Scuba and Go

[Matti]

I was hoping to do something around the South China Sea. There are places like Surin, Sipadan, Bali, Puerto Galera, Koh Tao, Phuket, etc.
I'm thinking that there are a few pro-strength players in that part of the world who could be paid a modest fee to teach in the evenings after we dive during the day.

I first read "players like Surin".

[drmwc]

I ended up getting a major neurological bend last year. I was walking my kit up a steep hill after the dive, towards the showers. I'd finished that weekend's diving and was going to rinse off the salt before driving home. Shortly after this, the world started to spin, I couldn't stand, and and I started to vomit. A week in the pot fixed me.

My ascent from the final dive was pretty good - I have about 25cm bouyancy control, and f0r a 6 minute safety stop - my buddy has minute or so of deco to do.

I'm now signed off to dive again, albeit with a 15m depth limit due to a likely PFO (hole in the heart). I need to consider if it's worth getting the hole fixed. The bend was most likely caused by a shunt through the hole due to the walk up the hill.

I suspect my foreign diving will be limited due to difficulty in getting insurance.

[Joaz Banbeck]

...A week in the pot fixed me...

Glad to hear that you are well.

...a likely PFO (hole in the heart). I need to consider if it's worth getting the hole fixed...

Of course you should fix it. You need to live long enough to finish our Malkovich game.

[drmwc]

You know it's your move?

[Joaz Banbeck]

...the south China sea...

My bucket list is getting longer. Now it not only includes diving in Asia, but diving Cocos island off of Ecuador.
One opportunity is this: https://www.scubaboard.com/community/th ... 097/page-3

It need not be that particular boat nor that particular time.
The best diving is from June thru September, when manta rays, whale sharks, and schooling hammerheads can be seen.
http://www.divereport.com/locations/cen ... os-island/

The China option is still open, and now Cocos is too. Anyone else?


PS: The hammerhead schools at Cocos are huge:

hammerhead-sharks-cocos-island.jpg (46.01 KiB) Viewed 15063 times

[EdLee]

The hammerhead schools at Cocos are huge

Do they attack and eat humans, or only smaller fishes ?

[Joaz Banbeck]

The hammerhead schools at Cocos are huge

Do they attack and eat humans, or only smaller fishes ?

There have been 17 documented, unprovoked attacks by hammerhead sharks since 1580 AD. No human fatalities have been recorded.

Great white sharks, by comparison, kill more than four people every year. Cows kill about 22 people per year.

You're safest in the water where the cows can't get you.

[drmwc]

Hammerheads are awesome.

Here is a short extract from one of my Bimini dives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=`

I had a cheeky quarry dive yesterday, to brush off some of the cobwebs.

[Joaz Banbeck]

...
I had a cheeky quarry dive yesterday, to brush off some of the cobwebs.

Does that mean you are able to dive deeper? Did you get the hole fixed?

[drmwc]

I definitely have a PFO. My sign off is one dive a day; 15 metres max; 1 hour max; no deco. The no deco feels a bit redundant given the he other constraints.

I can't get it closed on the NHS. However, my insurance may pay - I am hoping to get it done later this year.

[drmwc]

So, I had heart surgery last month. The timing was lucky, given that non-elective surgery is now being curtailed.

The surgeon plopped a cocktail umbrella into my groin, moved it to the hole in my heart, and opened it there. Once flesh has grown over the device, which can take up to 1 year, I'll have full sign off for scuba again. So foreign diving may be back on the cards, hopefully for when the world is getting back to normal. (I have a trip to St. Kilda booked, which is a few uninhabited lumps of rock mid-Atlantic far off the coast of the Outer Hebrides. The trip is hopefully happening in June, so it would be nice to be signed off before then.)