The Dive Table Podcast (00:01.966)
Welcome to the dive table. My name is Sarah Miller and I'm on a boat, which you can probably hear in the background. I'm in the middle of the Komodo national park on my diving expedition with my business, a soul unlimited. This is the Komodo dive expedition. I've had eight divers and one snorkeler here enjoying the beautiful sites of the Komodo national park and experiencing some strong currents.
And I'm going to gather some of my divers around the table to talk about their experiences and what they've learned this week.
The Dive Table Podcast (00:01.262)
So I have Sean here. wait, let's see. Gotta get both going. Okay. So I have Sean here. What is your experience with diving and current? Well, with diving, I've been diving 10 years in Eastern Washington. So all we have is rivers and quarries. I'm currently a dive instructor, a sad mountain instructor, cave certified, rebreather certified. And that's...
and working towards a lot more technical diving. And so how did you find the currents here in Komodo? The currents were phenomenal. There are things that I've seen online with the bubbles that don't come up for like a half mile. So we got to experience that and that was epic. What was your favorite dive memory from this week? I think Crystal Rock.
Just the amount of sea life. I've never seen that much sea life on any dive in any continent that I've ever been on and it had everything. I mean big animals, small animals, current, still water, but just the amount of life was amazing. What would you as a river diver, what would you recommend for people who aren't comfortable with currents they want to be like how how would you recommend that they get into it?
So I think if there's any way that you can find rivers or if you're near salt water where you can find some current and get with the experienced divers who can tell you actually what you're going to expect and to be right next to you all the time so you feel safe. So you can gradually get better and better and then you can come here and do like the cauldron, which is like, I've been to the wash machine in the Bahamas and I think the cauldron,
takes the cake. It was just unbelievable. The video that you shot of that was pretty spectacular.
The Dive Table Podcast (02:02.958)
There's I stayed down below and I shot a video of all the divers that were hooked up to the top of the cliff. And then I got beside them and shot beside them. My hood is blowing off. You got to be careful. You don't lose a mask. But everyone's hanging on for dear life. And it was it was fantastic. What's funny about that part in the dive is once you let go, like you don't realize how it doesn't feel as strong, right? Because you're just kind of like cruising along. Yeah, you're just you're just in the drift at that point.
And you could drift for miles and really not realize how far you've gone. But it's when you physically stop yourself, inflate your BC and you're in the current in a motionless or basically you're in a stall and the current still hitting you. It's unbelievable. I mean, it's like being in a car at 80 miles an hour with your head above the, you know.
Like the dog right? Like dog out the window. 80 miles an hour. It's fantastic. Nice. Well I'm so glad that you guys got to join and I hope that we get to, well I'm hoping you're going to take me on a river dive sometime. River dive will take you to the silo. That'll be good but we appreciate you inviting us on this trip because we adore diving with you anyways and it was fun to have this experience. Basically we're used to get a dive all the time.
So this was this was fantastic for us. Thank you. Thank you.
The Dive Table Podcast (00:01.326)
It looks fantastic. All right, here we go. All right, right now I have Militia here. You want to tell the divers what your experience is with diving in current?
Well, actually the current part of things was pretty cool, except for when we didn't know it was going to happen. Then it was a little bit exciting and a little bit stressful, but we all survived. That's the thing I've been telling them about diving in Komodo. It's kind of learning to be okay with what is and enjoying what is there because we can make all the plans and know the tide charts and then we can get underwater and it's just like, well.
This is what Mother Nature has served us today. It was not what we had planned, but we're gonna go along with it. And it's still fun, right? It's still fun. And you said, so tell them what experience you have as a diver.
so I am a dive master. I've been diving for probably about the last six years at this point in time. I do a lot of drift dives, like in a river and things along those lines. But I know what I'm planning for. I know what the flow rates are. This was a little bit more exciting because I didn't really know what to expect exactly. And I'd heard that Indonesia has a lot of fast current, but I didn't really as that fast.
I think this place always throws people like, it just surprises people. But it's also part of the reason why like the corals are so healthy and there's so much like life and like big stuff out here because it's just bringing all this good like nutrient rich water. It was gorgeous the whole time. In fact most of the time when we were drifting I wanted to stop and take a look at things and it was not possible. There was no way that was gonna happen.
The Dive Table Podcast (01:53.806)
So what would you recommend, because you have a lot of experience with diving and rivers and other kinds of current. What's your biggest tip for people to get comfortable with this kind of current? Honestly, it's just the experience. Start off slower and work your way up. But as you get used to the flows, you'll realize what you can do and what you have to do with your body in order to adjust and move around rocks and obstacles and things along those lines. It's just getting out there and diving, really.
That's the big thing. Get used to it. What was your, I know that your diving got cut short. We had a little injury, unfortunately, but what was your favorite dive of this trip? it would...
I would probably, I can't remember, say the name, Sabayar Katil? Yeah, Sabayar Katil. Yeah, I think that was our first dive on this boat. And it was just seeing everything. It was just gorgeous. And I loved it the whole time. So it was amazing. That one's such a great dive because it's usually our check dive for people. So it's like, welcome to Komodo. This is one of your first dives. And there's just so much on that reef. Like you can find pygmy seahorses and frogfish and like,
schools of everything. It's gorgeous. Yeah, that's nice. My I think the best pick that I took this whole time was the leaf scorpion fish and I got an awesome image of that. I'm like all stoked with that one. So I think that sticks in my mind the most. Nice. Well, thank you so much for joining on this. I it was so nice to like hang out and actually get to share some moments underwater. I mean, we've done before together, but it's just nice to be in warm water for once. You got to expose me to what you used to do.
So that was awesome. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
The Dive Table Podcast (00:01.102)
Those aren't mine. I have a different brand.
The Dive Table Podcast (00:06.414)
This way, this way. Come over here. Come join me. Alright, what are we doing? So, we are coming.
Hello. So introduce yourself. Yeah, you look wonderful. We all have dive hair. That's just how it goes here. Yes. So introduce yourself and say what experience you had with currents and as a diver before this. Okay. So I'm Karen. I basically had no experience with currents, a few super easy drift dives, but that was about it. Nothing like we found out in Komodo.
I have loved, as a teacher, it's one of my favorite things to see people develop and gain confidence. And so watching your progression this week has been so wonderful. thank you. You're really good. Thanks. You're really, really good. There was a few little harrowing moments. But you get in your head, and you get freaked out about something. But I came here to challenge myself and to try to grow as a diver and get better. And I think I did. Absolutely. Yeah. You absolutely did.
There was a couple of moments where I could tell you were getting anxious, right? And it's funny, once you finally get that click of like, if something goes wrong, I can just go up. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And so I think that kind of maybe did that help? Well, it did. And also knowing that Sarah promised to come after me if I got slipped up to see.
What did you guys call me? The insta buddy? Yeah, yeah, pretty much.
The Dive Table Podcast (01:44.046)
I mean, you always think about the what ifs, right? Like in the moment, if you know it's going to be okay, then it's not scary, but it's the what ifs of, well, what if I can't get back to the group? What if I start tossing and turning in the current and I can't get myself under control? What if I lose my reg? You know, even though you try to go back to your basic training, it's still a little bit scary, but yeah, knowing you could just go up, knowing that someone's going to come find you, it helps. So what, what helped you the most though?
in like your progression this week? Honestly, I think that there are some things that you just have to do to get better. You can research it, which I did. You can talk to people who've done it before, which I did. But sometimes you just have to get in it and do it. And I think just learning how to relax a little bit while drifting, learning how to use the reef hook.
And that feeling of kind of, I was telling Sarah, it's like you're a kite. You're being the kite that's being flown. It was a little uncomfortable, is a little uncomfortable still, but you just have to do it and start to get used to it and trust that you'll be okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's, I think like seeing you adjust, like follow the dive guide and like change your position and really like play with the topography. It's, I can see the comfort.
out, you know, that you're like really trimmed out and just like reading things, right? Like I've been telling them about reading the fish and everything, like watching how all the fish move. And it's about like being really fully in the moment and like aware of what the environment is telling you. Yeah, and once you get out of your head a little bit, you can start paying attention to some of those things. That's helpful. But yeah, I think it's just you just have to do it to get better. It's
just one of those things where you can only read about it for so long before you have to literally jump in. Yeah, and do it. Absolutely. And as you do it, it becomes second nature. You were commenting on how our dive guide, Rian, was just so comfortable and he was just out. Or I was shooting video and out there in the current. And it just takes that repetition and that time. So what was your favorite dive of this week?
The Dive Table Podcast (04:10.062)
man. Well, I think the favorite dive site was Ba Tu Balong, which we got to do twice, which was cool. It was just so pretty. And to kind of work our way up, up the wall that it was, was so pretty. But I have to say it was the first time I saw a manta ray and that was pretty special. So I knew that they're out here, but I didn't really think we were in the right season. So I came with zero expectation to see one. So the fact that we did get to see one was pretty cool. I was so excited for you. Like I got.
a little video of it in front of you and I'm just like, yes, we got to see it. Cause it's not the season for them here. They're, they're hanging out in like New Sapanita and that area, but here the N the Manta season is more November through March ish. So it was special to see one. And I had looked at my buddy and I, I don't know what I was trying to signal to her or something completely unrelated. And she just went behind me and I turned around and he was right there. I'm like, my gosh, this animal is so.
cool and he's coming right at me it was pretty special yeah yeah I'm so glad that you got to join and it's been such a lovely time getting to know you and diving with you it's been so fun thank you so much for putting the trip together yeah and we're gonna get together and dive in cold Washington yeah very different you're welcome
The Dive Table Podcast (00:01.006)
So you heard from a handful of people on the trip. Not everybody wanted to be on the podcast or on video, but in general, everybody had such a great time. There were a lot of big feelings about some of the dives. They, you know, we had some strong currents. It was a learning experience for everyone. So if you have never experienced current, please write us in the Facebook group for the dive table. We will answer any questions that you have and.
Look me up, Asul Unlimited. I'm running dive expeditions around the world and I'd be happy to teach you what I know about scuba diving and travel and everything. So thank you for joining me on this little surface interval for the Dive Table podcast. I will see you in the next episode.
