Diver UK – July 2019

I

SN’T THERE A VOLCANO THERE?”

queried a friend when I announced my

impending trip to St Helena. Baffled,

it took a moment to realise that he was

thinking of Mt St Helens.

“No, the place where Napoleon was

exiled,” I replied. Then, a glimmer of

recognition, although I doubted whether

he knew exactly where it was.

Sitting in the South Atlantic 1200 miles

west of Southern Africa and 1800 miles

east of South America, St Helena isn’t

exactly on the mainstream tourist radar.

Only 10 miles long and six miles wide,

the island was first discovered by the

Portuguese in the 15th century but

remained uninhabited until the British

East India Company arrived in 1659.

It remains Britain’s second-oldest

territory, after Bermuda.

For centuries, the only way there was

by boat. In recent years, the RMS St

Helenamade the five-day journey from

Cape Town every three weeks, and was the

divEr 48

for the next three days, with only 76

passengers, yet it took a full hour to clear

immigration and retrieve our baggage.

At the carousel, a stern-looking woman

approached with questions, specifically

whether I was bringing in food. “I have a

chocolate bar; is that OK?” I queried.

“That depends on whether I’m

hungry,” she responded before breaking

into a wide grin. “Welcome to St Helena!”

L

UGGAGE RETRIEVED, we found our

transport waiting, along with Matt

Joshua, manager of the Mantis Hotel, and

Anthony Thomas, owner of dive-centre

Sub-Tropic Adventures.

The Mantis occupies an 18th-century

row of former officers’ quarters. It’s the

poshest place in town and also has free

wi-fi, a welcome commodity there.

With a free afternoon, I explored.

Wedged between sheer cliffs, Jamestown

is steeped in history, with more than 100

listed buildings. Main Street is renowned

island’s sole connection to the outside

world.

That all changed in November 2017,

with the opening of the airport. Although

finished in 2016, problems arose due to

excessive wind shear. It was another year

before the first commercial flight landed,

and now the island is only six hours’ flight

away from Johannesburg.

Despite this, St Helena remains

appealingly off the beaten track. I had

come on a tour with five other divers to

find out what it was like.

However, the flight filled me with

trepidation. I had read an article claiming

that the landing at St Helena was the most

terrifying the author had experienced.

Fortunately, conditions were perfect,

and our landing had nary a bump. The

bus-ride between the terminal and the

plane at Johannesburg airport had been

more nerve-wracking!

The island way of doing things quickly

became apparent. We were the only flight

“

Yes, had Napoleon Bonaparte been into diving, he would soon

have realised that St Helena is not the worst place in the world

to end your days in exile. SCOTT BENNETTwas impressed.

BONY

WOULD

HAVE

DIED

HAPPY

divErNEt.com

Above and right: There are

strict rules about whale

shark interactions – trouble

is, nobody told the sharks!