ScuBlog

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2005-11-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

If you are passionate about scuba diving, and would like to find out more about some of the best, most unusual or fun dive spots in the world, read on. Below you can find information about some famous and less famous dive spots, where we went diving with local dive schools. There is some info about the town or village itself, a local dive school and the way they do their business, and of course about the dive spots themselves and the marine life that you can encounter there.

Who are we, you probably want to know.
Our names are Lars and Naomi. We are originally Dutch, but we currently live in Ireland. We are not very experienced divers yet, but we were lucky enough to learn scuba diving in some exotic places in Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. After graduation, we went away for six months travelling. We did not have a plan, just wanted to learn how to dive and see a part of the Great Barrier Reef. We ended up in some very exciting dive spots, as you can read below. At the moment, we hold SSI Open Water and Advanced Open Water certificates, but we are looking forward to expand our experience any time soon.

This ScuBlog is meant to inform you about some dive spots we have seen and to help you choose a location for a great dive. Each time we go to a new dive location, you can read about our experiences on this ScuBlog. So keep checking for new updates!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us at info.scublog@gmail.com. We would love to hear what you think and will answer your email as soon as possible.

Lesbos, Greece - Lesvos Scuba Oceanic Diving Centre

2005-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Greece is not the first destination that comes to mind when you think about scuba diving. Actually, scuba diving is against the law in most places and on most islands, because of all the archaeological treasures that are hidden below sea level. Still, diving in Greece can be a memorable experience. We went diving from the island Lesbos in October 2005, with the only dive school on the island called Lesvos Scuba Oceanic Diving Centre. They generally only dive with locals, so they do not really expect you to go diving with them. They have a state of the art dive boat though (no shop) and the gear is ok. Luckily, some crewmembers speak good English, but other than that everything goes the Greek way.

Lesbos is the third largest Greek island and lies in the Aegean Sea, close to Turkey. It is an easy to reach holiday destination. Many charter flights go there directly, or fly via Athens. The island is volcanic and therefore its rock structures are rough and its lands are quite fertile. It is a fairly traditional island, were you can get to know the Greek way of life and their customs. The most common forms of accommodation are apartments and hotels, which you usually book in package deals. Everyday life is cheap and most people here live of the tourist industry, fishing and olives. During the summer months you can dive also in Petra and Sigri, but normally you can only dive from Mythilene.

When you call Lesvos Scuba Oceanic Diving Centre for a dive and found your way to the boat in Mythilene at about 10.30 in the morning, don’t expect things to move fast. At least one of the divers is going to be late and everyone waits. When extra passengers wave from the sore, the boat turns around to pick them up. All this causes the first hour delay. Than you go for a dive and afterwards the 2 hour surface interval ends up to be a 4,5 hour surface interval. In the mean time, many people swim to the boat with their dive gear on their backs to join. This leads to frantic counting of ‘full’ tanks in order to get everyone diving. By the time a safe second dive site is found and the boat properly parked, it is almost dark and we had to bring torches down in the water. We arrived back in Mythilene about 3 hours late and nobody seemed to care at all.

The dive sites are located next to small rocky islands. There is not a great amount of marine life around, because spear fishing is still legal here and the larger species therefore hide deeper down, below 40 metres. The water temperature in October is about 22 degrees Celsius, but this varies between 13 degrees and 26 degrees over the seasons. The visibility here is a fantastic 30 metres. The first dive site was called Agios Vassilios, where you dive alongside a steep cliff that goes straight down to the bottom of 60 metres deep. This wall has many little caves, where you can find moray eels. There are also many centipedes crawling around and you’ll see sea-urchins as well. The second dive site was called Tarti Caves, where you can enter a large cave that is situated on a depth of about 20 metres. It is very colourful and many tiny fish species live here. Again, there are many little caves where you can find moray eels, octopus, centipedes and scorpio fish.

The crew is very friendly, professional and takes an interest in your background. They adopt all safety regulations and take great care. So if you have a lot of patience and you do not mind a tank with only 170-180 bar in it, go for it and give it a try!

Rating: * * *

Scharendijke, The Netherlands - Moby Dick Nieuwegein

2005-07-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that The Netherlands is not a very exotic dive destination, scuba diving is getting more and more popular as a sport here. The best place to go for a dive is in the southern province of Zeeland. There are many different dive sites there, but be aware of currents and tides and very low visibility. Pick an easy site if you are not experienced with diving in similar circumstances.

We went diving here with a friend, who is connected to Moby Dick Nieuwegein, a relatively new dive shop with well-established partners, that is currently busy extending its dive school and dive team. Their gear is brand new and state of the art. They have got very experienced dive instructors, who are well able to teach you about the dive sites and the extra precautions you need to take when you dive in The Netherlands.

The dive site we went to was called Starttoren / Wrakje van Scharendijke. To get to this site, you climb over a typical Dutch dyke and walk into the water. If you are not used to is, it can take quite some effort to put your fins on while trying to keep your balance on a very slippery stony bottom. The waters are murky, so you’ll need to dive with torches. The visibility is only 2-5 metres. Therefore, make sure you have an experienced dive leader and understand each other about how and when to search for lost dive buddies. One or two large fin kicks and you can no longer see each other.

The depth of the dive site is 15 metres. There is a little wreck on only a few metres deep and you can spot a surprisingly large amount of marine life here: sea stars, North Sea crabs, eels, shrimps, cold water anemones (weduweroosjes), jellyfish, swim-crabs, velvet swim-crabs and an enormous number of lobsters. The water temperature on the day was 18-23 degrees Celsius, depending on the depth. Water temperatures can vary greatly over the seasons though, getting as cold as 2-5 degrees in winter time.

Rating: * * * *

Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, Australia - Byron Bay Dive Centre

2004-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Byron Bay is situated in New South Wales, Australia. It is famous for its laid-back hippie culture and you can find here an endless amount of surfers, backpackers and ancient VW vans. Most accommodation here is low-budget and there are some campsites at great locations near the beach. You will find that getting here is absolutely no problem and you won’t get bored because you can shop, eat & drink and party here for ages. There are lots of little offices offering various types of water sports and there are a couple of dive schools.

Scuba diving is popular here because of a marine reserve called Julian Rocks, which lies just of the coast from Byron Bay. It takes only about 20 minutes by boat to get there. Julian Rocks is well-known for its diversity of marine life and its enormous schools of fish. Also it is one of the few places in the world where you can still find the endangered grey nurse shark (the one with the ferocious looking teeth). It is said that they are to become extinct soon, because of the fact that the sharks that are left are almost all family, sharing very similar genes. Unfortunately, we did not see any grey nurse sharks, but they have been spotted on the same day that we were there (as nearly every day), so your chances to see one are fairly large.

The waters here are usually 20-21 degrees Celsius, but you can feel clearly that there are warm currents, which make a difference of a couple of degrees. The visibility was only about 5-6 metres, but that can change with the seasons. We choose to dive with Byron Bay Dive Centre. They have very friendly and well-educated dive leaders and a nice shop. They do very good dive briefings as well and have state of the art dive gear. To get to the dive sites you are transported the short hop to the beach in a very old Toyota Landcruiser, with the rubber dive boats (tenders) on a trailer behind. The boats are relative small, but within about 20 minutes you’ll reach the destination.

The first dive site was called Nursery-Needles, with a depth of nearly 15 metres. Here you can find many large schools of smaller fish, as well as loggerhead turtles, green turtles, puffers, porcupines, Moorish idols, brown triggerfish, bull rays, blue spotted stingrays and wobbegong sharks.

The next dive site was Hugo’s Trench, also with a depth of around 15 metres. At this site you can spot a lot of bull rays in various sizes, green turtles, spotted eagle rays, lionfish, white-eyed moray eels, porcupines and wobbegong sharks. We also encountered many large schools of fish and a kingfish feeding frenzy here. Byron Bay definitely is an exiting place to dive.

Rating: * * * * *

Cook Island, Gold Coast, Australia - Aqua Sports and Dive

2004-10-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Gold Coast lies in Queensland, Australia, close to the border with New South Wales. It is a large city, with countless places to stay, eat and go out. You can get here easily via Brisbane, since many international airlines fly directly to Brisbane and there is a direct airportlink connection with the Gold Coast. Local airlines also fly directly to Coolangatta airport. The Gold Coast has many attraction parks, such as Sea World, Wet and Wild and Warner Brothers Movie world. If you do not mind a lot of tourists and have a fair bit of money to spend, you will definitely not be bored here. Since there are so many tourists around, the locals tend to get a little nationalistic sometimes, which is something to keep in mind.

The Gold Coast is world-famous for its surfers’ culture and beaches. The best known spot is of course Surfers Paradise. There are surfers and surf shops everywhere. Although it is not really a destination for divers, there are some good dive sites around. It is just more common to dive in the Great Barrier Reef when you are visiting Queensland. Because of this, you can dive in small groups and get out of the rush of the city.

We went for a dive with Aqua Sports and Dive / Buddyline Dive Tours, a local dive school that offers to pick you up at your accommodation and organizes a barbeque after the dives. You are brought to their shop first, to try on the gear (which is very god, by the way) and then to Tweeds Head, where they have a small dive boat. It is quite comfortable though, and the crew definitely knows what they are doing. Pelicans watch you while you set up your gear. The boat trip to Cook Island takes only a little over half an hour, but the seas can be very rough. Depending on the direction from which the wind is blowing, a dive site is chosen. Once the boat is moored on the right spot, the waves are much calmer.

We went diving here in October 2004, when the waters are 21 degrees. The water temperature varies only a little over the seasons and will never get really cold. The visibility is generally between 5 and 10 metres. Although not as famous as the dive sites in the Great Barrier Reef, Cook Island has its own special character and is spectacular in its own way.

The first dive site was called Turtle Cove. It was about 15 metres deep. You could go much deeper, but all there is beyond this depth is a sand bottom, without much marine life to see. Navigation is relatively straightforward, so you can dive without a guide. Marine life that you can find here is: Moorish idols, wobbegong sharks, stonefish, eagle rays, blue spotted lagoon rays and black damsels.

The second dive site was called Coral Gardens and this was very similar to the site described above, only a little shallower, about 10 metres deep. This gives you the opportunity to stay under water extra long and count the turtles and wobbegong sharks that you can spot here in large quantities and various shapes and sizes. The largest wobbegong shark we saw on the day was more than 2 metres long! Although there are a very placid species of shark, you should absolutely not touch them, because they will eventually bite. You’ll find green turtles, loggerhead turtles, large eagle rays, speckled moray eels, clownfish and cuttlefish here.

Rating: * * * *

Reef Teach

2004-09-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you are in Cairns and you want to know more about the Great Barrier Reef, this is the place to go. Everyone in Cairns will recommend Reef Teach and people will immediately tell you to go before you go scuba diving. We went after, but Reef Teach will be very interesting and a lot of fun no matter when you go. So what is it? Reef Teach is an educational comedy show, hosted by an Irish marine biologist and diver called Paddy. In hilarious ways the teaches people how to recognise different species of fish, all you need to know about coral structures and what you can do to protect the reefs in this world. Not only is it very funny, when you walk out after about 2 hours you will definitely feel that you have learned a lot. There is also a shop where you can buy books and numerous other items related to the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t miss this one!

Rating: * * * *

Green Island, Cairns, Australia - Ocean Free

2004-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

In September 2004 we also made a second trip from Cairns, to Green Island. Green Island is one of the largest coral islands in the world. It is surrounded by beautiful, but shallow reefs. The island itself has stunning beaches and is covered in palm trees. Green Island is located not to far away from the harbour of Cairns on the inner barrier reef, at about an hour and a half away when you go sailing.

We booked a sailing trip with the ship Ocean Free. It is a decent sized, comfortable boat with a superb crew. There are very experienced divers and expert marine biologists on board. Most people book a trip like this to enjoy the sailing and visit Green Island itself to stay a day on the beaches and go snorkelling there. This was our initial intention too, but since we were the only certified divers on board for the day, the crew took a special interest in us. To be honest, it did not take them too much effort to talk us into going for a couple of dives.

The waters near Green Island are shallow and warm (again 25-26 degrees Celsius) all year round. The visibility is good, more than 15 metres. The dive site is no deeper than about 10 metres, but that does not mean that there is less to see here than in other places. It just means that you have more time to stay under water en take everything in. On the day we encountered: giant guitar fish, kuhl’s ray, star puffer, yellow goby, juvenile batfish, a Chinaman fish (called Oscar), flute fish, red emperors, a white-tip reef shark, a green turtle, remorays and a giant school of marr’s fusiliers.

One of the most interesting aspects of the reefs here is that there are massive cleaning stations located here. We saw a star puffer of nearly 90 centimetres long that patiently waited underneath a large coral fan until the tiny cleaning wrasses had cleaned him. Other species of fish were waiting in line for their turn.

The surface interval can be used to snorkel and enjoy the shallowest parts of the reef, because the Ocean Free is not moved. You will just swim to different part of the reef for different dives. On the way back to Cairns, you can spot very rare and unusual marine animals, namely Indo Pacific humpback river dolphins, which try to keep up with the speed of the boat.

Rating: * * * * *

Thetford Reef, Cairns, Australia - Cairns Dive Centre (CDC)

2004-09-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

It is obvious that you can not pass Cairns without scuba diving when you are visiting Queensland, Australia. This small city completely revolves around the Great Barrier Reef. There are more dive schools and dive charters here than you can count. It is an unbelievably popular place to go to and since many large airlines from all over the world fly to Cairns, it is the easiest gateway to the Great Barrier Reef that you can find. You will most certainly have no trouble finding any type of accommodation (most hostels even offer to pick you up from the airport for free). There are many restaurants, bars, galleries, etceteras. In the centre of the town, at the edge of the bay you can go for a safe swim in the Esplanade. You also cannot miss the Marlin Marina, with it many beautiful ships.

Since there are so many dive schools here, it might be hard to take your pick. Most of these dive schools are used to people that are shopping around though, so you should not hesitate to walk into various dive shops and have take your time to ask a lot of questions and to decide what you think of them. We went diving here with Cairns Dive Centre (better knows as CDC), which is the largest and most influential SSI dive school in the world. They also offer PADI courses though and you can choose from a large variety of trips, from inner barrier reef to outer barrier reef and various live-a-board options. Anything you wish is possible here, adjusted to your special needs. CDC has quality boats, crew, gear, cameras and knowledge. We went diving with them in September 2004 on a boat called the Sunkist, which was at the same time used to bring supplies and fresh food and water to the live-a-board boats.

No matter which dive site you visit, any dive will be amazing since you are at the heart of the legendary Great Barrier Reef. The reefs are nowadays better protected in order to keep them in the state they are in and to make sure they will still be there for future generations to enjoy. Therefore there are a couple of simple rules and regulations to follow in order to help protecting the reef. Those are extensively discussed in the dive briefings. The waters here are warm year round (25-26 degrees) and the visibility is an excellent 15 metres or more.

We went with CDC so the outer barrier reef, to a place called Thetford Reef. The first dive site there was called Horseshoe. Since the site is named after its shape, navigation is very easy and you can dive here without a guide. The site is about 20 metres deep and is perfect to see many types of coral and smaller marine species. The waters are very clear an bright, so underwater photography is a good option here. You can spot Napoleon Maori wrasse, regal angelfish, unicorn fish, six bar wrasse, various types of anemone fish, transparent shrimps and countless other species. During the surface interval you can see some inquisitive turtles.

The second dive site in the Thetford Reef was called Lagoon. This site is shallower than the Horseshoe, only 12-15 metres deep. Again very easy navigation and perfect for underwater photography. You can find pink anemone fish, jewel damsels, chocolate chip damsels, blue-green damsels, humbug damsels, orange lined triggerfish, white damsels, black and white snappers, bridled parrotfish and regal angelfish here, among many other small species.

Rating: * * * *

Mission Beach, Australia - Mission Beach Dive Charters

2004-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Mission Beach is the absolute Mecca for backpackers. There are lots of campsites and hostels and it is a perfect location to meet people and hang around at the endless beaches. It is not the easiest spot to find, since it is located off the main roads, but there are ways of getting there by public transport. It is a very tranquil place, were life seems to go by almost in slow motion. Mission Beach is surrounded by rainforests and hosts a lot of special wildlife, such as the rare large Kassuari birds.

From Mission Beach you can make dive trips to the outer barrier reef. We went diving with Mission beach Dive Charters in September 2004, but this dive school does no longer exist. Another larger dive school there is called Calypso Dive and offers the same kind of trips. Mission Beach Dive Charters did have a very nice shop and we decided to go with them, because everything seemed very professional.

The next morning we were early at the shop, where we had to wait for ages before we went to the Marina in an old car. A tiny little boat brought us to the dive boat, which was a rental, because their original boat was out for reparations. The dive leader had great difficulties with handling this boat and needed no less than five attempts to park it alongside the pier of Dunk Island to pick up other divers. There seemed to be very little gear and at one point we were considering not to go for a dive, because we did not feel very secure. We waited for the briefing and got our confidence back, so we decided to give it a try. Truly, this dive leader was much better at diving than at handling a boat. Because of all the delays we arrived back in Mission Beach when it was already dark. There are many wallabies around, so take care when you are driving around in the dark, they are hard to spot from a distance. The dives were great though, and the reefs absolutely beautiful and teeming with marine life.

The outer barrier reefs are usually more unspoilt than the reefs closer to the coastline, because they are less vulnerable for direct pollution from the land, for the impact of people and storms and do run a lesser risk of drying out when the sea level lowers. The waters here are warm year round, about 23-24 degrees Celsius. The visibility is about 10 metres. On the way over you can spot bottlenose dolphins jumping high out of the water. Those dolphins will keep you occupied during the 2 hour boat trip to reach the outer barrier reefs.

The first dive site we visited here is called Murries Ridge, named after a Morgan cod that is over a metre long and lives there. We were lucky enough to meet Murrie as well as real clownfish, yellow boxfish, seal faced puffers, black saddled toby, harlequin tusk fish, coral groupers, bicoloured angelfish and anemone fish. The site has a maximum depth of 20 metres, but you can cruise around a long time in the shallower waters

The second dive was at a shallow dive site (depth of about 13 metres) called Breaking Bommie. Navigation around these reefs is fairly easy, and therefore even relatively inexperienced divers can dive without a guide here. You can find many species here, such as bicoloured angelfish, six-banded angelfish, beaked coral fish, seal faced puffers, white cheek surgeon fish, and flag tail triggerfish. The funniest creatures here are the quite aggressive white damselfish that will try to attack you despite the fact that they are only about 12 centimetres long.

Rating: * * *

Hayman Island, Blue Pearl Bay, Whitsunday Islands, Australia - Maxi Ragamuffin

2004-09-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

One destination that you definitely should not miss when you are visiting Queensland, Australia, are the Whitsunday Islands. One of the best things about diving here is that you can combine your dives with a sailing trip on a fabulous Maxi Yacht. There are also normal dive schools, but several operators offer a combined sailing and diving package. We went sailing on the Maxi Ragamuffin, one of the few boats that go on day trips. There are many others that offer live-a-boards or stays on one of the Whitsunday Islands.

You can reach the Whitsunday Islands via a town called Airlie Beach, which is very popular for young people and backpackers. The Whitsunday Islands are also the most popular honeymoon destination in Australia. In recent years, this village has expanded substantially, mostly with holiday houses and accommodations for travellers. There are many places to stay and to go out, as well as hostels and several campgrounds. Since it is quite touristy, you might find that everyday life is a little more expensive here than in other parts of Australia. The wildlife on the shore is quite abundant, since Airlie Beach is located at the edge of the rainforests.

The Maxi Ragamuffin is a quite well-known retired racing yacht, which used to take part in the infamous Sydney to Hobart race. It even managed to win that race 3 times. You don’t get too many chances to stay on a multi-million dollars toy like this one, so make sure you enjoy every moment of it. The Maxi Ragamuffin has an excellent crew, which definitely knows how to make the most of this experience. They do not have an office, so you can only make bookings via the internet or by phone. The budget option is to book two days of sailing combined with a dive at once. You will go one day on a sailing trip to Whitehaven Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, where you can swim and play beach cricket. The second day you will sail towards Hayman Island. You will jump of the boat in your dive gear and make your way through the reefs to the beach of Blue Pearl Bay. It is a nice long cruise, with a maximum depth of no more than 15 metres.

Although the reefs and wildlife are not as spectacular as in other parts of the Great Barrier Reef, you’ll swim through beautifully coloured coral gardens and you can spot many smaller species, such as lizard fish, anemone fish, angel fish and sergeant majors. A massive but friendly and inquisitive Maori wrasse called Elvis is resident here, but unfortunately we did not encounter him.

Sailing and diving with the Maxi Ragamuffin is a trip we can definitely recommend!

Rating: * * *

SS Yongala Wreck, Townsville, Australia - Adrenalin Dive

2004-09-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

This wreck dive is known as ‘Australia’s best dive’. It is by far the most expensive dive we have done until now, but it was worth every cent. You can reach this dive spot by boat, departing from Townsville, the second largest city in Queensland, Australia. Because it is a large place, you’ll have no difficulty getting there. There are numerous dive schools and the tourist sector is completely focussed on the Great Barrier Reef. An interesting place to visit is the Reef HQ (http://www.reefhq.com.au/), an education centre about the Great Barrier Reef, with a multi million litre tropical fish tank. There are many different places to stay in Townsville, only for a campground you have to go about 20 kilometres outside of the city.

The SS Yongala was build in Newcastle England, and sank during a cyclone in 1911. The wreck was not discovered until 1958. It lies on a remote location and is nowadays still largely intact. You can for example still see pieces of furniture. When disaster struck the ship, 122 lives were lost. The bodies were never recovered and the wreck is a marine gravesite. Therefore it is not allowed to enter the wreck, out of respect for those who died there. The top of the wreck starts at 14 metres below the surface and the maximum depth of the dive site is about 28 metres.

The wreck lies on its side in the middle of a large plate of sand and is the only reef structure in the region. Because of this, it is the only place where marine life has easy access to food and you can find an absolute abundance of life here. A lot of the larger fish species are attracted to the site as well. A selection of the species we encountered: green turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead turtle, olive sea snakes, emperor angelfish, giant travalli, hump headed Maori wrasse, barramundi, batfish, anemone and clownfish, silver and yellow fusiliers, potato cod, grouper, bull rays and sharks. Not only is there a lot of marine life present at the site, the species are unusually large.

The waters here are around 24 degrees Celsius. We went diving here in September 2004, but the temperature does not change very much during the seasons. Visibility is generally good: 15 metres or more.

There are many dive schools in Townsville, offering various trips, but the trip to the SS Yongala Wreck is expensive everywhere (about 250 Australian dollars including gear and guide for two dives). We went diving with Adrenalin Dive. They have got an experienced crew, a proper boat and nice gear. It is a very long boat trip of more than 3 hours and since the dive sites are not sheltered at all, the waves can be a bit rough. You can spot humpback whales on the way over though. Be prepared to leave the harbour very early in the morning. The remoteness is really the only downside of this dive; it is definitely going to be one of the most beautiful dive sites you have ever seen!

Rating: * * * * *

Rainbow Warrior, Bay of Islands, New Zealand - Paihia Dive

2004-07-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

In the bay of Islands, at the east coast of the Northern island of New Zealand you can find one of the most famous wreck dives in the world, the Greenpeace ship The Rainbow Warrior. This ship was sunk on the 10th of July 1985 by the French in the harbour of Auckland. The Rainbow Warrior was given a safe haven in New Zealand after a dispute over nuclear testing by the French at Mururoa. It was left to rust away in the Harbour for a while after the incident. On December 14th 1987 it was sunk in the Bay of Island to form an artificial reef.

The Bay of Islands is a very popular holiday destination in New Zealand. On of the reasons is that the climate is very mild during summer time and there are a lot of water sports around. Since it is so popular, you can choose from a variety of accommodations ranging from campsites and hostels to luxury hotels. There are only a few dive schools here, and the most appealing one to us was Paihia Dive.

Paihia Dive has regular dive tours with a nice, decent little ship. Their shop looks professional, their gear is good and they know a lot about the area and the dive sites. You get a long briefing on the boat about The Rainbow Warrior and the dive site you are about to explore. This is just as well, because it is a fair trip of about 2 hours to the dive site. It was a comfortable trip though, with hot tea and soups to keep everyone warm (we were here shortly after we went to Tutukaka, so it was still winter in New Zealand) and a very easy-going atmosphere. One of their dive masters has only one arm, but is extremely skilled at his job and does not need any help with his gear at all. He even managed to catch a couple of crayfish along the way.

The Rainbow Warrior was placed close to the Cavally Islands. The wreck is beautifully preserved and is nicely forming an artificial reef with lots of colourful anemones and other creatures. Since there is food around, many fish are also attracted to the site. The waters are very cold in the winter (between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius), but again the visibility is great (more than 15 metres).You can spot dwarf and northern Scorpio fish, lots of bigeyes, nudybranches and angelfish. The wreck lies at about 28 metres deep, so you need a minimum of Advanced Open Water certification to be able to visit it. You can still see the name and the anchor of The Rainbow Warrior and it is possible to enter the steerage cabin.

For the second dive of the day we went to Nukutunga, a tiny rocky island. Here you can find some kelp forests. Common species here are eagle rays, leatherjackets, drummers, Scorpio fish, hiwihiwi, crayfish and black spotted groupers.

Rating: * * * *

Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand - Dive! Tutukaka

2004-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Poor Knights Islands are a group of small rocky islands on the eastern coast of the Northern island of New Zealand. They are famous for their cold water reefs, the excellent visibility and the diversity of marine life. It was one of the favourite dive destinations of the late Jacques Cousteau. There are a total of 60 different dive sites around the island. The easiest way to get to the Poor Knights, is by boarding a dive boat from the tiny town Tutukaka. It is not directly the easiest place to get to, but if you are travelling around New Zealand in a campervan (like most people do) it is easy enough. Tutukaka is a really small village consisting of a few houses, a hostel and a proper camping site. In the small Marina, you can find a couple of dive schools. The largest one is called Dive! Tutukaka and is run by a Dutchmen who immigrated to New Zealand.

This dive school is definitely state of the art, with a very modern dive boat and nice equipment. If you go diving here, make sure that you try your wetsuits on before you go on the boat. There is no spare gear on the boat and the waters are very cold. So if your wetsuit does not fit properly, you’ll be freezing cold. Usually their guess of your size is good, but make sure to be on the safe side. The crew is very professional, able to give you a lot of information about the marine reserve and you dive in small groups.

We were here in July 2004, midwinter in New Zealand. You can still dive then, with a 7 mm double wetsuit. The waters are only 12-15 degrees Celsius, but the visibility is more than 20 metres. At wintertime there are regular storms, so the dive boat does not depart every day and it also depends on the weather which dive sites you can visit on a certain day.

At the Gentle Forest and Bradys Corner you’ll find some kelp forest that harbour a lot of marine life. The depth is not much more than 17 metres and you can see northern Scorpio fish, John Dory, black angelfish, mado, nudybranches, sandager’s wrasse, Lord Howe coral fish and demoiselle.

The Gardens is a little deeper (20 metres or over) and has a lot of funny rock formations full of little caves. In these caves you can find grey and speckled moray eels. Furthermore, there are a lot of smaller and larges schools of fish around and you can spot red pigfish as well.

Rating: * * * *

Koh Tao, Thalaind - Big Blue Diving Centre

2004-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is the place where we got our certifications. Koh Tao is a tiny island on the east side of Thailand. The shortest way to get there is to take the boat that departs from Chumphon, where you can get by bus from Bangkok. If you are looking for a beach holiday or a lot of partying you should go to neighbouring Koh Samui or Koh Phanang, where you can dive as well. But if your passion is scuba diving, go to Koh Tao. The size of the island is only 21 square kilometres, mostly uninhabited and covered with palm trees, but it has got 38 dive schools. The main township is called May Haad, where you can find dive shops on every corner. If you do not come to this island to dive, the locals will definitely wonder what you are doing there. There is hardly anything else to do on Koh Tao than diving and snorkelling, which creates a very special atmosphere.

Already when you take a boat to Koh Tao, a bunch of Thai promotion people are trying to get you into their resort. Just keep you head cool and go to the resort you already had in mind, or go with someone who is friendly and not too pushy. All dive courses on the whole island have the same price, but if you take a course you can usually get yourself cheap accommodation in a resort that belongs to the dive school. The resort where we ended up, Big Blue, is located on Soiree Beach and offers a wooden condo on the beach for as little as 4 euro a night. It is very basic, in Thai style, but relatively clean and comfortable enough to stay for a while. The resort is close to some shops, a medical centre and it has a nice bar on the beach with regular happy hours and parties. It is a great spot to meet people from all over the world. There are dive instructors from different continents and Big Blue offers both SSI and PADI courses in various languages.

You have to be a little adventurous when you go diving with Big Blue. Their instructors, equipment and shop are all very professional and there courses are great too. Their boats though, are something else. They have a couple of old fishing boats converted into dive boats. There are a couple of smaller ones, where a characteristic longtail boat takes you from Soiree Beach for boarding. Their big boat, called ‘The Banzai’, is in the harbour of May Haad. You go there in a bus stuffed with dive gear and you have to climb from a dissolving pier over half a dozen other boats to board. This is all the normal Thai style and you will probably get used to it soon enough. The good thing about this last boat is that you can climb on the roof and jump into the sea (about 5 metres below) to celebrate your certification.

The waters here always warm (close to 30 degrees Celsius), but visibility changes during the seasons. When we were here in June 2004, the visibility was 10-15 metres. In April and September, the visibility is only a few metres, but the waters are so full of food, that whale sharks come to feed there. When the whale sharks are not around, there is still a load of marine life to see and there is a list of good dive spots around the island. The winds decide on a daily basis where the dive boats will go for the day.

Mango Bay is a sheltered dive spot no deeper than about 12 metres. The waves are normally low here and it is an excellent spot for training purposes. Most common fish to see here are sergeant majors (which nibble on you during your training exercises), angelfish, butterfly fish, wrasses, goatfish and parrotfish.

Japanese Gardens is another quite sheltered dive location, which is not very deep, but has beautiful coral pinnacles. This is a brilliant spot for learning to navigate under water, for night dives and for photography. Here you can spot pink anemone fish, long nosed butterfly fish, giant clams, young (yellow tale) barracudas, blue spotted puffer fish, yellow box fish, blue spotted stingrays, big black crabs, anemone crabs, long fin banner fish, rabbit fish, hermit crab, porcupine puffer fish, shrimps and cat eels.

Nang Yuan Pinnacle, Hin Wong Pinnacle and White Rock provide the opportunity to go a little deeper, to about 18 to 24 metres. The sites have rock formations and coral pinnacles and a lot of fish swarming around, such as stingrays, emperor angelfish, blue ringed angelfish, six-banded angelfish, peacock and blue-lined groupers and stonefish, as well as most of the above mentioned species.

If you are into swim-throughs and caves, try Leam Thiam. It is a very exciting dive site and requires a lot of balancing and buoyancy skills, since some caves and tunnels are relatively narrow and the rocks are sharp. The rock walls have many different colours and a lot of tiny different marine species can be seen here. We also saw blue spotted stingrays, yellow tale barracudas and pilot jacks.

By far the most exciting dive spot we have seen around Koh Tao is Chumphon Pinnacle. This dive site brings you down to 30 metres or more. It consists of one giant pinnacle split in two. If you want spectacular views and spot larger species, this is the place to go. It is also a good spot to do a narcosis test and dept gauge comparison. You can find grey reef sharks, large flocks of full grown batfish, giant groupers, triggerfish and long fin banner fish here.

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