Nothing but blue all around me. Left, right, front, rear and above me. Below me the bottom of the Adriatic Sea scattered with artefacts of a lost Phoenician ship. Only moments ago I was admiring the artefacts with my diving buddy, and now she is gone. I look around. Nobody. Just the Big Blue. I start to panic.
It’s an old naval technique, when a ship passes an island in front of a coast, to pass the coast at a distance twice the distance between the coast and the island. This typically provides enough safety margin to pass by and avoid rocks. As it so happens though, the waters next to the Islote el Farallon island, in front of the coast of Isla Grosa, reveal another hill, though entirely underwater and at exactly twice the distance of that between Isla Grosa and El Farallon. It is of no surprise then that the surroundings of this hill are filled with plenty of shipwrecks; a substantial part of Phoenician origin due old trading routes between Cartagena and Cartago.
It is in these waters that I upgraded from a recreational diver to advanced open water diver, which includes diving into the 30m deep shipwreck Naranjito. There are plenty of sites around Cabo the Palos with a busy marine life, and attracts tourists from all of Spain. On rare occasions one can even spot the occasional whale passing by. Many excavations are done in the area, and stored in the local museum (along with one of the very first submarines) and sometimes the scientists working on the excavations can take you for a tour around the excavation sites.
My diving buddy and I did just that thing, and we looked forward to see a beautiful Phoenician ship lying on the bottom of the Sea. Wood however, does not last over 2000 years and all that you see is ropes placed to mark the excavation site, with some artefacts in between. My dive was not good; I kept having issues with my mask and was often distracted because of it. We were looking around the sites, and after clearing my mask yet again, I suddenly found myself alone.
There is something scary about underwater slopes surrounding an island. They don’t seem to stop and continue down into a dark abyss. And staring at it, an enormous fear got over me. Is she somewhere down there in the dark depths? Is she gone? I see some diver far away going up to the boat but none of them look like her. Not finding her underwater, I surface close to the underwater peak that sank all those ships. A guide came up next to me and I explained the situation. “I am sure she went to the boat with the others”. I go down again and head for the boat. When I entered the boat, I see her chatting with another guide.
It’s a golden rule to not loose your diving buddy and I broke that rule. However there is always a backup: the buddy. So two faults led to this situation: 1. My buddy decided to head up with another group without informing me, 2. I didn’t pay enough attention. So all good in the end; we look back to an interesting dive, seeing the shipwreck (or what remains of it), struggling with my goggles (which normally I have no issues with) and getting the scare of my life.
I am still diving on a yearly basis in the area of Cabo the Palos. There are some beautiful sites and I highly recommend taking a trip there if you are into diving. But do pay attention to your buddy ;o).
Ciao!
Robin
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