If you thought you've seen amazing things during your day dives, wait until the lights of the torches take you to the unreal experience of the Night Dives in Mabul.
When the lights of the sun start fading. When the sounds and movements of the day slowly give way to the peace and silence of the dark. When the boats turn off their engines and rest until the new dawn. At this exact moment, something changes underwater. Sand and sea grass might not sound so appealing to you but it's home to the most particular and unique critters (Muck diving).
And at Scuba Junkie, we have it right out of our jetty. Let your imagination run wild, while I tell you the story of, so far, my best Night Dive.
It was the end of a long week teaching courses, and as much as I like to teach it can also be exhausting. I'm not going to get into details, but mentally I had a lot happening, and fiscally I was tired.
I'm halfway through the day and it's now lunchtime. On my way to the restaurant, I see the torches laying on the counter of the dive center and somehow I felt them calling me.
I tend to follow my feelings, in general, that's where all my adventures begin. I knew I had to go for it, what I didn't know was that this was going to be the most wonderful Night Dive I had so far.
The sun is setting, my customers arrived, I welcome them and start the briefing. I explain the topography of our dive site Awas, and let them know my plan for the night dive; head all the way to “the nets” nonstop where a Rinhopias it's living at the moment, and then slowly make our way back. We all agreed and at the end, like usual I ask what are they expecting to see, which I regrated a few seconds later.
Their expectations were high, they wanted to see the most difficult creatures to find, some of which I'd only heard about it. I started laughing, I could not help it, and told them I was going to do my best but could not promise anything, except for the Rhinopias.
In between jokes, the sun starts hiding behind the resort, we gear up, get in the water, turn our torches on, and begin our dive. As usual in a shore dive, we started the dive against the current, which that night was a bit stronger than I expected. I follow my plan, and reached the destination.
There she was, the beautiful Rhinopias, mission accomplished. My day was already better, everything after that was a blessing.
I turn the dive and ask everyone their air pressure, all good, they're coping well with the current. Started making our way back and we found not one but two Ambons scorpionfish, that were having a bit more trouble with the strength of the water that day.
I was getting super excited! Turn around to keep going and the light flashes into a Coconut octopus, who was hanging out with his friend Mr. Wonderpus. It's this even real? Just when I thought it could not get any better, Bobtail squid, one of the cutest creatures in my opinion. And this doesn't stop here, getting closer to the jetty a painted Frogfish. Everything request was delivered, and even more. I could not believe my eyes, my luck, my night dive!
The stress, tiredness, problems, everything accumulated in one week was gone in a 60 minutes dive. Never underestimate the power of a peaceful Night Dive. Watching the beauty of the nocturnal creatures under the spotlight of the torch connects you to the moment. There's nothing else, You, your torch, the bubbles, nature, and of course your buddies. We all got out of the water with the biggest smiles, shiny eyes, with memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Open Water or Advanced, beginner or experienced diver, we will take you on this adventure with the passion that all staff in Scuba Junkie has for diving. As well as me, my colleagues also enjoy every moment underwater and the best part it's that we love to share it with our customers. We want you to leave Mabul Island not only with nice holiday memories but also with a once in the life type of experience. Give you a taste of what we're so lucky to experience almost every day.