I like to see the KBR dive operation as  a well-oiled machine. Well I would, wouldn’t I? On the surface you see serene, calm, efficient, fun, safe, good-natured, helpful and friendly.  Underneath I know the lads are beavering away like very busy things making sure it all works. Making sure you have a great time. But calm serenity is the Name of The Game.

Today we only have 3 guests! This is the first time for ages that we have been so quiet – but it is very much the lull before the next wave.  So once we waved the guests off this morning to dive Critter Hunt (to try and find the Blue-Rings again) we set to with a will: gardening, sanding, painting, fibre-glassing, knocking-down, building-up …. it is almost like that TV show where your house gets blown-up and rebuilt in 15 seconds. Frantic activity but well-drilled, precise….. yeah right. We are fixing boats, tidying up the garden, moving rinse tanks.

And, best of all, we are taking the resort staff diving. Thanks to our new Japanese Instructor, the lovely Yuko, we now have the capacity to show the non-Dive Team staff what diving is all about when we are quiet. Thanks so much Yuko! They are all emerged from a Try A Dive squealing with delight: Mega, Denny, Johannes….. a first time dive AND they saw a pygmy sea horse on the house reef. Not bed for a Try A Dive eh?!?

So, fancy a bit of diving? Come over to KBR and relax – and while you are out having fun, we’ll do an Extreme Makeover for your return.

PS: since publishing this, the Magnificient 3 have just got back. They saw the Blue Ring! YAY

Talking to Me?

The Holy Grail and the Loch Ness Monster – just two of the things that spring to mind that have driven individuals to distraction and despair in the hunt for a myth. Boston born Robert Harvey Rines spent  a lifetime hunting for “Nessie”.  His work led him to side scanning radar that helped find the Bismark and Titanic. But he never found the monster.

Blue ring octopus and KBR: I have become a butt of  KBR dive guide jokes for never seeing a blue-ring octopus. So many times guests have come back and taunted, yes, taunted me that THEY have just seen a blue ring. I never did. For me, blue rings were the Loch Ness Monster. The Holy Grail. The search for the indefinable. Yes, I have seen pictures in books. But do they really exist?

Well my friends, Robert Harvey Rines can eat his heart out. Yesterday at Critter Hunt I saw one. Cute little fella, slightly pink, darting about – and blue, blue rings! YEEEEEHAAAAA. And, even better, I got a pic – several actually. So, KBR colleagues, pick on something else to taunt me with. I’ve seen a Blue-Ring

Gotta say though – you don’t get too damn close to these little guys. If you read what I had to say about them some weeks ago, they can kill a human with a mere glance – well , yes, that’s a slight exaggeration. But a bite will almost certainly lead to a rather unpleasant death. Go on, you know you want to check out what Wikipedia has to say for Nasty Deaths: Blue-Ring Octopus.

So that’s it: Blue-Ring Octopus ticked off.

Holy Grail anyone?

Blue-ring Octopus pouts for the camera

Hey!

Yeah, the NEC Dive Shows in the UK and DEMA in the US were fun – but, damn, it’s good to be back at KBR. Just how much commercialism and fast food can a human take? I lived in the US for 5 years but had forgotten just how big portions can be. Is that a steak or a cow? Damn good cow though I have to say A few days in Oz on the way back though refreshed my taste for well-made coffee. If you can’t get your espressos in Italy, try Australia! That post-war Italian emmigration to Australia has paid dividends in the coffee stakes!

I flew into Manado  Wednesday afternoon and was back in the water Thursday morning. Phewwwwwwww – that nitrogen felt good, the water felt refreshing – and the simplicity of life washed back over me. On 20 September  1777, sitting in a coffee house, Dr Samuel Johnson said of life “No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”. I’m sure Good Ol’ Doc Johnson was talking about any metropolitain area, but, frankly, he had clearly never been to KBR. Who would swap pollution, crime and excessive stress for life at KBR? I’m tired of ‘London” but “life”? I think not.

Not only am I not tired of life, I want more of it: after all, where else do you get to see something like this……

Cuttlefish at Batu Sandar 3

So if you are indeed “tired of London”, disagree with Doc Johnson and want more of life – just not That kind of life, come to KBR. I’m sure we will put you close to something that will bring you far more delight than anything Johnson’s London had to offer……

DEMA: It’s Ho Lee Smokes time again. I’ve been to some exhibitions in my time but, if you are in to scuba diving, DEMA is amazing. I felt like a kid in a candy store, a dog with two tails, a cat with cream and a fresh mouse…… WOW. And it’s SO big. When time allowed I wandered happily through the aisles oohing and ahhing adding up just how much I could dent my credit card. Mercy. “Happily” I settled on a new BC (thank you Zeagle for a stunningly good deal); and a Heinrichs Weikamp TTL convertor which has been repackaged by a German company into a seriously neat project. (if you want to know more, email me)

I was hoping to do a Live From DEMA blog but with the Convention Centre (center?) wanting a cool $99.95 a day for Internet access, I thought maybe not. How can they possibly charge a $100 a day for Internet! Clearly the days of highway robbery are not over.

The KBR stand looked terrific and hats off to KBR owner, Mark, for the design. Although the show was, I’m told (this was my first DEMA) quiet, the KBR stand had a steady flow of visitors. And, similar to the NEC show in the UK, there was lots of  really nice things said about the resort, the staff, the food and the diving. Cool.

So now there are LOADS more people in the US know about KBR and what we have to offer. So come on, don’t be left behind. Brilliant diving, fabulous resort, great fun, seriously relaxing, a Knock-Out DEMA special for the next few days… and I can show off my new BC and, errr, Heinrichs Weikamp convertor. Nerd anyone?

Mark, KBR's owner, and his wife, Rina, having thrown Tim out........

Tim tries hard not to show his excitement at his new Heinrichs Weikamp convertor.....