What you get for what you earn
So… I’ve been on land for some time and I’m bored out of my skull. Obviously I don’t have much to write about since all I’ve done is recovering from my sinus infection. Anyways; I’ve had some time on my hands and a few thoughts has passed through my head even though I’ve been trying to avoid brain activity all together. One of those thoughts was of mathematic nature. Now, when I resort to philosophy in mathematical terms it’s normally a supreme sign that I need to get something to do, not to turn into something like John Nash in “A Beautiful Mind”. Anyways; what was going through my mind was how much my income actually was compared to what I could earn elsewhere, or rather; what I would have to earn elsewhere to be able to get for my funds there, what I get for my funds here. And [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba Diving in Egypt Tags: living live in Egypt, Scuba diving Egypt
Whale Watching!
The pacific coast of Costa Rica is very often thought of as a place for Pelagics. This is very true and we are currently in the middle of one of out 2 whales seasons. Whilst we see dolphins throughout the year whales tend to visit specifically during 2 time periods. The first season is from December through to April, and the second season is August through to October. There are 70 species of dolphins and whales in the world and it is estimated that approximately 25 visit the waters of Costa Rica. This is for a variety of reasons, whether they are migrating, mating, birthing or feeding, the warm waters with currents bringing plentiful food are an obvious attraction. Some of the more frequent visitors are false orcas, spinner dolphins, pan tropical spotted dolphins and the humpback whale. One of the most prolific and recognizable of the whales species is [...]
Florida- Home of Diving Variety
“Hi, I’m Florida. I heard you were looking for some diving.” Many divers across the Northern Hemisphere, especially in these cold winter months (as I write this, I am in shorts and a t-shirt ), are thinking, “I’m getting pretty sick of this low-visibility quarry and this dry suit.” Their diving fantasies are reaching fever pitch, imagining a place where the sun is shining, the only temperature they can find in the 30s is that of their mixed drink, and the underwater world provides rich, colorful vistas, chock full of coral and teeming with tropical fish. Welcome to my home. Believe it or not, I am not describing the Bahamas, or even the Mediterranean. In fact, most of you reading this don’t need a passport or to spend a full day on a plane to get here. Welcome to Florida. Most divers know there is some diving here, and have [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba Diving in Florida Tags: dive florida, Dive sites Florida, Scuba Diving florida
To have a sinus infection and a hero from Madrid
To have a sinus infection and a hero from Madrid The boat turned the bow to the sea again and I was sitting on the sundeck thinking that I could have had use for more than a day in between the trips. I had left Marsa Alam around 1:30pm so arriving in Hurghada later the same evening there was no use in wasting time. Go directly to the Dive Pro’s local waterhole. There I got together with Henrik and a few other people in a desperate attempt to kind of socialize. You definitely need to spend some time with people who are neither guests on your boat nor co-workers in between trips. I often think of the dive industry in general, and Hurghada in particular, as an “Upgrading Facility for Nuclear Family Waste”. Maybe it’s the only place where we, the people who does not fit into the norm of [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba diving destinations, Scuba Diving in Egypt Tags: sinus infection
Flamingo Tongue Flood
There have been localized Flamingo tongue "blooms" in spots all over the Caribbean - Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Mona Island, Puerto Rico to name a few. Are they making a comeback, or is this a sign of trouble?
Categories: Conservation, Marine Biology, Scuba Diving in the Caribbean Tags: awareness, biology, changes on the reef, Conservation
The World’s Best Shark Dive
When someone finds out that I photograph sharks for a living, they invariably ask two questions: Have I ever been bitten and where is the best place to dive with sharks. I’m pretty good at answering the first question: “No, I haven’t. In fact, most sharks want nothing to do with me. I have to hold my breath and avoid eye contact just to get close to them”. This often leads to a period of confusion and disbelief followed by a funny look of disappointment. Then they generally walk away nursing their shaken preconceptions. I can’t be sure but I think a lot of them are thinking; what does he know? He just photographs them. I’ve seen Jaws. This guy is an idiot. The second question is vastly more difficult to answer because I have never been able to decide where the best place to go shark diving is. It [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba diving destinations, Shark Diving, Types of Diving Tags: Cocos Island, Fish Rock, Guadalupe Island, jaws, shark attack, shark dive, shark diving, sharks
What happens in Egypt stays in Egypt
Teaching diving is something that I don’t often get a chance to do in this day and age, with the exception of the occasional Nitrox course. Then again, that is more theoretical- than practical application and doesn’t really include any “in water skill training”. Hence the smile on my face when I received the news that I was to teach the Rescue Diver Course and the Dive Master Course to an English girl called Ashleigh. My only concern was how I would manage to fit in the training parallel to guiding certified divers on liveaboard trips. Fortunately we had a week on land due to lack of bookings, so the theory and confined water training was easily completed with help from Theresa (my colleague on the boat) acting as a victim. We had a great time and since Ashleigh worked as a life guard at a swimming pool, prior to [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba diving destinations, Scuba Diving in Egypt Tags: dive sites in Egpt, diving in Egypt, Scuba Egypt
Cano Island Diving
Cano island is on the south pacific coast of Costa Rica. From my base in Manual Antonio it is around a 2 hour boat ride south, but that is going to reduced soon, thanks to the arrival of speedier transport. Cano island is a national park in itself so is subject to certain rules and regulations when visiting. You have to make reservations to start with , no rocking up the day of, and even when you are there you have to check before you dive, as there are limits to only 10 divers per sight. The north side of the island is the side that is open to the public and home to a ranger station and some very basic facilities. The reef runs all around the island but there are 7 specific dive spots that are drop points for diving. Saying that, most of the diving seems to [...]
Toadfish Tales from Costa Rica
Now one of favourite fish, and call me strange if you will because of this, is the ToadFish. I have very strong reasoning behind this so hear me out. Firstly, they are in all truths pretty bloody hard to find. After spending a couple of years diving in thecarribean and listening to them "singing" I managed to find them only on 2 occasions.
New Scuba Jedi for Scuba Diving in Canada
Welcome to the Scuba Diving in Canada and the PADI System Scuba Jedi. My name is Darrell O’Donnell. I’m an Assistant Instructor with PADI and I’ve been a certified diver for 10 glorious years. I live up here in the Great White North of Canada and I know a lot of warm water divers must think, “How does someone who lives 820km (510 miles) from the nearest coast and whose lakes are frozen for 6 months of the year get out diving?” Well have any of you out there ever considered Ice Diving? It’s a blast and something that very few people will ever try. A warm dive for me is somewhere in the 45-50F surface temperature. I dive in a lot of lakes with visibility that most of you ocean junkies would never even consider good conditions. Most days, when the visibility is 25 feet, it was a great [...]
Categories: Scuba diving destinations, Scuba Diving in Canada Tags: habakkuk wreck, project habakkuk, scuba canada
