Diving-Club@Billabong

Diving Group 5 – Zaain, Shafra and Zuha.

On April 5^th, at 7:30 am, a group of three Billabong students and two Billabong teachers met in Hulhumale´s terminal to take the speed boat and then taxi that would leave us, 45 minutes later, at Into Scuba Diving Centre. Since early in the morning the calm currents and good weather promised a good diving trip which was indeed far from disappointing.

After spending some minutes at the diving school and getting all the necessary equipment for the trip, there was an unexpected delay at the terminal as the boat was around 30 minutes late so, following Zuha´s impulse to remove the visible garbage on the water, the three students and I jumped into the water where Zaain also swam for the first time and Zuha did her first free-dive ever.

On the speedboat towards Hulhumale.

Ready to go to Bandos.

Zuha jumping into the water. She removed one full plastic bag of garbage.

All four of us going back to the boat.

Because all three students had diving experience, this time we decided to try a different area and headed towards Bandos. For Zuha (Grade 10), this represented her fourth dive while for Shafra and Zaain (Grade 11) their second.

Going to Bandos was a good idea, the visibility was really good and during the first minutes we all saw a black tip shark, then a lobster and later on (for the second time in a row) a school of blue stripe snappers that allowed us to swim very closely next to them. At the end of our 54-minute dive, Zuha managed to remove her mask and put it back on while still underwater; this is a very useful skill which I´m glad to see Billabong students master quickly.

On our way to Bandos.

Getting ready to jump into the water.

Also getting ready to jump into the water.

Zaain diving for the second time.

Shafra diving for the second time.

A lobster in Bandos.

Zaain in Bandos.

Blue stripe snappers (again).

A closer look at the snappers.

Looking at the snappers.

Shafra in Bandos.

When it seemed that the activities were over, the Divemaster in charge of the trip agreed on taking a detour to Kuda Bandos where we did some snorkeling and free-diving. After several minutes of trying and practicing, all three students managed to free-dive, enjoyed some more underwater viewing and saw a shy octopus.

Not only was this an excellent day to spend in the water, but it turned out to be one that Zaain, Shafra and Zuha used to greatly improve their swimming, free-diving and diving skills.