| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/8/2006 2:59:13 PM | | Yeah, in the Bahamas I use just a shortie and it feels like heaven!! 75 degrees all the way down to 100 feet, it's almost too good to be true when you're used to Midwest diving. Around here you need to be prepared for the cold below 30 feet no matter what time of year it is. I can deal with it OK for the most part.....but I'm usually only at my max depth for about 5 minutes or so and then go up above the 2nd thermocline and work my way back up. The worst part about it is the headaches--I get a bit of a headache from the water seeping in around my hood and mask area. 40 degree water has a way of doing that to you!! | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/16/2006 8:41:08 AM | | I gotta agree with you and....well, longte, sounds a little like a poser to me. Everyone knows that the North Atlantic and the Great Lakes, beat Micronesia for wrecks and what other sort of diving is there, other than cold,dark wreck infested water. The rest is just a bathtub with pretty fish. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/16/2006 9:18:22 AM | | I did a couple of one week liveaboards in Australia. One out in the Coral Sea, beyond the Great Barrier Reef , the other, was in Southern Australia, specifically, Glenelg. It was a Great White Shark cage dive....nothing short of ultra spectacular. Saw over 15 Great Whites. | |
|
| La Paz
Posted: 5/16/2006 5:07:48 PM | | Have done Cozumel a few times and loved it... did some Cenotes... Done up lots of Wet Coast Diving around Vancouver and Vancouver Island... Cabo a couple of times... But I really enjoyed diving with the schools of Hammerheads again and again on a sea mount of La Paz... | |
|
| Galapagos
Posted: 5/17/2006 8:30:58 PM | It's unreal. Sea lions, peguins, sharks, rays, turtles - and that was snorkeling. Have to see it to beleive it.
Diving great barrier reef next month, can't wait! | |
|
longte
|
Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 31 | |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/18/2006 4:38:36 AM | Scubabob
Come down here one day
You will not bother diving again up there
Truk Lagoon
40 wrecks in tropical water
No wetsuit required unless you are a woos
All skill levels catered for from schnorkelling through to deep compression or funny gas diving
""Cold Dark Wreck Infested Water"" I would much prefer my ""Bathtub with pretty fish""
I have never owned 7mil wetsuit but can imagine how horrible they must be
Dived the Auckland island 600 miles south of New Zealand in a dry suit and that was bad enough
Have you ever swum through coral getting towed along by a turtle??
I have done construction and pleassure diving in most oceans and most seas
The Baltic is full of wrecks and cold
Doesnt mean it is really enjoyable
Diving should be FUN
..
. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/18/2006 6:41:05 AM | Hi" well I have been teaching scuba for the last 16 years world wide..carib ..Indian Ocean..Thailand..burma banks..sea of bengel..maledives..Guam..sipan..rota..Fiji..new zeland..australia..malasa..This were i lived and dived and many more places around the world..(5000+ dives)..have done live on boats weeks at a time Carib..Addiment sea thats the west side of thailand (similen and suan islands) was working on them..and i found out if you like it then its good!!..my best was the maledives VERY interesting place..if you dont know about it look it up..its in the middle of the indian ocean.south of sura lanka. an small island i lived for 2 years it took me 15-16 mins to walk around it LOL..there is NO rocks in the maledives just sand and corral.. | |
|
| |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/20/2006 5:16:18 AM | Cold versus Warm water diving.
Grand Cayman's one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean (until I dive Belize), and Hornby Island B.C. is great, but totally different from the tropics. Cold water, but the light at 100 feet has a yellowish cast (run-off?) and the marine life is totally un-tropical.
For a novelty, dive into the harbour at Chemainus and check out the Boeing 737 at 90 feet. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/21/2006 4:32:20 PM | Caribean (Anguila etc0: nice , clear, warm but pretty empty. Mediterranean: Crete, very few fish but a nice island. Turkey, southern tip: Kas, nice diving around little islands , fun to see dolphins up close.
Best so far: the Red Sea! Absolutley wonderful coral reefs full of the most colorful fish. I stayed on the Egyptian side, Safaga. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/23/2006 2:48:35 AM | | Has anyone been diving in Sri Lanka? I am going there with work in a couple of months & fancy doing some diving while I'm there. | |
|
longte
|
Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 37 | |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 5/23/2006 3:13:04 AM | Hakka duwa [sic] Marine Park about 1 1/2 hours South of Colombo has some nice spots and a couple of wrecks but water is often murky all around Sri Lanka
Most of the rest is overfished/dynamited
Close reefs to shore are in pretty bad condition anywhere else
Some nice reefs offshore but you are heading out 15miles to reach them
But at least the water is pretty warm
Lots of nasty weather at times
..
. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 6/4/2006 10:29:36 AM | In Honduras, the island of Roatan, Utila, etc are all great places- relatively cheap, especially Utila- and the diving is beautiful.
However, I actually enjoy Cozumel more- I saw more wildlife in Cozumel than at Roatan- but the fan coral was extensive off Roatan...
both are awesome experiences!
Turks is EXPENSIVE. if you are a diver looking to save money- do not go here.
The Red Sea is the ultimate experience- but, there's also alot of things that can kill you in there :) so go at your own risk!
Hope this helps somebody!
 | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 6/10/2006 1:52:19 PM | Wll I live in dahab during the winter so dive round the blue hole here. but its getting really touristy.
I am going to be looking at the sudan in the future, i am going with some business partners down there to chart some reefs when my boat is finished. watch this space!
And I live in bulgaria during the summer, I am hoping to do something on the black sea.
has anyone actually dived the black sea?
And, whilst we are talking about diving, has anyone ever tried a HUB intergrated BCD. I have an intergraded BCD and find it really good but most people have never even seen them- the reg is built into the bcd, and the inf/def valve is on the bottom left.
opinions.... | |
|
longte
|
Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 40 | |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 6/10/2006 9:56:01 PM | Being very old school I tend to dislike integrated BCDs
BCDs can be bulky
Integrated even more so
When in confined spaces you can easily dump a standard BCD if required
With an integrated you also would lose your regulator
I am a firm believer that the simpler you keep things the less can ever go wrong
If you use exactly the correct amount of weights a BCD is actually more of a hinderance than an advantage unless you are diving very deep
[waiting for the flak to come back after saying that]
Yes I realise that all diving companies require you to wear them but most diving is best in the range up to 60ft as the colours and life are better in that range
There is very little natural bouyancy change in that range unless you are wearing a very thick wettie
My favorite equipment is extremely simple
Backpack and tank with nothing attached except standard 88
Scubapro Mk1V regulator and depth guage [if deep diving I add an octopus]
Old, very small, manual blow up, Tulsa BCD that has been altered a lot [I can put it on/off without removing tank]
Weight belt and knife
Decent watch if doing compression dives
5mil wettie if required
Nothing much can ever go wrong with gear that is kept simple
Extraneous hoses connecting things are just trouble waiting to happen [in my opinion]
Best parts are
The freedom I have to enjoy the actual diving rather than watching dive computers etc
The knowledge that if anything does go wrong I can simply drop the weightbelt and watch the surface coming up while slowly breathing out
Maintenance is very simple
The ability to fit into tight spots are lot more easily than most of my dive buddies
..
. | |
|
| |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 11/30/2007 3:23:04 PM | Trying to revive this thread.
Best place you have dove? & why?
Place u wish u were going to dive
Etc etc | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/1/2007 6:17:42 AM | While I am an advid snorkeller going to Provo (Turks and Caicos) this weekend they have a beautiful reef. I was in Mexico last year and near Xel-Ha the big thing was to dive in the Ceynotes the have a vast fresh water cave systen the water was so clear and it was kinda eerie . I snorkelled in several caves that even had lighting and you had to watch your heads on the stalagtites. I am so psyched to catch lobster and have a yummy shore lunch. | |
|
| |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/10/2007 5:14:19 PM | I was a big fan of:
- Tulamben (Bali, Indonesia)
- Sipodan (Malaysia)
- Similan Islands (Thailand)
Thought that Ko Tao (Thailand), and the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), both place that were raved about a a lot were disappointments. | |
|
longte
|
Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 46 | |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/11/2007 3:54:26 AM | Budakin Is Manado North Sulawezi Indonesia
Truk Lagoon [just to see it]
Everywhere around Vanuatu
Caticombs Near Mackay North Queensland
Auckland Is WAY south of New Zealand
Anywhere on OUTER Great Barrier Reef
..
. | |
|
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/15/2007 3:30:14 PM | I'd have to add that the Blue Hole in Belize is more hype than thrill. It is the murkiest water in Belize by far and not very interesting. You dive to it is a funnel shaped large hole where you descend about 50' on the slope, then to 140' or so vertically. After that you can go under the over hang and see giant stalactites hanging from the roof. You swim around them and look at them with a light and ascend quickly. We went down with computers and my dive buddy and I both maxed out in just a few minutes. I guess you could call it a novelty dive. But don't forget that if anything went wrong you'd be 140'+ from the surface with a rock over your head in dim lighting. The blue hole is a fascinating phenomenon (full of tiny marine life) but not that interesting a dive in my opinion. In Belize I prefer 40-70' dives that are lighter and with less worry about time limits.
Now for a qestion of my own. What are some favorite sail/dive locations? Sailboats are not ideal dive vessels because of lack of compressors and deep drafts but I'd much rather have a sail/dive vacation than any other kind of dive trip. | |
|
longte
|
Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 48 | |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/18/2007 3:35:36 PM | ^^
Any of the South Pacific Islands
90% are surrounded by coral reefs
Most have excellent lagoons for anchorage
Small diesel compressors are cheap and safe to run
Best diving is down to 40ft so only need snorkel anyway
Huge trip would be Panama-Galapagos- Tahiti- Fiji- Samoa- Vanuatu-Solomens-PNG-Thailand
..
. | |
|
| |
| Scuba diving' great locations
Posted: 12/19/2007 7:20:15 PM | | I'd have to agree. The Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba off the coast of Egypt have some fantastic scuba and snorkeling locations. | |
|
Home
login 
