Castaways Sub-Aqua Club
	A Branch (Branch No 2071) of The British Sub-Aqua Club

Bad Boys at the Back

Aqaba, Jordan

31st March 2001 - 8th April 2001

The day had come for two mad fools and two spectators to leave the UK and fly to sunnier climes for an attempt at the advanced instructor course and exam. After a very early start meeting the group at Heathrow and then a protein blow out breakfast we departed for Jordan. Despite a group check in we were liberally spread throughout the plane and so getting to know your course mates proved a challenge with 200 potential suspects. Arrival in Aqaba was far too late for some and so bed was the sensible option.

The crew

The next day was sunny and warm (32c) and started with a shake down dive on the house reef. This provided loads of life including an octopus although showing it to other divers resulted in mass confusion. In the afternoon Kevin and Jake had a second good dive while Anthony and I slogged through lectures and a rapid kit up to make it in the water for a second dive. The evening proved to be the start of a trip tradition, meeting in the bar for a small beer and then migration to a local restaurant for dinner.

Time for an aperitif?

Monday and Tuesday were the days set aside for the AI course and for me it proved to be very long, hard days with lunch missed, but excellent diving and general good fun. Once Stuart (my buddy for the week) and I had got over the initial ‘oh my God’ feeling we got down to things and had an excellent time with Dave, our instructor. This included a dive on the Cedar Pride and boat handling. Anthony and Gary had a good time with Andy, although they were more organised than us (or lazy) and managed lunch and early finishes. Kevin and Jake both had good dives on these days despite feeling a little ill (not due to alcohol) and did an excellent wall dive at the Saudi Border post. Get it wrong and you may take a while to get home. It was at this point that the boys found an ally in the form of Olly one of the other instructors and the boys were always to be found at the back of the van making comments and generally being blokes on holiday! Tuesday evening resulted in a mega- meal at the local Chinese restaurant that was excellent.

Wednesday was our day off and was the day it rained, and lots of it, accompanied by thunder and lightening. Anthony and Kevin’s room developed an interesting water feature during the night that continued until Thursday. In the morning we dived the Cedar Pride which was lovely. Loads of life and a turtle for a lucky few. In the afternoon, Kevin and Jake stayed on shore with their ills while Suzanne and Anthony did some exam prep and generally swotted. Sleep on Wednesday night was limited for those doing the exam as the stress was beginning to show.

Georgette on the Cedar Pride

On Thursday morning the exam was to take place on the RIB at a destination of our choice. We chose the Cedar Pride as this was the option most favoured by the examiners. Our brief was to teach them about a day’s boat diving (everything from planning through to the use of a delayed SMB and the art of press-ups onboard a RIB). We finally got back at 4pm totally exhausted but pretty confident that it went well. Dinner was revisit to the Chinese to celebrate the CIE candidates’ success at passing.

On Friday Kevin and Jake went for a revisit to the Cedar Pride and had a visit from the turtle to make it a memorable dive. We on the other hand were battling an impressive wind and swell to demonstrate a jackstay search and navigation. The afternoon saw a dip on the house reef for Jake and Kevin and lectures for myself and Anthony. After this we decided we ought to get a beer in before we could be asked to do anything else. Luckily we found out during the second beer that we had all passed. In the evening we went for a meal and had the comments sheets shared around. Entertainment for everyone except ourselves.

A very long way to the Monastery

On Saturday we had an early start and went to Petra. This visit was with the sole challenge of getting to the monastery which we managed despite the 1000 steps (or at least that is what it felt like). We then had slow meander back through the city to meet the taxi. It was then the wacky races home and one of the taxis getting pulled over for speeding. In the evening the entire group went to Ali Baba’s for dinner. This included a presentation session for all of the successful candidates and a beer or two in the bar afterwards.

On the Sunday we flew home direct from Aqaba, which meant a lie in, but a rather depressing plane ride with dodgy food and a flight from somewhere even more dodgy.

I think I can safely say that despite the hard work and stress we all had a good time and that passing the exam finished the week off in style!

This is how we felt after a busy week

Suzanne Easton

(Photographs courtesy Suzanne Easton, Jake Easton and Stuart Wall)