HMS Hermes on the east coast of Sri Lanka has been on my bucket list for slightly more than two years when I discovered that my tech instructor, Glenn Campbell, who used to run Coastal Technical Divers had been there.
Around September last year one of my tech buddies Chris decided to set up a trip following a land based visit to Sri Lanka with his wife, and visiting the dive centre (Sri Lankan Diving Tours) to check out the facilities.
Plans were drawn up and discussed amongst ten of us and deposits transferred. My own personal concern was that the timing of the trip was at the beginning of May, I would have preferred some time during Ramadan though when work drops off, but I signed up anyway.
By the time it came to transfer the remainder of the payment another option came on the scene when it was announced by the Aggressor fleet that one of their boats was going to be based in Sri Lanka for diving trips to Sri Lanka on a seasonal schedule and it included diving HMS Hermes. This however was short lived after many issues mentioned elsewhere in the forum.
Our arrival into Sri Lanka was staggered with three of us arriving from Dubai on a Thursday, one arriving from Abu Dhabi on the early hours of Friday and the final three arriving from Dubai at Friday lunchtime.
Those of us who arrived earlier stayed overnight at Leon’s Guest House in Negombo. Basic but comfortable, and only a short walk away from several restaurants.
On Friday at 11:00 the bus arrived to pick us up, and I was happy to see that it was not a minibus, we had a lot of gear including six rebreathers. We boarded the bus after a light lunch and headed to the airport to pick up the last three members of our group.
Once everyone was aboard we headed to Batticaloa, a rather long and arduous journey with speeds rarely above 40 KPH. The driving conditions are, well third world, to travel any faster would have been suicidal.
We stopped for a meal en route by a lake and then carried on into the night, when the driver Sunil informed us that it was dangerous to drive through the jungle area at night because of wild elephants!
As it happened we came across three elephants just meters from the road, but using our dive lights to see them properly just made them head back into the jungle.
We eventually arrived in Batticaloa around 9:00pm and after moving our bags into the assigned rooms we had a few beers and some chicken sandwiches before heading to bed around midnight.
Since three of our original group had pulled out (medical problems for two and work issues for another), three divers from the US previously booked on the Sri Lankan Aggressor, joined our group. This proved advantageous for me as I was the only OC diver in my group, so I ended up buddying with the “Muricans”, during the week.
On the Saturday morning, Feli (owner of Sri Lankan Diving Tours) took the three Americans on a check out dive on the Boiler wreck, a shallow 8-9m dive site just outside of the lagoon, while I assembled my camera equipment and the others put their rebreathers together.
Unfortunately, our prior request for specific mixes was not actioned and after Feli returned from the check-out dive he was busy pumping gas into the twinsets and Dil bottles for the rebreathers.
Compressor and gas mixing room
There was also a severe lack of S40 deco bottles and I ended up with an S63 for my 50% and a 3L rebreather bottle rigged for 100%. I was looking for a gas mix of anything between 20/30 to 20/40. My first mix was a hot 19/30 but two of the Americans ended up with a 24/25 and a 24/28. During the week, I had to ask Feli adjust the mixes. It just appeared to be an issue to do the mixing the night before for some reason unless pushed. One mix originally read as 21/32 later read as 19/41 after the dive!
All but one of us was sharing a room with ensuite bathroom. The beds were basic with one small pillow. Water temperature for washing was ambient temperature although some solar panels are being added, so in future there should be hot water.
Around September last year one of my tech buddies Chris decided to set up a trip following a land based visit to Sri Lanka with his wife, and visiting the dive centre (Sri Lankan Diving Tours) to check out the facilities.
Plans were drawn up and discussed amongst ten of us and deposits transferred. My own personal concern was that the timing of the trip was at the beginning of May, I would have preferred some time during Ramadan though when work drops off, but I signed up anyway.
By the time it came to transfer the remainder of the payment another option came on the scene when it was announced by the Aggressor fleet that one of their boats was going to be based in Sri Lanka for diving trips to Sri Lanka on a seasonal schedule and it included diving HMS Hermes. This however was short lived after many issues mentioned elsewhere in the forum.
Our arrival into Sri Lanka was staggered with three of us arriving from Dubai on a Thursday, one arriving from Abu Dhabi on the early hours of Friday and the final three arriving from Dubai at Friday lunchtime.
Those of us who arrived earlier stayed overnight at Leon’s Guest House in Negombo. Basic but comfortable, and only a short walk away from several restaurants.
On Friday at 11:00 the bus arrived to pick us up, and I was happy to see that it was not a minibus, we had a lot of gear including six rebreathers. We boarded the bus after a light lunch and headed to the airport to pick up the last three members of our group.
Once everyone was aboard we headed to Batticaloa, a rather long and arduous journey with speeds rarely above 40 KPH. The driving conditions are, well third world, to travel any faster would have been suicidal.
We stopped for a meal en route by a lake and then carried on into the night, when the driver Sunil informed us that it was dangerous to drive through the jungle area at night because of wild elephants!
As it happened we came across three elephants just meters from the road, but using our dive lights to see them properly just made them head back into the jungle.
We eventually arrived in Batticaloa around 9:00pm and after moving our bags into the assigned rooms we had a few beers and some chicken sandwiches before heading to bed around midnight.
Since three of our original group had pulled out (medical problems for two and work issues for another), three divers from the US previously booked on the Sri Lankan Aggressor, joined our group. This proved advantageous for me as I was the only OC diver in my group, so I ended up buddying with the “Muricans”, during the week.
On the Saturday morning, Feli (owner of Sri Lankan Diving Tours) took the three Americans on a check out dive on the Boiler wreck, a shallow 8-9m dive site just outside of the lagoon, while I assembled my camera equipment and the others put their rebreathers together.
Unfortunately, our prior request for specific mixes was not actioned and after Feli returned from the check-out dive he was busy pumping gas into the twinsets and Dil bottles for the rebreathers.
Compressor and gas mixing room
There was also a severe lack of S40 deco bottles and I ended up with an S63 for my 50% and a 3L rebreather bottle rigged for 100%. I was looking for a gas mix of anything between 20/30 to 20/40. My first mix was a hot 19/30 but two of the Americans ended up with a 24/25 and a 24/28. During the week, I had to ask Feli adjust the mixes. It just appeared to be an issue to do the mixing the night before for some reason unless pushed. One mix originally read as 21/32 later read as 19/41 after the dive!
All but one of us was sharing a room with ensuite bathroom. The beds were basic with one small pillow. Water temperature for washing was ambient temperature although some solar panels are being added, so in future there should be hot water.