as if the whole rock is breathing and the bubbles expand slowly as the air in them increase in volume as they ascend - much like the air in our lungs if we were to ascend too fast. We played around with the bubbles for a few minutes, intoxicated, watching them burst on our masks and catching them in our hands (after missing them several times due to the difficulty in judging distance underwater bc of refraction). One of the things I love about being underwater is the way things happen so slowly - everything has its own pace, it’s calming, peaceful and almost meditative. The inability to recognize and name fish continued to frustrate me - I needed to invest in a book of some sorts. When we finished the dive I felt a bit nauseous - probably due to the dehydration caused by the dry air being inhaled combined with a touch of sea sickness. The first weekend of diving had come to a close - four days of anticipation till we returned.

Reads the first entry in my dive log book. We began day 2 with another video presentation and a theory lesson looking at more underwater communication, standard descent and ascent practices and more safety procedures. This took up much of the morning and after a lunch of roti and fried rice we were set for our first open water dive. That morning all the divers returned to shore with glowing reviews. “Perfect conditions man, 25m visibility, no jokes.” It sounded auspicious. This time we had to sort out the equipment on our own, and somehow everything came very naturally - BCD over oxygen tank, regulator in place, check oxygen, check BCD inflation and deflation, weights, fins, spit in goggles - good to go. Again nervous energy filled my body as Raina sat us down for our first dive briefing. We were put into buddy teams to look out for one another, for communication and for emergency procedures - I was with G and S and the two girls were together. Final buddy check before getting on the boat - BWRAF - BCD, Weights, Release, Air, Final check - OK. Raina suggested we remember it with the mnemonic - Burger With Relish And Fries. We got on the boat, wet suits half on, everything else piled into the boat.

The Sandfield is just a few minutes boat ride away from the shore. When in the surf spot in Hikkaduwa you’d probably have noticed the rocks on the far right - Sandfield is just there. It was a great spot for a first dive bc it’s shallow and sandy. Looking out of the boat the water was so clear you could almost see the bottom - turquoise beauty. Finally the boat came to a halt and Sarath yelled out for the anchor to be dropped. We were ready and quietly began to kit up - serious mode again. Raina gave us a final briefing - it was quite simple; maximum depth would be around 12m, we stick together, watch out for your buddy, follow signals - first descend down the anchor rope, equalize and meet at the bottom. Raina dived in first and one by one we followed. I knew what to do, it was all very simple but I was nervous as hell - and I think everyone could see it. I was penultimate in and I stumbled towards the end of the boat held by one of the guys. I stood on the edge while Sarath checked my equip one last time - he told me to hold my mask to my face using three fingers of my right hand and to hold the regulator to my mouth using the other two fingers. Left hand holding the BCD inflator. “Baya nathuwa paninna” he said. I waited. I wanted to compose myself and be ready. Everything stopped. “Kalabala wenna epa.” Instinct took over and I felt calm somewhere deep inside. I took a deep breath from my regulator and extended my right foot out and let myself go. Eyes closed but yet wide open.

The water felt great even through the wet suit - quickly inflated my BCD, signalled to the boat that I was ok having achieved neutral buoyancy. I was afloat and breathing fine so I switched to snorkel to save oxygen. I swam on my back towards the rest of the crew who had assembled near the anchor line. Raina checked we were all ok - gave us a couple of minutes to feel comfortable in the water and he put the thumbs down sign - we were going down. Regulators on, hands on rope - deflate BCD. From that moment you enter a different world. The water was crystal clear and I could see the two girls in front of me and the two guys behind me when I looked up. I was a bit worried about my ears and my congestion - but luckily equalisation wasn’t a problem at all. The descent was smooth - I took deep long breaths and in a minute or so my feet hit the sand. Soon everyone was on the sea bed - we sat down in a circle. M was playing with the sand, I felt calm, happy, excited, exhilarated; no longer nervous. Raina went around the asking in sign language if everyone is ok - index and thumb forming a circle, and the other three fingers upright. And we were off, Raina leading the way. The next 45 minutes were among the best of my life - just thinking about it makes me smile, gives me gooseflesh and butterflies in my stomach. Just 12m beneath the surface of the ocean lies a different world and we were going to take a peak.

A different world really is the only way to describe it - I can only imagine what it would have looked like when the corals were alive - we asked Somay (who’s been diving for 40 years) and he just smiled nostalgically and looked beyond us towards the horizon and said “magey es deka hithanna bari tharam pin karala thiyanawa mata dakinna labuna ewa gana hithana kota.” The visibility was amazing - it was beautifully clear. There were scores of fish of just the most spectacular colours; they were all doing their own thing - nibbling on the rocks, swimming with intent, going places in orderly schools, not a care in the world. It was a privilege just to be amongst them - to be a part of their world for a special 45 mins. It was frustrating not being able to as yet name and recognize every fish we saw. But the few I did know were the Angel Fish, Parrot Fish, Sweet lips (Boraluwa) a few small Groupers. There was a cute lobster who kept going back and forth from the crevice in his rock home. The final highlight was a large eel whose name now eludes me. Every single one of those 45 minutes was remarkable to me - even though they felt like 15 mins - it was almost too much for me to take in in one go - I don’t think I registered in my mind even half of what I saw. I was simply awestruck. We swam around the rocks and returned to where we started - I have no idea how Raina found his way around bc I had absolutely no bearings under water - I barely have bearings on the surface. The only indication I got that the dive was coming to a close was when I checked my pressure gauge which read 50 - almost red and time to head back up. My buddy G’s pressure was less than 50 and he was a bit worried but by then we were ready to ascend. We gathered around in a circle again and Raina gave us the thumbs up. Slowly swim up releasing the expanding air from the BCD - right hand up for protection. The water gets warmer as you reach the surface and finally you bobble up on the surface of the water - inflate BCD. All 6 of us were up. Everyone removed their masks - giving way to grins of naked joy and excitement. We stumbled back on to the boat and could barely contain our emotions, describing what we saw and our own experiences - from the corner of my eye I could see Raina smiling at us from the side.

We were done for the day so we drove back to Unawatuna - tired but delighted. We spent a short while in the sea watching the most spectacular of sunsets, relaxing and telling our friends about our experiences and re-living them all over again. We had a couple of drinks at Lucky Tuna where Ricky came over for a chat. “Don’t you wish you had my life man? I work here during season and during off-season I travel - Thailand, Germany, France, Philippines - the works. Tell me the truth man, if you could, you’d do this, no?” I smiled and nodded. If only I had the courage. He was going to Germany in April to stay with one of his girlfriends. “My friend, the white girls, they like our dark skin. What can I do my friend?” he grins and walks back to serve up a Lucky Tuna Special Arrack Sour. After a solid dinner at Happy Banana we headed back to Shangri-la to be greeted by loud hip-hop music and about 20 ppl in our garden. wtf? There was a youngish bunch of fellows who seemed to have come down (up) from Aussie and had got set for what is now known as a Johnny party - for want of a stereo proper, a car stereo is tuned up full blast and the doors are opened - let there be dance. They had also set up a BBQ. If this wasn’t dubious enough there were two of the buggers halfway into our fridge. I was all set to have a go at them when G comes out of the shower and says “They’re alrite buggers men” and explained how they’d come in earlier and said that a few extra chaps had come over and asked if its ok to have a small do. Decent enough to ask is good enough for us. They earned more brownie points by asking us to join them and then giving us food. Good buggers. We proceeded to have our own fun with a shisha bong and Unawatuna’s finest.

I’m sitting at departures in Indira Gandhi airport as a write this, reminiscing about last weekend which seems so agonizingly far away right now. Getting my scuba license has been on the agenda for a long time and finally last weekend the plunge was taken. As usual it was G and I who first confirmed, with up to 6 others tentatively expressing interest. We had decided upon either Hikkaduwa or Unawatuna as the best bets. Unawatuna was naturally preferable since it’s infinitely more palatable to stay there. Unfortunately the chaps at the Unawatuna dive centre asked for something like 45 grand (down for 50) for the course so we settled on the Hikkaduwa International Dive centre who initially said 35 but a friend of ours knows Somay so he brought it down to 32, if we could muster up 5 fellows - manageable. We recruited 3 others in due course - A and two of G’s workmates. The course would take something like 4-5 days so we needed to set aside 2 weekends - and the independence long weekend would be the perfect start. We had to be at the dive station for 9.30am, which meant leaving colombo by latest 7 after a late night of BBQ and cocktails at a friend’s.

We got there by 9, nervous energy building as we watched the divers preparing for a morning dive. There was so much equipment around and everything looked really complicated, I had no idea if i’d manage to figure everything out. Bad news as one of G’s workmates gave a rope last minute. Luckily M, who along with 3 other friends of ours had tagged along for the ride, decided on a whim to take the course as well. Brilliant. After what seemed like an eternity the boat took the divers away for their morning dive and we were introduced to our instructor. Somay runs the place but the classes are handled by an Austrian couple - Raina and Manuela. Raina was handling our bunch so we were first led to the pool to see basic swimming skills. The course consists of 2 confined water dives and 5 open water dives along with 5 theory sessions and one final exam. We started with the first theory lesson and it was pretty easy - basic physics and common sense gets you through the concepts of depth and its effects on water/air pressure, bouyancy - followed by a video on equipment management. The video and theory discussion was followed by a 10 question quiz - it felt like school all over again.

After lunch we had our first confined water session. This is usually done in a pool but we were to have ours in the shallow sea within the reef. The first challenge was kitting up. We were shown how to connect up the BCD to the oxygen tank and the latter to the regulator. It was a bit of a daze bc there seemed like so much stuff to remember. Eventually the gear was in order and tested. Next was getting into the wetsuit, fitting on weights, masks, fins and figuring out how to walk in them. But by far the toughest part was walking the 50m of hot sand from the dive centre to the sea weighed down by a ton of equipment in a boiling suit. Once we got into the water it felt much better - though wading in fins wasn’t much fun. Finally the moment came (on hindsight its hardly a moment) where we deflated the BCDs and sank to the bottom. Even though it was just about 5 feet deep it felt completely different to be breathing underwater and seeing clearly everything around you. At first you have to concentrate hard to breathe properly but soon the cool feeling of oxygen in your mouth is reassuring and I relaxed and began to enjoy myself. We did a few exercises underwater - testing breathing, basic buoyancy skills and a couple of underwater simulations. It was great fun and after a few minutes I felt completely at home underwater - breathing through my mouth, learning not to hold my breath, ever. One of the nicest parts is the sign language. Obviously voice communication is impossible underwater so all communication is through sign language - there’s a sign for everything, including “there’s a fucking shark behind me.” I was in Delhi yesterday for a meeting and several times I caught myself using diving signs, specially the ok sign, instead of normal communication.

Raina is a fantastic instructor - everything he does underwater is so methodical and measured, it has an automatically calming influence. I didn’t even feel the hour we spent underwater. Even though we didn’t do any diving as such, besides a bit of underwater swimming to check buoyancy, the whole experience was surreal for me - a few fish swam by creating thrills that would pale into insignificance compared to what lay ahead on day 2. I came out of the water feeling exhilarated and thrilled to have embarked on this course. After cleaning equipment and clearing stuff away we called it a day at about 5. It was time to head to Unawatuna (we decided to stay there and avoid the Colombo invasion for the long weekend to Hikkaduwa). The Zimmer was full again so we stayed this time at Shangri-la, a quite fabulous old house all to ourselves for 6k a night. A pretty good deal since we had about 9 chaps in total. I like the places slightly inland in Unawatuna like the Czech House and Shangri-la since they feel like up-country or wildlife bungalows rather than beachside rooms - and yet they are just a couple of steps from the beach via appropriate short cuts. I really liked the look of Shangri-la - old, potentially creepy with lots of old photos and weird stuffed toys and of course a very sketchy attic. Unfortunately that night we were all pretty exhausted so we crashed pretty early after dinner at Rockview and a couple of Js - we’d need plenty of energy for day 2.