{"id":14053,"date":"2017-09-04T06:45:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T05:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/petitesbullesdailleurs\/?p=14053"},"modified":"2024-10-22T10:47:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T08:47:13","slug":"tompotika-opo-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petitesbullesdailleurs.fr\/en\/tompotika-opo-guide-20170904\/","title":{"rendered":"Opo, my underwater guide, this hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

He is a golden guy. Opo, my dive guide in the waters of Central Sulawesi, has become my hero. Because, sometimes, I am a drag...<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Beneath the surface<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

July 3, 2017. I surface quietly, after the three-minute safety stop at 5 meters. I mechanically control my ascent speed on thedive computer<\/a> on my left wrist, then I meet the eye of my guide Opo behind his mask, which goes back to the same pace, facing me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Opo<\/a>
Opo goes back to the surface, making the OK sign. (Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Opo<\/a>
Opo gathers blocks on Tompotika beach, Kampangar (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He was the one who welcomed me the day before at the nice little diving resort Tompotika<\/a>, after\u00a0my eventful journey to the village of Kampangar<\/a>, on the eastern peninsula of Central Sulawesi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 49 years old, he is an experienced Indonesian dive guide. Originally from Manado, he knows very well the most famous spots of Sulawesi. He has accompanied scientific expeditions, notably to the Banggai Islands, and has also worked for a long time at the Murex resort in Bangka<\/a>where I've been before. In the course of our discussions during my stay in Kampangar, we discovered that we knew a lot about each other... The world of diving is a very small one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That day, Opo introduced me to the magnificent site of Batu Tekek, off the coast of Kampangar. A reef full of life, where colorful soft corals and gorgonians abound. He's a patient, attentive and caring guide. He takes the time to show me the areas of the reef best suited to atmospheric photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visibility is not extraordinary (I was warned, in this season, in this region of Central Sulawesi, the water is very loaded with particles and plankton). But I still managed to make some nice pictures underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"On<\/a>
On the reef of Batu Tekek, colorful soft corals abound. (Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From<\/a>
Coral galore, fish wriggling everywhere... Batu Tekek enchants me! (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a>
An impressive gorgon sits on the reef of Batu Tekek. (Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"I<\/a>
I don't know the name of this coral, very common in Indonesian waters. I nicknamed it \"burning bush\". (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a>
An elegant pink gorgon unfurls his polyps against the current. (Batu Tekek, Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Anthias<\/a>
Anthias and damsels wriggle. (Batu Tekek, Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once on the surface, we remove our equipment, move it to boatman<\/em> and get back on the Tompotika boat. And there, when I want to check my dive parameters, I discover that my computer is no longer on my wrist... \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boat is not very big and we are not numerous, there is just another couple of divers, Nadia and Akim, another guide and the boatman<\/em>. Everyone helps me to search, in the middle of fins and stabs (stabilizing vests)<\/a> stored. We quickly realized that what is not on board is necessarily at the bottom of the water...<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ball on board<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Opo is sincerely sorry for me. \"We'll come back and dive here, we'll try to find him.\"<\/em> he promises me. I put on a good face in front of the others, but I feel sorry for my negligence. It is inevitably on the way back to the surface that I lost it, I remember very well having consulted it during the ascent and the safety stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I always do the same gestures, mechanically, when I take off my equipment in the water once on the surface, I did not see that it had slipped off my wrist at that moment. I was not vigilant. You have to watch out for the force of habit, for overconfidence... In short, I have only myself to blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it's not a tragedy either, it's just a material loss. It can be replaced. But this kind of material is not exactly cheap. It makes you grumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opo kindly suggested that we try our luck in the same time, on the second dive of the day. But this time, the conditions are against us: reduced luminosity with a sky that has turned grey, poor visibility underwater and a current that pushes us against the reef, making it impossible to explore the area where the computer must have fallen... Too bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Opo<\/a>
Opo keeps his good mood, despite the tourist ball on board ... (Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"We'll come back at a better time.\"<\/em> Opo promises me again. He's really nice. I don't ask for much and I don't want to be a pushover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the day, I've resigned myself to this loss and don't see the point in ruining my mood over it. Opo lends me a computer from the center for the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hero of the day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

July 6, 2017. Three days later, I am the only diving guest at Tompotika. The others have left and the new ones haven't arrived yet. The weather is great, it's today or never: we go back to dive at Batu Tekek!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"We<\/a>
We drive along the peninsula to reach the Batu Tekek site. The ride at sea is beautiful! (Center-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other guide and Opo's son accompany us under water. The plan: to immerse ourselves where we surfaced the other day, to go down, to scan the bottom with our four pairs of eyes. \"If we don't find anything, I'll look a little further on my own,<\/em> Opo tells me. You'll just have to stay together as you continue diving along the reef.\" <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dive is even more beautiful than the other day! At the beginning, I started by inspecting the bottom at about 30 meters, methodically, making U-shapes, but without much conviction. After a while, I saw Opo waving at us: he went to explore the bottom a little further and told us to stay together, following the reef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes later, we went back up to 20 meters, near the drop-off, when it reappeared. He pretends nothing, his arms folded against his chest, his hands hidden, but his eyes shine behind his mask. And he doesn't resist for long the pleasure of showing me his find!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too strong. \ud83d\ude32<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Surprise!<\/a>
Surprise! Look what Opo brings back... (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"My<\/a>
My computer, recovered by Opo at a depth of about 30 meters, had been lying underwater for 4302 minutes, or 3 days... And, yes, too bad for the picture, he's holding it upside down... (Central-Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 2017)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I'm screaming into my regulator (for non-divers: it's the mouthpiece you have in your mouth to breathe). Unbelievable! He found my computer! It had been lying there, the screen against the sand, the bracelet intact and closed, for three days, at a depth of 31.9 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opo is the hero of the day. During our surface interval, on the beautiful white sand beach of Ondoliang, I make him tell his exploit in front of the iPhone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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