By Mike Huber
It was a relief to be back on the boat and done diving for the day. My anxiety level was still pretty high having run out of air 10 meters below the ocean’s surface on my second dive. Nonetheless, I registered to dive the following day. There was a sense of relief knowing that I would have the same diving partner. He understood the emotions going through my head and he would be right at my side to help me through the next dive.
The remainder of the boat ride back to the dock consisted of me pulling sea urchin spines out from everywhere on my body with needle-nosed pliers. That’s one way to pass the time. The spines under my fingernail would need to be pulled out by a doctor at a medical clinic somewhere in Flores. My biggest concern was that it might become infected. The closest clinic was a few kilometers outside of town so I would have to taxi to get there.
Then, upon disembarking from the boat I looked up and saw an Indonesian Naval Base. Right behind the gate was a giant red cross. I decided to give it a try, not expecting any success. The Military Police stopped me instantly ,asking what I was doing. I showed them my finger and pointed to the red cross behind them. They invited me in and within 5 minutes I had an Indonesian Naval Officer using a razor blade to pull the pines out from under my fingernail. After about 45 minutes of him carefully removing all the spines, he gave me some antibiotics, he only charged me about $12 (US), and he sent me on my way. During the whole ordeal he and I were chatting quite a bit over our past military experience and we even exchanged phone numbers. We trade texts every few weeks.
With the sea urchin spines removed, the next day came and it was time to get over my anxiety from the previous dive. The first dive of the day proved to be challenging and my only motivation was to just survive it. I wasn’t too concerned with the enjoyment or the wildlife. Fortunately, by the second dive I had regained my confidence and was back to enjoying this hobby again. Swimming by seven manta rays changed my mind and helped me reprioritize my goals.
My 30-day Indonesian visa was nearing expiration. Indonesia has around 7,000 islands and was much too large to cover in 30 days. Even having experienced 10 of the islands felt rushed. I knew I would need to slow my travel to more deeply absorb these countries. Having done SCUBA dives in two countries, racking up 19 dives, and overcoming adversity provided renewed confidence. I was ready for the next country: Thailand.