I had a healthy buzz from the day’s dives, which called for celebration. That evening a lot of guests were drinking out on the decking / common area, including the divemaster who had joined us that day: Marie.
Before long we grew a little footloose and decided to go wandering around the little island. We went to one bar that was a part of a different fancy “east Side” resort. It felt a little sedate and boring to us rough and ready west siders, so we soon left and headed to one of the nearby beaches. There we found some locals that Marie knew. We sat with them on the beach. One passed around a milk jug filled with liquor that apparently had been distilled by his kindly old grandma.
The night drew on and thanks to granny's special distillations I had gotten quite steaming - so decided to go back. Pat said he would stay on for a bit. So I took the key and stumbled off back to the homestay. The only problem was that my guidance system was on drunk mode, so I got very lost. I remember getting to one side of the island and finding myself in various resort beaches and getting shooed away by security men. After much walking, tracking, backtracking and getting thoroughly confused I came across the familiar slum that hid my home. I got in and Pat still wasn’t there. It was around 4 in the morning so I passed out, leaving the door open so Pat could get in.
I awoke with a throbbing head and a horrible taste in my dry mouth. Pat had gone already. It wasn’t long before more diving. I tentatively opened the door and crept out to find pretty much everyone from the previous night all up. Turns out that Pat got back before me and banged on our door for ages to no avail - since I had the key but wasn't there. He did succeed in waking up half the homestay. Johnny Keely from next door apparently let him crash in his room. I felt terrible.
We did 4 dives around Mabul that day: panglimara reef; Lobster wall and kapalai or “house reef” which was a purpose built area made up of the skeletons of houses that were slowly filling out with coral.
That night we did a night dive at paradise 2 which was a cool. One thing I like to do on night dives (since it’s pitch black) is look entirely away from the coral, rocks and all torch light for a while. All you feel is weightless. All you see is black. The only sensory input you get is the breath in your regulator. Somewhere deep down there is an involuntary twang somewhere between dread and vertigo, forcing me to look back. Both to reassure myself the world still existed, and also that I’ve not lost control of my buoyancy and am shooting up to the surface. Or worse: down into oblivion.
I wasn’t we got back and it was fine. Although not all that fine since it was the last day :(
The night drew on and thanks to granny's special distillations I had gotten quite steaming - so decided to go back. Pat said he would stay on for a bit. So I took the key and stumbled off back to the homestay. The only problem was that my guidance system was on drunk mode, so I got very lost. I remember getting to one side of the island and finding myself in various resort beaches and getting shooed away by security men. After much walking, tracking, backtracking and getting thoroughly confused I came across the familiar slum that hid my home. I got in and Pat still wasn’t there. It was around 4 in the morning so I passed out, leaving the door open so Pat could get in.
I awoke with a throbbing head and a horrible taste in my dry mouth. Pat had gone already. It wasn’t long before more diving. I tentatively opened the door and crept out to find pretty much everyone from the previous night all up. Turns out that Pat got back before me and banged on our door for ages to no avail - since I had the key but wasn't there. He did succeed in waking up half the homestay. Johnny Keely from next door apparently let him crash in his room. I felt terrible.
We did 4 dives around Mabul that day: panglimara reef; Lobster wall and kapalai or “house reef” which was a purpose built area made up of the skeletons of houses that were slowly filling out with coral.
That night we did a night dive at paradise 2 which was a cool. One thing I like to do on night dives (since it’s pitch black) is look entirely away from the coral, rocks and all torch light for a while. All you feel is weightless. All you see is black. The only sensory input you get is the breath in your regulator. Somewhere deep down there is an involuntary twang somewhere between dread and vertigo, forcing me to look back. Both to reassure myself the world still existed, and also that I’ve not lost control of my buoyancy and am shooting up to the surface. Or worse: down into oblivion.
I wasn’t we got back and it was fine. Although not all that fine since it was the last day :(
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