Munda - Solomon Islands
Ndokendoke Island, on the edge of Roviana Lagoon.
Local lagoon people give various
accounts of legends surrounding the Cave of the Custom Shark. It is said that each
village has a shark to protect it and that this cave is the home of one such shark.
The wall
entrance was found on a wall dive by Solomon
Sea Divers, including our guide, Lessie, about one year ago.
On a subsequent dive,
armed with flashlights, the exploration divers penetrated the cave. Inside they found a
tunnel, small caverns and a shaft. Following the tunnel they began to see a faint blue
glow coming from a small opening in the jungle of the island above.
Few people have made this dive. I was lucky enough to dive in the depths of this
volcanic island twice in a week. It was a perfect day. Geoff Hastings and I were feeling
very lucky to be the only divers going to the cave. Only about 6 divers can fit into
the small surface opening in the jungle. A large group would disturb the silt and
ruin the dive for those in the rear of the group.
Our first dive at Aussie Point would have been enough in itself. Lessie dropped us
perfectly on the point where a dense hanging garden of gorgonians and soft corals covering
the sheer wall supported crinoids and sheltered moorish idols, longnosed hawkfish and
other reef dwellers. Reef sharks and one hammerhead cruised back and forth in the blue
checking us out first with one eye and then the other. As on other dives here, the
sharks come in rather close for a good look and then escort the divers from a distance.
Aussie Point was a fairly long, deep dive after which we motored the fiberglass "canoe"
over to Ndokendoke Island for an extended surface interval. Harold, our diver, started a small
fire (which I found very curious in the heat) and then wandered off. A few minutes later
he reappeared wielding a small screwdriver with a medium sized fish stuck on the end. Without
any hooks, spears or other tools, Harold had herded the fish into a dead end in the shallow
reef and speared it with the blue handled screwdriver. The fish was already gutted so
he arranged some green limbs over the small fire, slapped the fish on top and proceeded
to "grill" it. From time to time he reached into the fire and flipped the fish over on
its other side. In the meantime, he half-shelled a clam with the screwdriver and set it on the fire, shell
side down. Three or four small fish were added and then a few turban shells.
In just a few minutes Harold plucked the fish from the fire and removed the bone, again with
bare hands. He plopped in on a large green leaf from the surrounding plants and handed us
each a leaf for a plate. I attempted to serve myself a portion burning my fingertips in the
process. The fish was
excellent, as were the shellfish. We topped it off with a coconut meat dessert, climbed
back in the boat and headed for the cave.
Lessie and Harold carried our tanks across the narrow shady beach bordered by mangroves, across
a pile of volcanic stones, over a fallen tree, between vines and roots and set them down
near a small pool of water. Half covered by overhanging rock, it did not look like a pool
I would step in, let alone dive into headfirst!
One at a time we floated our gear in the water, crawled in, and once we were all ready, descended
head first straight down the shaft.
At first all I could see was brown silt, then suddenly I was swimming in crystal clear water.
I could see Geoff and Lessie in front and below me as we entered a narrow cavern. The walls
of the cavern were rippled with tiny shelves making an interesting effect as our lights
shone upon them. The cavern narrowed and we were in a vertical slit with a wall on
either side and just enough room for our shoulders to fit comfortably as we swam. The
tube leveled out just before we came to the only obstruction. A boulder pierced the
shaft and we had the choice of crawling on our bellies over or under the boulder. Lessie
waited on the other side until we were both through. The cave floor began sloping upward.
My gauge's maximum depth read 102 feet.
Entering a larger cavern from the tube I saw
a barely noticeable blue glow which became brighter as I swam farther. Moving to the right,
I saw the opening to the wall filled with an eerie blue light and surrounded by the lacy
silhouettes of sea fans. Just outside the cavern, a shark waited patiently. I wondered
if it was the same shark that divers on my previous cave dive saw just as they exited
the cave.
We had been in the cave for 12 minutes. Continuing our dive we slowly worked our way
up from the 80 foot cave entrance along the wall that drops straight down to more than
800 meters.
Several reef sharks accompanied us. Near the end of our dive I rounded
a corner and came upon Lessie on a sloping ledge from 50-70 feet. He was gesturing
wildly at a hammerhead out in the blue, without realizing that he was in the midst
of the most fantastic scene. Combine all the brilliant soft corals and gorgonians
from every dive brochure you've ever seen with all the streaming schools of fish, add a shark,
baracudas, a dramatic landscape and place Lessie right in the middle of it and you've got
some idea of what we saw.
Geoff and I scurried here and there, lining up fans and
fish for photos. I had only a few shots left from my 36 exposures and couldn't decide
which spot was most beautiful. Should I use the giant orange fan or the red sea whips
for a background for the schools of blue fish? Maybe the pink soft coral? Or perhaps
the grouping of pink, red and white fans with the purple corals?
I could see Geoff swimming back and forth taking it all in until he motioned he was
going up to the boat. We surfaced into a hard but brief rainstorm, just enough to
rinse us with fresh water and headed back to Agnes Lodge.
That evening we sat under the shade tree and watched the stars as a cool sea breeze
swept past us into the thatch roofed bar. As we sipped a cold Solbrew we told our
dive story to the other guests. Geoff told them that it was the best dive he had
ever done in his life. It makes my list of top dives as well.
(Note: Years later I discovered that those guests who listened to us tried this dive a few days later. Two of them fell behind, lost their way and took a wrong turn up another shaft. They were able to survive only by clawing their way through rocks at the top and crawling out into the jungle. Cave diving without experience and the proper equipment is suicide!!)
Further information can also be found on the
South Seas Adventures web pages.
Report by Deb Fugitt
Sea Gifts