Plongée à l'île de trio

There is nothing like a Tauchen auf der Trio Isola, except perhaps a dive at Basalt or Bluff island. Our dive was organised by our resident French DM, so after we all found the right pier the boat arrived on time and Mr and Mrs Shouty did a bit of “to me, to you, to me to you” tying the boat up at Spinal Tap volume 11. It was a magical place, birds were singing, nymphs fluttered over the water and loves dream lost - 賞面同我跳隻舞嗎？séungmíhn tùhng ngóh tiujek móuh ma, 唔好搞我! (m̀hhóu gáau ngóh!) , 我隻氣墊船裝滿晒鱔 ngóh jek heidínsyùhn jòngmúhnsaai síhn. Shouted to wake the local cemetery. We aim to cater for all languages and at all volumes.

We were given a master class in side mount. Taking a canter through the correct fitting of equipment, posture, bits of bungee, string, multi-coloured straps and hose routing, more bungee. In no time at all we were completely cured of our hysteria as Mr Niven entered the water under the inspiriting eye of Rob. Retro Rob was not impressed with the latest Fad that young Niven had brought aboard and was resolute in his old school tried and tested twin set rig. Twin sets are for men – They put hairs on your back. Tanks under your pits, whatever next, rebreathing air?

The day was hot and Sunny and we headed for Bluff, which became Trio. The water was distinctly green and a bit mucky, but it did improve as we got towards the mouth of Clearwater Bay. The water was warm on the top at around 29 degrees, but it was apparently cold at 23-24 degrees. Several people nearly had frost bite and nearly shivered. What has happened? Even the Canadians were talking about the water temperature. Trio Island is a collection of three big islands and some smaller rocky islets. Octo or deco island is probably more accurate and it is nowhere near Trio beach. Imagination at naming every headland and island had obviously reached fatigue levels in the cartography department.

The rocky islands drop steeply into the sea with different sized boulders to around 5 metres close to the shore. On the inland side of the Island the sea floor is gently sloping with rocks and boulders growing smaller to silty grit at 12 to 14 metres in depth. The seafloor at this depth is not exciting and to be frank I wasn’t excited by boulders at shallower depths. Those brave enough to navigate without care went around the big island and between the islands on the second dive. The rock formations are pretty much similar on the seaward side also. Mr Grioni would have described the site as amazing, but if challenged to tell the difference in three pictures between, Basalt, Bluff and Trio, I would be making money.

What did we see…. Octopus, cuttlefish, orange nudi’s, blue gobi’s, plenty of small shoals of rabbit fish and usual stuff. Crabs, scallops and some hard and soft coral. The Dive leaders were busy training, leading each other and making sure their entry and exit was safe. Also lifting a weight belt from the floor. On completion of their successful training not one but three bottles of fizzy were opened and consumed. Two of them were Italian, but it was nice to compare the different wines of Europe, before drinking beer. Mr Dillon completed 100 dives and is now expecting a telegram from the queen.