PADA TAHUN 2018 DAN 2019, SAYA DAN SUAMI SAYA melakukan perjalanan ke 50 lokasi di 35 negara selama 14 bulan berturut-turut, menghabiskan lebih dari 250 jam di bawah air untuk meneliti buku panduan perjalanan menyelam untuk National Geographic.
Buku kita, A Diver’s Guide to the World: Remarkable Dive Travel Destinations Above and Beneath the Surface (which will be published in December 2022), is a guidebook for ocean travelers. It’s written for divers who like to travel, travelers interested in the underwater world, and divers traveling with nondiving companions. Each location highlights a global issue — from the necessity of protecting remarkable ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves to shark conservation and the importance of the high seas treaty — and suggests ways travelers can learn more and get involved.
It was a diver’s dream assignment, but fieldwork is mentally and physically tough, and this project would require one international flight every week and virtually no time off for 14 months. In the end, we had only six days off during that time.
Panggilan pertama kami ke DAN adalah selama tahap perencanaan. Kami ingin tahu apakah DAN memiliki rekomendasi untuk membantu kami mempersiapkan diri secara fisik. Kami akan menghabiskan banyak waktu di atas kapal dan di bawah air, diselingi dengan waktu tunggu yang lama di bandara serta berbagai aktivitas yang berkisar dari belajar karate di Okinawa, Jepang, hingga perjalanan lintas pulau di Rarotonga di Kepulauan Cook.
DAN menyarankan latihan kebugaran umum, dengan fokus pada kardio dan keseimbangan. Selain itu, kami memperbarui vaksinasi kami (17 booster di antara kami berdua), mengikuti kursus pertolongan pertama, dan menyiapkan perlengkapan medis yang lengkap.
Telepon pra-penyelaman kami berikutnya ke DAN adalah untuk menanyakan apakah kami harus khawatir tentang akumulasi nitrogen dengan semua penerbangan dan penyelaman. DAN meyakinkan kami bahwa kami dapat menjaga risiko kami tetap rendah dengan mengikuti protokol dekompresi standar dan panduan terbang setelah menyelam.
PENGGILING KAYU
Our DAN membership seemed like an invisible safety net when we finally embarked. It was reassuring to know that a knowledgeable, dive-specific resource was always available to us everywhere we visited. After making hundreds of dives at locations ranging from Easter Island to Greece, we needed to call DAN only twice, and both times were because of Chris. He is an experienced diver whose work in the dive industry has taught him that dive accidents don’t discriminate, so he strives to follow best practices and is eagle-eyed when anything seems amiss.
We made a stop in Hvar, Croatia — a spectacular 42.3-mile (68-kilometer) island surrounded by the glittering, emerald-sapphire Adriatic Sea. A striking fortress with two encircling stone arms dominates the main township. Hvar is known for its enthusiastic dive professionals and good water visibility, with impressive underwater formations and plenty of macro life. Most of the diving tends to be deeper than 66 feet (20 meters).
Chris menikmati beberapa hari menyelam sekitar 98 kaki (30 meter) tanpa mengalami hal yang tidak biasa hingga hari terakhir kami, yang merupakan hari dekompresi yang kami rencanakan. Dia terbangun dengan pembengkakan sebesar jeruk di siku kirinya dan nyeri sendi, tanpa penjelasan untuk kedua kondisi tersebut.
MAGNUS LARSSON
He called DAN’s nonemergency number, described what was happening, and then spoke to a medical professional. Chris said that he didn’t have any of the usual symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS), but he couldn’t account for the swelling and was concerned enough to seek medical advice. The medical professional spoke extensively with Chris, reviewing his recent dive activity and medical history. Chris has had bursitis, but it’s been rare and always in his knees. Given the lack of any other DCS symptoms but with a desire to rule out anything more serious, Chris was advised to seek medical attention in Croatia. The diagnosis was bursitis, which he’s never had in his elbow before or since then.
Beberapa bulan kemudian kami berada di Ko Lanta, sebuah pulau di Laut Andaman di lepas pantai barat Thailand selatan. Perairan hijau yang hangat di sana memiliki karang berwarna ungu dan merah muda, beragam kehidupan laut mulai dari pari manta hingga kuda laut ekor harimau, dan banyak tempat yang dapat disesuaikan dengan kondisi yang berubah-ubah.
Chris isn’t a touchy-feely diver, but he is a magnet for jellyfish stings and, as we found out on this journey, sea urchin spines. Our second call to DAN’s nonemergency number was because of an infected spine in his thumb (he still has no idea how it got there). Once again, DAN advised that we seek local medical attention, and a course of antibiotics cleared up the infection.
Ketika kami memulai perjalanan kami, saya adalah seorang penyelam baru. Saya belajar dengan cara yang sangat menakjubkan, menyelam di destinasi baru hampir setiap minggu, mulai dari menjelajahi taman yang kaya akan keanekaragaman hayati di Raja Ampat, Indonesia, hingga berbagi gua bawah laut dengan katualis, ular laut berekor pipih yang merupakan hewan endemik di Niue, Pasifik Selatan.
My learning-to-dive journey was steep, but I felt confident for two reasons. First, I had a dive buddy that didn’t rush or pressure me. There were sites — the World War I wrecks in the Orkney Islands, for example — where I didn’t dive because I felt it was beyond my abilities. I even aborted three dives because I didn’t feel comfortable. Chris always supported my decision and made it clear that it was my choice and responsibility as a diver to dive within my limits. The result was that I felt confident exploring new places and even extending my skill set, flying with manta rays in Komodo’s strong currents and navigating open-ocean dives in 10-foot (3-meter) swells to admire the sharks of Aliwal Shoal off South Africa.
CHRIS TAYLOR
Second, DAN boosted my confidence. As a planner and an overthinker, I believe it’s important to plan for the worst because accidents happen, but having a safety net in place allows us to explore with more peace of mind — and what a world there is to explore! I felt more comfortable knowing that wherever we traveled, in whatever situation we found ourselves, expert, dive-specific advice was a phone call away. AD
© Penyelam Siaga — Q4 2022