The dive was spectacular. Deely squeezed himself through the ship's hole for the anchor chain, shimmying through from one side of the wreck to the other, just for fun. There were also plenty of fish to see, as the reef was fairly rich in that area.
After a half hour or so, Peterson gave the signal to surface. Just like that the dive was done. Topside, we found ourselves in the ocean's broad expanse, which was dark and blue in the late afternoon. It stretched from just under our bobbing chins and off to the rocky cliffs at Oulanbi (鵝鑾鼻), the southern cape where Taiwan's mountains hit the sea. The sky was pale blue and fading yellow into dusk, and then the dive boat spotted us and began the collection rounds.
A few minutes later as the boat began the sunset tour around the cape and back to the harbor at Maobitou (
Peterson passed a glance down at his own dive computer, which like all dive computers has no such function, and answered, "Mine says we have seven minutes."
With that, the boat rounded Taiwan's southernmost point and the sky was turning pink over the Third Nuclear Power Plant.
Some Kenting area scuba shops: Kenting Diving (墾丁潛水) 720 Nanwan Rd., Hengchuen (恆春鎮南灣路720號), tel (08) 889-7968; Cactus Hotel, 126 Dawan Rd., Kenting (墾丁大灣路126號), tel 0930-932-726; Fu Dog Surfing Gear, 232 Nanwan Rd., Hengchuen (恆春鎮南灣路232號), tel (08) 889-7141; Nanbei Diving (南北潛水), tel (08) 889-5350.
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