Under the Sea, or 'Gulf' as it Was

James and I had booked an overnight liveaboard dive trip in order to get out to the reportedly stunning Koh Prins Island, a 6 hour boat trip. James had become a scuba diving fiend on his trip, having accumulated nearly 100 dives thus far with a goal of 400 by August. I began diving about 10 years ago getting my Divemaster license in 2002. The Bay Area, while having some of the best diving in the world, isn't particularly comfortable with 49 degree water, so I don't get out much :-) I was really looking forward to diving with a comparable skill-level buddy.

The rest of our boat was full with a group of Russian tourists, very Russian. After hobbling between the upper and lower decks a few times trying to evade cigarette smoke, I finally asked for a no-smoking zone. They weren't too pleased with me after that.

Welcome to Paradise

After a very long, slow trip, we arrived to see crystal clear turquoise blue water. Lovely. James and I would have a divemaster to ourselves - the Russians were doing their own thing. Awesome. The salt water stung, a lot, but the water was so deliciously warm and clear...I deluded myself into thinking this was OK to do.

Down we went into a glorious underwater world. The visibility was outstanding, perhaps 20-25m (60-75ft). It'd been 1.5 years since my last dive, but for me it's like riding a bike, so off we went.

Our 4 day dives that day and the next were all mostly the same - super vis, super warm, light to moderate current, gorgeous coral, and not a whole lot of fish. James' air consumption is very good for his size, so all of our dives were at least 60 minutes. (Mine is ridiculous - I usually only go through 1/2 a tank, hitting my table limits long before I even get close to running low on air.) When I'm on dives without large distances to cover, I like to take off my fins for the last ~10 minutes or so. I feel more connected and "one with the ocean" that way. On 2 of 4 I had them off for ~30 minutes each. FUN!!

Sunset over Koh Prins

Our night dive was fabulous as well with excellent visibility, nice and warm, and we got to see several of the strange creatures that like to come out at night.

The lack of fish is due to indiscriminate fishing by the Cambodians and Vietnamese...we watched a Cambodian fisherman pick up a live baby shark and bang its head on the deck of a boat before handing it over to the cook on ours. :-( The Cambodians are reportedly better than the Vietnamese, though, who continue to fish with explosives.

So, all in all, these few dives were some of the best I'd ever done, save for the lack of fish. James is an excellent diver, so I never had to worry about him. All the gear was in perfect shape, and the conditions were about as stress-free as you can get. The only nagging item was my worsening leg...stinging like hell for the first half of each dive, and aching for the last half. Swimming was preferable to walking, though; walking was murder.

We were at the 1/2 way mark of our trip. I spent some of our peaceful dive time thinking about "us" (I am a girl, afterall). James was taking my injury in stride and being very kind and helpful which I was thankful for, but even before I was hurt and continuing after it felt I was more of a buddy than a romantic interest. And he seemed more preoccupied with his own agenda, beit his travel plans or conversations, iphone, computer or other whims. He was showing very little interest in me physically as well. Now, I would have been perfectly fine with just being friends if that was what it was. But he kept verbally indicating his interest. So I was very confused, feeling more ignored the more I thought about it. He hadn't even directly said 'Happy Birthday', let along give me a little sweet hug or kiss. I wondered if my bum luck had put him off, and it was hard not to be down on myself for it.

In the spirit of open communication, I decided to tell him I could do with a little more affection. I said I knew the whole thing was just a temporary/make-believe relationship, but if it was possible and in his character to do so, I'd like to turn the dial up. He said he appreciated my openness and said OK.

On Saturday afternoon we turned the boat around and headed for shore. 3 big, beautiful bottlenose dolphins wished us well.

2 Dolphins, mid frame