Posts Tagged ‘Scuba’

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.

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

Great Barrier Reef: Ultimate Scuba Diving Experience

The Great Barrier Reef is considered to the ultimate in scuba diving adventures in the world which offer same excitement to experts as well as beginners. So what is so special about the Great Barrier Reef ? First of all, the size. Its simple huge – stretching over 1400 miles along Australia’s East Coast. It is not only the largest reef system in the world, but many consider it as one of the most beautiful too. If this has been your dream to visit this natural wonder, here are some tips for the first-time traveler :

The Location of the Reef

Situated near Queensland in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is about 185 miles away from the mainland on the southern side. It is about 12 miles away from the shore on the northern side. It is about 50 miles wide at the northern side – the widest stretch. What can you expect to see at the Great Barrier Reef. The amazing variety of plant and animal life which have made its home here is mind-boggling. You can, actually see about 4000 species of mollusks, more than 1000 species of fish, about 380 species of coral, 500 species of seaweed, six varieties of sea turtles.

How to Get to the Barrier Reef

There are daily flights to Australia from the West Coast in the United States. When you reach Australia, you may have to take a small connecting flight to land near one of the gateways to the reef. Generally people go for Cairns and Townsville, two tropical cities located near the northern side of the reed. The other gateway is at Gladstone and Bundaberg, located near the southern side of the reef.

The Ultimate Scuba Diving Adventure

The calm and lucid waters around the reef make it the best location for scuba diving in the world. Water may run deep at certain places, but is generally moderate for amateurs to dive in. For beginners, diving should be in shallow waters – about 60 feet in depth. However for experts, there are reefs around the Coral Sea where the depth is about 300 feet.

To go through one of the best scuba diving experiences, you can board one of the popular ‘live aboard’ boats. These specialized boats take visitors right where the action is. Many such boats have convenient luxury amenities and can organize boats to take divers right at the center of the reef. There are day boats available for day-time scuba diving. These day boats take visitors for 4 to 5 hour trips into the reef. Even local resorts organize these day boats for their guests.

Finding a ‘Dive Island’ Resort

Resorts located in small islands around the reef are capable of organizing scuba diving trips for the guests. They provide convenient access to the reef and are great for visitors looking for a scuba diving adventure. Generally these resorts are situated in Lizard, Green, Lady Elliot, and Heron islands. ‘Cod Hole” – a popular diving site is situated off Lizard Island.

Best Time to Visit the Reef

Anytime of the year is considered to be safe and suitable to visit the reef for scuba diving. This is because of the nature of the water which is normally calm and steady. The Australian summer is considered to be popular – which is between December and March. Because of the tropical climate, the temperature usually hovers around 70 to mid-80s.This makes a visit to the Great Barrier Reef and its surrounding cities pleasant at anytime of the year.