My Promo-Mentors Writing Challenge

Where I had most of my memorable experiences

Everyone that knows me or have spoken to me knows that I'm crazy about diving and everything ocean related. I have been diving since I was twelve years old and I have no intention of stopping any time soon. The problem with explaining my diving experiences to people is that they often times do not believe me, especially if it was something seemingly impossible to them.

What I find amazing about diving is the fact that when you dive you are one of a small amount of people that have visited that specific spot and might just be the last one that will ever be there. Another thing that I love is the fact that you never know what you might see, there are always some interesting plants, coral, crustaceans, octopi or fish species lurking around. You experience all this while holding your breath, feeling the rising water pressure as you go deeper and pushing your body further with each dive.

This was drawn especially for this post by my talented friend @mawshul please check out his blog here.

One of my most memorable experiences

I was diving off the rocky shore of Kogel Bay in the Western Cape, it was the perfect day with nice warm, clean and calm water. Almost a day like this:

I was the only diver on the boat, which I usually try and avoid, it is always a better to dive with a dive buddy. This day I just couldn't resist getting in my wet suit to go look for some fish, and was I ever glad I did.

For the first hour or so everything was going great, I got some decent bottom fish and the water was perfect. On one of my later dives, as I descended to the bottom I saw a massive school of Bonitos swimming in my general direction. At first I was a bit confused and tried to make sense of it all (remember, while diving down everything is upside down when you are looking "straight"). When I reached their depth I quickly got myself into the upright position and started assessing the situation. Usually one of two thins happen:

1. When it is a big school they will sometimes swim in your direction, not really phased by your presence.
2. Smallish schools or sometimes the big schools will swim away as soon as they spot you.

Lucky for me it was the first thing that happened, and not only that, the school started swimming in my direction and started circling me.. Imagine that, a school of hundreds of fish each weighing about 4kg (8.8 pound) circling and looking at you inquisitively. They completely engulfed me and in this awe inspiring moment I had to gather my thoughts and remember, I'm here to get food.. After a few seconds of staring and comparing the fish I chose my target, this is harder than it sounds, usually in a large school one are prone to get "fish fever" and just shoot in a random direction. This barely ever works, you have to choose a specific fish, lead them by a bit (the fish are moving quite quickly) and then finally take the shot.

I pulled the trigger, the spear shot out and hit it's target right where I aimed. A split second after I hit it, it sped off taking line from my reel and after quite a fight I finally had my prize on the boat. One of the things that separates spear fishermen from the rest is the fact that it is a more sustainable method of fishing, we can choose the type and quantity of fish that we take.

But the excitement did not end there, while I was diving my father and brothers were fishing off the boat. At that time we have been on anchor in the same spot for quite some time and they had thrown quite a lot of bait in the water over the last hour. When I went down for one of my dives about half way tot the bottom I saw an 2.5 meter shark casually cruising past underneath me. Needless to say I got quite a fright, swam straight up to the boat and jumped back on board, I spent the rest of my day dry and safe on the boat fishing.

Here I am with my catch after a long day at sea:

This was just one of my many exciting experiences while diving. It is and will always be an awesome sport for me, even if I sometimes get a visit from the taxman (sharks).

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