Sunday, September 21, 2014

The joys of scuba diving

I'm not feeling well lately; I think its just the after effects of a flu I suffered - and the lack of exercise etc.. I've been feeling badly affected by the relatively mild cold weather conditions. So much so that I didn't feel like going for a scuba dive at the lovely Tau Island here in Tonga.


Its your typical tropical paradise, Pure white sandy beach. Coconut trees - and sizable coral reefs with large numbers  of reef fish.

The water temp is around 26C but I really felt it. I had to wear my 5/3mm wetsuit, hoodie, and a thick rash guard. I felt the cold shock of the chilly water when I jumped in. But after swimming around for an hour I was warm. haha.

There was a few interesting swim thru - tunnel structures inside large coral rocks. 

It was a good feeling being inside the water again. Earlier the day we encountered some whales during a morning swim and I swam around a small mother and large calf for about 10 minutes. When we were doing the scuba dive however we could only hear them singing. Of course they could be miles away. But I was hoping I'd bump into a couple of them while scuba diving. It didn't happen.

But I encountered the usual suspects which please me - I never get tired of seeing the colorful butterfly fishes. They are curious but the minute you are near them they swim away. You could of course hang around the reef staying inert - and after awhile they will approach you - treating you as part of the furniture so to speak. But I didn't have time for that.

As the dive stretched pass the hour mark, I headed back to the boat. I passed more coral reefs with more colorful reef fish. Its not as spectacular as Komodo. But its worth a swim.


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