
By Piers Boileau-Goad
20th September 2024
On 20 September, we set off on an exciting adventure to see where we ended up on the Americas wall!
The weather was absolutely perfect, with some gorgeous sunshine and a calm sea, so we rolled back off the boat at 09:54. We had the brilliant idea of clipping our bailouts to the grab line on the vessel’s hull before hand, which made rolling back in with two bailouts a total breeze! Why not make life as easy as possible?
Once we’d clipped them on – it was so much easier in the water than on the boat – we descended as a buddy pair. We couldn’t see the bottom, but we made the OK signals, agreed to descend and then met at 6m for a bubble check. Once we had finished, we went down further – still unable to see the bottom – until eventually we started seeing sandy areas materialising like ghosts below us. At 45m, we descended gracefully, eager to explore the bottom. The visibility here was roughly 25–30 m horizontally, which gave us a great view of the sandy decline with its little rough points of rocks sticking out. It was incredible to see so much life here, despite the inhospitable environment. Even with plenty of ambient light, it was hard to believe how much life there is here!
We soon reached the usual little canyon (55m), which we love because it allows us to get deeper and access the wall. Once again, I was blown away by the sheer abundance of life here. Tom would absolutely love it! There were so many little blennies, and he has taught me so much about them. – The plants, groupers and other little critters are just incredible! With the edge of the wall in sight, we kept descending, now through a milky cloud. Presumably the rains we have had here in Nice coupled with sand falling off the wall itself! As we descended, the ambient light started to fail, so I switched on my light so others knew where I was – as if my green lights are not enough! My buddy and I were feeling adventurous, so we decided to push a little deeper.
With nothing below us still, we hit 90m, then 91m – what an achievement! And that was it! We stopped right there. We were less than halfway down the wall and it was absolutely awe-inspiring! On a wall at depth, unable to see the surface, let alone having much ambient light, while below it is black, plain and simple for another 110m – what an adventure awaits! It was incredible! It felt like I was standing next to an abyss, trying to avoid being sucked down into the jaws of Charybdis. It was incredible! I felt so small, like an ant trying to avoid the light of a child’s magnifying glass and not get drawn deeper.
The deco time is pretty quick at this depth. In just a minute or so, it’s already 15 or 20 minutes of deco. It’s incredible how quickly it goes by! We headed back up to 70m and met up with the other pair of divers nearby. On the ascent back up to them at 70m, they seemed so far above us, like two beacons in the darkness, guiding us home. I was thrilled to find out that we would get to meet them! We stayed with them for a few minutes before heading back up the wall.
As we approached the 60m mark, I looked up with anticipation, eager to see what was above us and what challenges we would face on our ascent. This was, and still is every time, an absolutely gorgeous sight! It’s incredible! Flowers and plants are blossoming out of the top of the wall like a giant garden, sucking in nutrients and catching food as it drifts past. The sunlight drifting through the fronds glints on the small fish and shimmers from the surface, making it look absolutely ethereal and majestic! We decided to head back to our canyon and use this to stay out of the bushes rather than head up the wall itself to the incline. So, we returned here, making our way back up the sand to the boats’ anchorage, using the bottom as our deco reference, stopping at 33m and all the intervals until 6m for the last, longest stop. What an adventure! I think it took about 25 minutes, which was great! Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about the deeper deco stops because the PPO2 was at a steady 1.3 bar, thanks to my unit! From about 15m, where we had longer stops, I vented my loop as much as possible and squirted loads of O2 in, raising my PPO2 artificially to 1.5 bar. It was incredible! I only dropped when I became rather interested in the life of a little fish less than 15cm from my mask. It was incredible how close these creatures came to me, without a single bubble in sight! It felt like they were right there, in their natural habitat, and it was easy to forget that I was a stranger in their world. It’s incredible how close you can get to them without disturbing them at all!
In any case, it was a fantastic dive that lasted 85 minutes and left me feeling truly awestruck.
Once out of the water, the usual stories came along, as usual someone ended up naked (while in mid-conversation) – why not when the air temperature is 23 degrees and the sun is out? It was such a lovely day! I keep forgetting that these guys are a little less ‘reserved’ than us Brits, or perhaps it’s just the temperature? Whatever the reason, it’s great to see!
While the rest of the boat went on a second 70m dive that afternoon, I decided to save it for another day! I don’t believe in pushing limits, however hypothetical they might be. So, I always err on the side of caution when it comes to repetitive dives, but I love them! I always think of the words of one Scapa skipper, who said, “Bubbles or no, people get bent if they push too much.” A week or one and sometimes two dives per day to 70m+ is a lot of diving!
The next day, we did the same incredible dive site but took a different route and a slightly different gas mix as well! I was using 8/69 (8% oxygen and 69% helium) as my diluent, which meant that I was now too light in the water and unable to descend with my wing deflated and loop vented – but that just meant I had to come up with a new plan! Well, a decent of 20 cm and then stopping isn’t really much of a decent depth, but it was still a great experience! I made a mistake, but I learned from it! I kicked down instead of doing the right thing. It wasn’t the smartest move, but it was still an adventure! When cylinders are empty, they’re more buoyant than steel ones, so if I have to use my bailout, you might see a little more of a rise than usual. We headed down anyway, through the beautiful blue water to 25m and had to stumble along the sand for the depth. I was a little frustrated with the boat at this stage because we were now wasting bottom time on an already tight schedule. But this is France, so I should relax!
When we eventually found the incline to the wall, we were at about 6 minutes in, which was still pretty good for the time! And then, we hit 81m and kept going! I was leading the dive, so I was keeping a close eye on my units TTS (time to surface). I was also telling my buddy how much time we had left and when it was getting to 40 minutes, I decided to turn the dive. Heading back to what I thought was the canyon we normally used, only to be told to keep going along the wall, following the contours up to the next stop – what an adventure! Multi-level dives are so much fun, but keeping to the deco schedule can be tricky! On a shot line, the only way to go is up – and here, you can go up, or you can go ahead and up, or perhaps sideways and well, sideways! It was a little haphazard, but that just added to the fun. Regardless, we made it to our first stop at 33m, which had cleared within seconds of arriving. Then, we moved up, up and up, arriving in an area called the ‘swimming pool’! Here, you can, should the weather allow, decide which of the bathers above you might be the most interesting to talk to. However, today the weather had changed and we were being pushed around a little with no swimmers to watch while we wiled away our time. As you might remember, I was a little light at the start, so I got my buddy’s deep bailout cylinder to give me a little added weight, which was a great idea! This was exactly what I needed! I now had three cylinders on me and it was the perfect buoyancy! I’m thrilled to say that my buoyancy has improved so much throughout the week so far! That said, I still prefer coming up a shot line/SMB – it’s the best!
We started our decompression phase with 25 minutes left at 6m, and it was incredible! I applied O2 to my loop to keep pushing my PPO2 up to 1.5 bar, and it went down nice and rapidly. I made sure to vent my loop frequently, which was great because it meant that any exhaled gases from my body went into the loop, keeping the PPO2 high! I was really pleased with how well this was going! I kept the gas in my loop at 93% O2 by venting frequently and adding O2 in, which was great!
Once again, I was totally absorbed by a fish, which is pretty unusual, but he was so close and really fascinating to watch! He was having a great time nibbling on the algae on the rock I was floating next to and then ejecting the undesired material – just like my daughter when she finds something in her food that she doesn’t like! I’m not sure if I can tell the difference between a male and a female fish in this case, but there was definitely a pair and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a family hard at work – doing something!
With our decompression now complete, we set off on our ascent, taking our time and savouring the experience. With both bailout lines on the boat, we headed to the stern and climbed the ladder, ready for the next part of our adventure! My last instructor had told me to keep the PPO2 high so that when I got out and sat on the bench on the boat I was breathing 98% O2, and I was excited to try it out! I sat here for a few minutes, breathing in this amazing mix to help any off-gassing. There was no need to rush out of the kit and back to port, so why not enjoy the moment? Five minutes later, I came off the loop and de-kitted again to naked Frenchmen!
The next day, I decided to take the day off because I had a light cold and needed to rest up a bit. While I was out buying lozenges, sprays and so on, I got a call to say that a friend and dive buddy had gone missing on a dive off Cornwall (25m reef). This news hit home hard (especially as I was to be his buddy in Malta in less than ten days), and it has made me think about what I really want out of diving. Should I keep doing deeper dives or should I simply keep shallow and give up on the plans I have already made for 2026? This was supposed to be the start of my work-up period. I still have not yet come to a solid conclusion in my mind, but I’m excited to see what the future holds!