
By Piers Boileau-Goad
19th September 2024
After weeks of preparation, I was finally ready to get my kit onto the boat in Nice Port to dive through “Abyss Underwater Explorers” with five others. Three of us were on a technical course to 40m, one was on a recreational dive (he had just qualified and was here from Australia), and two of us were on a deeper dive. I couldn’t wait to get started! I was really excited (and I’m not afraid to say it) because it would have been my first deeper dive in a while. And who isn’t nervous when diving with people they don’t know?
We had a brief but informative briefing in French. We learned that the shallows are here, the drop-off is here, and if you find yourself on sand, keep the rock on your right and you will find the descent.
My buddy initially took his scooter with him, which was great because it meant he had a backup plan in case his buddy was without. I was a bit confused why he would take one when his buddy is without, but this is not my turf, so I’ll leave it to the experts! Once in the water, he handed it back to the boat, which was a great relief. I guess something was wrong as he didn’t turn it on or even get it going, but that was ok!
We made it to the shot line (also known as the anchor cable) and did our bubble check at about 3/4 m, which was great! With everything being new to us, we were excited to head off down to the sand bottom at 17-20m. And of course we arrived on sand, so we had the chance to swim to the wall, which made our overall run time a little longer but also more exciting!
At about 10 minutes in, we hit the wall! It was an incredible sandy drop to 200m at an angle of about 45–50 degrees. As we made our way down this gentle slope, we saw lots of fish and lots of small, flowery things waving in the wind. It was a truly beautiful sight! At about 64m, we encountered a thermocline, which added an extra layer of excitement to the experience! The temperature was a perfect 22 degrees right up until this point, with only a few minor thermoclines along the way. I’ve recently started diving in my drysuit and a J2 base layer, and I’m loving it! I was told it wasn’t necessary to bring my dry gloves, hood and undersuit, but I’m so glad I did. I was really pleased that I didn’t get cold with my hood, wet gloves and Xotherm top in addition to the suit and J2!
Once we reached the bottom at 72m, we were delighted to find the temperature was a steady 18 degrees. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I get cold really easily. So I’ve been using my Santi under suit and heating butt, and so far, so good! There was so much to see! I don’t usually go for plants and fish, but I was really excited to see them. I’m not yet a fan, but I absolutely love the way they look at such depths, in an area where light and life are scarce. As our time at the surface drew nearer and the start of miscommunication began, things really started to get interesting!
It’s fascinating to see how they plan their dives. They don’t seem to follow a set schedule, but rather use time to surface. I’ve never studied this in detail, but it’s something I’ve always been aware of. It’s incredible to see how they navigate the depths! I’ll definitely be doing that in the future, as this caused issues later on.
At the 25-minute mark, we began our ascent! My buddy found some incredible stuff in a little cave, so he stayed around for a few seconds to have a look. For me, it was just a little cave with not much inside, but it was incredible! I guess he found it interesting. After this amazing cave, we headed up a little canyon with some more incredible plants. I tried to avoid them, and I think I did pretty well! My buddy sliced a few with his fin tips, which was pretty cool to see.
My first stop was at 33m for a minute, which was absolutely incredible! It had cleared before I even got there. Then I went to 30m, followed by intervals of three until the surface.
And there’s another fascinating thing about this place! It’s incredible how they don’t seem to bag up until less than about 10m from the surface! In England, you normally bag up when you start your ascent if not using a shot line. I found it a bit tricky to maintain a steady depth when I wasn’t over anything to reference, so I decided to bag up from 20m while we were way above some sandy rock. It was a great solution! I was getting a bit frustrated with my buoyancy, wasting gas, and feeling annoyed, so this was a great way to fix it. And we had the adventure of a lifetime! We were also lost, but that just added to the excitement. My buddy was using his compass without realising that we had drifted about half a mile to the east since starting, so his compass north bearing was taking us into Villefranche bay rather than against the shore we had jumped in from – what an adventure! His constant ‘this way’ and ‘hurry up’ became a little frustrating when his buoyancy was literally up and down worse than mine, yet he didn’t bag up until later, then promptly hung on his bag like a hangman’s victim – but at least he made it back safely! That’s just the local style, as I say! I was really proud of my trim and buoyancy throughout, and I even managed to stay nice and trim over the sand and rocks just before I bagged up!
Anyway, as you can see from my profile below, once the bag was on the surface, my buoyancy improved in the most mysterious way!
With lots more time on our hands, we got stuck into deco and had a blast! Ten minutes at 15m, ten minutes at 12m, 25 minutes at 6m and a few extra minutes at 3m (why not?) – all of which I am thrilled to say was spent horizontal by myself and mostly vertical by my buddy!
Once we reached the surface, the boat picked us up in no time! Then, we picked up the other divers who had gone ashore, possibly out of boredom while they waited for us to be picked up.

The total run time was an incredible 129 minutes!
We spent a fantastic 25 minutes exploring the underwater world!
Gas: 13/40 – fantastic!
And now for the best bit! The amount of gas used was:
Dill: 76 bar/152 litres – fantastic!
And now for something really exciting! It’s the oxygen reading! And now for something really special! 78 Bar / 156 litres!
The amazing Deco started at minute 39 or so! And the best part is that we got to enjoy the full 90 minutes of Deco!


Lessons Learned
- I’ve learned so much from this experience! I would definitely recommend agreeing on using TTS or a planned bottom time. This difference caused my buddy to be rather grumpy with me afterwards, as he had told the boat we planned an 80-minute run time.
- Plan your dive properly so that everyone knows when the turn time is – it’s a great way to make sure you all have an amazing dive!
- If you want to bag up, bag up! Don’t let anyone pressure you into doing otherwise.
- And don’t change the deco computer you’re using mid-dive! It might sound logical, but I did. I changed from my Odyssey (more conservative) during deco to my unit (slightly less conservative). Why? My buddy was telling me that I was taking too long. Again, we come back to planning and communication!