An opportunity not to be missed
Scuba diving had always been a dream of mine. When I moved to Singapore, the chance to snorkel across beautiful reefs at the nearby islands only reinforced that desire. The opportunity soon presented itself.
While booking a trip back to the UK, my travel agent informed me about a cheap stopover offer in the Maldives. The brochure claimed the island in question was small, the resort new and the snorkelling excellent. A no-brainer!
Somewhere in the Maldives
The island lived up to its promise. It was a narrow strip of sand, with a wider area at one end which could accommodate the restaurant and dive shop. The chalets sat on stilts out over the sea, each connected to the island by a short wooden bridge. For me, the stuff of fantasy holidays.
My wife and I soon realised that, apart from a honeymoon couple we rarely saw, we were the only guests on the island. Which only made it better.
At the dive shop we met Gunther, a charming German, happy to teach us to scuba dive. He hesitated when I asked about PADI certification and sidestepped the issue.
Within minutes Gunther was explaining the basics, such as how to check the gear and use the regulator. In less than an hour we were in the sea, a few yards from the beach, to take our first breaths underwater.
My heart was thumping with excitement. It may sound like nothing, but to lay on the sand and look up through several feet of water – and breathe – was incredible.
In the afternoon, we played with the BCD controls while practising removing and replacing our facemasks under water. Fantastic! I was like a kid with a new toy.
Our first ‘proper’ dive
On the second day, Gunther felt we were ready for our first ‘proper’ dive. We clambered aboard a battered boat and checked our gear. The plan was simple. We and Gunther would jump off the boat next to a reef. Gunther held a line attached to a float. The current would move us along the reef underwater and the boat would follow Gunther’s float.
As we drifted at differing depths, between 20 and 40 feet, we marvelled at the beauty of the wall of coral before us that fell away into the deep blue depths below.
The wall was a bizarre kaleidoscope of colours. It looked like Jackson Pollock had gone nuts with assorted cans of paints, splashing and flicking them across the rocks.
Purples, reds of varying hue, yellows and oranges all vied for our attention. Multi-coloured fish swarmed. It looked artificial. I had seen nothing like it before.
It was a little unnerving to hang above the seemingly bottomless drop, imagining what might be lurking down in the darkness. But what we saw took our mind off the thought of any sea monsters.
All too soon the dive was over.
Oops. You wanted a certificate?
Over the next few days we dived and revelled in the experience. On the last night, we sat down with Gunther to inquire about our certification. And hit a disappointing problem.
Apparently, Gunther was East German and had been highly qualified under the old Communist regime. He knew more about diving than Jacque Cousteau. Or so he said. But he lacked the ability to certify us for PADI, NAUI, SSI or any of the other acronyms I had read about.
His previous clients on the island had all been previously qualified so the problem had never arisen. The brochure correctly claimed they taught scuba, not that they certified newbies. My mistake.
He filled out our dive logs, wrote detailed but barely legible words about what we had done and encouraged us to follow up with lessons in Singapore. There wasn’t much we could do about the situation, so we smiled, bought him a drink and left for home.
Lessons? A formality!
I was still eager. So within hours of landing I found someone able to certify us. This time, I double checked. For an unseemly sum of money, Benny – a Chinese guy with limited English from one of the many swimming clubs – would give us a refresher course. Followed by the PADI test and the much-desired certificate.
After a mere two lessons, Benny claimed he was satisfied with our skills and reckoned we were ready for our test. And payment in full.
At the Singapore Harbour quayside, Benny escorted us onto his dive boat. This was a far better vessel that Gunther’s converted fishing skip. We cruised out to a safe spot in the harbour. In keen anticipation, Lesley and I kitted up, following Benny’s lead.
Benny explained that the test consisted of two parts. First, we would descend to about 20 feet and remove all our kit, mask and tank. Then we would put it all back on. After which, we were to swim 250 yards following a specific compass bearing, and then return to the boat. This would prove our navigation ability.
Scuba diving in coffee
It all sounded easy. Until we jumped in. Singapore Harbour is a busy place, and the seabed is badly churned up. The water is the colour of milky coffee, with visibility about three feet. At best. A far cry from the gorgeous clarity of the Maldives water.
Fortunately, we stayed together and I could just make out Benny’s indistinct shape as we removed and then put back on all our gear. Lesley stood close enough that we occasionally bumped into each other. Benny’s hand appeared out of the gloom to give us the PADI OK sign. He then pointed into the murky depths and shooed us away with his hands.
Lesley and I swam off, following the course he had set. Dutifully, after 250 yards we turned and swam back. Colliding with the anchor line from the boat, I realised our navigation was spot on. Lesley and I surfaced and hung onto the anchor line waiting for Benny to catch up. He did not.
You passed!
After a couple of minutes I heard a noise above us. We swam to the back of the boat and found Benny’s tank and flippers. Perplexed, we clambered out of the water.
Benny sat comfortably in a chair, chugging a Tiger beer.
‘Congratulations! You pass,’ he shouted as he finished his beer.
‘How the hell do you know?’ I spluttered. ‘You didn’t even follow us.’
‘Easy. You come back, you pass. You no come back, you fail. Have a beer.’
What could we do? What would you do? After pausing for a second, I grabbed a beer.
My dream of being a qualified diver had been fulfilled.
Here’s a link to the PADI site but check who you’re dealing with. Each location may be different!
