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Lebanon Mediterranean Sea The Souffleur
The submarine 'Souffleur' is a French Vichy Submarine, built in 1924
and sunk by the British on April 25th 1941 with a loss of 50 lives.
The Macedonia
This wreck is starting to form an artificial reef. The 'Macedonia' is
the shallowest of the diveable wrecks, laying in 2 sections in 16M. She was a
cargo ship who ran aground on the shallow rocks during the 1960's. The crew
managed to keep her afloat until the cargo was removed and she was then sold to
an individual in order to be broken up for scrap. Unfortunately, the new owner
was unable to complete his task, as the remains of the ship sank during a storm!
This is not a breathtaking dive as she is barely recognizable as a ship; the
remains are mainly broken ribs and plates but her position next to a small reef
means she has been fairly well colonized and Groupers and Morays are common.
Lobsters can be seen in season and we were fortunate enough to encounter a
Common Guitarfish.
Alice B
The ' Alice B ' is an excellent wreck for penetration dives and very
photogenic due to the fact that she sits upright and largely intact at 37M. The
Militia sank her during the civil war in order to make an insurance claim. She
was declared 'lost at sea' and the insurance company duly paid out one million
US dollars in compensation! Still, the insurance company's loss is our gain!
more info about The Souffleur including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Anguilla Caribbean Sea The refloating and sinking of four vessels in 1990 increased
the number and variety of dive sites found in Anguilla's waters. Since then, a
considerable amount of coral growth has been noted as well as the attraction of
an abundance of marine life in terms of schools of baitfish, jacks and a wide
variety of demersal species. The ships have settled well and are sitting upright
facing the waves. Seven wreck dive sites in addition to excellent reef and wall
dives suitable for both novice and experienced divers offer expanded dive
opportunities. The quality and diversity of dives, coupled with attractive daily
discounted multi-day dive rates, make Anguilla a rewarding destination for scuba
divers seeking 'new' dives. Divers can choose from an array of
accommodations, ranging from cozy inns and guesthouses with rates between $50
and $125 daily to luxurious resorts where each dollar a guests spends is value
received in the sheer beauty of the surroundings and the level of service
rendered. Anguilla now has two full service dive centers with programs catering
to divers and their non diving companions. Some examples of dive sites regularly
visited include the wreck of the 230 foot long M.V. Sara at a depth of 80
feet, an imposing backdrop for underwater photographs. Sunk only last year, the
wreck has already attracted an impressive amount of marine life. ' Prickly
Pear ' at a depth of 30-70 feet is noted for its underwater canyon
characterized by ledges and caverns. 'Grouper Bowl' at a depth of 25-
50 feet is part of the Sail Reef System and home to some of Anguilla's hard
coral formations. Large groupers are found among the overhangs and small
caverns. 'Little Bay and ' Frenchman's Reef ' at depths of
15 to 40 feet are excellent novice wand photographic dives featuring an
abundance of marine life.
more info about Reefs, Anguilla including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Puerto Rico Caribbean Sea The Black Wall – 97 ft
This dive is on a wall covered with black corals and is pretty typical of the
profile that we dove for the wall dives. The top of the reef is at 60 feet and
we dove to a depth of ~95 feet along the wall. Dropping in we first sighted a
Spotted Eagle Ray and were accompanied by Four Eyed Butterfly fish while on top
of the reef and also spotted a four plus foot Green Moray.
The Super Bowl – 80 ft
The super bowl reminded me of Cedral in Cozumel with coral heads separated by
narrow sandy channels and is also around the same depth with a bottom at 80 or
so feet and the top of the reef at 50 some. At this site we saw the only shark
of the weekend and the only shark that others had seen in several days of
diving.
The Hole in the Wall – 135 ft
The hole in the wall starts at 125 feet and exits about 90 feet. This is a
nice dive and an easy swim thru that needn’t worry anyone. This is where one
of the group spotted a rock fish and we saw a couple of nice sized eels here to.
The Chimney – 75 ft
This was a really nice drive and was typical of the second dives in depth and
bottom. But, we were treated to a school of Barracuda and a Hawks Bill turtle
that Angel swears never saw me as I had to get out of its way or I would have
been run into. No kidding, it came within a very few inches.
In summary, Puerto Rico offers some excellent opportunities for wall and
reef diving and Angel has stated his intention to explore more dive sites west
of Parguera since he now has a craft that can reach them quickly. I also
can’t wait to check out the west coast around Mayaguez and Aguadilla
as I was told that the reefs and water there are beautiful as well. So, bring
the dive gear and come and explore a fascinating island with much to do and see
both above and beneath the sea.
more info about Black Wall including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Solomon islands Pacific
- Leru Cut
is a geologic formation where the solid
limestone of an island has a section cut into it. The top of the cut was open
to the sky, but it was only about 5 meters across at the widest. We dropped
down to about 15 meters and swam into the cut. It was like going into an unlit
alleyway between two large buildings at night. Although there was light
outside on the reef and up above at the top of the cut, down in the cut itself
it was quite dark. This made for some interesting lighting effects.
- The Toa Maru
is a 400ft+ Japanese cargo ship that was attacked and
sunk during WWII. The ship rests on its starboard side on a slope with the bow
in the shallows starting at about 25ft and the stern ending below 120ft.
Artifacts included fuel drums, ammo, saki bottles, and a motorcycle. The big
surprise was the condoms that Danny had previously found on one of his many
dives there. To preserve them, he placed them in a jar and hid them in the
wreck to show to his guests. I never laughed so hard through a reg when the
divemaster pulled that jar out of its hiding place.
- One Tree
I caught this dive at a good time as a school of Spotted
Eagle Rays performed an acrobatic display for over twenty minutes with a few
of them checking me out at very close distance.
- The Hell Cat
- A shallow dive; 30ft, this American fighter plane was
perfectly intact. Ammo still found in its wings. Amazingly, this fighter was
accidentally shot down (pilot survived and was rescued) by WWII ace Greg
'Pappy' Boyington of the Black Sheep Squadron. One of Pappy's
bullets hit the engine and the fighter had to ditch due to loss of oil
pressure.
- Japanese Zero
This is a shallow dive that is only a stones throw from
the market in Gizo. It is an intact plane that, although interesting on its
own, had a beautiful florescent red anemone. The two anemone fish that called
it home were 'tinted' in the same color of red. A few fin strokes
away are the broken pieces of a Japanese Float plane.
more info about Reefs and wrecks including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Aruba Caribbean Sea The Antilla was a German freighter that was sunk in
1940. The ship is 400 feet long and there is one large compartment that you can
penetrate. The viz was still low and there were tons of people and boats at this
site. The snorkel boats were there along with every dive company on the island.
The ship was neat to see but this site is way too crowded. There were groups of
divers going in all directions and it was pretty had to even figure out which
group you were with! Our DM did manage to keep our group together on this dive,
but again, we were not overly impressed with the crew. The most personality they
showed was when the boat got back to the dock and they were pointing out the tip
jar to all of us! Well, after these first 2 days of diving, we were about to
cancel some of the rest of our dives and put the money towards something else.
Fortunately, the next day we did a "South Coast" 2 -tank dive. WOW….
What a difference. The dive was great with beautiful reefs and much better
visibility. The boat left at 8:30am so you had none of the cruise ship crowd or
the resort course divers. There were only 8 divers on the whole boat. Our dive
master and boat captains on these trips were much better. We dove at a site
called The Fingers . It was a drift dive (we had never done one of these!)
The reef comes down like a finger and we went to 100 ft. There were beautiful
coral formations, sea fans, and a diverse amount of fish. The second dive was at
a site called Gino's Choice, max. depth was 60 ft. There was a neat drop
off at this site but we couldn't follow it too far down since this was our
second dive. There were large brain coral and star coral at this site. We saw
many moray eels on this dive.
more info about The wreck of the Antilla including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Mexico Caribbean Sea
While Puerto Aventuras does not have the dramatic walls of Cozumel, it is a
dive destination worth visiting in its own right. Relaxed pace, lush reefs and
cenote diving make for an enjoyable vacation of a different style.
Our first dives were on Las Islas and Santos, two fairly shallow reefs just
out from the harbor entrance. We thought we would be bored, but far from it.
La Islas featured a mixed structural environment, nothing like the reefs
and walls on Cozumel, and the marine life, while sparse, was nonetheless,
interesting. Our biggest pleasure was in experiencing Loggerhead Turtles for the
first time. We encountered four on Las Islas, two of which I would estimate to
have a shell length of close to four feet, if not slightly longer.
Santos served to give us an example of what we would experience on the
balance of our open water dives, lots of vegetative life, fans, sponges, etc.,
and very few reef fish. Yes, we did see some rather large parrots, and the
occasional school of grunts, a squirrel fish or two, and an occasional juvenile
grouper but, again, nothing like what you see on the typical dive on Cozumel,
and other than the parrots, nothing of any size.
Cenotes Every diver should dive a Cenote at least once. Diving in
tropical waters, I wear a two piece, 1.5 mil long sleeve/long leg wetsuit. The
cenote dive guide, Mario, suggested that I might be a little cold, and handed me
a 3 mil shorty to put on, over my wetsuit. This being fresh water, he also
suggested that I could reduce my weight (the lead I was carrying, not my
physique) by as much as 25%.
We geared up in the parking lot, and carried our tanks on our backs down the
steep steps, visions of my "diving demise" being not underwater, but
due to the severe head trauma of a misstep.
The dives at Chac Mool and Kukulkan would be a typical two-tanker, but
with some new rules. One-third in, one-third out, one-third in reserve. With a
full 3,000 psi charge, we submerged into a small passage way that lead to a much
larger chamber. We experienced the halocline effect of the mixing of colder
fresh water over warmer salt water, which, again, intuitively is incorrect,
until you allow your mind to adjust for relative density differences. The visual
experience of the halocline is similar to diving in oil and vinegar salad
dressing, blurring one’s image during the penetration, but allowing for clear
viewing both above and below this sector.
more info about Puerto Aventuras, Cancun including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Samoa PacificAn interesting place, a couple of dives excellent, better than Raro, the others rather mediocre. Moana Divers in Apia, and Pacific Resort Divers in the south were both OK (that means the air was clean, everything worked, the boat was there when you surfaced, they seemed to know what they were doing, and they did not insist on guided diving). PRD set a ridiculous 20m depth limit but we ignored it.
more info about Western Samoa including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Cayman islands Caribbean Sea
- Seaview reef
[61 minutes, max. depth 56’]: We
headed South from Seaview towards Sunset House and rode the slight current
back, ending right at the ladder at Seaview. Highlights: Spotted Scorpionfish,
Pygmy Filefish , Peacock Flounder.
- Hepp’s Pipeline
[52 minutes, max. depth 65’]: Looking back at the
18 dives we did that week, this one was one of our favorites. Right away we
saw a 5 foot green Moray tucking himself into an overhang. We crossed over a
sandy plain, down over a mini-wall to a huge coral "mound". The
coral here seemed very healthy compared to other areas we saw. The site is not
dived very often because conditions are rarely favorable for the dive. In
other words, we were very lucky! During the dive we saw the first and second
Turtles of the trip. I snuck up on the second one while he was sharing a snack
with a grey angelfish…very cool!
[44 minutes, max. depth 13’]: Often called the
greatest 10 foot dive in the world. That I think goes to Moses Reef, Eilat,
Israel. Still good though! Dived with Don Foster’s since TI didn’t have
enough divers to go out. The one tank trip was not included in our dives for
the week, so it cost us $55 US each. We rode a van out to the North side,
and then boarded Foster's very large catamaran style boat that wasn't
specifically outfitted for diving (no tank holders). A short boat ride to
the shallow, sandy site and soon we were surrounded by many friendly
stingray. Everyone should do it at least once, I guess. Don Foster's staff
was very friendly, but the time we spent with them was really too short to
form any kind of opinion. It's certainly a much larger operation than
Treasure Island.
Water Temperature on all dives was 83 degrees F. On all dives the coral
was fairly healthy with a wide variety of fish life inhabiting it.
more info about Stingray City including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Bahamas Caribbean SeaWith advanced booking checking in was breeze, and was on the boat in 10 minutes upon arrival. The boat was great, 46ft lots of room and shade, topside sundeck, bathroom, freshwater showers, camera table, huge water cooler, everything you need.
The first dive was at Razorback reef, about a 15 minutes from the dock. During the dive briefing we were given the choice of following the divemaster or heading out on own. I followed the divemaster and it was very good dive, lots of life, saw a hammerhead, cool.
The 2nd am dive was 2 wrecks laying bow to stern, the first starting at about 35ft,the 2nd ending at around 60ft. Both of these ships are 180ft island tankers, this was a cool dive. This site is only about a minute from Stuart Cove's dock.
After lunch out to Sharkwall and Sharkarena, about 45 minutes or so, defnitively worth the ride. The dive is on a wall and coral gardens that surround Sharkarena the site of the 2nd dive. The sharks know a snack isn't too far away, with 6-10 following us around (and a couple grouper too). After a surface interval back down to the Sharkarena a natural sand spot surrounded by coral, the feeding begins. I was totally blown away by these 2 dives it was great lots of sharks in your face action, 6 days later I'm still processing it. If you want to see sharks and want to go with a great dive op chose Stuart Cove's. I can't think of anything negative about Stuart Cove's the entire staff was fantastic. I hired a private photographer from Stuart Cove's Fin Photo for the Shark encounter dives, Tori did a awesome job during the dives and gave me a disc with 61 great pictures, worth the extra money. I can't wait to go back
more info about Shark Dive with Stuart Cove's including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United States Caribbean Sea
- Snapper Ledge:
aptly named reef with more
snappers, grunts, and Goatfish than I've ever seen in one place. Visibility
was much better than other dive sites, with lots less sand and particulates in
the water. There are lots of other species here too. I spent some of the dive
watching a bunch of neon Gobies on a large brain coral cleaning a Parrotfish.
- French Reef
is a shallow, relatively high-relief reef with some swim-throughs
under the coral. There were several medium size barracuda on this reef that
were not shy at all. I found a black grouper being cleaned, and a southern
stingray was disturbed by the divers and sailed over the reef. I attempted a
picture of a pale blue parrotfish but the color captured by the camera just
doesn't do justice to the beautiful, soft blue that I saw on the reef.
- Racetrack:
An unmoored dive spot consisting of a very pretty, shallow
reef surrounded by a sandy "racetrack." There are lots of soft and
hard coral with lot of varied species of fish. We found three little
nudibranchs Tritonia hamnerorum on a sea fan! I looked at about a
zillion other sea fans and didn't find any more.
- Freighter Reef:
a shallow, low reef...how many reefs are named after
the wrecks of ships? There were fewer fish on this site, but lots of stuff to
look at. I spotted a Parrotfish lying on the bottom and went over to
investigate. The fish swam off as I approached and I saw why it was there;
underneath were at least three cleaning shrimp in a corkscrew anemone. The
Parrotfish was getting as close to the bottom as it could to get cleaned of
parasites and detritus. Under the corkscrew anemone I spotted the red and
white striped antennae of a pistol shrimp, but he wouldn't come out to get his
picture taken.
- Molasses Reef, "winch hole":
This probably the most
heavily dived reef off of Key Largo. There were a dozen boats scattered over
the many moorings on this large site. I dropped in and stayed under the boat
for most of the dive until, alas, my hour was up and it was time to return
to the boat, climb the ladder and put away my gear, not a bad dive to finish
up the trip.
more info about Reefs, Key Largo including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United States Caribbean Sea
- Pickles:
The wreck was carrying pickle barrels
full of cement when she went down. The barrels have all rotted away, but the
concrete "barrels" are still there. This place is "sea fan
city;" they're everywhere. I spotted a school of eight Midnight
Parrotfish, but couldn't get close enough for a picture. Lots of juvenile
barracuda hovered over the reef watching for some fish to limp. If you wave
your hand in the water, the Barries are curious enough to swim over to you for
a closer look. Other divers reported finding a couple of nurse sharks under
the ledges near the wreck and one big green moray.
- Duane:
a Coast Guard cutter that was put down as an artificial reef in
the 80's. She's upright on the sand at 125 feet with the main deck at 100
feet. We had great conditions, no current and good visibility. I was the first
diver in the water, as I wanted to be first on the wreck with my camera. One
of the dive masters went in with his, gasp, film camera! There were many, many
big barracuda stationed above the wreck; a school of jacks breezed through,
scattering the smaller fish. I looked down on the sand off the port side of
the wreck and spied a six-foot bull shark cruising towards the stern. It was
too far away for me to get close, but I could see the dive master had gone
down to try and get a picture, but the shark wasn't having anything to do with
him. I took some wide-angle shots of the wreck itself and some of the other
divers in our group. With no current, I was able to do a blue water safety
stop just below the boat. I thoroughly enjoyed this most excellent wreck dive.
- Wreck of the Benwood:
a WWII British freighter that collided with
another boat running without lights and was run aground in shallow water where
she sank. She was used as target practice by the Navy and is pretty busted up,
but is still a very nice wreck with lots of fish, Nassau groupers, black
groupers, schools of grunts, schools of Goatfish, a few angels, Parrotfish,
juvenile fish of all kinds, et al. This must be a really nice dive in good
visibility.
- Spiegel Grove:
The Spiegel Grove was sunk as a huge artificial reef
and is very popular dive spot. The wreck is over 500 feet long and lies on its
port side in one hundred thirty five feet of water to the sand. To complicate
what is a deep dive, the current is usually strong here. The tanks supplied
for this dive were overfilled to 3500 PSI. The dive boat used a "granny
line" to the mooring line on the wreck and asked divers to go no deeper
than 100 feet and to return to the mooring line after no more than twenty
minutes on the wreck. We were moored amid ships and were able to see the
anti-aircraft guns and look into the open hatches on the deck. A few large
Jacks cruised the wreck and a school of Baitfish exploded past us, getting out
of the way of some unseen predator.
more info about Wrecks, Key Largo including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Cook islands PacificRarotonga is lovely, a great place to get over your jet lag if flying west to NZ or Oz. The diving is easy and pleasant. Think Malta with coral. There are four dive outfits on the island - Cook Island Divers caters for the young backpacker crowd; Pacific Resort is follow-my-leader diving; we dived with Rarotongan Dive Centre (RDC); and I forget the fourth one. RDC was fine and I recommend it. It's run by Huw & Sheryl John, and Steve Grant (Welsh, Kiwi & Kiwi respectively). RDC respected our qualifications and we dived unguided.
All the diving is from RIB’s or similar (we saw the other dive outfits' boats about). There are only about 3 launch points on the island, but they are fairly evenly spread around the island, and since it's only about 30km in circumference you can nearly always get in somewhere. There are plenty of fish, we saw one shark, the drop-offs are steep but not vertical and there is some coral bleaching. We did six dives and always had the site to ourselves.
Don't travel round the world just for the diving in Rarotonga, but do give it a whirl if you are in the area.
more info about Rarotanga including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Dominican Republic Caribbean Sea
- Canyons
. This site ranges in depth from 35 to 80 feet with crevices
hosting moray eels, spiny lobster and a variety of invertebrates. Atlantic
Spadefish commonly cruise the water column above these coral canyons
Catalina Island is a longish boat ride from the
Bayahibe area, maybe 30 minutes but many people consider it one of the highlights of
their week. There is a true wall on the north side of the island, dropping
from 15 to 130 feet. The shallow reef flat is rich with pillar and boulder
corals, while the drop-off is filter feeder heaven, with black coral, vase
sponge and large elephant ears. On the south side is a shallow reef known as
the Aquarium. Here, pillar corals rule, and schooling grunts hide in coral
recesses.
Sea Pro Reef. A fascinating coral ridge at about 55 feet, absolutely
chock-full of sea fans, tube sponges and Gorgonians. The ridge drops off seaward
to nearly 130 feet, although the slope is gradual.
The Tower (Cabo Cabron). Depth: 130+ feet. The boat drops you into the
churning channel between rock and mainland. Keep your eyes peeled for dolphins,
which frequent this spot. A giant pinnacle formation emerges from 165 feet,
encrusted with sponge and cascading coral where lobster and crab are often
found. The best way to see it all: drop down to 90 feet and slowly swim up and
around the peak.
On Land…
Hike Pico Duarte , the tallest peak in the Caribbean. Cross Lake
Enriquillo , the Caribbean's largest salt water lake; try rafting on the
clear waters of the Yaque del Norte river; or get close up to a school of
Humpback whales cavorting in Samaná Bay .
Beaches.
Discover the breaking fun waves of
Playa Grande , or
frolic in the pristine waters of
Sosúa Beach , the mild surf of
Playa
Dorada or the calm waters of
Boca Chica . Indulge in the caress of
Punta
Cana's coconut-dotted beaches on the East Coast.
more info about Canyons including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Dominican Republic Caribbean Sea The Dominican Republic is good value for your
money. More than 45,000 hotel rooms are located throughout the length
and breadth of the island. The competition keeps hoteliers
on their toes,
and the traveler benefits from great vacation prices. There are small beach inns
to small hotels atop hills colonial city hostels to adventure traveler hotels,
all-inclusive beach resorts to deluxe metropolitan hotels.
- St. George.
The St. George is a large freighter, about 200 feet in
length, sunk in early 1999 as a dive attraction. Now she sits upright along a
reef slope with her bow at 140 feet and her propellers in the sand at 100
feet. The wheelhouse and stack remain very much intact.
- Hickory.
The Hickory was purposely sunk as a dive attraction in 1986
and now sits perfectly upright on the sand seafloor at 65 feet. The 135-foot
freighter got hammered by Hurricane George, but still hosts a massive amount
of fish, particularly sergeant majors (obviously used to being hand-fed) and
Blackbar Soldierfish. The sponge encrustation and marine life make this a
must-do for underwater photographers.
- El Limon.
El Limon is a 120-foot tugboat sunk near the Hickory. Given
their proximity and reasonably shallow depth, both ships can be easily visited
on the same two-tank dive trip.
- La Sirena Cave
. This particular site can only be dived with Treasure
Divers as they have an arrangement with the landowner, but it's an example of
the numerous freshwater caves and caverns that are found throughout the DR.
Here, an iron spiral staircase leads to a cavernous opening in the jungle
canopy. Stunning water clarity washes a cave system decorated with perfectly
intact stalactites and stalagmites. This dive is not done as a deep
penetration and avoids long overhead obstructions, so it is safe for those
without cave certification. But make no mistake; there is world-class cave
diving in the Dominican Republic that is yet to be explored.
- Tanya V.
Purposely sunk as a dive attraction by the owner of the
nearby Coral Costa Caribe Resort; the Tanya V is a 120-foot cargo ship sent to
the bottom Oct. 22, 1999. Already the stern is home to large schools of grunts
and Goatfish. She sits in 110 feet of water.
more info about Wrecks including maps, reviews, and ratings...
United States Caribbean Sea Unless the speed limits have been lifted it will take about 2 hours to drive
between Key West and Key Largo on US 1.
Obey the speed limits - the traffic cops have no sense of humor! If you do
get stopped - stay in the car, hands on the wheel, and wait for the patrolman to
come to you!
At Key Largo I used the Florida State operation that runs the John Pennekamp
Coral Reef State Park. They have first pick of sites inside the reserve (they
run it).
From Key Largo and south down US 1 (the highway) there seems to be a dive
operator at every lamppost, we dived with Amoray and they were good.
Most of the addresses in the Keys have a reference to 'Mile Marker' or 'mm'
on them, so you can work out how far apart they are on US
Dives to do…
The Duane
Purposely sunk Coastguard Cutter. Can have VERY strong surface currents, but
OK on the wreck. Meet Psycho, the 'pet' Barracuda.
Key West
several operators, can't remember offhand who we went with, but we were there at
New Year and it had been a little stormy, but there were a couple of half decent
reefs to dive. I understand that there are some other wrecks accessible from
here, but can't comment on them.
My opinion - do your diving round Key Largo and go down to Key West for the
fun & games on land.
more info about Key West including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Philippines Pacific Marine Divers SAC - BSAC Special Branch 2292, runs regular trips to this
resort from Hong Kong.
The resort is on the other side of the channel to Puerto Galera ,
offering dives as good if not better with more chance of pelagics, and best of
all LESS DIVERS!!!. Diving is conducted the BSAC way!
more info about Maricaban Island Resort including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Norway Atlantic If any of you are coming over to Bergen, or thinking about it, then this
website may be of interest. I'd certainly recommend you take a look at the
"Information for visiting divers" section, and the weather section if
you
want an idea of our above water conditions. (And you can poke and laugh
during the winter)
The photo gallery is of course just for fun, and has been highly compressed
to be "56K" friendly for people who still have to use dial accounts.
This
section will continue to grow weekly. The movies are of course larger, but
only "optional"
Matt Duke
Bergen, Norway
diving in norway
more info about Bergen including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Saint Lucia Caribbean Sea We were in Rodney Bay in May 2002 and the best diving is around the
southern tip of the island in the vicinity of Souffriere where diving is
located around the fantastic piton mountains. The main beach near Rodney Bay is Reduit
beach, which I am sure you can reach within a short walk of your hotel or digs,
or you may actually be located on the beach. The diving outfit we used was Anse
Chastanet's hotel dive operation, which has a booth on the beach at one of the
Reduit beach hotels (either the Papillon or the Rex, I can't quite remember).
You can book there or direct by ringing Anse Chastanet
website
Anse Chastanet will pick you up from your hotel, take you to a short
drive away at a slip where you board a fast boat to take you down to the center
several miles down the coast. There, you will be taken on a very short check out
dive of the usual variety (mask clearing, alternative air source breathing,
buoyancy check), then you have a two-tank dive, one in the morning, and one
after lunch, which is included in the deal. You are then taken back home via the
same means after the dive. The deal was approx. $75 including a great buffet
lunch, which was excellent value.
I was surprisingly impressed with the diving around Souffriere, good viz,
vertiginous walls and healthy corals and fauna. The diving outfit was
professional and the service and deal well presented/pitched.
Have fun in Rodney Bay, don't forget to patronize Spinnakers on the beach,
and the Lime bar and restaurant just off the beach. The Great House restaurant
further up at Pigeon point is first class, if you fancy a bit of 'posh nosh'.
I am sure I don't need to warn you about the 'Aloe Vera' brigade, which you
will find hanging around the shopping mall, trying to sooth your sunburn or
mosquito bites... for the obligatory fistful of dollars. Also, car hire is 'cr.p'.
We turned down 3 cars that were lethal death traps from a very reputable
company. Public transport is cheap and the share ride minibus stops just outside
the mini-mart on the main road. Use that instead! I also wholly recommend a day
sail to Martinique! Whoa, dolphins, manta rays, we saw the lot, and had a nice
French lunch at Josephine's in Marin harbor .
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Barbados Caribbean Sea I have been to Barbados before and it really depends on where on the island
you want to dive. If you want to dive the North of the Island I can suggest
'Reefers & Wreckers'. The two guys who run that are called Mike and Philip.
If you want to dive the more popular South then there is a huge choice but I
have booked some diving with the BSAC dive shop there website the
guy is called John Moore. If you prefer a PADI dive shop then try
website and the guy to speak to there is Willie Hewitt
There is a BSAC club on the island and they have club dives every Sunday and
sometimes combine there dives with BADASS (Barbados American Divers
Association). The best person to contact regarding the BSAC Club is - Rob
Bateson (is click here to email )
If your into you're wrecks then you must do…
- Stavronikita
- Carlisle Bay
- Friars Craig
- Pamir
And see - website
more info about Northern reefs and wrecks including maps, reviews, and ratings...
Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean Sea We were at Turtle Beach (Rex resort) and we went diving with the local
dive outfit on the spot at the hotel, as well as with Undersea Tobago ,
based at the Grafton Beach resort further down the coast.
Undersea Tobago picked us up from our hotel and we did a two-tank dive with
them. The Atlantic side can be very choppy and with some substantial swell even
at 25 meters, but well worth it, with masses of large fish (angels, rays, nurse
sharks, parrots, barracuda etc).
The Caribbean side, at Dutchman reef , is generally much more sedate,
but equally enjoyable, with beautiful fans and whip coral, and huge sponges.
The dive operators do not carry your gear or bottles for you. However, fair
is fair, the diving was well organized, and we had some very good scenic dives
further north.
You'll probably be sold 'the wreck'. My view is that, unless you want to log
it in your book, don't bother. It's the most boring 30 M/100’dive of a
relatively new wreck where you can swim through and that's about it.
The highlight of our holiday was to watch the huge leatherback turtles come
ashore at night to lay their eggs. Right in front of the bar, the rooms, it was
awesome. However, you are not very likely to see them except in May.
Tobago is not yet spoiled by mass tourism. Enjoy!
more info about Turtle Beach including maps, reviews, and ratings...