This week in Lembongan… It has been a great week for spotting larger creatures. The mola season has officially started but that does not mean that we are seeing them everyday. This week our returning guests Marketa, Mario, Bettina and Oldrich, who always have amazing luck with the molas, got the chance to see 2. Manta trains at Manta Point at the start of the week and a 7 meter long whale shark at SD Point yesterday. Our divers this week have been lucky!The high season is starting and our instructors are busy with courses. We have had lots of people doing their #PADI Open Water course with instructors Fred and Yayan. We also welcomed instructor Paula to the team this week and she has jumped right into the action with teaching our 3 Divemaster trainees. Irene, Katrine and Wendy-Anne are working their way through their Divemaster course here with us in Lembongan. Irene and Katrine will be doing their full training here in Lembongan and Wendy-Anne will be off to Bunaken next week to continue her training there. It was Irene, who was the lucky one this week, getting a great video of the passing whale shark. You can see the great video of the whale shark on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Two.Fish.Divers/videos/10153938861009317/

With the warm weather settling in, it is impotent to stay hydrated while out diving. Dehydration has a serious impact on dive safety: it is one of the main contributing factors of decompression sickness, by increasing bubble formation and growth in both blood and body tissues – so it is important to stay well hydrated!

The physiological mechanism is the following: dehydration induces a reduction of the plasma volume in the blood and perfusion in the tissues. The blood is responsible for the  transport of nutrients and for the exchange of gases in our bodies, and if the reduction of the plasma becomes too important, these actions will be impacted: the efficiency of gas exchanges might be decreased, thus it affects the off-gassing of nitrogen.

Most of the time, the best way to re-hydrate is to drink water – plenty. For the diving days, 2 liters extra compared to your normal quantity will be a good start to stay well hydrated.

Keep in mind that re-hydration takes time, and it is better to drink little amounts often than a big quantity after long intervals. In order to monitor your hydration, you can use a refillable bottle, and it will be a nice gesture for the environment.