Scuba Dive Operators – Scuba Dive Advisor

Diving Into 2000 Years of History

Back in June, we jetted off to Europe for a quick vacation. As we sat at the airport in Brussels, Belgium, with standby tickets set up to go to Lisbon, Portugal, we looked at the dreary weather that was blanketing much of that country and with a swift decision, we changed our plans to a destination offering significantly more sun; Tel Aviv, Israel. Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, armed only with a Lonely Planet guide-book purchased the day before, we made a decision to rent a car. We embarked on an improvised ten-day, self-drive tour around much of the country to explore the fantastic sites in Jerusalem, Palestinian Territories, Galilee, Dead Sea and Golan Heights.

Now, the very mention of “diving in Israel” conjures up thoughts of the Red Sea with a palate of colors decorating the coral reefs and fish teeming about. However, what if we said we chose to explore the Mediterranean dive sites? While lesser known, these dive sites are peppered with archeological possibilities and excite the diver’s imagination and Shira highly recommended them to dive at Caesarea.
A little history… The historic port city of Caesarea in Israel was established by Herod the Great between 22 – 10 BC and named after its benefactor, Augustus Caesar, who bequeathed this region to Herod following the victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Herod’s determination to make this city great, resulted not only in the creation of a great Roman city with coliseums, baths, theaters & temples but also the construction of the largest artificial harbor in the open sea. Built to Vitruvius’ specifications, the structure of the two moles (breakwalls) was a stunning achievement in using ingenious Roman methods of poured concrete; a method that would be lost for centuries. A tsunami between the 1st and 2nd century would become a factor in the eventual destruction of the harbor which was eventually unusable by the 6th century. To gain a comprehensive understanding of Caesarea, read more on this interesting history on the dive center’s website about the design of Caesarea Maritima.

Caesarea is now a National Park and it must be noted that there is a nominal park entrance fee. The site is simply gorgeous with numerous archeological sites above land as you make your way to the modern coastal esplanade. West facing, the design of the park is impeccable! A great deal of attention has been paid to tastefully blending the design of modern restaurants, cafes, shops and museums with the surrounding archeological beauty. And the beaches? Spectacular and only made better without a cloud in the sky! Wow. We haven’t entered the water yet and this place is already incredible.

We made our way to the Old Caesarea Diving Centre at the end of the pier. With a little advance research, we discover it is the only dive operator located within the National Park and upon arrival, our first impression of the dive center was that of chaos and confusion. There were so many people everywhere! In fact, there were so many people in the dive shop that it was difficult to differentiate between divers and employees. We just needed to figure out the process for renting gear and getting started. Once the crowds seemed to dissipate, we found some counter real estate to talk to the coordinator and set up our time with a dive guide. The dive guide is necessary to explain the underwater archeological sites and review the dangers of the area. Getting outfitted with our gear seemed relatively easy as the rental coordinators were able to guess our sizes with a quick glance. Some of the equipment seemed a little old, but it was functional and would be good enough for the single dive.

Note: The dive center is very strict about only accepting certified divers. Without exception, your dive card, proof of dive insurance (i.e. DAN) and log book, with recent dives or a minimum number of dives, must be presented. All three are necessary to dive this unique historical site. We did not have our log book but the coordinators fortunately accepted the 30 recent dives as shown on our dive computers.

Before we dropped in the water, we were encouraged to discover the Mediterranean water temperature hugging the Israel coastline is much more temperate than previous experiences in the shared body of water around Italy’s southern island of Lampedusa. With temperatures hovering around 24˚C, Lana only required two wetsuits to keep her comfortable for her dive! Our dive master is a delightful Russian Israeli who really knows the area and explained the sites as shown on his map. He described the amount of swimming that would be involved above and below the surface as the archeological site is quite large and the underwater remains of the harbor are no different.

The dive had some interesting logistics. A dicey entry with moss-covered concrete steps into a one meter deep rocky bottom demanded each divers complete attention. Plan for a long swim to the site (10 minutes) and shallow depths can present buoyancy issues for novice divers (5 – 10m). The dive is pretty much at safety stop depth the entire dive and because of the shallow depth and concrete pylons in the water, it created a surge which can play havoc with persons who may experience underwater motion sickness. Halfway through the dive, Lana was feeling nausea because of a combination of the surge, her mask was too tight, and probably because she had two wetsuits on. It was a 70 minute dive of solid swimming and this left Lana knackered.

The dive visibility was pretty decent for the Mediterranean at about 15 meters despite a sandy bottom. Groups seem to be small at about 6-8 persons which is great and we were fortunate to be in a group with experienced divers from Israel and Italy. A safety buoy is necessary because there is a risk for fisherman lines off the pier and boat traffic nearby.

The true highlight of the dive is the opportunity to see the ancient harbor below, a collection of ancient (stone) and modern (iron) anchors below and the location of where the lighthouse would have stood. While the archeological dive site stole the show, marine life was still present. There was even a cool species of nudibranch which excited Tim. The dive guide was great at referencing the sites on the map under water, and with great coverage and discipline in 70 minutes, one dive proved to be sufficient as the group collectively decided a 2nd dive would not be necessary. Multiple dives are fine for those who want to explore more.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon like true divers; loitering around the Old Caesarea Dive Shop sharing stories, planting themselves at one of the cafes and then escaping the heat of the day by taking advantage of the museums and movie presentations which were exceptionally done. We followed up our below water adventure with an above ground exploration of the area as we explored the Roman and Byzantine ruins. Simply fantastic!

Caesarea may have 2000+ years of history but it certainly is well-established in the 21st century for modern-day conveniences. Many other sites may top your list for Israel, but Caesarea should definitely be considered. It will appeal to both diving enthusiasts and land explorers alike.

Sea Shepherd Visits Los Angeles Dive Center

Leave a Comment / Philanthropies, Scuba Dive Operators / By Scuba Dive Advisor

What better way to spend a Tuesday night than with a great group of fellow divers at a local dive shop. Thanks to Eco Dive Center, we had the unique opportunity to spend time with the Sea Shepherd Organization and learn what their conservation efforts are really about. (To those of you in the Los Angeles area, Eco Dive Center holds a monthly diver get-together the first Tuesday of every month!)

We were very excited to learn more about Sea Shepherd and their adventures while filming of Whale Wars. To say that we learned a lot during their visit would be an understatement. They are a group of dedicated individuals who sacrifice having a “normal” life; leaving their families and friends behind, so they can help save helpless animals

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIgPe9joWbU]

As we settled in and began to listen to the seminar, we learned that the Sea Shepherd Organization has actually been operating since 1977, long before the inception of Whale Wars. We were further impressed by the fact that they have wildlife protection efforts not only in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary but also in, Taiji, Japan (where the documentary The Cove was based on), Fiji, Cocos Islands and many other locations around the world.

We learned that over 70% of the world’s population of sharks have already been killed, leaving many species of sharks nearly on the endangered list. This absolutely shocked us. As we continued to listen, we became more and more grateful for the dedication of organizations like Sea Shepherd. Not only does Sea Shepherd defend whales, but they are also involved in the conservation of sharks, seals, dolphins, and blue fin tuna.

Leaving the Sea Shepherd presentation we were overcome with sadness. However, as we thought about the message that the Sea Shepherd team delivered, our sadness turned to hope. With the efforts of organizations like Sea Shepherd, people around the world will be educated and inspired to take action to help save our oceans. The future generations deserve to enjoy seeing a whale, or a shark when they are out enjoying our beautiful world.

We have hope that through the combined efforts of Sea Shepherd and the other organizations in the world along with the voice of the scuba diving community, we will be able to make a difference and be the voice for the animals that are senselessly killed every day.

Thank you Sea Shepherd for leading the charge to bring awareness to the challenges that our ocean is facing and standing up to the world to defend it!

What are your favorite conservation groups? Let us know by commenting below.

Happy Diving!

Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Scuba Diving @ Island of Enchantment // Day 2

1 Comment / Scuba Dive Operators, Scuba Dive Sites / By Scuba Dive Advisor

Our second day of diving was what many consider to be the best in Puerto Rico and left us wishing we had a few more days to dive here. For day two we took off from a beach called Playa Santa in the city of Guanica, Puerto Rico with Island Scuba. Owned and operated by Dive Masters Pedro and Nayda Padilla, Island Scuba is a professional and well run dive operation with quality equipment to rent and a spacious dive boat that can handle up to 30 divers. A huge plus to diving with Island Scuba is that they are only a 10 to 20 minute boat ride to some of the best diving that Puerto Rico has to offer. If the short boat ride isn’t enough to entice you, the beautiful wall diving should be enough to put even the most traveled divers over the top.

We had two dives with Island Scuba along Puerto Rico’s famous wall and we quickly saw why it is one of the most dived spots on the island. The first site we dove was called Two For You. This site has amazing topography. When you make your initial descent and see the bottom there is an undulating landscape with sandy bottom and large bommies covered with fish and coral scattered all around. Swim just a 30 or 40 feet and you fly out over the ledge looking down a beautiful deep wall down into The Continental Shelf. As you level out between 70 and 90 feet there are huge crevices in the wall running from the top and down as deep as you can see. There are large rock formations that have flat sandy cut outs that you can explore, and all along the wall, there are crevices to explore, so bring your torch to get a good look into the crevices and overhangs. Although the topography is the main attraction at this site, there is abundant coral growth with all sorts of trigger and surgeon fish, regular white and black tip shark sightings and many other beautiful reef fish. The coral is healthy and we were surprised to see scholemia (donut coral) and many plate corals along the wall along with sea fans, whips, xenia and many other colorful corals.

Our second dive with Island Scuba was a site our Dive Master Pedro called the No Name Reef. This was a great shallow dive to finish the day and we would highly recommend that you bring Nitrox for this one so you can extend your bottom time. Our dive was 50 minutes and we came up according to our computers but still had over 1000psi left in our tanks. This dive is 50 to 60 foot at its deepest points and filled with large reefs separated by white sand. You can swim along the white sandy bottom looking under the overhangs for turtles, lobster, crabs, sharks, grouper and all sorts of fish resting during the day. While you are searching the walls of the reef, there are all sorts of blennies, gobies and small fish darting in and out of their sand homes, these are always entertaining to watch as they poke their heads out looking at you as if they would take you on before darting back into their hole. Overall No Name Reef was a relaxing and beautiful dive that we would recommend if you have the chance.

Diving Puerto Rico has been a very pleasant surprise. To have such a great place to dive this close to the mainland US will definitely get us in the water much more often as we plan to come back soon. We hope that if you have been considering Puerto Rico or just wondering where your next dive trip will take you, that this blog has been helpful in making your decision.

Where will you dive next?

Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Scuba Diving @ Island of Enchantment // Day 1

Leave a Comment / Food & Drink, Lodging, Scuba Dive Operators, Scuba Dive Sites / By Scuba Dive Advisor

What a pleasant surprise it has been to dive in Puerto Rico. In planning our trip to Puerto Rico we were, of course, excited for a dive trip but, as with any destination we had our concerns about how much we would really enjoy the diving. To our delight we found the four dive sites we experienced to be filled with life and topographies that offer many exciting scenes to enjoy while you are clocking bottom time.

If you are planning your own adventure to Puerto Rico, the first thing to consider is the size of the island. We were staying with friends on the East side of the island in San Juan. It is a beautiful city filled with great restaurants and active outdoor city life. We would definitely recommend staying a night or two so you can experience the energetic city and take in some beach time during the day. There are many beach front bars and restaurants to enjoy, so you can just leave your towel on the beach and go grab a tasty lunch or cocktail. The most important thing to know is, that almost all of the Puerto Rico’s diving is located on the West side of the island, a two-hour drive from San Juan. If you are planning on diving multiple days we would recommend staying on the West side of the island to avoid spending much of your day in the car.

There are many hotels, restaurants and beautiful beaches on the west side of the island. In fact, if you are diving with Taino Divers they have cottages right next door to the dive shop just steps from the beach. Taino Divers offers trips to Desecheo, beach dives around Rincon and other local dives. You can also take trips out to Mona Island if you book in advance (we recommend calling them directly for Mona Island bookings). Conditions and currents around Mona Island can be challenging and it takes good timing to be able to dive there. We dove with Taino Divers for one day and had a good experience.

Some divers will have reservations when they learn that they will be loading and unloading everyone’s gear, but it is necessary as there is a long stretch of sand that the gear needs to be carried across before it ends up on the boat. So line up and start passing gear. Once you are done diving for the day, Taino Diver’s has a great restaurant with an extensive menu including some of the best fish tacos we have ever had. Also located in the restaurant is a fun island style bar that even Jimmy Buffett would be happy to belly up to.

Our dives with Taino Divers took us to Desecheo where we enjoyed two spots called Candyland and The Aquarium. We agreed with the locals that visibility at Desecheo is 100+ feet and to be honest we were amazed because the winds were high and the swell was four to five feet. Despite the conditions on top, we enjoyed a whole day of 100+ foot crystal clear visibility. The fish life at Desecheo is abundant, with loads of surgeon fish, trigger fish, nurse sharks, eels, wrasses, turtles and a healthy population of small reef fish that add to the beauty of your dives. The corals at Desecheo are also healthy and abundant with sea fans, whips, button corals, xenia and many colorful variations of rock encrusting coral. The gently sloping topography at both spots in Desecheo is covered with a white sand bottom and large bommies filled with nooks and crannies to explore, many times housing lobster and small shrimp. Over all the dive sites at Desecheo are a must see if you are diving more than one day in Puerto Rico.

San Juan : Puerto Rico // Pre-Scuba Diving

1 Comment / Food & Drink, Scuba Dive Operators, Scuba Dive Sites / By Scuba Dive Advisor

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.

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.

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.

Borneo Divers : An Exceptional Dive Operation {Part 2 of 3}

Leave a Comment / Scuba Dive Operators / By Scuba Dive Advisor

In six years of diving, the Scuba Dive Advisor team has researched and visited many amazing places throughout the world, but none offer quite the diversity Sipadan and Mabul Islands boast together with their neighboring white sand utopias. A dive operation must be sound to reign in such diversity and tackle the abundance of life around these islands and we believe we found that in Borneo Divers.

In our previous post, we shared our experience with the Borneo Divers Mabul Resort and provided you with a glimpse into our experience with their hotel operation, which left us with mixed feelings. If you have not read it already, read Part 1 of 3 as a prelude to this review. However, the dive operation at Borneo Divers is the anchor to their success. Let’s face it, diving is what we are here for and the performance of a solid dive operation will enhance your enjoyment.

First, if you think you can simply “show up” and dive Sipadan, you will be greatly disappointed! In 2004, the Malaysian government changed the landscape of diving at Sipadan when they evicted all of the dive resorts from the island to preserve Sipadan and imposed hours of visiting the island between 6AM to 4PM; with no possibility for night dives. As diver demand for the region has increased, the Malaysian government discovered this was not enough and in order to preserve this underwater marvel and turtle sanctuary, it imposed a limitation of 120 permits per day with resorts receiving a specific daily distribution.

Therefore, if you want to increase your chances to dive Sipadan to more than once every six to seven days, go to a resort that has a stronger permit to guest ratio. Borneo Divers can host up to 80 divers per night and as a pioneer in Sipadan diving, they boast the largest number of daily permits to dive Sipadan at 14. This may sound limiting, but other resorts accommodating well over 80 people have the same number of daily permits and the backpacker outfits have very few, if any, permits allocated to them. With this equation in mind, Borneo Divers was our best bet and a driving factor in deciding who to dive with. However, this is not enough to make sure you are guaranteed one or two days of diving at Sipadan. Arrangements should be made well ahead of time with Borneo Divers so your passport information is submitted to Sabah Tourism to secure a permit at Sipadan and they can help put your desired package together.

The impressive jetty is constructed and designed out of ironwood and is a relatively recent addition to Borneo Divers in the past 3 years. It is the hub of all diving activity with a complete dive center on one half of the jetty and for the leisure diver, it conveniently has a bar set up, which is stocked with chilled Tiger beer! This is a great place to watch other divers take in an afternoon, sunset and/or night dive while you lose track of time enjoying yourself in the ocean breeze as the sun sets to close out another day of diving.

The dive center seems simple but it was definitely designed with the avid diver in mind. Foremost, it accommodates a locker room set up with bins matched to your room number, a hanging rack for your wetsuit and ample room to move within. Next to the locker room is a camera station for charging your equipment and there is the equipment rental and repair center for obtaining necessary gear during your stay. While the rental equipment is not necessarily new, it appears to be well maintained and functional. On the decking, Borneo Divers has 5 large cleaning tanks set up to clean your various gear and cameras with ample space to move about and place your equipment in your dedicated bin. Four showers provide fresh water to quickly rinse off the salt and this area spills out onto the benches and tiered decking with tank slots ready to accommodate house reef dives at any time of day. The diving set up is slick and if I could, I’d probably sleep on the jetty, too!

Borneo Divers has cleverly pieced together a successful dive station but the equipment staff are the backbone to making all of this work. Steven, and his team, together with Amin and Jimmy excel at this better than anyone else we have ever seen. It starts with their commitment to knowing our names, our locker, our equipment and even our weight preference! Nothing seems impossible for them. Their anticipation of our needs is almost bewildering as it brings us back to an era of service we thought has long since passed.

Amin, especially, deserves specific recognition. His dedication to his job and the well being of his customers is inspiring. In fact, we would boldly say that he is probably one of the best service professionals we have ever seen worldwide and he may be equally worth the trip to diving Sipadan! He is truly the soul of the dive operation as his passion is seen in organizing the equipment for each dive boat and taking care of each dive individual. You are not a number at Borneo Divers and that makes this vacation that much more magical.

The day starts with minimal effort required by the guest. Following breakfast, all you need to do is gather your camera, put on your wetsuit and then do a quick inventory check on the boat, which are ready for you at 8AM. They really have made diving quite easy. The boats are well equipped to provide shade from the elements, utilize space to accommodate 32 tanks, is kept super clean by the boat captain and powered by two 150hp engines, which get you to your dive location quickly. Your gear is set up for the first dive with your fins, booties, masks and weights (when applicable) lined up on the floor of the boat.

As the boat leaves the jetty, the dive operation transitions to the skill of the Dive Master and Boat Captain. An experienced Dive Master knows where all the great critters are, but even more important, knows how to keep you safe. Borneo Divers expertly provides you with the best of both worlds, many of whom have 18+ years experience diving any condition Sipadan offers. The boat captains play an important role in not only taking you safely to each dive site but following your bubbles throughout the dive and ensuring they are ready and in position to pick you up at the conclusion of every dive.

Dive profiles are generally multi-level at Sipadan and our Dive Master, Eljer, is specific in his briefing to discuss the duration, depth, current and the underwater life we may see on the dive. Buddy diving is paramount and all divers are encourage to observe their depth to remain above the Dive Master or follow your computer. Hand signals are reviewed prior to each dive just as a pilot reviews a checklist. While sounding mechanical, the dive briefing cements Borneo Divers’ commitment to safety and we always dive the plan. Following each dive briefing, our Scuba Dive Advisor team gets everyone excited by clapping as an acknowledgement for a great briefing. We are here to have fun, right?

Eljer is just the perfect Dive Master for us! Aside from being full of life and encouraging an atmosphere of fun, he adapts to our group and understands that we are varied in the way we dive. He is quick to recognize skill, provide tips that can help improve diving ability, find a dive site that is best suited for photography, find the pelagic and macro critters and sometimes, just have fun underwater.

Eljer knows that I (Tim) enjoy adverse situations and he rises to the occasion to test my threshold which allows me to become a better diver. Over the past 5 years, he has done the following things to me:

Taken off my mask.
Danced a tango with me underwater.
Turned off my air at my safety stop.
Rode my tank like a cowboy… many times at varying depths!
Released the air from his octopus to my under-carriage. An unusual sensation.
Placed a feather-star on my butt while wearing board shorts.
Pulled me into the nesting cone for a Titan Triggerfish which decided to fight back.

All of these evoke many laughs out of the group (and especially myself), and they may not be suited for every diver, but they are perfect for me and Eljer knows it! I like an adventure and this keeps me coming back for more. Eljer and our group share a similar sense of humor and a zest for having fun.

Once we come up from our dive, the boat captain and Dive Master are helping us stow our gear and create a path for an easy dismount. While we are busy sharing the in the exhilaration of our dive, the boat captain and Dive Master are already changing our tanks for the next dive. This often goes unnoticed but is an incredible convenience which allows for more recreational time. The small things like re-clipping our fins and attaching Lana‘s tank banger (almost to the exact spot) for the next dive are incredible.

When diving at Sipadan, the surface intervals take place on Sipadan Island in the “rest house” and restroom facilities are available. Make sure you do not wander far as the island is protected by the military and divers are limited to specific areas. Ask your dive guide first before you explore. On every surface interval, coffee and tea is always available together with cookies, sandwiches and fruits. After our 2nd dive, lunch is ready and a hot selection of 4-6 dishes is offered. We burn a lot of calories diving, right?

At the conclusion of our dive day, Amin and Jimmy are smiling and awaiting our boat arrival as we steer into the envelope of the Borneo Divers’ jetty. They encourage safety as they help us get off the boat, organize our gear for cleaning or set up for afternoon and/or evening dives, and ask about our dive day. A perfect end to a perfect day.

The dive team at Borneo Divers is top notch and you will have an absolute blast with them throughout your entire trip. They certainly are dialed in to what is important to divers. With such a successful dive operation, all four of us left Borneo Divers satisfied with such an incredible dive trip. Diving should always be this easy!

Long story short, if you are looking for world class diving and the chance to see unspoiled reefs with diverse selections of dive sites, fish, and coral life, the Sipadan and Mabul area in the Celebes Sea is a great choice. If you choose to make your next holiday in Sipadan, you will not be disappointed. Most travel books recommend planning your trip to the Borneo area from July through November, the months boasting the most sunshine and slightly warmer than average temperatures. For our trip we chose the first two weeks of March to avoid crowds and increase our chances of diving Sipadan more than two days out of nine and this plan worked well for us with four days at Sipadan. However, Tim, Lana and other travelers have shared with us that they have been to Mabul and Sipadan in the December to March months and have had wonderful weather as well. Unfortunately there are no guarantees for perfect weather no matter when you choose to go, as none of us can control Mother Nature.

Terima Kasih! –Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Advanced Open {COLD} Water

9 Comments / Scuba Dive Operators, Scuba Dive Sites, Training / By Scuba Dive Advisor

“Meet people. Go places. Do things.” Those are our guiding principles for traveling the world. So, we decided it was time to take our certification to the next level. So, after 6 years of enjoying the wonderful sport of scuba as PADI Open Water divers, we figured we would take the next step and pursue our Advanced Open Water Certification. Keep in mind that Esther is from Miami. She grew up swimming in the tropical waters off the coast of Florida and is definitely not a fan of cold water. Me, on the other hand grew up in California surfing as much as possible and am a bit more comfortable committing to diving in the mid fifties. It took a couple of months (probably subliminally waiting for the weather to warm up) to commit to taking the plunge but once it was decided, it was off to our friends at Eco Dive Center.

We told the dive staff at Eco that we were interested in getting our Advanced Open Water Certification prior to an upcoming trip to Sipidan, Malaysia. Of course the ever positive and energetic team at Eco Dive Center were eager to help get us get in the water and get certified prior to our trip. As a matter of fact, the package that the team at Eco put together was so good that we committed to purchasing all of the materials to become Rescue Divers as well!

As many of you can imagine, there are numerous different reasons that someone would want to increase their certification level in any sport. Some people are interested in the education, others prefer the chance to work together and meet new friends while doing something they love, some (us) want to be able to volunteer at local aquariums and beach clean-up efforts. There are, of course, many other reasons that we decided to get our advanced certification, the main one being that we wanted to be better prepared for any situation that we may encounter. Let’s face it, the more prepared you are, the better you will be able to handle stressful situations in a safe manner.

About three weeks prior to our class, we began reviewing our SDI AOW dive manual covering the following topics :

Underwater Navigation
Deep Diving
Advanced Buoyancy
Boat Diving
Computer Diving
Drift Diving
Dry Suit Diving
Marine Ecosystem Awareness
Night Diving
Underwater Photography
Beach Diving (Esther’s LEAST favorite)
Wreck Diving

For those of you who are not fans of studying books, the SDI AOW book is an easy read that you can absorb in a couple of days. The coursework is geared toward real life applications for each of the subjects. Once we finished the reading, the class gathered at the dive shop on the Friday night before the weekend’s dives for a briefing and discussion of what to expect over the next two days.

Saturday morning the alarm came early at 5:00AM. We were literally getting out of a wonderfully warm bed to go drive to a local beach and plunge into the cold surf for two hours. Crazy? Maybe a little, but the payoff was so worth the work. Our first dives were at Veterans Park in Redondo Beach, California. We gathered all of our gear in the parking lot and made our way down the stairs to the beach. Once we go to the water, the interesting part began. We timed our entry into the water very well and no one fell over on the way out. Once out in the water with our patient and wonderful instructor Greg, his positive energy put us at ease in the near zero visibility that we were in. It turns out that the bad visibility of the beach dive was perfect for our first exercise of underwater compass navigation. Once under the water there was absolutely nothing but depth and your compass readings to keep you on course. With Greg’s expert approach to teaching and obvious experience in the water, everyone in our group did very well with the compass navigation and quickly got the hang of reciprocal, square and triangle patterns in the water.

Next up, were the pool exercises. Once at the pool, we learned how to tie a bowline knot, a half hitch and a sheet bend. All and all, the first day was a great learning experience and it was a good way to get to know our instructor Greg. Who we had the pleasure of spending the rest of our weekend with.

Sunday morning at 4:30AM came very quickly, but once again we were out the door to voluntarily throw ourselves off of a perfectly good, not to mention, warm boat. We arrived at our first dive site and Captain George announced that the visibility was as good as it gets for California diving. As soon as we jumped in, you could see kelp forests as far as your eyes could see. To make things even better we were greeted by a sea lion showing off in figure eights and having a good old time just hanging with us as we made our descent. Unfortunately, as we submerged, Esther had trouble equalizing and we decided to abort the dive to get back to the boat to adjust while our group went on with their deep dive.

After our surface interval and some delicious chili (compliments to the Sand Dollar’s Chef) we hopped back into the water and made our second attempt at a deep dive. This time Esther’s ear was fine and she was able to equalize. Once down we circled a small sailboat wreck and saw a number of Garibaldi (California State Fish) along with huge kelp forests and loads of bait fish shimmering in the rays of the sun. About half way through the dive we stopped and practice deploying our safety sausages and used all of the knots that we had learned from the previous day. Thanks to great visibility and Greg, our amazing instructor, we had our first dive in California that was a complete joy filled with all sorts of beautiful sights.

For our last dive, the planned skills to practice were advanced buoyancy control and search patterns. We got right to business with buoyancy control and quickly after everyone was leveled out just above the bottom, we headed for the kelp and went for a nature swim right through the forest, it was absolutely breathtaking and we now long to go back for more. About half way through the dive we stopped at an opening in the kelp forest and ran search patterns for about 15 minutes before we continued our trek through the kelp forest. After hearing about how beautiful kelp forests are for years, we finally experienced it and recommend Southern California diving to anyone who is thinking about giving it a try.

So whether you are after more knowledge of scuba diving, want to become a more independent diver, want to volunteer at a local aquarium, or if you are interested in enhancing your certification to the next level, get out and do it! There is a great big ocean out there to explore and many people to meet along the way while you are doing it. With dive teams like the folks from Eco Dive Center, you can’t go wrong and you will have fun along with all of the hard work you do to enhance your certification.

Happy Diving! –Dan

Rodrigues… To the end of the World!

7 Comments / Lodging, Scuba Dive Operators, Scuba Dive Sites / By Scuba Dive Advisor

As I was thinking about a topic to share this week, past travels came to mind, and I thought I would share a glimpse into one of our own adventures throughout this wondrous world. A few years ago, upon setting foot on our 100th country, Lana and I attained an unusual status as members in the eclectic Travelers Century Club. We have been blessed to travel extensively throughout this incredible world with a voracious appetite to continue our search in pursuit of the unusual or lesser known destinations.

With so many places to talk about, where do we begin? How do any of us begin to map out our strategy for sharing the experiences that tap into our own thirst to plan for the next trip? Do we trace our way through each continent or do we follow a chronological order? The answer is… There is no right way. Basically, our personal compass has pointed us in a direction of getting others excited about the destinations that have made a lifetime impression upon our soul. We aim to highlight the character of the people, the beauty of the land and try to showcase any diversity underwater.

Four years ago, guided by the mention of unique islands on the Traveler’s Century Club’s website, we made the journey to Mauritius, and traveled even further to the tiny island dependant, Rodrigues. Located smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean as you draw your eye away from Island nation of Madagascar, Rodrigues appears to be completely isolated. You may ask, “What brought you here?” Good question. As Lana and I reside in Calgary, we have always aimed to travel to the furthest places away from our home base and it seemed to be an interesting and inaccessible location in the world to explore. Let’s face it, few Canadians ever make it to Mauritius and looking at most travelers who arrive in Mauritius, few seldom consider the extra 1.5 hour flight to Rodrigues.

Our flying journey is not easy, as we must connect through Frankfurt, Kuwait, Dubai and Mauritius to get to Rodrigues. But arrival in this tiny Creole island takes you back to an era of travel most of us yearn for and the exhaustion from 26 hours of pure flying time is completely forgotten as the island’s warmth envelopes you in their own unique hospitality.

When we travel as a couple, Lana and I will quite often fly to a destination without a reservation. Sometimes, our version of “pre-planning” will involve us phoning ahead from the airport we are departing from to tee up some sort of reservation. We know this may be too whimsical for most, but we enjoy the challenges this strategy presents. We like to think it keeps our minds fresh and it is part of how we manufacture some of our adventures. We eventually settled on the Cotton Bay Resort.

Upon arrival at the airport in the SW corner of Rodrigues, it was easy to gain our bearings on the island. We realized most roads filter through a network of three tiny towns at the top of the mountain and they spider off in a structured NW, NE, S, E & W direction. To give you a sense of the island’s size and remoteness, one of those tiny towns held the island’s lone ATM bank machine and the only gas station was located at the end of the NW road in Port Mathurin. Something you would need to pre-plan if you have a rental car to drop off at the airport. Unusual? Certainly! That is part of the appeal to this fantastic place.

The Cotton Bay Resort seems isolated from the rest of the island with few services around the hotel area. While it is only a two-story low-rise, the hotels’ green-hued, corrugated iron roof punctuates the skyline and it follows the perimeter of the bay for which it is aptly named. Arriving at this hotel, the staff is warm and welcoming. Guests are familiarized with the hotel services and amenities and the free appetizers at happy hour was the one feature that seemed to resonate with us and the hotel includes a half-board option (breakfast and dinner) which simplifies your food options. The rooms are well-appointed and divers will definitely benefit from a room on the floor level, especially if you will be moving your equipment back and forth from the on site dive shop or your vehicle. While diving is offered, the resort only offers that as a component of many other outdoor pursuits.

It appears the three dive operators on the island have divided up the various dive zones (north, south and east parts of the island) due to access and convenience. During our first couple days on the island, we explored the dive sites along the channel to the south that empties the lagoon into the Indian Ocean. So we paid a visit to Bouba’s Dive Centre. The owner was distinctly French and had us laughing non-stop for two days of diving. Benoit’s rental gear was in great condition as he used a European favorite, Beuchat. Our favorite dive on the south side of the island was the “Canyon” dive site. The topography was unbelievable as we literally swam through vibrant canyons and in the words of our fearless divemaster, Benoit. “Bwahhhh” (We think it is French for something really awesome). Keep in mind that diving times may be adjusted by Benoit based on the tides. Definitely check out Benoit and Bouba’s Dive Centre.

The Cotton Bay Dive Centre serves the East side of the island. Fantastic in their own right, they are set up with good equipment to rent and storage facilities for those with their own equipment. Most of the incredible dive sites we read about “La Passe St. Francois” and “Le Canyon” were located on this side of the island and they were absolutely stunning. Diving on this side is not for the beginner (as we were at the time), but we were so excited to dive these sites that my enthusiasm got the better of me and had me running from our room one day with Lana’s wetsuit (Lana sat out due to a cold) and my determination together with Fabio, our divemaster, and two other “buddies” helped me squeeze into her 3mm. And for all you girls out there, Fabio, is still the prettiest divemaster Lana has ever seen during our diving escapades. I can still hear Lana to this day, “It’s his eyes.” Definitely check out the diving on this side of the island.

The day before we departed, we kept this as a non-dive day and explored the topside of the island. We went for numerous hikes and found some completely untouched, white sand beaches. There were spectacular views at every turn. The island’s land based activities equally matched the wondrous diversity we had read about below the surface in the surrounding lagoon. The Francois Leguat Giant Tortoise and Cave Reserve is a place to see the tortoises from the hatchery up until the one hundred year old big guys. This place was absolutely fascinating and the combined tour with the cave system was a well-spent half day of activities.

Rodrigues is blessed with wondrous diversity at every turn. We had only planned to stay for three days as a notch in our travel stick, but we enjoyed it so much that we sacrificed the island of Reunion from our trip to stay on Rodrigues for two more days. Borrowed from their website, the Mauritius Tourism and Promotion Authority sums up the island of Rodrigues the best: “The secure waters of the lagoon and the trade winds that gently buffer the island provide many opportunities for the adventurous. Rodrigues is a wonderful playground for scuba divers who quickly fall in love with the diverse coral reef eco-system and its colourful assortment of sub-aquatic flora and fauna.”

Happy Diving! –Tim

Siladen Dive

1 Comment / Scuba Dive Operators / By Scuba Dive Advisor

The dive schedule for Siladen Resort is geared more for the resort diver. Despite numerous requests to alter the schedule for 4-6 divers to have an early start and take a modified breakfast or shortened lunch, the daily schedule remained structured to start with a simple, yet filling breakfast with European pastries at 0700 following by a dive briefing at 0815. The best part of the briefing was when the local dive masters encouraged everyone to put their hands together to get excited about their diving day. With a late start to the dive day, the first of two morning dives would usually start at 0930 and you would arrive back in time for lunch at 1pm. At 3pm, an afternoon dive would be made available with an optional night dive or you could opt for the sunset mandarin dive offered three times a week. The maximum number of dives at Siladen Island Resort is 4 dives per day and unlike several other dive operators in the region, there is no house reef due to strong currents and the washing cycle effect. The local dive masters and Annalisa were the stars of this dive program because any short-comings were easily forgotten by their underwater knowledge and enthusiasm for the Bunaken National Park.