I felt naughty diving on a Sunday. Sundays for me are full working days from 9am to 6.30pm teaching children English. The enrichment centre was closed for Chinese New Year. So when I was on a boat, in the sun, watching the massive container ships glide gracefully by, with 9 other divers from a local dive club – it just felt wrong.
We have had many afternoon storms of late and these resulted in silty, mucky, low viz diving. It felt like a gloomy green dusk dive. Am I complaining? No. I love any challenge and the chance to blow bubbles.
Armed with my camera, two strobes, my dive torch and my dive buddy, Georgie, we braved the cold rain infested water of Hantu, a local island off Singapore and headed for the jetty pylons.
We somehow managed a relaxing dive, not at all as per our original plan but it was still interesting.
There was some unusual stuff at 16.6m. We even saw what appeared to be sand dunes at one stage. Rippled sand with miniature palms, feather stars in all colours and the occassional nudi on harp coral.
Then pale camouflaged gobies would dart about.
Tiny, tiny glass shrimp and other minute creatures danced on singular soft coral, which really looked like pink mushrooms sprouting from the seabed.
Of course this was next to the biggest undamaged pink cotton candy barrel sponge I have ever seen at Hantu. However, no chance of a wide angle shot amongst the conditions.
Our second dive took us to Sudong Wreck, which was a first for me. It starts at 4m which is really bizzare.
I knee planted it as the viz didn’t allow you the opportunity to see where you were landing. Good thing I wasn’t swimming down to it!
Sudong Wreck is covered on top with a beautiful green and purple hard coral.
On the sides of the wreck are minature sun flowers and we even did a mini penetration into an open area where there appeared to be some stairs and previous portholes and windows.
On our way back to the rope we came across some ornate hairy crabs, looking like the silt we had left at Hantu. I think they were at the wreck on holidays.
Georgie and I both agreed that it would be interesting doing a sand dive next to the wreck. The fan coral looked so colourful. It seemed to be around 12.5m. Unfortunately we didn’t have the luxury to do a third dive and the change of tide would have made it rather unsafe. So I hope I can visit the wreck again, even if it is to view its colourful garden on which it is lying.
Cheers – Karen
Additional photos may be viewed on our Facebook page here – 22 January 2011, Hantu – a local island off Singapore