Swimming with Sharks

I did my first full dive today that wasn't interrupted by Great Whites, jelly fish, or idiot partners. I dove at Rottnest Island just off the Fremantle coast. An early 6 am wake up after the T Swift concert was a little rough. The UWAUC actually comes and picks you up which is amazing. I did three dives for $60 including tanks and boat.

Dive one: Horse Shoe Reef. It is a five km horse shoe shaped reef off of the south coast of Rottnest. I saw tons of lion fish, cray fish, rock lobster, and different looking corals. I lasted 68 minutes on 2800 PSI to 20.3m. They use meters instead of feet and some other measure of PSI which was different.

Proceeded to get super boat sick on the surface interval which is always a pleasant experience. 

Dive two: Cave exploration. There is a set of caves that run below Rottnest Island. My dive partner and I legitimately swam through pitch black caves and saw tons of cray fish, rock lobster, and the odd reef shark. I started to understand why you need a buddy at all times. The cave system could get you turned around and you wouldn't know up from down. I got very good at navigating my way via compass. I lasted 48 minutes on 3100 PSI at a depth of 32.1 m. I know I should have done the deeper dive first but we didn't expect the caves to go that low.

Proceeded to get super boat sick again on the second surface interval. I have to figure out some way to avoid this. Tossing cookies is not the best way to dive.

Dive three: Shark Cove. It is a massive cavern of sharks (reef, great white, grey nosed, and tiger sharks). You legitimately sit on the edge of this cave on your stomach and watch dozens of sharks swim above and around you. I counted eight tiger sharks, three reef sharks, and two grey nosed. The tiger sharks are between 18-20 feet and just look mean. The reef sharks are about 3-4 feet long and are cute baby looking sharks. The grey nosed were a mother and cub who the mother would chase anyone who appeared to move when they did their laps. I lasted 35 minutes on 2700 PSI just because of my nitrogen levels and maybe a little bit of panic.

I recommend diving off that coast for sure. As a uni club, you have to help get the boat out of the water, clean the boat, and park the boat which is a totally different eperience to the professional dive company. In addition, you don't have a dive master on board, you trust your partner to understand the instructions and just explore.

I am exhausted and slept the entire car ride home. I might sleep through dinner as well as it doesn't look appealing.

AFN