Kiran Island is known for three things:
1. Green Peace Turtle Sanctuary
2. Great Spearfishing
3. No Night time Helocopter rescues
So here the store goes......
Summer returning student program is in full swing, and yours truely is a Divemaster working with the group. One of the highlights of the summer program is the overnight Dhow trip to Kiran island, where no one sleeps, you just keep packing the water down and dive, dive, dive! All day, all night.
so after an 5 hour boat ride we reach the island, the gaggle of student pile off the boat and start there first dives. I go talk biz with the firstmate and work out a deal for a ride up current to the top of island for a drift/spearfish freedive. the water is clear, a good 60ft viz and it's sunny. I'm out with my old school Mares hotdog float, stringer attached, and a Beauchat Mundial Elite weapon.
I should start by saying that with us on this trip came a huge cooler full of ice. we (justin the other hunter, and I) have a HUGE party/fish fry every year with what we get on this trip. justin starts off by shooting a large Trevally at close range, puts his old Cavalaro right through the fish and shatters the JBL tip on the rock behind. so now it's all up to me.
I start by getting to decent Hagool and a small sweetlips. the thirs fish is a LARGE Hagool, I shoot it and it bolts deep, the line wraps around my left pinky and slices it close to the bone. there is blood everywhere! very surprisng for a finger.... I get the fish in and scrape my shin all to hell on a coral head freeing the line. great. blood is everywhere, baracuda, hagool, are becomeing very friendly, oh yeah! and Kiran is famous of a 4th reason!
4. Tiger Sharks
The last one I saw caught there was brought in using a 6ft White Tip Reef Shark for bait...
just when I thought I was going to loose an apendage or worse, my catch, I hear an engine. the Firstmate hast come to pick me. he broght me back and a couple of make shift suitures and some duct tape later I was hitting him up for another ride. he was pissed that I'd bled all over his boat, but he took me back out.
on the second dive I went for the deep water experience hoping to nail some Cannad (kingfish). No such luck. I hung out above a large baiffish school in about 80ft of water and watched as large Talangs game in to feed. I kept diving down to get a better look, as Talangs taste terrible when they're big and Cannad are best shot from underneath. All of a sudden out of nowhere a big woosh. I look up to see what just buzzed me.
Manta's! Mother F@#$ing MANTAS!!
Just one at first, then another, then another, then anot....
At final count there were nine, all swirling and diving through the school of small fish, was FANTASTIC!!, I tied off my gun and jut started diving with them. they were small and brown, maybe 5ft across. but amazing. I swam with them for about an hour, but as daylight faded I had to return to to the boat.
and thats when the shit really hit the fan......
Stay tuned for Episode II! (How much for A new Helicopter?)
1. Green Peace Turtle Sanctuary
2. Great Spearfishing
3. No Night time Helocopter rescues
So here the store goes......
Summer returning student program is in full swing, and yours truely is a Divemaster working with the group. One of the highlights of the summer program is the overnight Dhow trip to Kiran island, where no one sleeps, you just keep packing the water down and dive, dive, dive! All day, all night.
so after an 5 hour boat ride we reach the island, the gaggle of student pile off the boat and start there first dives. I go talk biz with the firstmate and work out a deal for a ride up current to the top of island for a drift/spearfish freedive. the water is clear, a good 60ft viz and it's sunny. I'm out with my old school Mares hotdog float, stringer attached, and a Beauchat Mundial Elite weapon.
I should start by saying that with us on this trip came a huge cooler full of ice. we (justin the other hunter, and I) have a HUGE party/fish fry every year with what we get on this trip. justin starts off by shooting a large Trevally at close range, puts his old Cavalaro right through the fish and shatters the JBL tip on the rock behind. so now it's all up to me.
I start by getting to decent Hagool and a small sweetlips. the thirs fish is a LARGE Hagool, I shoot it and it bolts deep, the line wraps around my left pinky and slices it close to the bone. there is blood everywhere! very surprisng for a finger.... I get the fish in and scrape my shin all to hell on a coral head freeing the line. great. blood is everywhere, baracuda, hagool, are becomeing very friendly, oh yeah! and Kiran is famous of a 4th reason!
4. Tiger Sharks
The last one I saw caught there was brought in using a 6ft White Tip Reef Shark for bait...
just when I thought I was going to loose an apendage or worse, my catch, I hear an engine. the Firstmate hast come to pick me. he broght me back and a couple of make shift suitures and some duct tape later I was hitting him up for another ride. he was pissed that I'd bled all over his boat, but he took me back out.
on the second dive I went for the deep water experience hoping to nail some Cannad (kingfish). No such luck. I hung out above a large baiffish school in about 80ft of water and watched as large Talangs game in to feed. I kept diving down to get a better look, as Talangs taste terrible when they're big and Cannad are best shot from underneath. All of a sudden out of nowhere a big woosh. I look up to see what just buzzed me.
Manta's! Mother F@#$ing MANTAS!!
Just one at first, then another, then another, then anot....
At final count there were nine, all swirling and diving through the school of small fish, was FANTASTIC!!, I tied off my gun and jut started diving with them. they were small and brown, maybe 5ft across. but amazing. I swam with them for about an hour, but as daylight faded I had to return to to the boat.
and thats when the shit really hit the fan......
Stay tuned for Episode II! (How much for A new Helicopter?)