Utila – Week 4, Day 3: The Seafaring Gentleman
UTILA
Week 4
Day 3: The Seafaring Gentleman
December 05, 2022
I woke up ahead of everyone as it was my turn to be a boat manager – yet another task to check off my list. While that might sound complex, it was a fairly easy task.
I had to look at the board, see who’d be on the morning boat and list them down, calculate the number of tanks required on the boat (plus a couple of spares), make sure the boat was set up, then do roll calls and announce the introduction. During the dives, I’d also have to tie the ropes to the buoys – something I had been practicing all along being the seafaring gentleman I am (despite my ever-present knee abrasion making it a Herculean feat).
As if that weren’t enough, I’d also be leading the first dive – a Discover Local Diving (DLD) session. As we had been taught by Darcy, a DLD is a PADI program designed for certified divers who are new to a particular area or haven’t dived in a while. It’s not a course, but rather a supervised orientation dive to help them get comfortable with local conditions. As the lead, apart from guiding them along, I’d also be responsible for the briefing – a short introduction explaining the following:
- Dive site name and topology
- Dive plan
- Pre-dive safety check
- Five-point descent
- Hand signalling
- Gas management
- Five-point ascent
- Emergency situations
- Exiting the water
- Hand signals for fish
I’d also have to throw in a fun fact about the dive site or whatever it is I felt like. Since everyone always mentions that Utila’s reef is part of the second-largest barrier reef in the world, I decided to steal Harry’s fun fact and talk about how butterflyfish mate for life and swim in pairs – meaning, if you see one swimming alone, it’s probably a widow. Sad, but sweet.
David would be supervising my DLD – a good chance to redeem myself after the whole lionfish-hunting fiasco. The brief was flawless, and I already felt quite confident about the whole thing. Except for one thing – finding my way back to the boat. Man, was I nervous about that. Luckily enough, we’d be diving at Black Coral Wall – the same site I had mapped with Adah a few days before. It’d be easy: 21 minutes along the wall one way, 21 minutes back. Simple.
DLD Dive: Widow Fish & Navigation Nerves
Boat set-up – check. Roll call – check. Briefing – check. Up next? The real challenge. As Captain Hoover announced our arrival at Black Coral Wall, I did my best to not crap my wetsuit.
With one giant stride for me and an inconsequential one to mankind, I hopped into the water and braced myself for my first time leading a dive. Hand signal for okay, orientation (Utila, open water, look below), regs in mouths, time (07:19), elevate and descend. Once at the bottom, I noticed Gloria was still on the surface. I asked the group to wait while I ascended and made sure everything was okay. Turns out she was feeling a bit sick, couldn’t equalise, and wanted to abort the dive. I escorted here quickly to the boat and once back at the bottom, I made sure everyone was good to go, before we made our way to the actual wall just below the sand patch.
Here, I needed to find something easily recognisable to help us locate the boat on our way back. There wasn’t much that stood out – just some finger coral that seemed larger than the rest. I knew we might stumble upon a similar patch, which made me nervous, but I had to start the dive anyway. The finger coral would just have to do…
As divemasters, we’re expected to tick a bunch of boxes during DLDs: make sure no one drops below 18 metres, check air levels regularly, assist with problems, turn back at 21 minutes, do a safety stop, and inflate a DSMB at the end. Oh – and show the group cool marine life. That last one was tricky, cause none of the usual fascinating creatures seemed to be around. So I stuck to the ‘usuals’: shrimps, parrotfish, angelfish – the ones we’d all grown used to. I did spot a solitary butterflyfish and made a broken heart gesture, which at least managed to elicit some underwater giggles.
I tried my best not to exceed the 18-metre limit – though, to be fair, I might’ve gone a few feet too deep once or twice. I swam ahead, asking for air levels every five to ten minutes. A couple of times, I realised I was swimming too fast and had to slow down when David signalled me. When we hit 21 minutes, we turned around. I was laser-focused on trying to find that damn coral. We swam and swam. At 22 minutes, I was this close to throwing in the towel and asking David to guide us back. But at 23 minutes, there it was – the promised coral! I turned around, flexed, and struck a macho pose. Victory!
Back on the boat, David gave me the exact feedback I’d expected: to slow down and watch my depth – but overall, he said I did well. I felt so damn proud!
Andreas, Brett, and the Buoyancy Battles
After an uncomplicated dive at Little Bight and a quick lunch, I soon found myself back on the Miss Tamara ready to assist Rachel with the second part of her PADI Open Water course. Excited to see Andreas and Brett on their first Open Water dive (and mildly annoyed at the prospect of spending more time with Corys), I got back on the boat, ready for a few more dives.
We’d be heading to Stingray Point, where they’d practise a few skills on a sand patch before heading for a short fun dive. This time, I was the one struggling. With Andreas lying right in front of a huge coral head, I couldn’t quite kneel next to him. Although my buoyancy had improved, hovering horizontally next to him for about 30 minutes was still a challenge. Once again, I was forced to come to terms that even though I was working to becoming a diving professional, I still had a long way ahead of me. That said, I had already improved dramatically since I had started diving. Also, apart from trying to keep my buoyancy in check while holding Andreas down at the same time, I could also appreciate the school of Atlantic spadefish that visited us – the first I’d ever seen!
After the skills session, we moved on to the fun dive, which was… a bit of a hell dive. As expected, Brett’s buoyancy was all over the place – up and down like a yo-yo – giving me no rest. Meanwhile, Corys had her own drama-free dive and Andreas was doing great – until the very end, when he floated up to the surface during the three-minute safety stop. I had taken my eyes off them for just a second – I’d spotted a pair of squids and was gonna point them out – only to turn back and see Andreas right above me at the surface. Thankfully, a safety stop isn’t even necessary on short dives at shallow depths.
Back on the boat, I helped Andreas and Brett to their seats. Being polite, I extended the same courtesy to Corys – who spun around and, in the sassiest tone imaginable, snapped, “Why are you helping me?” At that moment, she dethroned Danielle the Karaoke Queen and Monkey the Inappropriate Drunk as my least favourite people on the island.
But I didn’t have time to dwell – we were soon off to Bando Beach for the second dive. Here, they practised more skills. During the fun dive, there was already a huge improvement. Corys and I barely had to do anything – by then, Andreas and Brett knew how to inflate and deflate as needed. I was so, so proud – and so, so relaxed. I could actually enjoy my dive and appreciate the sea life – from flounders and garden eels to barracudas and squarrelfish, I did my best to show them as many fish as possible!
Boats, Hoes, & Broken Hearts
Back at Underwater Vision, the day wasn’t over. There was another graduation happening – with Aviv, Madelaine, Harry, Jodie, and Gloria running the show. The theme? Boats and Hoes. Perfect excuse to throw on a bikini again.
As a staff member, I debated whether that’d be unprofessional. But then I remembered – I was a backpacker in Central America. We drink Salva Vida from dawn to dusk, we smoke, we curse, we party, we hook up, we chill, we rave. Everyone does – so what kind of “professionalism” are we really talking about? While back home I’d never even dream of doing such obscene things out in public given what I do for a living, here I could allow myself to be wild and free. I was on holiday after all!
During the graduation ceremony – which always involves a number of tasks, I paid attention to every detail: the questions Noah and Darcy asked, the knots the grads had to tie, the beers they had to chug through snorkels while wearing goggles. I’d be doing all that in a couple of weeks – I needed all the insight I could get!
Being the old man that I am, I skipped the afterparty at Tequila Tuesday and stayed in to write instead – excited for a good night’s sleep after such a long day. My hopes of plentiful REM sleep were dashed into pieces when at around 1 AM, I felt something on my neck. It was Andreas, coming in for a hug and some cuddles. Reeking of alcohol and slurring his speech, he apologised for waking me up and said he wanted to spend the night with me.
If there’s one thing one should know about me it’s that no one messes with my sleep. Let it be known that he did and I didn’t murder him – I get points just for that. I rose above and only kicked him out of my bed.
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
Amelia and I decided we’d travel through Nicaragua together after we finish the divemaster training programme. We’d leave on the 26th of December and head to León, Granada, and finally to the Treehouse Hostel for the NYE rave! Of course, this meant I had to rearrange my itinerary – again.