Scuba Dive Advisor

San Juan : Puerto Rico // Pre-Scuba Diving

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A great start to our Puerto Rico adventure.

With so many of our trips taking 18+ hours in a plane flying to Southeast Asia, it’s hard to believe that only two hours from Miami, Florida, you find yourself in a tropical paradise with lush rain forests, and from what we’ve been told, some of the best diving in the region (more to come on the diving after our Saturday, Sunday and Monday dives). We are very excited to dive Isla Desecheo with Taino Divers. We were told by one local dive master that a bad day of diving at Desecheo is when there is visibility less than 200 feet. On Saturday we will also enjoy a late afternoon dive at Crashboat Beach to dive a few wrecks. Sunday we will be on our way to La Parguera to check out, what is supposed to be, an amazing wall dive. We look forward to posting the blog and pictures when we return from these dives, so stay tuned.

Day one was filled with familiarizing ourselves with the fun filled, energetic town of Condado located in San Juan, Puerto Rico; just minutes from the airport. It is evident immediately upon arrival that there is a special energy in the Puerto Rican air. Everywhere you turn there are people busy in the hustle and bustle of this massive island city and so far everyone has been very approachable. You can stop and ask anyone for directions or advice and so far on our trip, people have been happy to help and have given great advice.

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Night one we enjoyed dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Jam Rum Bar & Bistro. Located in the the tourist area of Condado, Jam is surrounded by all kinds of great shopping, restaurants and bars where the nightlife is filled with all sorts of excitement. If you are up for a moderately priced ($40 to $50 per person, with drinks) dinner, Jam is an excellent choice. The ambiance of the restaurant is chic and modern with a young crowd and a great menu. Jam has a delightful wait staff and a menu that offers many healthy choices of fish, beef, veal, chicken and many of the local root vegetables on the side. With flavors of the islands in every dish, you can’t go wrong with any of the choices. They also offer a great cocktail menu with, you guessed it, tons of great rum inspired drinks and a good selection of wines to enjoy with your meal. Check out Jam if you have the chance, you won’t be disappointed.

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Day two we discovered Pinky’s, a busy local lunch spot. If you are in the mood for a great breakfast or lunch then Pinky’s is a fantastic choice. We all went to enjoy a quick lunch and were delighted with delicious sandwiches and wraps with a definite island inspired taste. It was obvious that many of the locals felt the same way as the place was packed with people dressed in business clothes taking time out on their lunch break. Pinky’s has a great breakfast menu where you can everything from traditional bacon, eggs and toast to delicious breakfast wraps and sandwiches. You can build your own sandwich or wrap picking your own ingredients or choose from one of their delicious menu choices, either way you are sure to enjoy the casual atmosphere and great food.

Stay tuned for more from Puerto Rico.

PADI Tec Xplor Day // 1 Day of Practical Education

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There are many long weekends in the year we long for:

  • National Holidays (ie. President’s Day / Victoria Day)
  • Thanksgiving
  • PADI Tec Xplor Day (PADI HQ)! – try all the cool stuff you are dying to add to your dive bag!

Little was known about the PADI Tec Xplor Day held on the Monday following the Scuba Show, and if it wasn’t for the information we received from the fine reps at Ocean Reef, we would never have heard about it. (A full-page ad appears in the Scuba Show’s program. At the time of entering into the scuba expo, it makes more sense to read the program later. This is a major reason this event is an oversight).

Upon returning home from the Scuba Show on Sunday evening, we searched the PADI website for information about this event. Sure enough, we see a reference to the PADI Tec Xplor Day for the following day. However, we noticed it was closed off for further registration and it left us a little puzzled because we really wanted to go. We were not sure what to do, so we emailed PADI that evening and followed that up with a phone call to PADI HQ the next morning. “Come on down!”

With their enthusiastic invitation, we gathered our swimsuits and towels and made the 45 minute trip South to Rancho Santa Margharita, where the mothership of scuba diving is located. Just like your first time to an amusement park, we arrived at the PADI HQ feeling anxious about what we were about to experience. Initially, before we even entered the facility, we felt like we were arriving at a multi-level marketing meeting to be sold some detergent, vitamins or some other stuff. But we walked through the back entrance to see a large, half Olympic-sized swimming pool flanked on all sides by reps of rebreathers, drysuits, full face masks, wing BCDs, tech lights and other diving equipment. It was the holy land of scuba diving!

Friendly from the get-go, the PADI rep provided us with a quick and informal tour of what was available to us. She showed us where we needed to register for a ton of prizes, plan our “trip around the pool” and eat lunch. Eat lunch? That’s right! “Go get lunch first” was her advice! Oh yeah! Some of the best tacos this side of the US-Mexican border! PADI did it right and fed us well.

Once we filled our bellies with a few tacos, we decided it was time to start making a list of things we wanted to sign up for. (Very important: get there early in the day to sign up for a session on a re-breather apparatus). Dan and Tim had a different agenda as they elected to get right into it and went straight for the DUI dry suits. This is the next step in our dive adventure around the planet and what better place to try these out than in the PADI pool. Comfortable, easy, dry; just a few of the adjectives to describe the drysuit. By the time we finished our session in the pool, we were convinced that drysuits need to be added to our inventory of equipment.

Of course, our trip would not have been right without trying out the products from the great people at Ocean Reef. We got into the pool to try out the full face masks and after a few quick tests, we realize how easy these masks were to use. They were nearly impossible to flood, do not fog, and have incredible peripheral vision. After our final briefing, they added the communication device into the mask so Dan and Tim could try these out. The conversations went something like this…

Tim: “Hey Dan, can you hear me?”

Dan: “Yeah. These are pretty cool.”

Tim: “I know. I think we have to get some. Dan?”

Dan: “What?”

Tim: “I think I need to pee.”

Dan: “You can’t pee in the ‘Holy pool!’ That would be so wrong.”

Tim: “Hahaha”

We felt like this was an exclusive and personalized exhibition as there were never more than 150 guests at any one time. Not only were the respective equipment reps on hand to promote their equipment, but PADI also had a lot of staff on hand to answer questions.

You can imagine how much fun we had. Our day was a fantastic opportunity to satisfy our personal interests. We listened to the reps promote their tech equipment and why we should consider their equipment. For the reps from Ocean Reef and DUI, thank you for the opportunity to try out your gear. We were pleased with the performance of your products and hope to add these respective face masks and drysuits to our inventory of underwater exploration equipment in the near future.

The PADI Tec Xplor day is no longer exclusive. We’re formally announcing it to everyone so you too, can have a chance to make an informed purchase, try out the equipment you want, and experience a great day hosted by PADI. Thanks, PADI!

Happy Diving!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Scuba Show // Long Beach, CA

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A full weekend of scuba submersion, and we didn’t even get wet!

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A couple of weekends ago, we had the pleasure of exploring the Long Beach Scuba Show. This show has become one of the largest consumer expos in the world devoted to the scuba diving community. There are amazing opportunities to compare resorts, dive shops, equipment, liveaboards and destinations, all under one roof. Even photographers and scuba-centric charitable organizations are present to represent the industry.

Walking through the turnstile at the Long Beach Convention Center reveals the massive nature of the show. The sight is slightly overwhelming because of the sheer number of scuba vendors in attendance. As we looked around, we quickly realized that in order to see everything, we needed to craft a plan of action to get the most out of the show since it is only open for two 8-hour days.

At the scuba expo, there is a full spectrum of the scuba business community walking about:

  • Consumer – The primary audience, hunting for the next travel or product bargain. Of the 10,000 people in attendance, most people are represented in this category.
  • Buyer (dive shop) – Looking for the next product line they would like to carry or next years plan for a shop hosted dive trip.
  • Distributor (products and services) – Local and regional dive shops are represented. The show creates a great opportunity for distributors to find and connect with their current and future buyers.
  • Scuba Dive Advisor Team – Representing the reader. We are curious. We want to know what products and resorts look like. We want to find great places to visit and discover all the different types of vacation itineraries that are available. Also, what our next gear purchase will be.

The scuba show also offers educational seminars throughout the day. While these carry an added cost, they range from photography and videography tips to underwater conservation. They are a perfect way to balance your experience at this expo and provide you with added confidence on your next dive trip.

The Scuba Show is not only about gear and trip though, it is more about sowing new seeds of possibility with future customers and businesses. We discovered there are so many places for you to travel to! And there are so many great ways to experience them; liveaboard, resort & independent. Gadgets? There are lots of those, too. There are also great opportunities to build onto your scuba education through conversations with many experienced vendors and divers alike. The scuba show has something for everyone, you just need to get there to be amazed by the experience.

From L to R : Dan, Esther, Jim, Lana & Tim

One thing we realized during the Scuba Show is that it’s not only about researching new products and destinations. This gathering is also an opportunity to reconnect and cultivate old relationships with customers and businesses you have experience with from the past and plan to work with into the future. As divers continue to travel to dive destinations everyone will, at some point, update their gear, plan their next trip or plan their next level of certification. By attending the scuba show, you have the opportunity to build relationships with the many sales representatives, hotel and dive operators and trip coordinators allowing you a chance to gather trusted contacts for anything you need related to scuba or travel. This presents a reunion of sorts and any pressures to examine products or services is lifted. As you run into old friends who own or work at resorts you have stayed at and laugh about the fun times you had together, and ultimately make a plan to visit them again. It’s easy to see why scuba is so addictive, not only do you get to travel to some of the most beautiful places on the planet, you get to meet great people along the way.

As a matter of fact, do you remember our blog about buying a dive computer? We stopped by the Hollis booth and simply thanked their team for our DG-03 purchase. That product worked for us and if we found The Dive Shop at the show, we would have thanked them, too.

The Scuba Show in Long Beach is definitely a great expo to plan a visit to Los Angeles around. While you send the kids to Disneyland, get over to the annual dive expo. We hope to see you next year!

Happy Travels!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

We {dive} Heart Scuba!

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If there is one thing that takes the sport of scuba diving from a great sport to an exciting and engaging life experience, it’s the people. The scuba diving community is filled with many interesting people who have a genuine passion for the sport and a desire to share their experiences with others. One of the Scuba Dive Advisor team missions is to shine a light on these amazing people and assist scuba inspired ventures attract more people to our great sport by providing a venue where deserving businesses and people can get the exposure they are entitled to. Because, after all, what makes this sport amazing? Possibility thinkers and people who are willing to take the road less traveled! These are the people who have blazed the trail over the decades since recreational scuba was made possible by the adventurous Émile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau when they started Aqua Lung and all of the countless others who have made it possible for everyone to experience things many of us never dreamed of.

There are always individuals who stand out as pioneers, but none has moved our team the way that Jim Elliott and the Diveheart team has. Jim’s passion and story made all four of us stop and take stock of what’s truly important in our own lives. In the face of adversity, promise is always nearby and Jim opened our hearts to remind us of this important fact. You see, Diveheart focuses on “making possibilities for disabilities” by building “confidence and independence in children, adults, and veterans with disabilities using SCUBA diving as a tool.”

Here is Jim’s story…

When Jim’s eldest daughter was born with impaired vision that made her legally blind, Jim was faced with the challenge to keep her motivated and encouraged to excel throughout her life and have the courage to try new things. This is when Jim taught his daughter how to snow ski. What happened next was incredible! After a weekend on the slopes, Jim’s daughter returned to school with a brand new confidence and more importantly, hope! Telling her friends that she went skiing over the weekend, they did not fully believe it until she showed them pictures. Jim and his wife, almost immediately, began to see a transformation within their daughter as she began to succeed in school and extra-curricular activities.

After witnessing the effect skiing had on his daughter, Jim got excited and began to consider how he could do something similar to help children, adults and veterans, with both physical and cognitive disabilities, to find the most important thing in the world. HOPE!

Throughout his life, Jim was a recreational scuba diver who would get out and dive whenever he could. As he began to think about the things he could do to help others, he looked to his own passion for scuba diving.

It was at this point in 1996 that Jim made the difficult decision to walk away from a successful career in advertising to “become a volunteer.” Jim became immersed in his new life and for the next five years used using scuba diving as a conduit to help people with disabilities and to achieve his ultimate goal of establishing Diveheart.

Diveheart was founded in 2001 by Jim Elliott. He took the giant leap to give people the gift of hope, and what he and his team have been able to do in just over ten years is nothing short of amazing. Diveheart has trained people around the world with the skills necessary to become dive buddies to many people with disabilities that would have otherwise never allowed them to scuba dive. To make things even more rewarding, and discovered in large part because of Jim’s commitment, scuba diving is proving to be therapeutic to people who are paraplegic and quadriplegic. Since it has been discovered that scuba therapy is effective in helping reduce pain and in many cases increase mobility, much research has been devoted to the subject.

People with disabilities, who are victimized by the natural effects of gravity on land, experience something different once they are submersed under water. The properties of water are magical to a scuba diver and it is best evidenced and understood with individuals who are paraplegic or quadriplegic. “Thanks to the wonder of the water column, the oceans and lakes of the world become the forgiving weightless environment of outer space, giving perfect buoyancy to a child or adult who would otherwise struggle on land.”

After being introduced to diving, many of Jim’s students began to report that their constant pain would disappear for weeks at a time after a dive session. Miraculously, other students who were told they would never walk again, are now on the verge of throwing away their walking cane to walk on their own. Better yet, one of Jim’s diving participants is hoping to run a 5K race in the next couple of years. With the hope and love that Diveheart is able to give to people, we have no doubt that these dreams will become reality.

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This past weekend we met Jim and THIS GUY IS IT! He is just like you and me; he has a story. His ability to build a relationship one person at a time builds hope. It is difficult to leave a conversation with anyone on the Diveheart team without a smile on your face or a tear in your eye. Jim is passionate about his cause, sincere in his approach and inspiring to us. Thank you Jim and Diveheart!

From L to R : Dan, Esther, Jim, Lana & Tim

So what can you do?

The most obvious way you can help Diveheart is through donations. Second, when you change your gear, donate your scuba equipment. Your old gear can help Jim’s team to teach people how to dive. However, the most valuable investment you can make into the success of this heartwarming organization is your time. Become a dive buddy! Attend one of Jim’s training sessions and you will certainly become part of something amazing. Learning to assist divers with disabilities takes certified scuba divers three evenings of training. Once you are trained, you will have the opportunity to participate in the dive trips that Diveheart organizes each year.

Thank you Jim and thank you to everyone at Diveheart for giving us inspiration and hope. We admire everything you stand for and look forward to our first dive buddy training with you in January.

Until then keep on diving and inspiring!

Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Guest Blog Post // Poor Knights Islands : New Zealand

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I laid in darkness floating just below the surface of the water, as the cool water of the sub-tropical Pacific Ocean compressed my dry suit around my body. I did what I could to slow my heart rate and control my breathing, but it was no use. The excitement of my location and the chill of the water impeded my success.

Only days before, I was over 5,000 miles away going about my daily rituals. A last-minute issue prevented the planned guide from running this trip; and even though it meant being away from my family for Thanksgiving, I was quick to take on the task. Now here I sat at a location Jacque Cousteau rated as one of the best dives in the world. My day dreaming was interrupted by the splash of another diver entering the water. With a light inhale, the cold air from my scuba tank inflated my lungs and brought me back to the surface. As I opened my eyes I was greeted not by the bright sun, but instead a rock ceiling over 100’ above me. Laying on the surface of the ocean inside of the largest sea caves in the world, I could not help but feel as though I had finally found the perfect location to spend the rest of my life.

Riko Riko Cave, the largest sea cave in the world, is tucked away in the secluded Poor Knights Islands just off the Northeast coast of the North Island, near the small town of Tutukaka! Our group had arrived in New Zealand just after sunrise the morning before and much of our day was spent traveling to the town of Tutukaka. Even before we entered the water for our first dive in the Poor Knights Islands I knew the next two weeks would be an amazing experience I would never forget. We would be spending the next week exploring the Poor Knights with one of the best dive operations I have ever had the pleasure of diving with, Dive! Tutukaka. The shop manager knew of my passion for caves and was clearly making an effort to start our trip off on the right track.

Our trip to the Poor Knights Islands took only about 45 minutes on board the Calypso (a 55’ custom dive boat). The Calypso is just one of the operations five vessels and features two onboard heads, a kitchen, hot showers and everything a recreational diver could ever desire. As we approached Riko Riko Cave the boat slowed and slipped directly into the mouth of the massive cave. The cave could have easily engulfed another vessel or two, with a surface volume of over 7.8 million cubic feet, it is nearly twice as large as the next largest sea cave in the world.

As a dive site, Riko Riko Cave provides an amazing opportunity for divers. Divers can experience multiple marine environments all during a single dive, because of the nature of the cave. At the back of the cave divers encounter a stark and moon-like environment of boulders and rocky bottoms that light never reaches. Here you will encounter marine life that you would normally only find in the dark depths hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface. By the time you reach the entrance area of the cave, divers will find themselves in a massive kelp forest rich with life. As you travel through the cave you can witness a changing of aquatic life you would normal only be able to experience on TV or by venturing hundreds of feet down an ocean wall.

During my 75 minute dive at this amazing location I encountered countless species of nudibranch, eels, eagle rays, countless types of stunning fish, an amazing assortment of sea urchins and even a carpet shark. At the back of the cave the long forgotten bones of a whale who selected the cave as his final resting place can be seen. All of this in less than 60’ of water and over 100’ of visibility.

As I broke the surface of the water at the end of my dive I could not help but think there was no way to top this dive, but I would quickly be proven wrong. After getting back on the boat we enjoyed an onboard lunch the shop had packed for us of sandwiches, hot soups, fruit and hot drinks. With our stomachs full, the engines started back up and motored only a few tenths of a mile from the entrance to the cave to a dive site called Trevor’s Rocks. Even though we had traveled only a short distance outside of the cave when we entered the water, we encountered a kelp forest so dense that it made the forest outside of the Riko Riko Cave look like a barren waste land devoid of life. Sponges, anemones, nudibranchs, cucumbers, sea stars, and eels covered the rocky floor of the area. To top of the experience, hidden throughout the kelp jungle were countless eagle rays.

While the underwater world is absolutely stunning, the surface provides for many amazing opportunities as well. The beauty of islands were so tempting I even elected to skip a dive to take advantage of the kayaks onboard, so I could get a closer look at the amazing life found on the shores of the Poor Knights Islands. Even though I was not able to get on the shore of these amazing islands, the kayaks allowed you to get close enough to enjoy the coast. If that wasn’t enough to make the surface experience exciting, the Poor Knights islands are covered with sea arches large enough to drive boats through.

During our five days of diving the Poor Knights, not only did I get a chance to visit the largest sea cave in the world, pass through two large sea arches, but we also got a chance to visit a number of amazing dive sites including the world-famous Northern Arch featured in the BBC documentary “Planet Earth”. With the bottom of the arch sitting at around 160’, those qualified can proceed to the base of the arch and enjoy an amazing view of hundreds of rays stacked during the migration season.

The stories I could tell you about what you will encounter in the Poor Knights Islands, and for that matter New Zealand as a whole, are simply endless. No amount of reading stories or seeing pictures will ever prepare you for just how amazing this location is. Where ever your dive adventures have taken you in the past, the Poor Knights Islands and Dive! Tutukaka will surely be at the top of your experience list just as it was for me.

Avery Z. Chipka : @azchipka

 

Sipadan Island : Drop Off & Cavern aka Turtle Tomb

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Located just a few meters off the security jetty, this is the closest of all the dive sites to where the boats are docked during your surface intervals. We were all tempted to gear up on shore and start our dive from the beach or the jetty however, it seems that all dives at Sipadan are done from the boat. We geared up, took the 60-second boat ride out to the entry point and did a back roll into the ocean.

As you make your descent at the Drop Off, you quickly get a feeling for the great depths of the waters surrounding Sipadan Island, which range between 500 and 800 meters (1,640 to 2,624 feet). The dive begins over the shallow shelf that surrounds the island in 3 to 5 meters (perfect for your safety stop). You will see loads of beautiful anthias, chromis, surgeonfish, trigger fish, white tip sharks, eels and all sorts of other fish swimming through massive formations of staghorn, acropora, carnation corals and many other soft corals as you prepare to make your descent. The scenery on top of the reef is often so good at Sipadan that you don’t want to leave it to drop down on the wall.

Once you make your descent the beauty continues, as you drop down the beautiful soft and hard corals continue to amaze with their brilliant colors. As you hit the 20-meter mark and look down all you see is deep blue. Keep your eyes focused on the blue and you will “almost with guarantee” see white tip sharks passing by along with some grey reef sharks. Also seen frequently in the blue are schools of jackfish and barracuda, if you are lucky you may even have the treat of hammerhead sharks. Look up and you can see the wonder of the overhangs with hundreds of fish, turtles and sharks swimming above through the rays of the sun. Make a stop at the entrance of Turtle Cavern and take in the sights before continuing this great wall dive. Upon completion of your planned dive, it’s back up to the colorful and lively reef for your safety stop.

Once you complete your surface interval and decide to check out Turtle Cavern, you start the dive out just as you did for the Drop Off. As you continue your descent, around the 18 to 20 meter mark, you will see the entrance to Turtle Cavern sometimes referred to as “Turtle Tomb.” This massive cave gets both of it’s names because turtles can frequently be seen inside, unfortunately, as evidenced by their skeletal remains, many turtles, a dolphin and a marlin swam into the deepest parts of the cave and did not make it out. There are many off shoots in this cave system but two main caverns are the ones to explore.

Taking a local Dive Master trained in cave diving with the proper equipment is a MUST if you plan to explore the entire cave. As you enter the cave, you will see signs warning you not to enter if you aren’t fully prepared. As for us, we chose to enter about 5 meters to take a look around before continuing our dive at The Drop Off. The entrance is a magnificent cathedral-like cave with coral growth on the ceiling and walls, the bottom of the cave is white silty sand so good buoyancy is must or you can quickly destroy the visibility. Swimming out of the cave really gives you the perspective of how big it is.

As you swim toward the sunlight, you can see the massive opening with beautiful rays of sunshine penetrating down to the depths and shadows of fish and sharks swimming in the blue. Once you reach the mouth of the cave, you look down as you pass over a large crevice with sand from the cave flowing down like a river, this is a great place to pause and take it all in with an amazing 360 view of overhangs above, canyon-like crevice below and the huge cave behind you. After you have had a moment to take everything in, you can continue the dive at The Drop Off before making your safety stop.

Happy Diving!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Sipadan Island : West Ridge

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West Ridge is one Sipadan dive site that is seldom considered because most people have only one or two days to dive Sipadan and the main draw for the island is to see large schooling pelagics at the other dive sites. Another reason that West Ridge is frequently overlooked is that, because of its location the sun does not normally hit directly over the site until late in the day when many of the dive boats are already gone. When the sun does shine on West Ridge it usually casts shadows from the ledges of the top reef that carve in and out of the wall to sharp drops below. The shadows at West Ridge can make it a difficult dive site for the amateur photographer and many times this makes some of the other Sipadan dives more desirable to divers and dive masters alike. However, if you have an appreciation for coral, this dive site will certainly not disappoint. Because this site is seldom considered on the divemaster’s itinerary, the coral is in pristine condition and attracts an impressive number of turtles, sharks and larger fishes.
The topography at West Ridge is like most of the others on Sipadan, a shallow top reef with beautiful coral growth and schools upon schools of small reef fish with a wall that plunges far past recreational dive limits. Once you have a moment to enjoy the top reef, make your way over to the wall and descend between 20 to 30 meters. You are in for a treat. Like its’ neighbor, Hanging Gardens, the wall at West Ridge is covered in purple, yellow, red and pink carnation corals. There are also many large gorgonians and sea fans with many other dark green and black branching corals that we did not see at any of the other dive sites. Etched into the wall are some crevices that are 10 to 15 meters wide and run from the top of the reef to depths of up to 30 and 40 meters. It is absolutely breathtaking to swim your way into a crevice and take a look up to the surface with all of the coral and fish silhouettes above you.

On our dive at West Ridge, we saw at least 10 turtles, small schools of big tuna out in the blue, large moray eels and a number of sharks. If you are into larger fish, beautiful topography and loads of colorful soft and branching coral, you should definitely consider West Ridge as one of your stops during your visit to Sipadan Island.

Where will you dive next?
Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Sipadan Island : Hanging Gardens

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Simply beautiful! This dive site is aptly named after Alexander the Great’s wonder of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Hanging Gardens dive site will not disappoint. With the steep walls and giant canyon like crevices any diver will be inspired to explore every nook and cranny of this dive site.

The topography at Hanging Gardens starts with a shallow top reef between two and five meters deep. At the edge of the top reef, Hanging Gardens has a steep drop off well past the recreational 40 meter limit. For the average open water diver, Hanging Gardens can be a great sight to dive, however with the steep wall, you should be confident in your buoyancy skills. If you do not have much experience with wall dives, some of the other sites on the island may be a better place to start. Then move on to some of the steeper wall dives in the afternoon.

Like many of the other sites Sipadan Island offers, Hanging Gardens’ top reef is so amazing and full of life that it’s hard to abandon to make your way to the wall. There are huge schools of anthias, chromis, wrasses, surgeon fish, trigger fish and many others. The amount of activity on the top reefs of Sipadan is incredible and we have rarely seen reefs that can even compare with their biodiversity. The rainbow of colors in the corals on the top reef are stunning with hard corals, soft corals, plate corals, and all sorts of polyp corals to view as the fish dart in and out of them. Spend a few minutes on the top and make your way to the wall so you can enjoy Sipadan Diving at its finest.

As you descend along the wall, the appeal of Hanging Gardens can truly be appreciated. The vibrant colors certainly appeal to the large reef fishes as they congregate in masses. On the wall at Hanging Gardens you are likely to see turtles, colorful grouper, triggers and possibly a few sharks. But for coral enthusiasts, the presence of multicolored carnation corals completes a “coral palate” for this incredible marine park.

Throughout our dive at Hanging Gardens we were nearly oblivious to the marine life teeming around us because we were so enchanted by the purple, pink and orange soft corals draping this wall. Floating along, a turtle greeted us in its’ swim to the surface. A quick breath of air, and he descended back to his perch on the wall. This reminded us to take in more than just the corals. Visibility is normally excellent at Hanging Gardens and many times tuna can be seen in the depths plunging deep into the darkness.

As you make your way back up to the top reef, it’s hard to miss the incredible macro life that finds shelter in the corals. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern between the coral and stonefish waiting for an ambush; so watch your buoyancy and keep your hands close to your body at all times. As you ascend into the safety stop range, you will once again have the pleasure of observing the abundance of fish and coral life while you off-gas and reluctantly prepare for your final ascent.

Happy Diving!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Sipidan Island : Lobster Lair

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The wall on the west side of Sipadan Island generally has more soft corals and Lobster Lair is without exception here. Lobster Lair is a wall dive with a pretty sharp drop to the unseen depths surrounding Sipadan Island and it is a continuance of its’ more popular cousin to the North, Hanging Gardens. While similar, it gained its name many years ago from a divemaster who dropped in the water and saw many lobsters in a lair underneath some hard corals. It is said you are lucky if you can find a lobster now. Our divemaster, Eljer, was so confident that all the lobsters were gone that he promised to buy a beer for anyone in our group who would spot a lobster. In fact, the divemasters have renamed it “Lobster Liar” because of the absence of our crustaceous critters!

We start our dive near the top coral and white tip sharks find a perfect spot to lounge about. Various fish species cram together under table corals, such as the featured bat fish and puffer fish, and more activity always appears around us in an organized frenzy. But more is yet to be seen as we descend into our dive.

This is a pretty dive and is generally done as a last dive, or under cloud cover at any time of the day. The dive site is exquisite but the hard corals and rock contours around this part of the island cast many shadows over fantastic sea life below. This is a relatively easy dive for most divers, but presented challenges for our own amateur photographer, Tim. You will definitely benefit by investing in strobes, as Esther did. They certainly illuminate many of these macro-caves and get rid of annoying shadows.

Lobster Lair is somewhat less popular than other dive sites at Sipadan because it focuses on the smaller critters found in the many crevices around this dive site. It may not be a thrill ride like South Point or Barracuda Point, but we think it is filled with equal (and sometimes more) surprises because we are focused on macro. And then, out of nowhere, we come face to face with a swimming turtle here, a resting shark there and we even locate the elusive lobsters at Lobster Lair… One beer for our own eagle eye, Lana!

We spotted the normally camera-shy gobies around Christmas tree coral and we discovered many more species of scorpion fish in various hideouts as they seek shelter from the currents around Sipadan. Turtles are EVERYWHERE at Sipadan, but they appeared out of the most unusual crevices, finding any place to rest along the wall.

As we near the end of our multi-level dive, our safety stop is filled with the colorful beauty of blue chromis and multi-colored anthias. We are greeted with a final surprise as the wall of barracuda seem to quickly announce their presence and then move on to the next dive site.

Lobster Lair is filled with surprises at every turn and if you are less-experienced but still want the Sipadan experience, we suggest this dive for you.

Happy diving!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Sipadan Island : Staghorn Crest

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With the sun beaming directly over your head, or slightly to the West of you, Staghorn Crest is usually a dive reserved for the afternoon. As we made our entry at this site, we observed it is much like the rest of the island. The top reef is simply beautiful and teeming with life. So beautiful, it’s hard to leave as you make your descent. The topography at Staghorn Crest is a bit different from most of the island as there is a slope that offers views of many beautiful soft corals. On the slope we noticed many white tip reef sharks resting before their next hunt. Hovering out over the depths we observed even more resting white tips at depths far out of reach for recreational dive limits where you can quickly find yourself at 30+ meters.

As we dropped down to our cruising depth of 23 meters, an eagle ray gracefully passed by about 10 meters below us and wowed us with its beauty as it effortlessly swam against the current to greet other groups of lucky divers. Swinging our heads directly above us, 3 giant barracuda were methodically circling hoping to grab an easy meal. We kept on floating along the wall and were delighted with the scene of multiple turtles swimming above and below us looking for a great perch on the reef.

Along this wall, we begin to progressively see more soft corals. The West side of the wall at Sipadan reminds us of our trip to Taveuni, Fiji 3 years ago where we spent a week in the Somosomo Strait diving amidst colorful soft corals on the Rainbow Reef. Carnation corals in varying colors create a colorful painters palate backdrop for an army of blue fusiliers screaming past us into the depths, while a docile maori wrasse remains unfazed by this frenzy of activity.

Continuing our dive up to 15 meters, we close in on a cleaning station and see a few grey reef sharks gently floating in the current with small reef fish picking off their parasites. Sharks aren’t the only big creatures you can find at the cleaning station, at times Tim has referred to the cleaning station at Staghorn Crest as a turtle timeshare with one turtle leaving and another coming in to take its place.

One could seriously contest that the top reef at the end of the dive at Staghorn Crest boasts the most beautiful scenery on the island. It is truly explosive with color as you look as far as you can see over massive Staghorn Coral with thousands of tiny reef fish darting in and out of it. Swimming along the top of the reef there are many turtles to see with other large reef fish and on one dive, a rare treat of a leopard shark with its massive tail pushing it through the water. As gracefully as the leopard shark appeared, it swam away silently disappeared into the depths.

Like other dive sites at Sipadan, Staghorn Crest has the potential to develop a sudden current along the wall. Prudent diving should always be exercised as you stay close to your buddy and be aware of the divemasters signals to possibly switch directions. Staghorn Crest is definitely a site to put on the short list of dives at Sipadan.

Keep on equalizing!
Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim