A KISS in Paradise (2)

A Tale of a Newly Certified, Classic Kiss Rebreather Diver's Travels
Part 2 SOLOMON ISLANDS, July 2005
By Jeff Giddins


The midnight express flight leaving Port Villa bound for Honiara, ETA 2am that is if the plane shows up at Villa at all.

Standing in the line waiting for the plane's arrival, an announcement confirming it was coming albeit late, before any positive movement took place behind the check-in counter. With a bit of a flurry my 52 kg of scuba gear and sorb in two bags was whisked off the scales and onto the conveyor without so much of a hint of any excess.

Arriving in Honiara and fronting Immigration is an issue since last year when my wife and I stood in the wrong queue that snaked all the way back out on the tarmac. By the time we were at the desk we looked up to notice a sign that read "Residents", after handing over all the paperwork! Grilled to the third degree about my intention and length of stay (3 months), my passport was stamped with the word written in big letters - SUS, forever and a day.

This year was easier. I was eyeballed and given the benefit of doubt by a nice lady and we were in the right queue this time, no hang on... it was the left one to make it right, right!

Near on three o'clock we were greeted by our good mates Neil and Yolande who kindly put up with us for our time spent there, mainly staying out on Tulagi Island.

Neil Yates runs the dive operation, Tulagi Dive on the isle and I "helpem fren" if I don't get in the way while there.

Willy and Solo are the local guides also working in the dive shop and boat. Shadrach, a new fella in training is coming through, learning the ropes and they will do all the hardcore groundwork to make your life easy. The fellas know not to touch my breather because I "killem" and can do it all for myself, nobody else to blame that way if whatever hits the deck, and that suits them fine.

Inside the shop, there are stocks of soda lime stacked to the roof in one room, a multitude of tanks sizes and a pump to get the most out of the helium or oxygen tanks. It's all there already. Absolute bliss that!


I found the dive boat to be one of the better vessels used during my travels mainly for the ease of passing off the bailout stages and climbing aboard in full kit up the stern ladders. A good set of deco bars at 12,9,6,3 (with surface supplied emergency oxygen) that can be set free helps for a long hang in strong current.


Overall, I rate this as a top operation for all levels of diving, recreational or technical in a superb part of the Pacific still raw and untouched in a lot of ways. And that's part of the beauty that keeps drawing me back.

During the time I was there the Classic Kiss performed beyond my expectations, and the more I dived it the more relaxed I became. Buoyancy control was very hard for me in the beginning and getting back to the level I had on open circuit, is a real joy.

With a total of 25 hours on this unit, it was becoming more a part of me, diving it way down to 70 metres on the stern of the best destroyer, USS Aaron Ward and back up to the surface was sheer bliss again and again. For someone like me who likes more than his fair share of air on O/C, coming up having only used between 20-30 bars out of each 3 litre tank after a 90 minute dive, will only broaden the range of possibilities. My old ageing body may well be the limiting factor.

The only problems I had during my stay were a faulty O2 sensor so I replaced it with a new unit & sourcing the three 6 volt lithium replacement batteries for the KISS O2 displays.

Backlights had dulled down to almost none indicating they were low on charge. Looked everywhere in Honiara, the main city that proved pointless. Glen an off-duty RAMSI police advisor came out for a weekends diving said he would call the boys in Brisbane to seek some out for me, they did and brought them over on the very next Friday flight. Perfect!

I was starting to get nervous about the next leg of my travels with only a week to go before departure. The soda lime I had forwarded from Australia, some six weeks before hand, still had not arrived. A few days later an email told me a box was indeed there, but I sent two I replied. That's it; I didn't want to be shortchanged of my dives there, so there was no choice but to lighten the stockpile of sorb at Tulagi.

Many thanks Neil!

Jeff Giddins

Part 1 - Vanuata HERE
Part 3 - Bikini Atoll HERE
Part 4 - Solomon Islands HERE

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