Jeffner and Tom are here visiting and so I agreed to go diving with them with Sweet Bottom Diver Center out of the Carambola Resort at Davis Bay. They had gone earlier in the week when it was very calm and enjoyed it. The surf was up this morning and Jeffner decided not to go with Tom and I. As we were getting suited up to go out a local dive club (CRABBS) and a group of divers from the resort were entering through the heavy surf and several people got really knocked about in the surf and gave up. Tom had arranged that our dive master would carry my tank into the water so carrying it wouldn't hurt my back. We got through the surf line ok but we were still in big big swells and it was very difficult to get my flippers, bc/tank on in the swells. By the time I did and swam out past the swells I was really tired and it was hard to catch my breath. It was also hard to get everything off and get back in through the surf. Some guy met me in the surf and kept pulling on my arm even though I didn't have my feet on the bottom, which made things even more difficult. Of course I appreciated him trying to help because people were really getting tumbled in the large surf.
I had never done a dive here before and it was very nice location once you got underwater. A good number of fish (but not as much as snorkeling at Buck Island a few days earlier at the far north buoy in the lagoon), a huge healthy seven foot purple sea fan, huge brain corral, a good portion of healthy corals. It was not a dramatic straight down portion of the wall but a sloping wall which started at only 60 or 70 feet.
The dive was a max of 80 feet but I don't think we actually went below 70. The water temperature was 78 degrees according to the dive shop (brrrr). I had on my full wet suit, long johns plus jacket and started with 18 lbs. I got down fine but the dive master gave me an extra weight (1 or 2 lbs?) and I was fine until we started to the shallow part of the dive (30-40 feet). I was having trouble staying down and the dive master started fussing trying to squeeze air out of the bc and add an extra weight to my pocket and I couldn't really move while he had me and we popped right up to the surface. I got back down but he had to drag me down. I have gained more weight and of course the tank was only 1/3 full at that point but I clearly needed more than the 18 lbs I had recorded last dive.
Because of the heavy surf, we were all so tired that we decided to forgo the 2nd dive. I am not a big shore dive person but it was not a long swim to the wall and if it was really calm, it would not be a bad dive to do again sometime. (Of course it is Davis Bay so it would be rare for it to be really calm.) The topography and health of the coral was good. Sweet Bottom seemed like a good operation and the manager Greg as well as our dive master, Bob, were very nice and accommodating. I do believe this is the only site they dive though as they don't have a boat.
