After Ashley Mills finally made it to Dumaguete for his technical diving class in December, through the Thai airport troubles, he thought the next trip would be easier. Unfortunately he and Sam Peterson were struck again by transport troubles and canceled ferries...but they still managed to get to the bar in time for a few beers, and a chat over what the next week held.
Ash had come back to freshen up his skills and generally enjoy some more tech dives; Sam had come on down to complete his Rescue class with Pedro at Atlantis. Both of them were prepared for a good time, and some social activities as well.
Ash arrived while Mahen[see below] was still in town on his extended trip; and together they were able to go through some scenario dives with 2 deco bottles, and a lot of problem solving to keep them on their toes. Mike T joined the group to help with videoing, have a look at some of the footage of Ash and Mahen going through the motions below.
Scenario dive as a pair. Solve problems as they come at you...in this case lost mask - maintain contact and reference with the line and good buoyancy and trim
Mahen persuaded Ash that the Coconut drift dive at Apo Island was a great one, and they ended up diving that site 3 times during the trip, a big Giant Trevally came by to say hi on all the dives, and there was also the schools of jacks and the great boulders to enjoy as they were whipped past in the current. They guys also dropped on Chapel Deep, Rock Point West at 45m, and the Cogon drift as well...a lot of great tech dives.
Relaxing in the evening gave lots of time for chatting about dive stories, and everyone is now planning to visit Mahen and dive the HMS Hermes! Below you can see us all enjoying the Atlantis beach bar for some after dive drinks and snacks...
Mahen Perera, Mike Taylor, Matt Reed, Ashley Mills, Sam Peterson
Sam decided that everyone needed new personalities and the resulting edit gave us all a good laugh...
The last night was also the excuse to celebrate Ash's 40th birthday which was to come a few days later...Atmosphere resort became the venue for snorkel tests, celebrations, and of course some swimming in their pool by the bar later on in the evening...
When Mahen Perera first contact us about a technical diving course he was planning a 4-6 day trip to complete Advanced Nitrox; or even just improve his skills without gaining any certification. It’s always nice when divers are more concerned about their personal skills than the number of cards they can collect, and Mahen was ready to do whatever he needed to do to get the skills he needed.
Coming from Sri Lanka Mahen has been studying and researching the wreck of the HMS Hermes for a number of years, and after feeling he had mastered his basic diving skills he decided it was time to gain the knowledge and experience to be able to tackle this famous shipwreck.
Mahen Gets to grips with some helicopter turns during the initial part of his training
The four day advanced nitrox and deco procedures class gave Mahen a chance to try out all his shiny new equipment, and he soon found that he was getting comfortable with the new setup. But was he ready for the Hermes? After some experience dives Mahen decided that he had better stay longer and gain more technical diving experience...so add a few more days of fun diving at Apo Island.
Then it became clear that Mahen’s work commitments could be pushed back and give him time to take the trimix class; excellent, now he can remember what he sees when he dives the wreck!
“Hey this is pretty good fun!” Became a common phrase during the post dive relaxation periods and guess what...Mahen decided to stay a bit longer and improve his understanding of dive planning, and deco theory. “Hell, while I’m here let’s do the gas blending course as well”. So one of the rare rainy days saw Matt and Mahen back in the classroom for more maths, and some practical training on how to mix nitrox for his dives.
After a few more days of great dives, and additional scenario dives, Mahen felt ready for the challenge and headed off back to Sri Lanka to catch up on emails and prepare himself to face the mighty Hermes. A total trip of almost 3 weeks meant Mahen left with lots of new friends, who have all been watching his video of the Hermes on Facebook!
Clearly not having had enough of tech diving in the Philippines Mahen is already planning a trip back to join the Triton Tech guys as they explore Malapascua in August, so watch this space for more stories.
Mid May was a busy time in Dumaguete; Priyanta Dharmasena came back to Asia for some more tech diving and to get busy on his Advanced Wreck certification. David Joyce was also back in town as promised after his earlier visit this year.
Pri had trained with Matt in the past and promised to come back for the advanced wreck class...but before getting down and dirty in the wrecks Pri had wisely chosen to spend a few days in Apo island getting back into the swing of things. While David tried to figure out which light he would use on the wreck course, Pri and Matt worked through some skills in the shallow water, and then put those skills in to practice at the great tech diving sites around Apo Island.
The more we dive these sites, the more we see and the more we find...large fans, schoooling fish in the currents, deep walls. Apo really holds some great dives for technical divers of all levels in the Philippines, and at this time of year the visibility was fantastic.
After getting all the basics under control the team jumped on a plane up to Subic Bay, which is one of Asia’s homes to some excellent wrecks for training and a few deeper ones, just for fun.
Starting on the El Capitan, and working their way through the USS New York, and the LST the pair of David and Pri picked up a host of new skills, and spent plenty of time practicing laying line. As part of their new skills Pri and David were drilled on lost line and lost buddy exercises, as well as air sharing and lights out exits...and the all time favorite off out of air and blacked out mask exits, at the same time...
After a heap of training and lost of improvements the guys did a finale dive on the IJN Sakura, a very nice wreck in 55m, with lots of fish life, and good clear, warm water. The guys were accompanied by Dante one of the local tech divemasters, who impressed everyone by dropping the shot line within 3m of the wreck, good job!
Off course the diving time was broken up by enjoying the massive pizza’s at Extremely Expresso down the road...and the last night saw the guys experiencing some of Subics more exciting night spots; but the overall opinion was that the diving was certainly the best part.
Well done guys and see you back again soon for more tech wreck diving.
