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Inhale, Exhale, Equalize: Scuba Diving in Tobago

Writer : Caribbean E-Magazine on Monday, February 4, 2013 | 10:15 AM


“Inhale, exhale, pinch your nose to equalize and I will do everything else.” instructed Sean Robinson, “And don’t forget to put one hand on the front of your mask and the other on the strap behind your head. Now, on the count of three, roll back.” Right, got it. Be still my panic-stricken heart.

So there I was – the world’s worst diver – paired up one of the well-knowns of the international dive world. Sean Robinson has done about 25,000 dives. Calculating that each dive averaged about 40 minutes, he has been under water for about two years, give or take a few days. And me? Well, seven dives – and they were closer to about 25 minutes – so being generous, I’ve been below the surface about three hours.

Sean naturally instilled confidence so I figured as long as I was holding his hand things would be fine. “Inhale, exhale, equalize.” Repeat.  “Inhale, exhale, equalize.” We slowly made our way down to the MN Maverick, a purpose-sunk ferry off the shore of Tobago in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.   

As we descended using the guide rope I glanced over to see Sean’s trickle of air bubbles. My stream, on the other hand, looked like a Champagne bottle that had been shaken before the cork was popped. Bubbles are a sure indication that separates the real divers from the newbies. If a tank would last Sean five or six hours, I would go through it in about an hour.

The sunken ferry formed a natural reef. “Inhale, exhale, equalize” and look at the fish in all colours, shapes and sizes. And they were everywhere; swimming around, and oblivious to a couple of divers, they carried on doing whatever it is fish do. Coming from land-locked Canada, as a kid I honestly thought tropical fish were somehow raised in aquariums. The idea that they actually came from somewhere never occurred to my four-year old imagination. Totally surrounded, I was a whale in a school of semi-translucent blue fish about the size of my index fingernail. Amazing.

My grip on Sean’s hand loosened considerably and I was starting to inhale and exhale easier. Even the bubbles weren’t as fast or as furious. I was starting to sync with the underwater flora and fauna. And the world underwater truly is an entity unto itself.

Then all of a sudden we were in the hull of the ferry where the cars were parked and it changed to “inhale, exhale, don’t panic.” I’m claustrophobic, but mentally calculated that I could likely fit through one of the portals cut in the hull. Then again, if I couldn’t, well, drowning was supposed to be a good way to go. “Inhale, exhale, calm down.” Then as quickly as we’d ended up in the hull we were back in the open water of the deck. “Inhale, exhale, massive sign of relief.”

 
After about 25-minutes or so we slowly made our way back to the surface.

Back on the dive boat, I learned more about the MV Maverick, the same size as the ferry I’d taken to Tobago. It stretched to 350 feet, had room for 900 passengers and 250 cars. I asked Sean why he hadn’t bothered to tell me it was 100 feet down. He shrugged his shoulders, “Because it would have scared you. And, really, 10 feet or 100 doesn’t make all that much difference when you’re under water.”   

Waiting the 45 minutes until I could do the next dive with Sledge, the dive master at the shop near the Magdalene Grand, we solved a few problems of the world. Then I sat back and listened to the lilting English of the island. The pitch is such that there is no space between words and it all sorts of run together, rather like musical scales.

“Why,” I asked, “didn’t I do the shallow dive first so I would been more confident to go to the wreck?” Sean shot me an “only an open water diver could be that naïve” look and explained that with that configuration the second dive to the ferry would have to be shortened to fifteen minutes, which isn’t long enough to appreciate it. Dahhhhhh, I stood corrected.  

Rolling back for the second dive, the coral reef experience with Sledge was a cake-walk. “Inhale, exhale, equalize” was almost coming naturally by this time. And it seemed that the fish in the shallow water were even more colourful than at the wreck. Sledge pointed to a greyish shape in the water: a leather-back turtle, the first one I’d even seen up close. Mesmerizing.  

Back on the dive-boat, I learned Sean lives and breathes diving. In the early 1960s he decided to spend six months at a cabana in Tobago to get away from oil-rig diving for a while. Thinking he might make a bit of beer-money he nailed a hand-painted “Dive Shop” sign to a beach shack and stretched out in his hammock.

Without a business plan in sight, the dive shop took off. Tobago offers some of the best diving in the world, so it isn’t surprising that people wanted to get under the water. Sean – who had learned to dive in California – trained local divers who then went on to set up their own dive shops and the industry expanded.

Diving on the island needs to be promoted so that more people can share the experience. And Sean has come definite ideas on how to do that. So before the word gets out and the hoards descend on this tropical dive spot, book your trip now so what you get a preview of what everyone else is missing.

If you have a dive certificate, chances are you have to be a more competent diver than me, the world’s worst. But even if you dive in the same category, Sean and Sledge are very good about dealing with the hesitant and will ensure that you have a spectacular time. And they have suggestions for those who want more challenging dive experiences. Check it out at Tobago Dive Site Map.

 Contract details:
Manta Lodge and Tobago Dive Experience
Toll Free: 1-866 486-2246 or in Florida: 954 453-5028
Island Direct: (868) 660-5268

 

Getting there:
Sport Diver has done the travel agent work for you. 

Tobago is a 20-minute commuter flight and you don’t even leave the airport in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. And the bit extra effort you may have to put into getting to Tobago will pay big diving rewards and make you the envy of your friends who thrive underwater.  

By: Jody Hanson, Ph.D
       Writer
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