Plonger with Corail Plongee

Took myself for some scuba today.

Conditions were much gentler below than above the water - the boat ride home felt wetter than being underwater had! Big waves splashing over the bow had everyone laughing, some of the laughs may have been nerves not joy.

But!
The boat crew did great and my divemaster, David was fantastic. Good stuff. I didn't have a computer with me (with which I'm fine) but the dive was less than 20M (60ft) depth for about 70 minutes. 2kg of weights w/ a steel 10l tank is too much for a 3mm shorty wetsuit, for me. <- for my reference, y'all can ignore this.

The dive was beautiful with an abundance of interesting fish. My favorites were a school of Hatchet Fish (poisson hachette) inside of a large cave. The way the light sparkled on them was hypnotic and peaceful.

I'm also a big fan of juvenile blue triggerfish, talk about an electric psychedelic "camouflage" pattern! Wow!

Other notables: some cool eels, a school of tiny marine catfish, a friendly puffer, some turtles, many damsels and small grouper. Oh, and two species of lionfish, too.

The corals are, alas, pretty beaten up or beaten down. It's sad after seeing so many fantastic reef-builders in Mayotte... Where I did almost enough snorkelling but maybe I regret not doing a scuba trip, too.

After the dive I enjoyed chatting w/an expat from Michigan (I may have the wrong M state, Sorry!). We swapped some stories and I got some intel on places to visit. It was nice. I really enjoyed being at the shop in general. I don't know what it is about some businesses that make them such a pleasure to visit, but I suspect it has a lot to do with how much the folks there care about what they're doing. Whatever it is, Corail Plongee has it. https://corail-plongee.com/

(Vids or pics from the gopro coming soon... Having technology issues atm)Read more