The Andaman Chronicles - Day 5

We travelled overnight from Koh Bon island to Koh Surin island. Next day we were diving in one of the best spots in the world. Richelieu Rock is a reef discovered by Jacques Cousteau. It is located in open sea 18 Km east of Koh Surin.

I woke up in the morning with a weird sensation in my left ear. Something was not Ok. While the boat was moving towards Richelieu Rock we took breakfast and did a briefing. I decided then I was not diving, I was afraid of some ear infection. While they were diving I returned to my cabin in the lower deck of the boat and slept.

In the afternoon I felt slightly better and decided to take the risk. I was going to dive with Darius and Frey, the French speaking couple. Darius was as experienced as me, but Frey was not proficient and needed to be looked after during the whole dive. Elsa, our guide, advised us that the current would be strong. We did the descent using a shot line. It was a hard descent, holding the rope with one hand, compensating my ears with the other and fighting against the force of the current. It took us few minutes to reach the bottom and take refuge behind the rocks. Although the currents, Richelieu Rock was a beautiful place. Corals of all colours, but mainly red, decorated the walls. Schools of fish danced around. A big school of barracudas sat over the reef as sentinels, not bothered by the currents. We explored the walls, swimming between and around rocks protected from the current. There was all kind of marine life. Clown fishes, beautiful shrimps and crabs, nudibranchs. In some occasions I had to help Frey crossing the passages where the current was stronger, and ensure she was not loosing her buoyancy.

We were on a plateau where a family of scorpion fishes was laying, seven of them all together. Darius was taking shots while I was asking Frey to keep distance from the scorpion fishes. Their spikes can be poisoning. Frey looked at me with a weird expression and pointed to my back. I turned back and saw an eel swimming in our direction. It was white with black stripes and the head was dark and round with a red spot. I looked again at the head, it was not an eel, it was a snake. It kept coming in our direction. I tried to move backwards but Frey was behind me. Darius was still focused on taking shots and did not see it. He came closer and closer. Frey finally moved backwards and me with her. When the snake was about one meter from us it changed direction, it was moving to Darius. But then turned up and swam to the surface. Me and Frey stood there looking up until the snake reached the surface looking for a fresh breath of air. Darius never realised what happened.

Time was elapsing and we ascended to another plateau where we stood at a shallower depth doing a safety stop. A Titan Triggerfish was feeding. I grabbed my camera and torch and got closer for a good shot. When the fish noticed the light it moved away, so I hide it and got even closer for a better shot. With the fish well visible in the camera screen I pointed the light again. It looked at me, eyes on eyes, and with such a fast move it came on my direction and turned around me. I could not see it but felt it attacking on my back, its teeth clinging on the air bottle. I turned and it turned again always looking for my back. And we turned and turned around until it gave up and returned to its feast. I looked at the others and they were laughing under their breathing regulators. I laughed with them and made a not so polite signal to the fish with one of my fingers.

I did not dive the rest of the day due to my ear getting worst. But I heard the stories of new encounters with the snakes. Darius and Frey found another, but Darius refuses to believe it is a snake. Although the photos he still insists it is an eel.