As October approaches, the end of another summer season closes in.
I was thinking how it had been a strange summer, but then looking through my post from this time last year, it’s actually eerily similar. Water temps have only just started to warm up to the normal 28°C – 30°C range at reasonable depth (around 8-10m), versus the rather chilly 24°C or so that was prevalent during a lot of August & September.
We were, however, treated to some lovely visibility for the vast majority of the summer, often getting 10+m. This kind of vis is usually reserved for September, and this year it only got better in September, with a couple of days of 15m+.
I’ve been teaching slightly less Open Water this year, and more of the continuing education courses, including Advanced Open Water, Rescue, and a few specialties. As I was away in Europe for the whole of July, I don’t think I’ll be able to retain my 2022 Elite Instructor status this year, but still a couple of months of teaching ahead, so you never know.
Of course, this year was the first year since 2020 that we had no restrictions from Covid-19. It is clear that local operators built up a lot of capacity to cope with the demand during the pandemic period, and unfortunately, this now means there supply has been reduced to match the demand. The effect of this is that prices have increased, but it’s still hard to get space. Go figure. It’s hardly surprising that a lot of people are choosing to go away to more exotic diving destinations, but likewise, there are several new divers who want to get their certification in Hong Kong before making a specific dive trip.
I’m hoping to get a few more dives in before drysuit season, but also excited to get back into the cooler waters too!