What a trip!

For the last week I have had the pleasure of meeting and diving with Bill Boyce.

Bill has an extensive knowledge of the marine environment, a great understanding of current conservation issues, his joke telling ability is second to none and he has an amazing talent for underwater photography. And these talents I’m sure are the tip of the iceberg that is Bill Boyce, however the greatest thing about diving with Bill is his enthusiasm… about everything.

 Joe and Bill fishing for sailfish (a Fiji National Record there!)
AND we didn't cut Joe out the photo this time Tim!

Now as a dive guide you always want to find the holy grail of species, the most beautiful nudibranch, the harlequin ghost pipe fish, the biggest manta, whatever it is you want to show the divers, you want it to be well cool! So I show Bill a few things that I find amazing, a beautiful emerald anemone, this gets a "YAHOO!" (yes he can talk underwater!), a pipe fish gets a few high fives and by the time I show him a tiny little nudibranch nestled in a sand flat I get a great big shove and I can hear him shouting underwater ‘no way man – how’d you see that!’

We surface from every dive and Bill is exploding with excitement about everything we just saw. This is the kind of diving I love, when every single thing underwater is appreciated, when every fish is admired for its diversity, where every nudibranch has its five minutes of fame, where each scratch on a sharks sleek body is recognised. People who are excited about diving, keep diving alive.

Thanks a lot Bill, all I can say is what a trip!