Given that I only started scuba diving 4 months ago, I get very excited whenever someone mentions scuba diving and the underwater world. When I was home on vacation I had also bought a dive computer and a mask that I could not wait to try out. Even before I got back onboard the ship a friend of mine messaged me that she was getting a group together to go scuba diving in Ilha Grande, and she was wondering if I would be interested. After asking my boss for the morning off I was ready for this small adventure.
Ilha Grande is a Brazilian island located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. It has both been home to a leper colony and a maximum-security prison. Today is serves as a tourist getaway with jungle clad mountains, beautiful beaches and some great spots for snorkelling and scuba diving.

Beautiful beaches and one of the snorkelling boats
We took the tender ashore and found the boat that would take us out to the dive site. After waiting for the rest of the group we headed out to sea. To get to the first dive site, we had a 30 minute boat trip along the coast line. In most places the jungle went all the way down to the water, and we could spot some beautiful waterfront properties. We sailed through the blue lagoon, famous for its beautiful snorkelling opportunities. The dive masters informed us that a combination of shallow waters, high boat traffic and many people in the water made this a bad dive site.
A bit further along the coast we finally arrived at our first dive site. The boat anchored close to land so we could follow a relatively shallow coral reef along the coast. After getting geared up and doing a quick pre-dive briefing it was time to get in the water. There was a current that took us along the reef, this was obviously nice in the beginning, but a bit harder in the end when we had to swim back to the dive boat. Unfortunately the reef was in the early stages of bleaching, so the colours were not that impressive, however it was still a pretty dive.

My new friend
As for marine life we saw plenty of fish, at one point there was even a big school with 1000 fish swimming right next to us! We also saw plenty of sergeant major and flying gurnard fish. At one point the dive master called us over to have a look at the biggest sea horse I have ever seen. We also saw a turtle swimming in the shallows. For me by far the coolest thing we saw was a clear divide from warm to cold water. If I put my hand out I could even feel the exact point where the water dropped from 24C to 16C!

Massive star fish
When we got back in the boat we all got a small food packet with local snacks. This was a nice little touch as I always want something to eat at the end of a dive, and some of the snacks were really nice. We all ended up on the top deck soaking in the sun on our way to the next dive site.

Happiness after the first dive
Our next stop was the wreck of the Pinguino, an Argentinian cargo ship. During the pre-dive briefing the dive master explained that the visibility was not the best at 5 meters, and that we had to stay closely together as a group. Once down by the wreck, the visibility ranged from 2-3 meters. I could barely see the person in front of me and at one point I almost swam into a mast that I did not see. In addition to this my BCD had a leak so the weights kept pulling me down. After 10 minutes the dive master gathered us all at the top of the wreck, at which point I informed him that I wanted to stop my dive. One of the extra people from the dive shop swam me in a small circle so I could see the two plaques on the ship before I went back up. When I was doing my safety stop, the next two divers came up and joined me.

Plaques barely visible in the murky water
Back on the boat I soaked in some sun while waiting for the rest to finish the dive, they had not seen much either. We then had a wonderful boat ride back to the pier. After having our log books completed we hopped on a tender and came back to the ship.
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