Green Island - Part Deux

Right on the heels of Typhoon Kalmaegi, I went to Green Island for a bit of diving with Emily, Rae and Alex. Emily was going to take her open water diving certification while the others were in for a bit of a beach holiday.

I knew I was in for a good time when our main preoccupation rushing after work on Friday evening to the train station was whether we had enough time to buy biandangs. We did. It required a slow jog to the train platform though.. As we approached the platform, I looked up and saw we had 4 mins to make the train and Alex wasn't there yet. Rae started to call him and then Emily asked if I wanted a hotdog. Yeah, it was a weekend of eating, having fun and great diving.

I really needed a break after the last few difficult weeks... And these guys were really fun. Unlike my 1st trip to Green Island, this trip I got to see the rugged beauty of the island. The views were simply breath-taking, especially from Niutou Hill. I spent all Sat/Sun just exploring the island, soaking in the hotsprings, snorkeling, napping... It was really therapeutic. Rae and Alex left on Sun afternoon and I took my 1st dive then.

Sunday
1st dive - Loumen Rock. It was fantastic - I saw a sea snake, moray eels, lots of fish and corals...

Monday
3 dives in total. Best dive ever - Cathedral/Dabaisha. Simply awesome. I saw a turtle, moray eels, 2 lion fish, schools of fish, and dove thru tunnels and channels and into the Cathedral - a cave with just 1 ray of light shining from a opening in the ceiling.

Tuesday
2 more dives, with my newly certified dive buddy Emily. At 1 point, she sank like a rock to the sea bed and didn't move for a couple of minutes. Everyone froze - we thought she's dead. And then, tadah! She suddenly waved a bit of dead coral at us - she was trying to show us she too can pick up shells/corals :) We're still laughing about it.


Here's us - the happy divers. From L-R : Vero Chiang (dive master), me, Tobias (an application scientist from Germany), Emily (the rock), Vincent (dive instructor).

The folks at Blue Safari are a very professional outfit. I highly recommend them. Both Vero and Vincent speak English. The Blue Safari is the only dive center on Green Island that is PADI certified. They also have accomodations - just call Vero to arrange everything.

It was a such a blast going with my coworkers - they did everything! All the legwork, the bookings, arrangements... And all that easy bantering, it was a really good break. Thank you guys - you are wonderful!

More pix here -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8062670@N07/sets/72157606332506151/