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Ecuador PacificExploramar Diving is the only PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center authorized in Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, also DAN Business Members (Divers Alert Network). Our crew with PADI Instructors, Divemasters and Marine Biologists highly qualified guarantee a first class service and a safety dive. All of our tours are conducted by experienced guides and are carried out in your own language.
website WOLF AND DARWIN ISLANDS Wolf and Darwin are the north western islands of the archipelago, famous because they are the most exciting and desirable dive sites in the world. Strong currents are the ruling feature of these singular dive sites, where a diver can station himself at a rock to watch giant schools of every kind of fish drift past. The sites are especially known for the high presence of hammerheads and big galápagos sharks as well as marine turtles, various types of rays, mantas, dolphins, moray eels, and invertebrates. Here, you may live the unique experience of finding yourself with the greatest fish of all, the Whale Shark, between June to October.
ACADEMY BAY At Santa Cruz Island. This is the bay of Puerto Ayora at Santa Cruz Island, offering 5 dive sites within 10 or 20 minutes by boat from our Dive Center . Three of the sites are generally calm with little current; ideal for students or novices. At the other two sites the dives could be a little more complicated if there is current, so they are suitable for intermediate or expert divers. It is possible to see reef fish, sea lions, sting rays, golden rays, eagle rays, invertebrates, morays, garden eels, turtles, marine iguanas, and white tip reef sharks.
SANTA FE ISLAND This island is about an hour away from our Dive Center, and offers 4 dive sites. Generally the waters are clear and the currents mild, so they are ideal for novices. At the same time, the animals and topography make them interesting for intermediates and experts. We can see reef fish; sting and eagle rays, garden eels, turtles, sea lion colony, invertebrates, morays, pelagic fish, maybe white tip reef sharks or hammerheads.
FLOREANA ISLAND Floreana is about 90 minutes south from our Dive Center. The 9 dive sites usually have calm water but when we find strong current at one we can quickly move to another. This makes Floreana ideal for all levels of divers. You may see coral heads, endemic black coral, reef fish; sting and eagle rays, turtles, sea lion colony, barracudas, pelagic fish, white tip reef sharks, galápagos sharks, hammerhead sharks, sea horses, morays, garden eels, invertebrates.
NORTH SEYMOUR ISLAND This island is about 90 minutes north of our Dive Center. There are 5 dive sites suitable for all levels of divers, although sometimes the currents can be strong. We can see reef fish; sting and eagle rays, a large garden eel colony, turtles, invertebrates, sea lion colony, morays, pelagic fish, and usually white tip reef sharks and hammerheads. Occasionally the galápagos sharks.
GORDON ROCKS This rock formation is a world famous dive site close to Plazas Islands, about one hour from our Dive Center. There are 5 dive sites in the area, but only the three at Plazas are for novices. The other two sites are for intermediates and experts because there can be strong currents and surge. The Gordon Rocks dive sites are mostly walls with a deep bottom. Reef fish, large pelagic fish; golden, sting and eagle rays, turtles, sea lion colony, endemic galapágos fur seals, morays, invertebra
more info about Galapagos including maps, reviews, and ratings...
New Zealand PacificBeneath the waves at the Poor Knights an ocean of diving has been compressed into a relatively small area. The caves, arches, tunnels and sheer cliffs provide a great variety of habitats to explore.
From turbulent sunlit waters and kelp forests on the upper reaches of the tumbling "giant staircase," to the dark waters of the islands' many caves, the Poor Knights offer an extraordinary variety of underwater experiences. Sponge gardens and gorgonian fields are inhabited by a myriad of fish, shellfish, urchins and anemones, with black coral found in deeper waters.
The steep cliffs, which fringe the islands, plunge 100 metres below sea level in places before reaching a sandy seafloor.
The arches are some of the most interesting places to explore. A rich nutrient soup is washed through them, feeding the countless animals that compete for space on the walls. Squadrons of stingrays can also be found cruising the waters of the archways during warmer months.
Many of the subtropical fishes living in the marine reserve are found nowhere else in New Zealand, having found their way to Poor Knights on the subtropical East Auckland current. Some of the fish include subtropical species such as spotted black groper, mosaic moray and Lord Howe coralfish. They are renowned for their friendly nature and make visiting the marine reserve a truly memorable experience.
Nursery Cove, The Gardens and some of the shallower parts of the South Harbour are the best places for novice divers. Experienced divers can find spectacular and challenging dives all around the islands.
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New Zealand PacificDive site is real choice. Middle arch is what it is, It's a large swim through which is equally exciting during the day as at night.
Large fish are found on the odd day, with the odd sting ray. I have just come back from a live aboard week end when i had chance to dive this wounderfull location at night. Fish life was abundant from the moment we entered the water until we surfaced.
At 17 metres I had the chance to video my dive buddy stroke the snout of a large sting ray just resting at the bottom just past the kelp line. It was amazing to see it eyes just flicker and it's lip turn up. Middle arch is home to all types of fish species some I have yet to learn the names of.
Another good dive is just out side of the arch where there is a large cave enterace where it is quite easy to enter, once inside it is fun to find a frog and teddy bear that some one had put there some years ago, always a thrill for tourist to find. The cave enterance is in about 14 metres of water and at the back you can accend to approx 8 metres where there is a air bubble you can swim up to and investigate, always good to see your self if you have a strong lite in the reflection of the water as you brake through. Before leaving the cave on our last dive it was just incredible the amount of big eye fish we encounterd just hanging around the enterance from blackness to the deep blue reflection from the outer enterace of the cave.
This dive site and many others can be found at the poor Knights !3 miles outside of Tutukaka north island of New Zealand
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Tanzania Indian OceanDiving expedition liveaboard in the Northern part of the Mozambique channel, for active diving holidays in a heavenly setting.
Have you ever dreamt of taking part in an oceanographic expedition? Yes? Then you are most welcome to The Kairos Company.
The Kairos Company organises 4 expeditions a year, each spanning a two or three month period, with a real mission, a goal you’ll help achieve as part of a team comprising the Expedition Leaders, the technicians, and the crew, all united in the same spirit of adventure.
Each expedition is divided into periods of 7 to 10 days, enabling you to bring your own stone to the final result. You will be given the opportunity to act as a scientist, an explorer, a discoverer, and will never forget it.
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Egypt Red SeaEel Garden dive site is located in the Ras Mohamed Park. The site is right in between Jackfish Alley dive site (north) and
Sharks Observatory (South). The dive can be done by boat or shore. The dive normally starts at a shallow cave, 0.5 meters
at the surface down to a depth of approximately 5 meters. Starting from the entrance of the cave, there is a sloping sandy bottom with a huge population of Garden eels (which are endemic to the Red Sea). Once you have seen the Garden eels and cave, you can then either move north towards Jackfish Alley or south towards Sharks Observatory. The current can be
in any direction and if diving from boat it is better to do the dive as a drift dive, as the current can be strong at times.
If moving north towards Jackfish Alley, you will find a wall type reef, starting at the surface dropping down to about 13 meters, from this depth it becomes a sloping reef with coral pinnacles and sand down to a depth of 35 meters.
At 35 meters is basically a sand "road", approximately 50 meters wide. If you continue into the blue will you find satellite reef, which varies in depth from 26 meters to 40 meters +. I have encountered Grey reef sharks and huge shoals of
barracuda / jacks on the satellite reef. The main reef itself offers lots of caves, with glassfish, groupers, lionfish, moray eels, scorpionfish, crocodile fish, turtles etc. If you do this dive in the afternoon, you will find many jacks passing by in the
blue.
If moving south towards Sharks Observatory, you will find a wall type reef, starting at the surface dropping down to 50+ meters. Approximately 30 meters from the eel garden at a depth of 18 meters, are some nice pinnacles with lots of glassfish and groupers. Moray eels, lionfish, scorpionfish, snappers, napolean wrasse, turtles, eagle rays, electric rays, blue spotted rays have all been spotted at this site. If you keep your eye on the blue you will see jacks and barracuda passing by.
The reef to the south also have lots of caves and overhangs.
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Papua New Guinea PacificThe best gorgonian fans ever seen!!!
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Egypt Red SeaSharks Observatory is located at the famous Ras Mohamed Park - Sinai, very close to the resort town of Sharm el Sheikh.
The site can be dived from shore, dayboat or live aboard safari. In spite of its name, Shark Observatory is not noted for its sharks. Despite this, it is possible to see sharks at the site, white tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, black tip sharks, tiger sharks (during summer months) and if you are lucky, whale sharks as well, have all been spotted at the site.
The dive normally begins on the western side of the corner / point. From shore it is an easy entrance "through a man-hole
type entrance, descending into the reef plate, that leads into a big cave (about 7 meters deep / 10 meters long). Once you exit the cave you will find a big canyon, dissappearing into the blue. The cave itself has some groupers, clearfin lionfish
and also special "comet starfish" near the entrance of the reef plate. The top of the reef is abundant with fish, Arabian surgeon fish, parrotfish etc... Light filtering through the reef plate into the cave is also spectacular. The reef starts right at 0.5 meters depth, dropping vertically down to approximately 200+ meters at some spots. Once you have exited the cave the best is to follow the wall to your left hand side. Along the wall you will find good hard corals with lots of sea goldies, groupers, lionfish, moray eels, turtles, if you look into the blue, you will see jacks, dog tooth tuna, barracuda passing by. Before the corner, on the western side, at a depth of about 15 meter, are some huge fan corals and cave where we always spot hawk fish and in the cave you almost always find a resident scorpion fish and the "rare" Broad-banded pipefish. Above this cave is some "cracks" in the reef, filled with glassfish and groupers. The wall especially at the "corner" offers some of the best and most colorfull soft corals in Sinai. The area also abounds with marine life, lots of jacks, groupers etc...
Late afternoons it is also possible to spot eagle rays and manta rays passing by in the blue. Please take care as the current at the corner can be very strong at times. When diving this site in the afternoon, you will have lots of shadows, giving again excellent light effects.
Sharks Observatory always offers the "X" factor, you never know what you can expect!
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Maldives Indian OceanThe most awesome Night Diving experience. In fact I can't think of a single experience in my 45 + years experience of life that comes close to the action on this underwater hill every night.
The biggest, meanest looking, Barracuda I have ever seen.
Sharks run scared of him.
Fantastic.
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Croatia Adriatic SeaFrancesca di Rimini is a wreck from the second world war. It was used as an amunition transporter and sunk through to torpedo shots.
It lays between 39 to 54 mtr.
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United Kingdom Sea of the HebridesThis was my first 50M dive!
I remember sliding down a fantastic wall, getting narked at 50M and ascending pulling at all the sea pens, which quickly retracted!
On the surface the seals look at you like 'what are you doing' as they sit undisturbed on various rocks. If you're lucky they'll follow you underwater too.
Fantastic stuff
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Italy Ionian SeaThe activity unfolds the long of the coast ionic of Catania until Taormina and inside the reserve marinade "Isole Ciclopi" and in Ustica reserve marinade. The Diving Center "Cassiopeasub" is found in Catania and Ustica island. It is a diving center PADI. One organizes there daily exits during which it is possible to undertake several plunges.
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Venezuela Caribbean SeaArchipielago Los Roques is a National Park protected since ~ 1972. The biodiversity there is amaizing and the clarity of the water is equal or better compared with the most known places around the world. You have all the facilities to practice scuba diving, snorkelling and specially to make the underwater photography the most interesting challenge. A perfect place for wide-angle and macro UW photography and also for who are interested in fish photography.
I highly recommend this site for all kind of diving activities, the people is very friendly and almost everybody can speak in english. You have PADI and SSI diving centers and a lot of little hotel (2 stars) just to rest after the diving activities. Is a national Park and the facilities are not resort-like (5 stars).
If you want to check the kind of picture that you can get there, try to acquire the Book :"PECES del Archipielago Los Roques" in Spanish and written by Humberto Ramirez Nahim (UW Photographer) and Fernando Cervigon. Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional.
Best Regards & enjoy your next visit
Cristian
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Colombia PacificI don't know who would rate this magical Island absurd. There are more than six authorized sites to dive. I would say that conditions vary, but is pacific and you really need to have a good guide that knows the tides in order to obtain the best visibility. I have seen whale shark, manta ray, white tip reef sharks and a lot of turtles. This is the huge stuff. Barracuda rings are often, parrot fish, grunts, morays, angel fish, butterfly fish, groupers, rays, idols amongs a lot of jacks. To me a wounderful place!!!!!!!!!
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Philippines Canyons
22m-32m (72ft-105ft)
Travel Time: 6min
Ability Level
Flood Tide - Adventurous (Advance Divers + )
Ebb Tide - Adventurous (Advance Divers + )
/ Wild (Advanced Divers with signbificant experience)
An advanced dive that requires a good dive guide to allow for the currents to sweep you into position. Racing over several small drop-offs below the Hole in the Wall covered in soft corals and sponges, you can duck into and one of the Canyons for a respite from the current. There is much to find on the bottom but primarily it is the large schools of snapper, emperors, sweetlips, barracudas, jacks, trevally and occasional sharks that make this an exciting dive. The dive ends at a 1½m/5' anchor embedded in the coral, where the group can gather before being swept off to the safety stop in the current. Excellent Nitrox dive. The most popular dive site in Puerto Galera - you'll want to go back time after time.
ATLANTIS DIVE RESORT Sabang, Puerto Galera
Philippines
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Micronesia PacificAn amazing wall dive, with sharks passing by every other minut, and with amazing macro : leef fish, slags from many kind and colurs, very colurfull soft corals and big fans.
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Egypt Red SeaIn July august and september it is the best dive site in the world with over 30 meter vis
with 26 celcius in the water.
You can see it all macro and sharks, rays and dolphins, turtles and schools of baracuda and tuna.
more info here
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Papua New Guinea Bismarck SeaA mile off shore or less, this site had large basket sponges, small walls with shark action, and plenty of reef fish. Noticeable were the unicorn fish that were being cleaned and turned an iradescent blue when they were happy. Clown fish and anenomes of several kind. Blind shrimp with gobies as look out. Soft coral of various colors. Currnt was barely noticeable. The water temp. was 90F.
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Colombia Caribbean SeaEl Bajo Bushnell, localizado a 45 minutos en la lancha al oeste de Isla Fuerte, es una plataforma de coral, con profundidades que van hasta los 100 pies y variados tipos de formaciones coralinas. Su estado de conservación es excelente. El agua es cristalina la mayor parte del año, a través de donde se pueden ver praderas marinas repartidas por todo el perímetro. Se bucea en un medio de extraordinaria belleza, donde se pueden apreciar 175 especies diferentes, desde corales pétreos, octoráles esponjas, algas y toda la variedad de peces del caribe, desde el Caballito de Mar hasta el Tiburón Ballena.
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Colombia Caribbean SeaGR8
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Antarctica Antarctic (Southern Ocean)Breathless takes on a new meaning with this truly once in a lifetime expedition -after my last voyage in 2003, I decide to arrange for a special photographic trip, sort of an Antarctica Unplugged – the best of our last frontier in one trip. Short of chartering our own ocean going vessel, we are going to command our own inflatable on all excursions – this way we can explore at our own pace and most importantly we aim to max out photographic opportunities. Only 10 people in my group. Imagine thousands of King penguins, Rockhopper, Magellanic, Chin straps, Gentoo King, Adelie and Macaroni penguins all in one trip. Of course there will be the Elephant seals, Leopard seals, Crab eaters, Weddels and most often we will cruise along side humpback whales. Though we will not be on scuba, we be looking out for opportunities to snorkel with the seals and to do some over and under images of ice bergs.
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