Well met by moonlight
Rarotonga, Cook Islands

by Mans Davies


We are a family of four, Mum, Dad – Jen&Mans - and two boys –Tom, 17, and Mat 13. Tom and I (dad) dive fairly regularly, Mum occasionally and Mat, well this was his first real diving experience. The reason for sharing this report with BSAC members is that we concluded at the end of ten days on Raratonga that we had just achieved a perfect holiday.

The island itself was beautiful, not too commercialised and surrounded by a coral lagoon of crystal clear warm water rich with wildlife . We stayed at a beautiful Hotel ‘The Rarotongan Beach Resort’. Just across the road from the hotel was the Raratongan Dive Centre run by Hugh John (A relative of the famous rugby player Barry John) and Sheryl. They have a web site: www.rarotongan.co.ck/Diving/rarotongan-dive-centre

Jen and Mat initially did a introduction/refresher dive while Tom and I went with Hugh to explore some untampered with wrecks – they still had port holes and propellers attached - wow. Once Jen and Mat had completed their introductory/refresher dives we decided to have some family dives in an area called ‘The Two Papa Sand Ridge’. This was a ridge of sand that drained into the 'abyss' through a prehistoric fracture in the coral. The movement of the tide would cause the injured wildlife from the lagoon to drain toward this area and as a result you would find BIGGER wildlife waiting.

On our first family dive we saw 6 reef sharks, 2 white tip sharks, two turtles and a moray eel swimming in the open. For Mat, this was a fantastic introduction to diving, he’s now hooked! The ridge runs from a depth of about 20m to 50m then disappears over a cliff to the 'abyss' but most wildlife can be seen at the shallower depths.

Tom and I decided to return for a night dive on an ebb tide and unfortunately I did not take my camera. Iif I had I would be sharing with you a photograph of the most magical moment of my diving experience. (For interest my camera is a Sony P10 Cybershot with a case)

At about 30m on the edge of the glow from our lights I initially thought I saw something that looked like a bat. As it came closer I thought it looked like a large white bed sheet flapping in the breeze. Then, as it came fully into the field of light, I realised it was a beautiful eagle ray. It swam to within ½ m of my mask and just floated there obviously curious about the reflection. Then gracefully it swam down to where my fins had been disturbing the sand, fed and swam off into the darkness. Wow what an experience!

We are going back to Rarotonga in the future. It is a beautiful unspoilt island with so much to do and see and we will certainly be diving with the Rarotonga dive centre. Their professionalism, experience and friendship was exceptional.

Mans Davies
Daviesmansel@aol.com