The Pinnacle
Ask any diver and they will have difficulty pinpointing their favourite dive. I love going back in time and exploring old war ships sunk in battle, descending into shark infested waters, or simply being surrounded by schools of fish bursting with colour accompanied by laid-back turtles or a friendly ray. Nevertheless, there is one dive that sticks in the mind, over the north side of Utila Bay Islands, Honduras.
Singing along to some Caribbean classics, we finally arrive at The Pinnacle for a much anticipated staff dive. Upon descending into the warm sparkling turquoise water, we come to a sandy channel that carves its way through dramatic coral heads. To one side there is a drop-off and the vastness of the open ocean is apparent, to the other side is coral teeming with different species of fish going about their feeding and protective duties. The visibility around Utila is always good, but today it is exceptional and the water is calm, we haven’t had rain for some time. I’m having a great time checking out the fish, the coral, when suddenly everyone starts tapping tanks and signalling “Friggin awesome!” As I turn I am just in time to be confronted by a beautifully, elegant nurse shark swimming away. Sharks are my favourite, much unlike the ferocious beasts the Hollywood movies make them out to be, they are in fact peaceful, curious and graceful… well, unless you’re fish at dinner time that is!
At 21m, we approach the entrance of a cave. Whilst some may be nervous, I am intrigued and delve in after my buddy admiring the fish lurking in the dark crevasses of the cave. Not to my surprise, I spot a couple of Lionfish lying in wait to feed on unsuspecting prey. Lionfish originate from the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific regions but in recent years have been transported via ships and ended up in the Mesoamerican Reef which stretches over 1,000 kilometres down the east coast of Central America. In these waters, they have no natural predators and are repopulating at an alarming rate. Lionfish are visually stunning with colourful spines creating the illusion of a lion’s mane, and this now invasive species is living up to its namesake, dramatically reducing juvenile fish populations but also driving out native predators who cannot compete against the powerful, venomous Lionfish. Utila attempts to tackle this problem by hosting regular Lionfish derbies for which I was proud to play a part. The dive centres on the island get together to spear as many Lionfish as possible and then enjoy a cook off to trial new Lionfish recipes!
We pop out the cave at a maximum depth of 40m and begin to progress slowly towards shallower waters. Suddenly, as if by magic, the reef starts to expel streams of tiny bubbles through the cracks in the rock, appearing like the fizz of freshly popped champagne. This is a result of fellow divers still passing through the cave beneath, and the bubbles in turn attract gem coloured wrasses, a couple of young sea turtles and a school of tiny electric blue fish. The ocean is so quiet all I can hear is my slow and steady breathing yet around me; the reef has come to life in a blaze of colour and eruption of bubbles.
Upon surfacing, a wave of euphoria transcends upon me, and a feeling of total unadulterated bliss. This is why I dive, for the pure joy of witnessing some of the ocean’s greatest secrets.