Pygmee Me This!
Sometimes I honestly have no idea what I’m looking at…
As a dive guide, people expect you to show your guests the most beautiful and striking things underwater. I can tell you—it’s not always that easy. We’re well trained in spotting special creatures, but that doesn’t mean we see everything. In fact, sometimes I have absolutely no idea what I’m looking at, and then I feel like a complete fool. That feeling came over me again during a dive in Indonesia, in the stunning Raja Ampat.
First Impressions of Raja Ampat
Raja Ampat, located in the eastern part of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, is known for its incredible biodiversity. From pipefish and giant mantas to 70 percent of all existing coral species—truly amazing! So, I didn’t have to think twice before accepting a job there. That’s how I ended up on the liveaboard SY Indo Siren, working as a manager and dive guide for a few months.
A sick guide and a new challenge
During my first weeks, one of our local guides got hit by a bad flu and cold. He asked me to take over his dives. I barely knew the dive sites and had only done a few dives in the area myself, as I’d been focusing on running the boat. But I’m good with navigation and strong currents, so why not? In Indonesia, currents can reach up to 8 knots—pretty intense. Considering that an average diver can only swim against about 0.3 knots, you can imagine how quickly things can get tricky. That’s why everyone dives there in small guided groups.
The Dive at Andiamo
The first dive I had to guide was at a site called Andiamo, in southern Raja Ampat. My colleague Inyo gave the briefing, explaining that we’d jump in near a small island above an underwater mountain, with the top lying around 6 to 8 meters deep. The currents around it can go in all directions, but as long as you follow the reef along the mountain, you’ll end up back at the island. Since I didn’t know the site well, I arranged to go second out of three groups and asked the other guides to keep an eye on me—and, if they spotted a pygmy seahorse, to show me. I embarrassingly hadn’t seen one yet, and our guests were crazy about them.
The first attempt: where are those seahorses?!
No sooner said than done. In no time, we rolled backward off the zodiac, right above the top of Andiamo. The current was perfect—not too strong, but nice and lively. I descended, checked that everyone was okay, and started along the right side of the reef. Ahead of me, I could see the first dive group led by Stefanos, and I watched where they were hanging around. Better well copied than badly seen, I thought, so we followed their route. At one point, Stefanos pointed to a purple sea fan coral that hung vertically in an opening. I suspected there might be seahorses in there, and we slowly moved closer. When the first group was done, Stefanos signaled me to come closer. He gave me the hand signal for pygmy seahorse, and I cheered inside. Fantastic—those tiny little creatures, who wouldn’t want to see them?
He pointed to an area about 30 by 30 centimeters. One of my guests moved closer, and I indicated that there were pygmy seahorses there; he smiled. We all stared intently at the coral… was something moving? Over there? Maybe on the other side? I couldn’t see a thing. The other divers in my group came over to look too, but none of us could spot anything that looked remotely like a seahorse. I gestured that there were supposed to be six of them, but I must be blind. I could hear my guests laughing underwater. Oh well—you can’t win them all. We continued the dive. Despite missing the seahorses, it was an amazing dive with sea snakes, stonefish, barracudas, and much more. Afterward, we had a good laugh about the elusive seahorses.
Round Two: Revenge of the Seahorses
On the next trip, we returned to Andiamo, and of course, I was determined to find those seahorses. With my camera ready and not guiding this time, I swam straight to that same purple sea fan. By now, I’d learned that these tiny creatures camouflage themselves by taking on the same color and texture as the coral. After carefully studying every inch and every branch, I finally saw them. Found them! So tiny—but there they were!
Since that day, I’ve become much better at finding these miniature horses. It’s still not easy, but practice makes perfect.
It just goes to show: even as a dive guide, there are still
countless treasures to discover beneath the surface.
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