First dive for ages!

Friday, September 30, 2022
Kooddoo, Gaafu Alif Atoll, Maldives
We sat at the beach bar in the howling wind last night and had a few drinks while listening to the music from the d.j. It seems that the sun has come out but the wind that is pouring in from the Arabian Sea (according to the guy at the water sports kiosk), just refuses to abate. The overnight downpours seem to have also stopped, but then they really weren’t a problem and I think they helped to keep the temperature at a pleasant level. The rain made the staff happy too because they said it had been rather hot and steamy before we arrived.
Not that there seems to be any kind of water shortage here. They give us large bottles of filtered water every day for the room and plenty of water at meal times. The bottles are refillable and I am thinking that they have their own desalination plant somewhere on this tiny island.
We also have an outdoor shower to compliment the indoor one and hot water is plentiful and of an excellent pressure.
Following our pre dinner drinks, off we went to the lovely Vista restaurant for my birthday dinner.
Our booking had not gone astray again and they gave us a table in a prime position by the window .
Of course we couldn’t see the vista because it is new moon time and very dark outside but we could imagine what was out there, having seen it during the day.
They brought us some bread and our appetisers of a melon and prosciutto salad for me, and antipasto for Ross along with a glass each of Prosecco, then I had the chef’s special of pumpkin ravioli which was as good as you would get in Italy.
Finally for dessert they brought out a very rich chocolate cake with a candle in it, and the staff sang happy birthday. They assured me that there was no spitting in food involved after I made a fuss about them losing our original booking, and we made another booking for tonight, since the special is mushroom risotto. Yum!
This morning after breakfast we set off to the dive centre to get kitted out for our first dive in six years.
There was just us and another couple on the dive so the boat was definitely not crowded.
All of the Indonesian dive guides had warned us that the diving wouldn’t be a patch on Indo, after they discovered that we had been to Rajah Ampat. A couple of them had been working over there before Covid hit, and they were clearly missing it.
Once the guys had loaded our gear onto the boat, we motored off around the edge of the reef and on towards another of the many islands. I must admit I was a little concerned when I saw the rolling surf that was hammering the very shallow reef top of the island, but the guide said we would be diving along the wall and there should be very little current. Hopefully, unlike some dives we had done previously, we would be going with what current there was and not against it!
After a giant leap off the side of the boat, we all set about descending together, and onto the reef wall.
Ross had a little trouble with his ears but got down shortly, and we all went off slowly getting back into the swing of things.  Wearing wrist dive computers that we were unfamiliar with was a bit annoying, but since the air was on a guage, that was the critical factor. I did find it pretty weird that the air guage was in bar and the computer was in imperial feet. Anyway I just followed along behind the dive guide and consumed my usual small amount of air which made sure everyone else would run out before I did.
As per the warning, there was not a great deal to look at and the coral was a bit dismal, with the impact of bleaching. I don’t know what the water temperature was but I usually always get cold even in very warm water and wearing a full length suit, and I was not cold in my shortie wetsuit. Anyway it was a pretty easy checkout dive.
After following the reef along for about 45minutes (I think, since I couldn’t make sense of the dive computer), we ascended to 5 metres for our safety stop. 
The boat had been following along with us so they quickly picked us up and I inelegantly hauled myself up the ladder. Kneeling on the paddle board yesterday has taken its toll!!
The dive guide has assured me that the visibility should get better over the next few days and they should be able to find a better site, so I am hoping for a more interesting dive on Sunday.
Lunch was had at the Vista restaurant, where we shared a calzone pizza, which turned out to be a giant pizza like pastie and was very tasty none  the less.  Then it was back to the room before a brief spell at the pool reading the kindles.
Now it is windy again (still?) and soon to be risotto time.

Comments

Ken
2022-09-30

The Italian food sounds great. Is there any local cuisine?

jillmac
2022-10-01

Yes they do have their own cuisine. It was Maldivian night at the buffet last night. I think it is very similar to Sri Lankan, and involves seafood and bucketload’s of chilli.

2025-02-07

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