19 Comments
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Linda's avatar

Amazing experience and amazing writing!!

Dave Paquiot's avatar

This is remarkable writing — it brought me straight back to being a kid watching Nature on PBS when George Page narrated.

I used to get extra excited whenever the episode slipped into those underwater worlds, especially after we finally got our first color TV. There was a kind of reverence in those moments — like seeing a hidden chamber of the planet.

The way you describe sinking through that blue… I felt that.

That surrender, that ancient memory, that smallness that feels like a kind of truth.

I’ve never dived Komodo, but reading this makes me wonder what other corners of the planet hold stories this intense — and how many we’ll never fully extract from the deep.

Beautiful work.

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thanks for reading Dave!

Brad Yonaka's avatar

That does seem like a challenging dive. Straight down to 30 meters? That would significantly limit your dive time. And the decompression stops in that current would take a lot of focus. Great descriptions of the sea life!

Andrew Paget's avatar

Definitely a shorter dive. My log says we bottomed out at 28.6m and had a dive time of 44min. The depth and the extra exertion in the current definitely cutting that short as we flew through our gas! I think we probably had around 12-15 minutes at max depth. Was definitely a rush!

Trevor Paget's avatar

A challenging and scary dive ( I think 🤔)beautifully described . Thank you for sharing .

Aegean Son's avatar

Beautiful writing. Thank you. And thank you Linda J for bringing me here

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thank you for reading — so glad you enjoyed it (and welcome, I hope you enjoy the rest of the stories!).

Linda Jackson 🌏's avatar

Beautiful story Andrew. I love the imagery, thank you for sharing this experience!

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thanks for reading Linda — it’s an amazing place. Looking forward to hearing about your experience in Komodo when you get there!

Linda Jackson 🌏's avatar

Hi Andrew! It will be amazing, thank you for the preview. I'll be seeing a more surface level view, but your adventure diving experiences are awe inspiring.

Jessica Groenendijk's avatar

Loved this, Andrew. Got my OW and AOW certificates only this year so I'm new to diving, and very eager to explore. Your experience sounds magical!

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thanks for reading Jessica! That’s very exciting re your dive certs. There is so much to see and it really does open up a whole new world for exploration. Komodo was incredible but (and I haven’t written about it yet) the Andaman Islands were something from another era. Put it on your list!

Richard Philion's avatar

Wonderfully descriptive! Thanks for taking me with you ;)

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thanks for reading Richard!

Pedro Lourenço's avatar

What an amazing dive that must have been. And great writing as well.

Unfortunately, diving gears messes up my claustrophobia, so I can't properlly enjoy a dive like that, but I love snorkeling, and love reading about experiences like this.

Andrew Paget's avatar

Thanks for reading Pedro. I totally get how diving can feel claustrophobic but, fortunately, most of the good stuff is on the surface and in the sun anyway! Mantas, sharks, turtles — we saw it all whilst floating on the top!

Catherine Lagot's avatar

The secret of life under the sea …

It’s exciting but scary to.

What a wonderful piece Andrew you are such a good writer and stories taller

Andrew Paget's avatar

Perhaps you need to join us next time?! :)