Martin Learned to Dive in Cyprus and has dived with Clubs in and around Cyprus.  H completed a Sports Diver course in Cyprus in 2003 and finally qualified in Jun 2004.  He has attained NITROX and Oxygen Admin SDCs. A RYA level 2 course followed together with further diving in Cyprus.  Holiday diving in the Red Sea at Sharm followed. He has around  35 dives - all in warm water.
 

Expedition Dive Location Feature:

We had a good feeling that the omens were suddenly on our side when the Dive Dhoni not only turned up in the morning as promised but appeared 10 minutes early.  This is not the Maldivian time that we have all come to know and love… Whilst JC and John went back to Male to seal our fate, the rest of the team headed off for a days diving, less Stef who despite having completed his Ocean Water training was still limited to a dive depth of 20 metres.   Unfortunately for him it was important for the expedition members to start developing their depth profile for subsequent (hopefully) dives.

 The sun shone, morale soared as we headed off to a reef approximately an hour north from Male.  We all managed to 2 dives on different reefs on the edge of the Atoll.  Highlights (for some) included octopus, a swimming competition between Paul and a turtle, and a white tip shark.  Incorporated within these dives were some marine surveys; of note looking for various species of butterfly fish, grouper and turtles.  Despite warnings of strong currents the dives were both gentle, with just a gentle drift.

 On returning to our boat we found JC and John back on board with some good news.  To our delight they had secured a boat with an engine that worked and an outline plan.  The boat could head north in the morning; however could potentially only fit 12 members of the expedition.  This meant that JC and a couple of others may need to wait for the other boat which was still being built (just a few licks of paint to go…!) which would catch up on Monday.  As it transpired later we all managed to get on the boat as keeping the expedition together was deemed far more preferable even if it meant a tight squeeze.

 That afternoon, with time still available to send down another dive wave, JC and John finally managed to get in a dive.  This meant that some of us were lucky enough to get in a third of the day.  A free swimming octopus decided to entertain us as it glided through the water somewhat more effortlessly than ourselves.

In evening we cross decks to our new boat; the ‘Vaareydhuni’ for dinner and perhaps more importantly, we had the opportunity to look forward to the rest of the expedition, rather than wondering what the next hour would bring and where we would sleep next.

Marine Survey Team examine reef life.

Pete Hawkins - descending