Merry Fishmas Scuba Fans! Check out my underwater themed Christmas cards and send them to all your ocean loving friends!
- Get them here at Divesnaps.com
Posted by: Kelly
Shark Dive Video – Roatan, Honduras
May 20, 2011 - Filed under Scuba Diving, Underwater Photography
Following up on Kellys post about the shark dive we did with Waihuka Dive Center, here’s a quick video I put together from the footage that day. Hope you enjoy!
At Cara a Cara, you descend a line to approximately 20-25 meters to a coral ridge that shelters you from the current. Thankfully, the day the 8 of us went there was no current, so we were able to swim freely with the sharks when they weren’t feeding. The dive master brings down a sealed bucket with a fish head in it. The sharks will swim around you until the bucket is opened at which point, they fight for the fish, then quickly disappear back into the blue. Total dive time was approximately 40 minutes and we saw somewhere between 10 and 14 (Caribbean) grey reef sharks..
Posted by: Shim
Roatan Shark Dive with Waihuka Dive Center
May 9, 2011 - Filed under Scuba Diving, Stuff to do, Underwater Photography
One of the things we wanted to check off our to-do list before leaving Roatan, was the Shark Dive. It was something we wanted to do on our first trip, but somehow time slipped away from us, and we just never got around to it. When we were back this fall we made sure it was a priority.
Pretty much all of the dive shops or resorts on the island can book the Shark Dive for you, but if you’re short on time it might be a good idea to book this in advance, especially if you’re coming in high season, or on a cruise ship day. We purposely booked on a non-cruise ship day, and got really lucky as our group of 6 were the only ones scheduled for that day. Read More…
Posted by: Kelly
Cenote Diving, Tulum, Mexico
October 28, 2010 - Filed under Scuba Diving, Stuff to do, Underwater Photography
While in Mexico, we had the opportunity to do a number of different cenote dives. Frequently found on the Yucatan Peninsula, a cenote is a sinkhole leading to an underground body of water. Often the result of a collapsed cave ceiling, the water is usually freshwater and incredibly clear since it’s mostly rain water that has filtered through the ground. There are hundreds of kilometers of underwater passages beneath the Yucatan Peninsula, though only a handful of locations are actively guided and accessible without advanced cave diving certification. Unbelievably, we even found a house with a private cenote right in the middle of Playa del Carmen on 5th Ave. While we couldn’t dive that one, we did feed the pet turtle and catfish.
Posted by: Shim
The Return to Roatan
October 8, 2010 - Filed under General, Scuba Diving, Travel
When we first came to Roatan, people warned us about the Roatan vortex. Nearly everyone we met told us they had been coming to Roatan for years. Or had come once and never left. And after 3 amazing months on Roatan, it was the first time we were a little reluctant to be moving on. Well, we’re back after 4 months in Belize and Mexico and we’re pretty happy about it. It seems the vortex has sucked us in too.
The first day back, we were just sitting at the dive shop, watching what little traffic there is go by. Adapting back to ‘island time’ hasn’t been hard. It’s nice to be back among the familiar faces in the West End. We made a lot of friends the last time we were here and though many people have come and gone, there’s still a bunch of dive buddies and party pals we’ve reunited with over the last week.
Posted by: Shim
2 weeks vacationing and diving in Belize
May 27, 2010 - Filed under Other, Scuba Diving, Stuff to do, Underwater Photography
On our way up to Mexico for our friends’ wedding, we stopped off in Belize for 2 weeks to relax and do a little more diving. Having only dove Roatan in the Caribbean, we were looking forward to diving another location for comparison.
When we arrived in Placencia, we didn’t realize it was coming into low season and rainy season. For most of our 2 weeks, it’s rained a little on some days and a lot on others. We’re also often the only people in the beachfront resort hotel we’re staying in. So we’ve had a staff of 10+ taking care of us each day as we lounge by the pool when the weather cooperates.
Posted by: Shim
Scuba Diving in Roatan, Honduras
May 24, 2010 - Filed under Scuba Diving
When we were planning out the Central American leg of our trip, visiting Roatan was high on the list of destinations. We’ve often heard what a haven for scuba divers it is, both due to the location (a quick 2 hour flight from Miami) and the cost. Roatan is one of the cheapest places to get dive certified in the world and the fun dive prices are also amongst some of the lowest.
When we arrived in Roatan, we found a range of dive shops. From small shore based dinghy operations and speed boats, up to large 20 person capacity boats that will do day trips all over the island. We decided to go with Coconut Tree Divers, one of the larger, central shops which was close to where we were staying. They’re the only shop in the West End that do 4 dives a day which fits well with our shifting schedules during busy work weeks. They’re a highly social bunch and we had many good stories and nights out with our dive masters and fellow divers. They really went out of their way to make sure we were well taken care of from gear to dive site selections.
Posted by: Shim
It’s a scuba diver’s scene in Roatan, Honduras
April 28, 2010 - Filed under General, Scuba Diving
We arrived in Roatan in early March just as the last of the seasonal storms were coming through. Scouting out a place to stay for a few months we found a large range of options and locations but we quickly focused on 3 areas on the west side of the island due to their proximity to grocery shopping, beaches, entertainment, and dive shops. The island is quite hilly, so a car or scooter would be a necessity in many areas if you don’t want to be taking a taxi 10 times a day.
Posted by: Shim
Scuba Diving at Playas del Coco
February 11, 2010 - Filed under Eats, Scuba Diving, Underwater Photography
Since arriving in Costa Rica nearly 6 months ago, we haven’t been scuba diving much compared to the 80+ dives we did last year in Southeast Asia. We did a 2 dive trip to the Catalina Islands from Tamarindo a couple months ago where we saw a few eagle rays, a school of jacks, and 3 or 4 white tip reef sharks, but the visibility was really poor and with the Papagayo wind in full effect since then, we haven’t attempted another dive until this last weekend when we decided to take a quick trip to Playas del Coco.
We got on the local bus to Liberia at 9am which meanders in and out of each town on the way to it’s destination; picking up and dropping off school children, workers, and food and drink vendors as it goes. Liberia is approximately an hour away from Tamarindo by car, but the local bus takes anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours to get there. We got off the bus before Liberia at the turn off to Playas del Coco (shortly after Filadelfia) and switched buses. Our next bus came along within 45 minutes and we continued on through Sardinal. Within a half hour, we had completed our 3.5 hour journey arriving at Coco.
Posted by: Shim
Sipadan Dive Video
August 7, 2009 - Filed under Scuba Diving, Underwater Photography
Here’s just a taste of the what we saw diving at Sipadan. David, one of the guys from our 2nd day of diving had a Canon Mark II 5D in an underwater housing and was shooting video in HD. He was nice enough to give us the footage and I’ve edited together a little piece from the day. Check out all the turtles, sharks, and the barracuda tornado!
Posted by: Shim
