This recap for the day 2 of the Hikkaduwa underwater meetup. Day 1 Hosted by @ravindus and you may see the day 1 recap here.
We (myself and Ravindu) thought of doing some extreme meetups and therefore we hosted this underwater meetup under “Let’s Map Underwater” theme initiated by @IlankovanT We have lot of marvelous diving sites and huge variety of marine life to explore around the island here in Sri Lanka. Most of them are not reveled to the world other than divers who are keen to explore these places. We thought of bring out the gimps of those places and uncover beauty underwater around Sri Lanka.
We have selected Poseidon Diving Station to do this event as it is a professional diving center who has over 45 years of experience. Fist day we had 2 nice dives at the dive sites “The Cave” and “The Hikkaduwa Gala”. After first couple of dives we were more confident and more pumped to do the second day dives. As planned we arrived the diving station on 8 a.m. No new local guides were appeared to join with us for the second day meetup other than set of friends joined.
First we checked our diving gears including BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), Air Tanks, regulators, Fins, Masks and weight belts. Then it was time to master basic skills and learn some other skills need in special situations. After spending some time practicing skills in the shallow water we came back to the diving station.
Then diving Instructor Praveen briefed the 2 dives of the day. He explained where we going to start, Depth, time and safety stops, surface intervals etc. Then we gathered our equipment and loaded them in to the boat. After 5-10 min ride we arrived fist dive site of the day “Hikkaduwa gala (Hikkaduwa Rock)”. We checked all our equipment and gears before get into the water according to the BWRAF rule. ( Buoyancy , Weight, Releases, Air, Final check). Then it was time to jumped into water. All divers started descend slowly along the anchor line to the bottom. We had to equalize the ears frequently as we go down. If we not equalize properly our ear drums could damaged due to pressure differences inside and out. It can performed easily by blocking nose with one hand and blowing against it.
After we reached to the bottom dive master Asanka took the lead and rest of us followed him looking at the nice scenery around us. Rock formation was there and fish has their hiding places inside the rocks. Visibility was very good as sea was not rough. We did some filming and shooting with our underwater cameras. The maximum depth of the dive site is about 19 m (62 ft). We stayed about 45 min under water exploring around and returned back to anchor. Then ended our dive with a 3 min safety stop at 5 m. This safety stop is a must for any dive deeper than 9 m. As we go more deeper our body absorbs Nitrogen. When we come up it need some time to release from our body tissues. If we ascend without stopping there is a risk of having DCS (De - Compression Sickness) which can be dangerous.
After get in to boat we went to the next site “Kadawara Gala (Black Rock)” located few hundred meters away from the first one. There was a one hour surface interval time before second dive which is a must. During This time, Nitrogen absorbed during the first dive continuous to be released from the divers body. During this time some of us swam around the boat.
Then it was time to geared up and buddy check for the second dive. After that we jumped into water and stat descending as previous. This site has a huge rock formation looking strange and we dive through those rocks. Many fish swam around us including a school of Barracudas. It was really amazing experience. We saw some Lion fishes, Puffer fishes, Eels, Clowns and many tropical reef fishes. The rock formation provides them protection food and shelter. We took some pictures with our National flag and Local guide board under water to make the meetup remarkable.
Kadawara gala site was about 14 m in depth. There is a small sandy bottom between rocks and all divers gathered there and revised our skills like mask cleaning and regulator remove and replacing. Hand signals learned during first day training helped lot in communicating under water with each other. Dive master always checked our air levels and our safety. Dive master used a small bell to take our attention. When he shake it we hear from the distance very clearly but cant figure out where it comes from. Underwater sound works differently from the sound in air which was quite interesting. After spending 40 mins down there exploring, then we returned to the anchor line and accent to the surface to end the dive with safety stop at 5 m for 3 mins. That was successful completion of 2 day local guide meetup under “Let’s map Underwater” theme.
After get in to the boat we came back to the diving station. Finally we cleaned the diving gears and got ourselves changed. It was time to have hot cup of tea and took a group picture of dive team.
You may see more photos of the meetup here is the album
