Since the Turks & Caicos Islands are a chain of 28+ individual islands, some inhabited, some not, (total land mass of ~240 sq. mi.) we stayed on Providenciales aka “Provo”, which is the capital and most populous city of the British Territory. This location was also the most easily accessible place to stay. Located 575 miles southeast of Miami, the Turks & Caicos Islands are a British Commonwealth Colony that was first populated by the Lucayan or Arawak Indians. 
The diving operation and the crew at Dive Provo (http://www.diveprovo.com/) was just great, they were very laid back, not rushing us, not barking orders at us or talking down at all. It made for a very leisurely first dive. In fact they were all very excited for us and shared our enthusiasm for the beginning of our sport diving career.
My brother and I are growing a bit tired of clinging to the bow rail with enough tenacity to stay put as the boat bounces and pitches across the breakers much like a rag doll. We’ve been watching the yellow mooring buoy on the horizon appear and disappear as the waves tease us with glimpses of our future. It has grown closer and closer to the boat over the last few minutes as Brad and I keep looking at each other and chuckling anxiously (and nervously) as neither of us is sure of what exactly we will experience in the next 30 minutes. We hear the Captain kill the motor as we coast up to the buoy; the dive master (DM) comes to the bow to loop the tie line on the mooring as a soft anchor so we can begin the dive. They weren’t going to start us out on a drift dive, which is certainly for the best.
We suit up in our gear, though no wetsuit for me or brad, only our swim trunks, as the water was nice and warm and felt great…even at 100’ under! Just a little cooler than bathwater! Standing on the stern of the boat with my fins hanging over the edge staring down into the blue was such a harrowing experience! The DM came up behind me and gave me a small shove in a joking way to get me to get off the boat and stop holding up the line of those wanting off the boat that were behind me. I just needed a minute to collect my thoughts before I took the big plunge! Closing my eyes, taking a big breath and holding my mask on my face I jump in and am greeted with that feeling of the instant cold of the water hitting your skin just like you get at the pool. I never like that shiver. That feeling subsides and I pop to the surface to give my OK to the boat captain and then descend with the rest of our group. Getting used to the increased pressure on my ears (due to the weight of the water above my head) was somewhat difficult to get past and when I found out that if you are sick at all or if you drank too much the night before it is much harder to clear/equalize the pressure in your ears. The view once the bubbles flash past the mask reveals another world and the feeling of being above the ‘ground’ like a bird is really second to none. Many of my questions were answered …in the first few seconds…about why so many people love this sport. Watching animal behavior, both between themselves and with you, is very interesting and almost hypnotic at times. I have had to consciously check my air supply when at depth because I just didn’t want to look away from some little fish many a time since this first dive. Swimming leisurely over the reef, it being a few feet under me, as I watch the refracted sunlight hitting the coral and making shadows around the many mini-caves and rock/coral over-hangs where the fish congregate when a predator comes by (or anything large really) was great and very relaxing! Its true that I would later find out that some dives are just physical work, there is nothing relaxing about them, usually due to a strong current, either at the surface and a constant current pushing you from shallow depth to deep depth…ive been in a few of those and they are probably the toughest thing I’ve ever had to handle. It is incredible to feel the energy of the ocean moving against you and to realize that it could be this strong for a long long time….like weeks or more.
So right when I am about to jump in, the captain says “say hi to Elvis when you’re down there”. Turns out that Elvis is the resident Barracuda, clocking in at about 3 feet long with a big mouth of large teeth. I jump in, turn around, look under the boat and there he is, staring right at me. It was awesome! The larger fish, including the Barracuda’s enjoy the shade that the hull of the boat provides as a needed break from the tropical sun. Some may be surprised to know that many fish actually get darker more, vibrant colors as their skin/scales are ‘tanned’ by the sun, much
like our skin. Coloration on a young fish will be more light but as they age and their time in the water-refracted, intensified sun light will change their colors. The Cuda like so many other fish, pass water over their gills by opening and closing their mouth all the time so to some people the teeth look really threatening but in reality the animal is just breathing. They are however very attracted to shiny things so you could become a target if you have a necklace or rings on while underwater; and a small Cuda could take your finger off before you even knew it was missing…their teeth are super sharp! But most usually, they are a lot more scared of you than vice versa. Anywho, it was super cool to see Elvis the massive Cuda.
We also saw, quite unusually, a small reef shark and a sea turtle on that very same dive. The DM would later tell us that he has never seen that much stuff in a single dive ever in his 25 year diving career. What a time we had, but we were told not to think it will always be that way! So many people think a shark will attack them as soon as it sees them, but you are more likely to get struck by lighting twice than attacked by a shark, statistically speaking. All in all a really great first dive and an excellent way to set the stage for our lives in the ocean.
The diving operation and the crew at Dive Provo (http://www.diveprovo.com/) was just great, they were very laid back, not rushing us, not barking orders at us or talking down at all. It made for a very leisurely first dive. In fact they were all very excited for us and shared our enthusiasm for the beginning of our sport diving career.
My brother and I are growing a bit tired of clinging to the bow rail with enough tenacity to stay put as the boat bounces and pitches across the breakers much like a rag doll. We’ve been watching the yellow mooring buoy on the horizon appear and disappear as the waves tease us with glimpses of our future. It has grown closer and closer to the boat over the last few minutes as Brad and I keep looking at each other and chuckling anxiously (and nervously) as neither of us is sure of what exactly we will experience in the next 30 minutes. We hear the Captain kill the motor as we coast up to the buoy; the dive master (DM) comes to the bow to loop the tie line on the mooring as a soft anchor so we can begin the dive. They weren’t going to start us out on a drift dive, which is certainly for the best.
We suit up in our gear, though no wetsuit for me or brad, only our swim trunks, as the water was nice and warm and felt great…even at 100’ under! Just a little cooler than bathwater! Standing on the stern of the boat with my fins hanging over the edge staring down into the blue was such a harrowing experience! The DM came up behind me and gave me a small shove in a joking way to get me to get off the boat and stop holding up the line of those wanting off the boat that were behind me. I just needed a minute to collect my thoughts before I took the big plunge! Closing my eyes, taking a big breath and holding my mask on my face I jump in and am greeted with that feeling of the instant cold of the water hitting your skin just like you get at the pool. I never like that shiver. That feeling subsides and I pop to the surface to give my OK to the boat captain and then descend with the rest of our group. Getting used to the increased pressure on my ears (due to the weight of the water above my head) was somewhat difficult to get past and when I found out that if you are sick at all or if you drank too much the night before it is much harder to clear/equalize the pressure in your ears. The view once the bubbles flash past the mask reveals another world and the feeling of being above the ‘ground’ like a bird is really second to none. Many of my questions were answered …in the first few seconds…about why so many people love this sport. Watching animal behavior, both between themselves and with you, is very interesting and almost hypnotic at times. I have had to consciously check my air supply when at depth because I just didn’t want to look away from some little fish many a time since this first dive. Swimming leisurely over the reef, it being a few feet under me, as I watch the refracted sunlight hitting the coral and making shadows around the many mini-caves and rock/coral over-hangs where the fish congregate when a predator comes by (or anything large really) was great and very relaxing! Its true that I would later find out that some dives are just physical work, there is nothing relaxing about them, usually due to a strong current, either at the surface and a constant current pushing you from shallow depth to deep depth…ive been in a few of those and they are probably the toughest thing I’ve ever had to handle. It is incredible to feel the energy of the ocean moving against you and to realize that it could be this strong for a long long time….like weeks or more.
So right when I am about to jump in, the captain says “say hi to Elvis when you’re down there”. Turns out that Elvis is the resident Barracuda, clocking in at about 3 feet long with a big mouth of large teeth. I jump in, turn around, look under the boat and there he is, staring right at me. It was awesome! The larger fish, including the Barracuda’s enjoy the shade that the hull of the boat provides as a needed break from the tropical sun. Some may be surprised to know that many fish actually get darker more, vibrant colors as their skin/scales are ‘tanned’ by the sun, much
like our skin. Coloration on a young fish will be more light but as they age and their time in the water-refracted, intensified sun light will change their colors. The Cuda like so many other fish, pass water over their gills by opening and closing their mouth all the time so to some people the teeth look really threatening but in reality the animal is just breathing. They are however very attracted to shiny things so you could become a target if you have a necklace or rings on while underwater; and a small Cuda could take your finger off before you even knew it was missing…their teeth are super sharp! But most usually, they are a lot more scared of you than vice versa. Anywho, it was super cool to see Elvis the massive Cuda.We also saw, quite unusually, a small reef shark and a sea turtle on that very same dive. The DM would later tell us that he has never seen that much stuff in a single dive ever in his 25 year diving career. What a time we had, but we were told not to think it will always be that way! So many people think a shark will attack them as soon as it sees them, but you are more likely to get struck by lighting twice than attacked by a shark, statistically speaking. All in all a really great first dive and an excellent way to set the stage for our lives in the ocean.
No comments:
Post a Comment