I've been on a two weeks trip to Monte Negro. It was my first diving there and I must say I've had a lot of fun.
We were stationed in the Jaz bay from where we made a zodiac rides to our diving locations. I've had many firsts there - first dive from a zodiac was one of them.
The area is really rich with caves! It was a great fun to explore them. Less fun but a nice experience for me was when I helped a group member deal with a mild panic attack in one of those caves. He had problems equalizing and descending from the cave and the group hadn't noticed. He was suddenly left in the dark, not realizing I was behind him. The situation wasn't really dangerous, but he was uncomfortable and about to panic.
There was a wreck called "Orestte" we dove to. Very plundered wreck, but still nice. I admit wrecks are a least favorite of my diving trips. There was another one - "Dague" - in the marina of Bar at very shallow depth in which I penetrated following a group but without the flashlight on me. I followed the trail of light and got out clean, even when that light vanished from sight. Again, no biggie. Maybe not the smartest move by me, but also served its purpose: to teach me how to handle such situations and never to penetrate a wreck without the flashlight again.
I've seen a lot of marine life combining the dives together, but can't escape the feeling that our seas suffer from overfishing. Locals and divers who frequent the area are full of stories of dynamite fishing practice in the area. Very sad.
I've really enjoyed the encounters with octopuses, scorpion fishes, morays and everything I've seen there. Even the unusually large amount of fireworms seemed interesting to observe. Not to mention the occasional large jellyfish or two floating around. I believe they all need our help to get their habitat back.
Once again, I broke my personal depth record. I dove to 45 meters (147 ft) of depth and for the first time felt really tired, uneasy and insecure on that dive. This wasn't really a depth related but a low stamina issue. I puffed and panted my lungs out on that dive. As soon as I regain my cool I felt better. Again an eye-opener of a dive: don't go beyond the limits of your body.
However, I never had a depth issue to this day and never felt the effects of narcosis. Strange but true. Dove that same location two days before and felt no problems. It's just when I have to fin like crazy that I start to dislike the dive. Diving should be easy and slow, IMO.
I was very happy to put to use some ScubaBoard knowledge, too! An insta buddy had a buoyancy problems and couldn't sink during the dive. He tried to empty his BCD but no air would come out. I pulled him down so he doesn't surface, and he successfully did it. He thanked me later and I've explained to him how he must lean a bit to the right to make the air go out of a potential air pocket so he can empty it with his inflator hose. This is something I learned here on SB and without knowing this I would have probably presumed, just like he did, that he got a faulty inflator hose or similar.
I wasn't always the coolest diver around to be honest. While practicing some skills underwater I did some laughable mistakes, but got them right in the end. I've also for the life of me not been able to retrieve my SPG that got tangled somehow. I had to call my buddy for the rescue then.
Anyway, this dive trip was an excellent experience for me. I greatly enjoyed it and can't wait til my next trip - Egypt in about a month! Red Sea, here I come again!
We were stationed in the Jaz bay from where we made a zodiac rides to our diving locations. I've had many firsts there - first dive from a zodiac was one of them.
The area is really rich with caves! It was a great fun to explore them. Less fun but a nice experience for me was when I helped a group member deal with a mild panic attack in one of those caves. He had problems equalizing and descending from the cave and the group hadn't noticed. He was suddenly left in the dark, not realizing I was behind him. The situation wasn't really dangerous, but he was uncomfortable and about to panic.
There was a wreck called "Orestte" we dove to. Very plundered wreck, but still nice. I admit wrecks are a least favorite of my diving trips. There was another one - "Dague" - in the marina of Bar at very shallow depth in which I penetrated following a group but without the flashlight on me. I followed the trail of light and got out clean, even when that light vanished from sight. Again, no biggie. Maybe not the smartest move by me, but also served its purpose: to teach me how to handle such situations and never to penetrate a wreck without the flashlight again.
I've seen a lot of marine life combining the dives together, but can't escape the feeling that our seas suffer from overfishing. Locals and divers who frequent the area are full of stories of dynamite fishing practice in the area. Very sad.
I've really enjoyed the encounters with octopuses, scorpion fishes, morays and everything I've seen there. Even the unusually large amount of fireworms seemed interesting to observe. Not to mention the occasional large jellyfish or two floating around. I believe they all need our help to get their habitat back.
Once again, I broke my personal depth record. I dove to 45 meters (147 ft) of depth and for the first time felt really tired, uneasy and insecure on that dive. This wasn't really a depth related but a low stamina issue. I puffed and panted my lungs out on that dive. As soon as I regain my cool I felt better. Again an eye-opener of a dive: don't go beyond the limits of your body.
However, I never had a depth issue to this day and never felt the effects of narcosis. Strange but true. Dove that same location two days before and felt no problems. It's just when I have to fin like crazy that I start to dislike the dive. Diving should be easy and slow, IMO.
I was very happy to put to use some ScubaBoard knowledge, too! An insta buddy had a buoyancy problems and couldn't sink during the dive. He tried to empty his BCD but no air would come out. I pulled him down so he doesn't surface, and he successfully did it. He thanked me later and I've explained to him how he must lean a bit to the right to make the air go out of a potential air pocket so he can empty it with his inflator hose. This is something I learned here on SB and without knowing this I would have probably presumed, just like he did, that he got a faulty inflator hose or similar.
I wasn't always the coolest diver around to be honest. While practicing some skills underwater I did some laughable mistakes, but got them right in the end. I've also for the life of me not been able to retrieve my SPG that got tangled somehow. I had to call my buddy for the rescue then.
Anyway, this dive trip was an excellent experience for me. I greatly enjoyed it and can't wait til my next trip - Egypt in about a month! Red Sea, here I come again!
