When we arrived at the Toddy’s dive centre he was out, but the keys for the storage area were waiting for us. You would guess that Protec Sardinia is run by a German. Apart from the slightly quirky English translations on the wall, it has everything you’d want from a dive centre. The gear store area is accessible with large shelves to make your own, a charging table and shelves – with conversion plugs for any country – is right where you’d want it and within arm’s reach of an array of tools, there’s a pool for training and gear testing, a wet area, dry area… there’s even a supply of complimentary gear bags that will fit your gear and fit neatly into the boat hanging in the corridor. And of course it’s well ordered and stylish and there’s a cafe restaurant next door for the after dive R & R, that also offers accommodation.
When we caught up with Toddy that evening he had just returned from a reconnaissance trip down the coast in his RIB, checking out any change in the conditions in the caves. He smiled, welcomed us, brought out a round of beers and suggested we all sit down for pasta … big plates of warm, fresh, bouncy and comforting carbonara… were we about to get some bad news?
Thorsten 'Toddy' Walde
Then one of Toddy’s students let us have it “There were big brown mushrooms coming out of the ocean by the entrance to the caves… this is impossible!” Ouch.
That immense volume of fresh water from all the storms is really churning up the silt and bringing in further run-off. The ‘big brown mushrooms’ are caused where the pressure of the water in the system is so great it is forcing the water out at the coast through a hole that is below sea level, forming a fountain. Toddy has never seen conditions like this. To his immense credit, he had geared up, dropped overboard and tried to swim into one of the caves with lower flow…just to make sure.
It is certain is that the caves can’t be dived. For now. With no precedent we don’t know how long they will take to clear and predictions from locals have ranged from days to a couple of months. Fingers crossed.
