Posts Tagged ‘Diving’

Scuba Diving In Fiji Islands

The islands of Fiji are well known for its spectacular scenery and world class attraction for sea sports such as big game fishing, snorkeling, sailing and scuba diving.

Fiji is a favorite scuba diving location for many scuba divers from all over the world and its highlights include a fantastic variety of colorful soft corals, more than 1200 species of fish, 12 species of whales and dolphins.

There are also many scuba diving resorts in Fiji which cater to all kinds of budgets and divers. Alternatively divers can choose live aboard dive boats or if you are a tourist on vacation in Fiji do not know how to scuba dive, you can take up lessons there or simply go snorkeling off the pristine beaches.

The Fijian archipelago is encircled by a huge reef and therefore there are many shallow lagoons to swim, snorkel or frolick in. There are also thousands of scuba dive sites to choose from. Most dive locations are easy to get to with plenty of resorts offering scuba diving scattered around the Fijian islands.

The water temperature is just perfect for scuba diving with at its coldest at only 25C. On warmer days, it is about 30C. Water visibility in Fiji is excellent with superb visibility of up to 40m or 120ft is a norm rather than exception.

Mamanuca dive sites in Fiji is easily be accessible by boat from the Nadi Airport area on the main island of Viti Levu. Several resorts in the Nadi offer full diving facilities and there are numerous day packages for snorkeling and scuba diving. The diving landscape in Mamanucas consist of shallow lagoons with hollows and bommies and excellent marine life. There are some interesting caves to explore, especially in Sawa-i-Lau in the Yasawa Group.

If you are in Fiji for a scuba diving vacation, you must dive in the world famous Astrolabe Reef on Kadavu in the Southern Islands. This dive spot has excellent hard and soft corals and abundance marine life. There are more soft corals along the north and south coast with some interesting caves to explore. Majestic drop-off can be found on the western tip of Kadavu.

Another excellent dive spot is the Beqa Lagoon to the north of Kadavu boasts of beautiful soft corals, reef bommies and passages. This dive location is famous shark feeding activities with many species of sharks including hammerhead sharks.

The Rainbow Reef in Northern Islands is another world famous scuba diving destination. If you are diving in the Rainbow reef, you will enjoy diving the Great White Wall and advanced drift diving through channels.

These are just some of the many fabulous scuba diving sites in Fiji.

Ban’s Diving Resort Koh Tao and Khaosan Road Go Hand in Hand

Banâ??s Diving Resort Koh Tao and Khaosan Road Go Hand in Hand

When you think of diving or learning to dive in Thailand, itâ??s hard to think that the huge metropolis of Bangkok would have any connection with scuba diving whatsoever. For a start Bangkok only has one beach and if you went diving off there then you would end up swallowing a mouthful of the tons of sewage that gets flushed out with the Chaopraya River every day. But there is a place near the centre of Bangkok that is synonymous with diving in the South of Thailand.

Khaosan Road became a popular hub for travelers to South East Asia in the 1980s when a large event in Bangkok celebrating its first two hundred years convinced the locals on Khaosan Road to rent their rooms out to western backpackers. Ever since then millions of travelers every year western and Asians alike pass through Khaosan road and it has become the gateway of South East Asia and a hub for those going to dive or learn to scuba dive in the south of Thailand.

Over the years dozens of guesthouses, hotels, travel agents and diving agents have sprung up on Khaosan Road with scuba diving agencies often working for or employed by the diving centers and resorts in the south. And with Koh Tao being the diving Mecca of Thailand it is noticeable that most of the scuba diving agents on Khaosan Road have the same name as the diving centers and schools on Koh Tao like Buddha View and Banâ??s Diving Resort two of the most popular diving resorts in Thailand.

Banâ??s Diving Resort itself has at least three scuba diving offices on Khaosan Road and this is simply because one office is not enough to deal with the thousands of walk in customers. Banâ??s Diving Resort and PADI CDC diving center is probably the largest and one of the most popular diving schools and resorts on Turtle Island and the first in the region to be awarded the PADI award for excellence.

Due to Banâ??s Diving Resortâ??s high standard of operations it encourages all its staff and agents to take diving certificates so all know exactly what they are talking about when dealing with customers and answering their questions about their diving courses. All the staff at the resort and on Khaosan Road operate like one big happy family making sure that everyone is in constant communication with each other to ensure that they can deliver the highest standard of service and that every customerâ??s individual needs are catered for. With just a few hours notice diving courses from open water to diving instructor  can be taken in all major languages including, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Swedish.

The newest addition to the Banâ??s Family on Khaosan Road is Banâ??s Diving, Tour and Travel office which can be found at the entrance to the 7 Holders Guesthouse across from the Buddy Lodge Resort. Banâ??s Diving Tour and Travel Office is not just a diving agency but also a travel and tour agents offering diving courses, multi day vacations, sightseeing tours, flight tickets and train tickets. They provide a warm and friendly service and welcome walk in customers and also internet customers who can book online via their website www.bansdivingthailand.com.

US Virgin Islands Are America’s Paradise Diving

Located among 50 islands with the US Virgin Islands are the three islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix where some of the best diving in the region can be found. Accessing these islands is simple with flights from many major US airports daily.

St. Thomas

The dive centre will all take you to the waters of Pillsbury Sound between St. Thomas and St. John to dive sites which have several shipwrecks encrusted with bright sponges and coral. One of the more famous is the “General Rogers” which is a 100 plus foot US Coast Guard buoy which was sunk there to form an artificial reef which is located in around 60 feet of water. The reef is established on the coast guard buoy which is formed some lovely Orange cup coral and others with an abundance of fishes such as angelfish and grunts to name a few.

Probably the best diving in the Virgin Islands is Sail Rock which towers up 125 feet in the air off the West End of St Thomas and is teeming with jacks, wrasse, barracuda, turtles and others.

St. John

Congo Cay and Carval Rock are located between the islands St. John and St. Thomas and are two popular diving sites and is home to many turtles swarming silversides, cruising reef sharks, and waving sea rods and gorgonians. The swim-through is a must do which tower is between two towering rock faces is covered with vibrant marine life.

Congo Cay’s is an opposite dive to Carval Rock with a drift dive though some amazing weathered; the dive site has its own resident sting rays creating a lovely dive. Both dive sites can be done from a basic level but if the weather is bad only experienced divers can dive.

St. Croix

North side of St. Croix is known to be one of the best wall dives in the Caribbean, the wall starts only 100 yards of the beach line and drops to several thousand feet, there are around 20 dive sites located along the wall with varying natures features such as pinnacles, ledges, walls and caverns.

All the Dive shops on all three islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix will offer resort courses, complete certification classes and rental equipment. Many package deals are available with local hotels and dive operators combining for a single price package. Accommodations range from 5-star resorts and villas to small, family run inns and hotels. Camping is even available for those who want to rough it a bit outdoors.

SCUBA Diving Pattaya’s Near Islands

Koh Krok:
The Western face and the Southern point of the island are where the corals are. The corals start on the sand at 15m and extend right up to near the surface. An excellent site for a drift dive as the prevailing currents run parallel to the island. Large “bommies” are a feature of this site; Staghorn, brain,Mushroom and table corals are in abundance. Neptunes,  Barrel  and blue sponge are amongst the soft corals found here. Bushy Antipatharian corals can be found at the deeper sections.

The southern point is home to a few turtles and Pufferfish, Parrotfish, “Half and Half” Wrasse and Six banded Wrasses are plentiful . One section of the West face has an area covered with giant sea anemones along with the usual Anemone and Clownfish. Schools of small Barracuda, Jacks and Tangs can be seen at the North point. There are a few small caves at the southwest end allowing entry only at high tide.

The area is great for snorkeling, in particular the southern point. Another benefit for divers and snorkellers, is that there is little or no surface traffic of speedboats and jetski’s.

Koh Larn:
The left of the bay there is a breakwater of large boulders. Along the seaward side of this breakwater the area is good for snorkeling and diving, although the diving is very shallow. As you continue South West towards the head, the corals get progressively deeper, extending down to about 15 meters. At this point you round the head and come upon an area of short gullies with rock walls about 3m high. The sandy bottom offsets the walls and the corals very well. The marine life is plentiful and good and the area is home to a few Turtles and numerous Grey Nurse Sharks.

Still with the same area, set off to the North East from the bay towards the cliff face on the island. The diver will find an area with flat sandy bottom and many large coral heads and groupings, Here you will find numerous Giant Sea Anemones with their inhabitants as well as a variety of Elephant Ear Anemones and the Black and White Clown Fish. Many divers may have seen these clown fish and observed their habit of disappearing into the mouth of the anemone as the divers approach. These fish make very good photographic subjects.

A point to note around these islands is the large number of fishing boats that operate with their nets very close to the reefs. It is a pity that the authorities cannot control the practice of netting so close to these islands as they are visited daily by thousands of visitors hoping to view the excellent corals and the myriad of fish.

Koh Sac:
Koh Sac is a small almost kidney shaped island lying just to the North of Koh Larn. It is very popular with the large numbers of Asian tourists that come to Pattaya, and the waters can be very busy particularly in the mornings. From midday onwards the tourists tend to depart, leaving the divers and snorkelers to enjoy the beautiful bay and plentiful corals. This bay is well protected from the prevailing winds for most of the year and the water is calm and clear.

Please see my article â??Scuba Diving Pattayaâ??s Koh Sac Island” for greater  detail.

For further information please visit Adventure Divers Pattaya at www.pattayadivers.com

Scuba Diving Around Pattaya Far Islands

As the far islands are uninhabited and a little further from Bangkok the visibility tends to be marginally better than at the Near Islands. All of the Far Islands have large amounts of Jacks, Trevellys, Barracuda, Rabbitfish, Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Wrasse, Gobi’s and as with the near islands thousands of Damselfish, as well as some Giant Reef Rays, some up to 2 metres across. A variety of sharks can also be found in these sites.

Koh Rin:

Koh Rin has three main dive areas each of which can easily support more than one dive. Hin Ton Mai also known as South Rock is a very popular dive spot as the fish life is very varied with lots of Moray Eels and Barracuda. There are plenty of both hard and soft corals, coral whips as well as very good invertebrate life such as nudibranchs, brittle stars and feather stars. This site has very good coral life down to 16 metres. Hin Khao also known as North Rock has as much coral life as South Rock and has lots of rock outcroppings that are homes to many sharks and eels. This is an excellent site for searching around for the more unusual nudibranchs, pipefish, razorfish and others that like to hide away. The site has good diving down to around 14 metres. Koh Rin bay. This site is, unlike the two rocks previously mentioned, part of the main island of Koh Rin. Although this site only goes down to a maximum depth of 12 metres it is well protected from currents and is therefore a nice relaxing dive when compared to both South and North Rock.

Koh Man Wichai:

Koh Man Wichai has two excellent dive areas, the first of which ‘The Wall’ cannot be completed in one dive. The Wall is a 7 metre high coral wall that runs down from 9 to 23 metres and is a dive in itself. The area around the wall itself is an excellent dive site, you can start your dive from the bay and go out along the soft coral line at 18 metres, finish half of your allotted time and come back to the boat along the hard coral line at 12 metres, two environments in one dive !! As each environment is different with the larger fish among the soft corals this is for me the best dive to be had around Pattaya islands. The other dive site at Koh Man Wichai is called ‘The Fingers’, the fingers are a set a rocks stretching from land out to sea to a depth of 12 metres, the hard coral and fish life is very good and as there are five fingers ( but no thumb !!) it is like diving across a large hand.

Koh Hu Chang:

Koh Hu Chang is a very small island that although quite shallow at around 10 metres has some very good corals and abundant small fish life. Koh Hu Chang probably has more sea anemones than either Koh Rin or Koh Man Wichai and as it is well protected from the wind is a good relaxing dive spot.

Koh Klung Bedan:

Koh Klung Bedan is another small dive site that is also quite shallow, maximum coral depth being 12 metres. This dive site has many Staghorn and Table corals as well as Boulder corals that have many Christmas Tree worms.

Koh Phai:

Koh Phai or Bamboo Island is controlled by the Royal Thai Navy, who restricts the use of the beaches, but the small sheltered bay at the south of the island is ideal for beginners.

If you are interested in more information or wish to dive in Pattaya please contact me at Adventure Divers in Pattaya, or visit our website at www.pattayadivers.com