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Friday, November 1, 2013

Rescue Diving in Bintan

By Richard Jones
Photo: Terry Booth & Charlene Kwan

We arrived at Bintan agro resort mid-morning and were soon on the boat to Umbrella Rock, our first dive site. This was to be the first of 4 dives that weekend and my Rescue diver course. My buddy, Richard, was getting back underwater after a few years break and was impressed with our dive leader Charlene - an expert Nudibranch spotter. In addition to teaching me, Terry was also instructing Richard’s daughter, Nico and fellow students Rob and Lesley, on their first Open Water dives. Rachel made up the excited eight, providing crucial support to all on her final Dive Master qualifying trip.

Rays, cuttlefish, bat fish,
puffers and a shy moray hiding in a sandbag were the highlights of our dive under an abandoned kelong. Plenty of little stuff too all weekend and our hunt for all things macro was well rewarded despite the variable visibility.

Inevitably though much aquatic life went unseen as the out of air drills, discarded regulators, detached bcds and missing diver searches had me truly occupied underwater. Surface intervals proved eventful too, with
‘panicked’ divers galore frequently jumping overboard!

A fantastic weekend both below and above water ended in smiles - 3 new Open Waters, a Divemaster and Rescue diver – not to mention delicious food, company and great memories for all!

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