September 30, 1659 - I, poor, miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, during a dreadful storm, in the offing, came on shore on this dismal, unfortunate island, which I called the Island of Despair, all the rest of the ship's company being drowned, and myself almost dead.

The real Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, was an adventurer at heart. He joined the famed Captain William Dampier on a privateering expedition to the blue waters of the South Pacific, with the sole purpose of preying on Spanish merchant ships. In September 1704, after a quarrel with Dampier, Selkirk requested he be put ashore on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez. His request was granted, and Dampier put Selkirk ashore with only his clothes and bedding, a flintlock rifle, powder, and bullets, tobacco, some tools, and a Bible.

Here Selkirk lived in complete solitude for over four years. In February 1709, he was discovered and rescued by Captain Woodes Rogers and the sailing vessel "Duke". Selkirk eventually returned to England in 1711, where he met the essayist, Richard Steele. In 1713, Steele wrote of Selkirk's adventures in the publication, "The Englishman", and it was this story that inspired Daniel Defoe to write his beloved and famous novel.

In fact, nestled almost forgotten in the eastern South Pacific, 674 kilometers from the central coast of Chile is the real Robinson Crusoe Island. The Archipelago Juan Fernandez is Chilean territory,

San Juan Bautista, the only village on the island and the base of diving operations.

With a great deal of anticipation and excitement, we departed Santiago for the three hour flight west over the South Pacific. After an hour, low marine clouds appeared below, and our pilot radioed our position ahead to the island. This is the point in the flight where we crossed over the western extent of the cold Humboldt Current, and the water temperature of the ocean becomes considerably warmer. As we flew farther, the clouds became smaller until we were again in clear skies and over blue Pacific water. After two and a half hours, the island appeared as a dark spot on the distant horizon.

Juan Fernandez is a magnificent volcanic island with vertical cliffs rising 200 to 300 feet straight out of the ocean. We landed on a short and bumpy island runway, and climbing from the plane, found ourselves in a quiet, almost forgotten corner of the world. There is no road transportation to Bahía Cumberland and the Village of San Juan Bautista, so this leg of the journey was by boat. While the boat was loaded with dive gear, we watched as the Juan Fernandez sea lions swam and surfed in the waves, no more than 20 feet from where we stood on the dock.

During the trip from the airport around the island, we could see where ancient lava flows had oozed down the face of the vertical cliffs and into the sea. Finally, after passing Punta San Carlos, we arrived at our final destination, the Village of San Juan Bautista.

Nestled in a short valley, with near vertical cliffs and rugged mountains topped by a 915 meter peak called "Yunque" as their back yard, this little village of 500 fishermen greeted us as though we were old friends returning from afar. Unlike many small towns, you feel instantly at home here, and the islanders are warm and very friendly. That evening we were given a welcoming meal of fresh Juan Fernandez lobsters (Jasus lalandii) to complement the wonderful island hospitality.

In the morning we left for our first day of diving in the pristine waters surrounding the island. We were to dive with Juan Fernandez (two haired) sea lions locally known as "Lobo de dos Pelos" (Arctocephalus Philippii). Although on this day the water was not as clear as I expected due to the minute air bubbles from the ocean swells crashing onto the nearby cliffs, I still managed to get some excellent video footage of the sea lions as they swam over to see the new visitors in their corner of the ocean.

There are fish everywhere both large and small, octopus exploring and searching for delicacies, and inquisitive moray eels peeking from their crevices to watch the divers glide by. The water at our second dive location was clear, with 70 foot visibility, and my buddy and I could see the other divers in the distance.

After the second dive, we traveled the short distance to Puerto Inglés for a shore lunch. It was here that Alexander Selkirk lived for four years and four months in total seclusion. His cave is still preserved by Conaf (the Chilean Parks Service) and one can readily see where Selkirk carved the stone with messages while living here. Today, there is only one temporary resident. The Chilean government has granted permission for an American archeologist to dig and search for hidden treasure, and on the hillside not far from Selkirk's cave, you can see his exploratory efforts as he searches for lost treasure.

During the dives we saw black coral, moray eels, octopus, and Juan Fernandez lobsters on nearly every dive as well as a multitude of colourful fish. The reefs are alive with Black Jergillas, Vidriola, Breca, Viejas, Lenguado (Paralichthys adspersus), and a myriad of other fish species, many of which are native to the area. If you are lucky, you might get a glimpse of a turtle or if you are really lucky, an ocean sunfish or mola mola (Tetraodontiformes molidae) will gracefully glide by. During one lunch break, a Juan Fernandez Petrel (Pterodroma externa) swam within a meter of the boat for over an hour waiting for us to feed him morsels of fish.

The evening of the fourth day in this paradise, we organized a night dive, and eight divers entered the water at 10 pm. Three of the divers have never been diving at night before, and their nervousness was only exceeded by the excitement of their adventure. The water was clear and calm with flashing blue phosphorescence always visible around the moving divers. We dropped to the bottom 50 feet below, and all around us was strange. The fish we had seen on every previous dive were nestled into cracks and crevices as they slumbered to await the dawning of another day.

Left: One of numerous moray eels. Center: A cluster of delicate aggregate anemones. Right: Juan Fernandez Sea Lion indigenous to the island.

We soon discovered marine creatures we had not seen during our daylight dives. Although the Juan Fernandez lobster was there in the darkness, we also saw another, smaller lobster with six paddles in front instead of the normal long antenna. As the beam of our dive lights illuminated the bottom, dark brownish red nudibrances, and octopus could be seen. Everyone on the trip had listened to my accounts of handling Giant Pacific Octopus (Octopus dofleini), and they were all eager to see me interact with one of the smaller octopus here. I had told them how intelligent octopus were, and how to treat them. One diver was spellbound by my tales, and had tried to handle a couple of octopus he had previously found, but without the expected results. Now as the divers gathered around me, it was time to show everyone how it was done.....I hoped......

I approached the octopus and removed my gloves. Slowly I brought my hand along- side the mantle so the octopus could see my approach. Gently, I reached over and stroked down the side of the mantle, and then rubbed between his eyes. Just like the octopus I have come to know so intimately in the waters of the Pacific Northwest, this octopus reacted as I had hoped. His colour didn't change and he didn't try to escape. Instead, he slowly crawled around me until I was finished stroking him. I gently backed away to allow him to continue with his nocturnal search for food and as I backed away, one of the divers indicated he was low on air. Although we had been underwater only 45 minutes, I reluctantly signaled a return to the surface, and an end of the dive. All the way back to the dock, and during a very late dinner at midnight, all everyone could do was talk about our last dive.

For wreck and technical divers Juan Fernandez has just the spot. During the closing days of the First World War, the German cruiser Dresden was cornered in Cumberland Bay by the British cruisers HMS Kent and HMS Glasgow. A battle ensued and, out-numbered, out-gunned, and with no possible escape, Dresden's captain sank his ship to avoid capture.

Today, she lies in between 50 and 70 meters at the bottom of Cumberland Bay.

For more information on planning a trip to Juan Fernandez, contact Victor Tagle at "Vic's Servicios Aereos", e-mail victortagle@entelchile.net ., serviaereo@entelchile.net, or rdriver@entelchile.net