Well if you fall off your bike the best thing to do is get back on it and try again.

Even though my final dive was fine the events of last week left me feeling a little ‘cautious’  uneasy to say the least. I knew I needed to get back on the horse. In this case a sea-horse.

Paul and Cissy were determined to see that I got my scuba wings and said the Kittiwake was the perfect first dive. Paul is an advanced diver and Cissy is qualified as a rescue diver so good buddies to go with. Along for the ride came Philip a no nonsense Texan with a wealth of dive experience and two other mutual friends both very experienced hands. A good bunch to keep an eye on me and calm my nerves.

We met at the dive centre, kitted up and headed for the boat.

20 minutes of bouncing over choppy water brought us to the dive site. Our guide talked us through the dive plan, safety talk and a map of the wreck of the USS Kittiwake.

The Kittiwake is a retired submarine rescue ship who five years ago was scuttled just of West Bay to create an artificial reef and dive site. She sits in a marine park and diving on her is strictly controlled. She is, quite rightly it turns out, considered to be a world class dive destination.

She lays on the sea bed her bottom at 19 meters and her bridge is 14 meters off the sea floor so relatively shallow. Her main deck is 10 meters down.

We stepped off the back of our boat and emptied our BCDs and began sinking. Unlike a shore dive where you descend down a slope to depth on this dive we just fell gently down to about 15 / 16 meters hovering just above the sandy bottom.

The sea was a little rough so visibility was down to about 25 meters. Rising up out of the sand was an enormous chain, it disappeared into the blue.

Just at the edge of our range of vision we could see large coral mounds on either side of us but no ship. Only the chain rising up from the bottom at about 25 degrees hinted at the presence of the Kittiwake out there somewhere.

We followed the chain.

Slowly a shape began to resolve itself and suddenly there above us looming out of the blue was the ship’s prow.

Staying at depth we swam around to the port side of the ship. We were close enough now to really start getting a sense of her size. Along her hull were three rough round holes. The signs of her scuttling, three matching gashes on each side that had opened her up and let the sea into her, allowing her to fill with water and sink.

We passed the first gash glancing inside at the dim interior something very ghostly about it. Scenes from movies flashed through my head and I half expected to see a shark or drowned seaman lurking inside but despite my imaginations best efforts to fill the void the ship remained silent and empty.

At the second gash our guide signalled we would be going inside.

She swam through the ragged rip into the gloom and after a second’s hesitation I followed, the rest of the group in tow.

Inside it was not dark but it took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust. We were inside the belly of the ship a large compartment divided into sections running the length of the hull. Below sections of the engine lay rusting, furring up with new coral growth and darting in and out fish.

We swam along the inside of the wreck making our way through the hold towards the stern. Floating over holes leading down to the very bottom of the ship, passing the rents in her side which let in light and under her smoke stack which afforded amazing glimpses of the surface above.

I must say at first it feels quite spooky but then the shear wonder of swimming through her catches up with you and you forget the fear and start drinking her in marvelling at how nature is claiming her, softening her hard edges with organic growth and breathing new life into her.

All too soon we came to the back of the ship and swam up through an open cargo hatch into the bright sun light and onto her deck.

We swam over the rear of the ship and hung floating half way between the sea bed and the surface. We turned back to see her stern and there her name in foot high letters ‘Kittiwake’.

We made our way along the port side and back inside gliding through the rooms that once bustled with life on the surface which once again teemed with living things as the sea claimed her. Remaking her.

We floated through the galley…

…through the decompression chamber, now open to the sea, passed through the ‘head’…

…where smashed mirrors still hung on the wall and gave us strange fractured glimpses of ourselves. Once so prosaic now transformed into a moment of awe as we glided past alien in this once familiar place.

We threaded through the rooms on the main deck until once again we reached the bow. Turning this time to see her at this new angle floating just above her prow seeing her as her namesake must once have done while on the wing.

Here, with our guide, Paul and I left the group leaving the more experienced divers to carry on for a while longer while we swam back following her anchor chain once more towards our dive boat.

As we headed back the Kittiwake had one more treat for us. Gliding bellow us passed an eagle ray. More angular than sting rays, black backed, spotted with white dots, a long tail and a beak they are stunning to watch in their almost Art Nuevo design! Flying effortlessly through the water the epitome of elegance! A breath-taking end to a breath taking dive. This time in a good way…

We floated five meters below our dive boat for our three minute safety stop and then surfaced elated and babbling excitedly about what we had seen.

38 minutes bottom time and safely back at the surface after a safety stop with 600psi in the tank! Visiting that submerged ghost ship had helped me to rest my own ghost from the week before.

Pictures and videos ** by Paul! I am in blue.