I was visiting Hong Kong for the first time to do some consulting work for the movie industry. Having done quite a bit of diving in the cold California waters, I wanted to see what it was like in the warmer tropical waters of the South China Sea. A friend of mine volunteered that he knew somebody who used to live in Hong Kong and had done some diving there. After a few phone calls I managed to track down John. He told me that he still made occasional trips to the Fragrant Harbour, and still went diving with his old club when his trip lined up with a club outing. John warned me that my half-inch thick grey wetsuit and twin tanks were not a good idea for diving in the warm September seas of the former British colony. He told me how to contact the club before I went and gave me a copy of their diving schedule.
A quick telex to the Dive Marshal appointed for the 18th of September got me a berth on their boat. I could not take all of my diving gear with me, so the DM arranged for rental of a thinner wetsuit. When I boarded the plane at Los Angeles, it was with the comforting thought that I would still be able to dive with my trademark look. In my suitcases were my twin hose regulator, single lens mask, SEAL knife, and black rubber fins. You see, the DM had also arranged to borrow the only twin air tank set in the club from the owner, who was going to be away in Switzerland. Perfect! The Mike Nelson look would be preserved.
Having safely arrived in Hong Kong, I looked forward to the day when I would get to dive in the warm Oriental Waters. Eventually the day arrived. I was ferried out to the pier by one of the chauffeured cars from the grand old waterfront hotel where I was staying in Kowloon. Only the British know how to build cars like that green Rolls Royce that glided over the winding roads to a place called Sai Kung! Not a bump or rattle intruded into that stately cabin to disturb my thoughts. There was a bit of a problem when an officer in a green uniform tried to write a ticket while we were parked by the pier and carrying the gear to the boat. The officer decided not to give the driver the ticket when he found out who owned the car.
A warm welcome was extended to me by the members of the Hong Kong Underwater Club. After waiting for somebody called Sue to show up, the boat (called the "Good Ship Lee" by the members) cast off its moorings and set off. It was explained that Sue always arrives last so that she can pick up any of the divers whose cars break down on the way to the pier. It was a pleasant journey out to the dive site, past a big dam with a prison camp at its base. There were many islands scattered around this area called Port Shelter. We passed a big junk with batwing sails spread in the wind. We in turn were passed (much too close) by many fast white cruisers that really set the boat rolling. After a couple of hours of leisurely cruising between many islands we dropped anchor at the south end of a big island with a smaller island next to it.
I was given a buddy, an ex-British army type, to show me around the dive site. A very efficient Chinese woman with a British sounding accent checked our air pressure and logged us off the boat. We went down in the second wave and descended down the anchor line to the bottom at 60'. My buddy set off along the base of a rocky drop-off to where there was an old metal mast. There was a tangle of wire ropes and pulleys wrapped around it. We continued along the base of the drop-off and eventually went around a corner. Near here we saw a large ray that warned us off by raising its barbed tail. We turned away and headed back through the passage between the two islands. There were sprouts of bright soft coral along the walls, and enormous sand ripples on the bottom. They must have been three or four feet high. This would not be a good place to be when the sea was rough. Then we came to an area with fields of sea anemones. There were lots of very aggressive orange and white fish living in the anemones. They were only a few inches long but kept on trying to bite us.
Suddenly they all disappeared and I felt a threatening presence behind me. I drew my knife and quickly turned around. It wasn't a shark, only another diver. He was trying to turn off my air supply, so I hit him in the nose with the handle of my knife. He took off faster than a shark that had just been punched in the snout! My buddy went into spasms ‚ he lost his regulator from laughing too hard. By the time he got himself under control again our air was getting low. We could see the boat above us so it was time to go up and end my first dive in this part of the world.
Back on the boat we removed our wet gear and changed our air tanks for fully charged ones. Unfortunately there were no spare twin sets and the boat was without an air compressor, so I had to use a bright yellow single tank. After preparing our gear for the next dive we went up onto the large roof deck and ate our lunches in the sun. Some of the younger men amused themselves by swimming over to the cliffs, climbing 50' up to a ledge, then leaping off into the sea. After an hour we went downstairs again to get dressed for the next dive. The seas had calmed down from the morning, so the DM suggested moving the boat to a more exposed site. There was a lot of talk back and forth with place names such as Long Kay Wan, cement barge, Bowling Pins and Victory Rock being suggested. The list kept on getting longer. Then a young man with swollen nose (wonder how that happened!) suggested that we move the boat around the corner to the other side of the island. Everybody agreed instantly. Nobody on the boat had ever dived there before so they were all interested in a new site. The anchor was quickly hoisted and we were off.
Around the headland was a wide curve of cliffs with a couple of small bays. There was a line of rocks on the far side of the wide bay and there were some small islands visible just around the next headland. The boat anchored just in the lee of the line of rocks running out from the shore. After the briefing by the DM, my buddy and I decided to make for the group of rocks further out. The chart showed 60' of water before the bottom rose to the rocks with a 30' deep reef on the seaward side.
We hit the bottom at 35' and headed out into the deeper water following a compass bearing towards our goal. The bottom was sandy until we got to the rocks, but once there we found piles of boulders with all sorts of corals growing in the cracks. We found a swim through with a couple of seafans growing halfway through. In one crevice there was a giant moray eel. It had probably never seen a diver before, because it came out of its hole and started to follow us. Around the corner a large octopus was pretending to be a rock. As soon as the octopus saw the moray eel it took off as fast as it could. The moray was faster and soon caught up with it. Live octopus is a favourite food of morays and this eel did its best to make a meal of it. The octopus was writhing around the moray and started squirting ink like crazy. Soon all we could see was the occasional whirling tentacle or the moray's tail. Eventually the moray emerged with one of the septopus' arms in its mouth and headed back towards its lair to eat its meal. The other seven arms were seen briefly, heading rapidly in the opposite direction leaving a trail of ink and blood behind.
After this exciting encounter we went on and found a couple of large lionfish stalking a school of smaller fish. They gently herded the school into a corner. There was a rapid movement we could not follow from each of the previously slow moving hunters. The school scattered, but there were several missing.
The visibility had improved and we could see other pairs of divers in the distance behind us. As we moved past the pinnacles towards the open sea a panorama opened up in front of us. The rocks dropped off like a vast staircase down into the depths. Schools of large fish were streaming past like a parade. All we could do was watch. There were tuna, giant trevally, yellow and blue snappers. Then we saw a school of barracuda in the distance. Not a small school either. There must have been hundreds of the arrow like predators. They seemed to be very excited and agitated, keeping in a tight group as if they were afraid of something. The reason for this soon became all too evident.
A large grey shadow emerged from behind the barracuda. As it got closer we started to edge backwards. Maybe we should have just stayed still and held our breath. As soon as we moved the shark altered course to swim just in front of us. As it passed we could see its eyes watching us. It had vertical bars and was almost 20' long. A Tiger Shark! These are feared by divers almost as much as the dreaded Great White. Here was a large one turning around and coming back towards us! Or rather, it was coming towards me, because my buddy was already 50' away and heading for the boat as fast as he could. I looked back towards the shark and saw that it had continued its turn. It was now starting to head away and was itself trying to pick up speed. A sudden blur as an enormous black and white shape surged past me. It grabbed the shark's tail with its mouthful of teeth and proceeded to shake the shark like I thought the shark was going to shake me. Two smaller ones followed and also started to attack the shark. The Tiger Shark had already lost its tail and was helpless. It was fast becoming dinner for its three attackers. It was clear that I had been saved from certain death by the intervention of these enormous fish.
As I headed back to the boat I reflected on the way that the hunter becomes the hunted in the unforgiving sea. Big fish get eaten by even bigger fish. Back on the boat everybody was very excited. They wanted to know if I had seen the Killer Whales. All I could do was nod my head silently.
Mike Nelson