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I’m going to start by saying the 3 stars are not a reflection of our guide. The professionalism and brave way our guide Keti handled the situation we found ourselves in saved our lives.
Manta point was a successful dive and we did get to see mantas which was amazing.
However, theirs is a popular dive site called Crystal bay known for the chance to spot mola mola. We received no pre warning of this site and I’m sure most dive company’s treat it the same way.
Directly before diving we was told there could be an occasional current and to just grab hold of something if this happens. When we found ourselves in this situation though, it was more like the equivalent of a hurricane underwater.
Our guide held on to a rock with one arm and my partner with the other and my partner held on to my arm as there was no time to grab onto anything before the current hit which was within seconds.
The current lasted for 10 minutes and during that time it intensified to a level where breathing was extremely difficult and oxygen was being consumed quickly.
When this happened the rock our guide was holding broke and we was blasted from 18 meters to 33.5 meters. As this happened my partners mask and regulator got knocked off in the commotion.
So not only were we at depths that we were unprepared for, I was now watching my partner drown and panic as her regulator was being blown back and unreachable.
Luckily we all held onto each other and I forced a spare regulator into her mouth while the guide took us up in an emergency ascent unknowing that my partner had been without a regulator.
She and I were lucky, which is unfortunately more than we can say about the many divers and snorkelers that have died and gone missing there in the past. And I do mean many, it is worth researching.
The way our guide managed to handle the situation saved our lives, had it been another situation or a group of more than 3 of us and people had been washed down, it likely would have been a different story.
This isn’t to scare people, but this dive site should be made clear of the risks and inaccessible to anyone that isn’t very experienced. Even though I’ve seen reviews from experienced divers saying how dangerous the site is.
Dive shops should make this very clear and shouldn’t take people below high abilities. We didn’t find out that tons of people have died and gone missing until we got back on the boat, if we would have known we would have skipped this site.
Just want to give a final thanks to Keti for handling it so well and saving my partners life. - via 