Travel Stories

Mauritius Dive Diary
by Derek Dear

Situation:
Mauritius is difficult to find on a map, as it is a tiny group of tropical islands of volcanic origin in the Indian Ocean about 3,000 kilometres from the coast of Africa. Look for Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, then draw a line out to sea, crossing Madagascar in the middle. Mauritius is about the same sea distance from Madagascar as Madagascar is from Mozambique (i.e. about 800 kms). Flying time from the UK is about 121/2 hours from Heathrow. From South Africa, it is about 41/2 hours from Johannesburg.

Geography:
There are three main islands and several smaller ones which make up the state of Mauritius. Mauritius itself, though not the largest, has the capital, Port Louis. The other two main islands are Reunion and Rodrigues. The island of Mauritius is 58 kms from north to south, and 47 kms from east to west. The island is thought to be the peak of an enormous sunken volcanic chain stretching from the Seychelles in the north to Reunion. The island rises steeply in the south to a central plateau. Beyond the mountains behind Port Louis, the plateau slopes gently down to the northern coast. The mountains are not high, but they do have the gaunt and unusual shapes of peaks formed by volcanic eruption. The island has 330 kms of coastline almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs. Time is GMT+4. We were there during British Summer Time, so the difference was BST+3.

Climate:
Like all tropical islands, there are no well defined wet and dry seasons. The island has rain and therefore colourful vegetation all the year round. Because of the geography of the island, in spite of its small size, climate varies from place to place. The east coast is drier during January and February, when the prevailing winds drive in, hit the mountains and dump rain on the west coast and the central plateau. On the central plateau, temperatures can be up to 5°C cooler than on the coast, and it can be raining up there, while the sun is shining on the coast, and vice versa. The summer weather can be hot and humid (25°C to 37°C) . Winter, from July to September, has temperatures which range from a daytime 24°C to a cool 16°C at night. The prevailing winds can make it seem much cooler. Sea temperatures ranges from 22°C to 27°C.

Language:
English, the official language, is used throughout the education system and government. In spite of this, most people are more comfortable speaking French, which is the main language used by the media, so English and French are the languages of the business classes.

Currency:
The currency is the Mauritian Rupee (Rs) which is divided into 100 cents. At the time we were there, the exchange was about Rs30 to ?1 sterling.

Dive One
I arrived at the Boathouse at 11.45, which was not quite enough time to prepare. There were seven guests (including me) and three members of staff going to dive, as well as the boatman. The boat, a shallow draft speedboat, was taken carefully along the lagoon and out through the gap in the reef. Then I discovered how they really go! The boatman opened up the throttle and we planed our way across the ocean for about fifteen minutes. The dive plan was for an easy dive to not more than seventeen metres. This would allow me to check things out. My buddy was a Mauritian boy, Benito, who didn't seem to believe in buddy checks and was keen to get into the water. I insisted that we did a check, while hanging onto the anchor line. We were supposed to have an Italian man with us, but we didn't catch up with him till about three quarters of the way through the dive!I pulled myself down the anchor line through clear, warm water to a barren seabed, clearing my ears on the way. We swam over to some gullies and rock formations, where the fish gather. I saw some pale blue parrot fish and red squirrel fish with their V-shaped tail fins, each about fourteen inches long. The squirrel fish's gills are a long spine shape, and these are venomous. It isn't a good idea to get too close to these. The poison carried by the mature fish is called ciguatera, and doesn't do one any good at all. There were butterfly fish and puffer fish, about four inches long, with vivid blue spots. Suddenly, I noticed Benito grabbing his equipment and pointing energetically. At first, I didn't know what he was doing, then I realised he was trying to show me something in a gully that was about two and a half feet wide, and equally deep. I peered in, and saw a stone fish, an ugly beast with indeterminate brown-ish colouring. This is one fish we are all warned to keep away from, as his poison can be fatal. A starfish lay quietly close by. There was very little coral, but lots of big, slow-moving fish, about ten inches long, which didn't bother to move away from us. An odd 'plopping' sound attracted my attention. I looked round for my buddy, and found him lying on his back, blowing 'air rings' towards the surface, as an old man might blow smoke rings from his pipe. It was obviously his party trick, and we were suitably impressed. My own air consumption was very good in the clear waters and a very slight current. After thirty-five minutes, I signalled that I had just 70 bar of air, and we ascended. I thought Benito took it a bit fast, and took my time, carefully watching my gauge. On the surface, I was picked up by the boatman, and just missed seeing a sting ray. It was a fast trip back to the hotel, during which the three Mauritians complained that the water had been cold. I kept my thoughts to myself, but as my computer had registered 23 degrees at 18.9 metres, I had been happy. What would they make of the North Sea in the spring? It was an enjoyable dive."

Dive Two
Today we went to Snake Ramparts, which is one of the furthest dive sites, and not a place for novice divers. We were on our way by 8.55. When we arrived, the boat was anchored on a sandy bottom and we descended to 25 metres. There was a slight current, and we finned slowly against it towards a small circular mound of coral rock, about 50 metres across and standing about a metre high, with gullies cutting it through. I had the Aquashot II with me. My buddy (one of the dive school team, whose name is spelled Benoit, but who is known as Benito) had a camera and light system with him, and this worked very well - he took his photos, then kept the light trained so I could take mine! There was a lot to see, and a lion fish, moray eel and stone fish were so close together that I tried to frame them all in the same picture. Three brown striped lion fish swam lazily past, and we saw two stonefish together. I lay quietly on the bottom and a lion fish came very close. There were several Moray eels, ranging in size from white babies of 15 centimetres, to yellow ones to a large brown one who had about a metre of his length extending from his lair. I watched as one held his mouth open while a tiny blue fish swam in and out, cleaning as it went. A shoal of small black and white striped fish, about 10 centimetres in length moved about under a rock in such a dense ball-shaped group that it looked like moving coral. I was slightly under weighted, and as I used air, found I was being bumped about a bit. It wasn't a long dive because it was quite deep, and my lack of weight meant I needed to be careful not to ascend too fast, but I took twelve photos today, and enjoyed the dive. Met and dived with a very pleasent Swiss Couple called Doris and Rolf, they dived as a buddy pair, but before and after the dive were always ready to talk about what we had all seen and we still send post cards to each other from our Dive trips six years on.

Dive Three
My buddy was Daniel Tan, a young man from Singapore. The plan was to complete my twentieth dive since qualifying as a sports diver. The dive, in an area known as 'Little Switzerland', began with a descent of the anchor line. I cleared my ears on the way down. We left the line at twelve metres and swam a short way to a drop off to twenty-three metres. The sea bed was barren and sandy, the marine life being found among the overhangs and gullies that give the place its name. I had trouble with the camera, till I remembered that the Fuji film winds differently from the Kodak one. We explored some caves, caverns and chimneys. Daniel pointed out a large lobster and I managed to photograph an angel fish and a damsel fish before we ascended through a chimney and sat on a ledge. I kept checking where Daniel was, as he seemed quite happy for me to lead him along. As we ascended, we checked out more caverns and chimneys. My air consumption was good, while several others were onto reserve as we swam slowly in the direction of the boat before making a controlled ascent to the surface. It was a pleasant, peaceful dive."

Dive Four Night Dive!
&The dive school policy is that they don't take anyone who hasn't dived with them before, and that they go to a place that the divers have visited in daylight. The plan was to do a dive of a maximum depth of twenty metres, and a maximum time of twenty-five minutes at the Aquarium site. The last two night dives had been cancelled because of the danger of bringing the boat back over the reef in the dark when the tide is low. Benito likes a small group, and four of us had booked. Only two of us, Peter and I, went, as the other couple had been involved in a minor road traffic accident. No-one was hurt, but the paperwork for these things takes forever. On Benito's last dive, there were six people. He told them to stay close and do exactly what they were told (normal briefing!) but two of the women stuck to him like glue.Peter was an experienced diver. He had done twenty-five dives (I've done thirty-two), but he had never done a night dive before. While we waited at the site for the moon to rise, Benito gave us a careful and thorough briefing on the plan and the use of torches. Benito had brought torches for us, and said he would take the big one. I had my own, and we checked it out. It was much better than the one he was offering. I took the camera, too. By 7.15, the moon was up, and we dropped into the water, leaving the boatman to a lone vigil. We went down the line to twelve metres, then swam for about twenty metres till we came to a drop down to twenty metres. I was amazed at the power of my torch in the clear water, as I've only used it in murky British waters up till tonight. About ten minutes into the dive, I realised that I was gulping at my air. There is an acute embarrassment factor if a diver cuts short the dive for the others because he's been daft like this, so I consciously slowed and steadied my breathing and checked my gauge. In spite of the gulping, I was doing all right. I saw a baby lion fish, and as we swam over the overhang, a blue parrot fish, fast asleep under a rock. We saw three about the same size - about thirty inches long. The largest I've seen in the daytime has been a third of that size. A huge hermit crab waved its tentacles at us. All the little fish, like the butterflies and damsels were gone to bed. Benito led, with Peter behind me. Benito was just rounding a corner, when suddenly, he signalled to us to stop. He called Peter forward, then me, and pointed out a strange fish, about a metre long. With black and grey colouration, it had a deep, boxy-shaped head which was a quarter of its body length in height, with a high, flat forehead. Its body tapered away rapidly. After we'd had a good look at this odd creature, I took a photograph. The next thing was a large crab, about forty-five centimetres across. He had huge claws. None of us wanted to come to close to those imposing appendages! We stayed down an extra five minutes, as we all had plenty of air. Benito then signalled for us to switch off our torches, so we could appreciate the bioluminescence. This is a common thing in tropical waters, and most people call it phosphorus. It is caused by a variety of things. Jellyfish and algae contribute, as well as some of the worms and plankton. If the plankton is seriously disturbed, it gets annoyed, and responds by lighting up, creating a constellation of bright, winking lights. We were to do a controlled ascent without lights, to get the best from the natural lights, and it was like ascending in a snowstorm. I knew I would feel a little disorientated, so I put out my hand and clasped hold of Benito and we came up together. I was pleased to note that in spite of my earlier gulping, I had plenty of air left. Back on the boat, I felt a little cold to begin with. I rubbed myself with my towel, put on my blue cagoule and was soon warm, but Peter and Benito were shivering. I lent Peter my dry towel, as he didn't have one. As we made our way back, we were accompanied by a shoal of flying fish, which swam just ahead of us, their bodies flashing in the moonlight. The boatman used a powerful torch to help him find the two poles which mark the gate to the reef. We crossed safely, but the boat scraped the bottom of the lagoon at times as we crawled slowly along towards the hotel jetty.Benito also told Peter and Derek that a man has to check the lagoon every day for scorpion fish. These hide in the sand, and only their eye or a fin can be seen. This is another reason, besides the sea urchins, that it is important to wear shoes when swimming in the lagoon.

Dive Five
We dived Cathedral Rock today. My buddy was Benito. When we arrived at the dive site, we dropped over the side and pulled ourselves to the anchor rope along a roped buoy, because the current was very strong. We descended to ten metres. The current was so strong that we helped ourselves over the seabed using our hands till we came to the drop-off. Benito went over the drop, and I followed. We went down to twenty-eight metres. Our air consumption was high because of the conditions in the water. We found Cathedral Rock. It is an arched rock which is the home of lots of spider crabs. We dived through the arch, which is where we all were grazed by the coral, because of the strong surge. It was at this point that I discovered that blood looks dark green at this depth. As I caught sight of it, it made me feel quite odd, till I realised everyone else's looked the same. We ascended through the cave where a moray eel lives. This was an elderly specimen who has obviously been around a long time. I wasn't able to take any photos, as I needed both hands to steady myself. We also saw lots of coral groupers in the crannies and overhangs of the rocks. Benito was running low on air, so we ascended after twenty-five minutes. This was a hard dive, and the first where I haven't seen a lion fish, but it was worth it to do the drop-off and see the moray eel. When we were back on the boat, I found that the rest of the group had worse cuts and grazes than I did.

Dive Six
We dived on the wreck of the Kai Sai, opposite Flic en Flac. The anchor line was dropped and we descended slowly down it towards the large wreck. It was a deep dive, and I was buddied with Thierry, the dive school boss, who knew it was my first dive over thirty metres. The line was caught up on the superstructure at twenty-five metres, so we waited while it was disentangled before going deeper . We sank towards the deck, and I watched as my computer showed me numbers I haven't seen on it before. At thirty-two metres I felt fine, because conditions were good, visibility was unlimited and I had a firm area to rest on. Thierry showed us around the deck area before moving us on to view the ship from the bow. I saw large fish and small nudibranches and peered into the hold. We didn't go inside. The plan was a maximum dive of seventeen minutes or 70 bar, and soon Thierry signalled to us to ascend. I went up the line hand over hand until I reached six metres, and felt in control. I then hung in the water to do my three minute decompression stop while the anchor was hauled up. This deep dive was made easy because Thierry was a good buddy and conditions were so good.

Dive Seven
We dived at Rempart Park, close to Rempart Serpent. My buddy was Peter, who came on the night dive. We descended the anchor line, and I wasn't aware of a need to clear my ears. We finned slowly along, and I was able to take some photographs. Peter was waving his arms around all over the place, and using a lot of air, so I signalled to him to fold his arms. He did for a while, then forgot, so I told him again. I saw a large sweetlips, a large angel fish and a large group of yellowish-grey fish that I didn't recognise (they were not goatfish). We went into a cave where there were a lot of lobsters. As we left the cave, Benito saw a sixty centimetre long anemone, with soft spines. He picked it up and threw it to me to look at it. It looked rather like an elongated sea cucumber. I gave it back to Benito, and he carefully put it down in the same spot. After finning slowly along the coral cliff, Peter was running low on air, so Benito signalled for us to ascend. Peter went up very fast, but I caught him, and made him go more slowly. He looked puzzled, so I showed him the arrow on my dive computer. He still looked puzzled, but stayed with me, and we did a one minute decompression stop at six metres. Back on Sundiver, Peter told me he has never seen a dive computer before. He said, "Why did you go so slowly? Benito was already on the surface." "Benito is responsible for himself. My computer told me we should go more slowly and make a stop, so I did. It's the way I've been trained." Peter seemed happy enough with this explanation. I enjoyed this dive. It was easy, I felt completely in control and it was a pleasant way to end my diving in Mauritius.