Pipeline Surf Point

John John his friends and many more skating the banzai skatepark and surfing off-season surf session at pipeline.

Dive in Luxury in the Sea of Cortez with the Academy of Scuba and Ned Deloach

Phoenix, AZ – Thursday, May 28, 2009 – The Academy of Scuba today announced that it has reserved the week of July 11th, 2009 for its clients aboard the luxury dive liveaboard – the Rocio del Mar.  The Academy of Scuba and its guests will be venturing off to the Midriff Islands and other remote Sea of Cortez Dive Destinations seldom seen by divers. 

The Rocio del Mar is based out of Puerto Penasco Mexico, also known to divers and beachgoers in the Southwestern U.S., as Rocky Point. The Rocio del Mar is 110 feet of all steel construction, powered by twin turbo diesels, housing ten guest staterooms, equipped with the latest marine electronics to get you to the best dive sites quickly and safely. Sites are being ‘hand-selected’ by the Academy of Scuba Staff and expert dive guides on the Rocio del Mar to ensure our clients experience the broadest diversity of sea life the Sea of Cortez has to offer.

The Academy of Scuba will be welcoming, as its resident experts and special guests, Ned and Anna Deloach. Ned and Anna are seasoned marine life experts. During the trip, they will be leading our guests on dives, conducting video and photo clinics, and facilitating workshops on marine life behavior and identification.  The Deloaches are coming to the Sea of Cortez and you have the chance to learn with the very best in the field of fish identification and marine life behavior.  Ned Deloach is a published author, editor, and a photographer. Some of the published credits of Ned Deloach include Coastal Fish Identification California to Alaska 2nd Ed., Reef Fish Identification: Baja to Panama, Reef Fish Identification – Tropical Pacific, and Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas.

Diving with Deloach’s will be the memory of a lifetime.  These seasoned veterans will help you understand the underwater realm like you never imagined, commented John Flanders, president of the Academy of Scuba.  We are truly honored to have such distinguished marine life experts leading the way on this incredible adventure.

For more information and to book you reservation on the July 11, 2009 Sea of Cortez 7 Day Dive Adventure, please visit http://www.academyofscuba.com. For more information on the Rocio del Mar, please visit http://www.rociodelmarliveaboard.com.

Space is limited to 16 passengers.  Travel Insurance is highly recommended.

About The Academy of Scuba™

The Academy of Scuba is an SDI/TDI Dive Training Facility, a DAN Training Center/Business Member and a SeaSigns Instructor Development Center. The Academy of Scuba is an industry innovator for developing, implementing and reinforcing advanced level Scuba diver training programs. The Academy of Scuba focuses on training with an emphasis to create “great divers”.  The sole purpose of the Academy of Scuba is to not just put people in the water, but to keep people in the water. The Academy of Scuba assists divers in increasing enjoyment, adventure and safety through better education and more frequent dive experience.

We had a ‘whale of a time’ and the whale said thank you.

One sunny September morning while returning from a dive in the crystal clear waters of Mauritius I received a call for help on the boats VHF radio. Being a scuba diving instructor and owner of a diving center on the tropical Island of Mauritius I was doing what we usually do each day. Diving. But this day would turn out to be an unusual day.

Prodive Limited Scuba Diving in Mauritius is a professional scuba diving school and dive center. I have been in the business for 24 years on Mauritius and the oldest Instructor and dive center owner on the Island. We had just taken delivery of our new luxury 46 foot dive boat cruiser complete with cabins, showers, head and galley. Fitted with two Ford turbo six cylinder inboard motors. I was at the helm enjoying the feeling of another successful dive charter and the luxury of the new big dive boat. Behind me was a group of very happy divers and my instructors and divemasters all discussing what we had seen and what has happened on the dive. This is the usual chatting and debriefing that goes on after the dive and is all part of the sensation of Scuba Diving. While steering the boat through the pass (a gap in the barrier reef that surrounds Mauritius) the boats VHF radio crackled and in between the noise coming from behind me and the sound of the motors I could make out that there was a call for help. Somebody asking all dive centers in the north to come and help to save a whale.

After we had returned the divers to our base I explained to my crew and dive team that there was a whale stranded in some way. With out hesitation we decided to go and see what had happened. I was enthusiastic and excited at the prospect of an adventure and this gave me the chance to test the new boat on a distance run.

Apparently the whale was stranded in “Turtle Bay” which is a small horseshoe shaped bay south of our base but still in the north west of the Island. The local radio station was playing some good music and the boats motors were humming as we cruised south to Turtle Bay. It took around a half an hour to arrive at the northern point of a rocky out crop forming the edge of one side of the horseshoe shaped bay. I cut back the throttles to slow the boat speed as we entered the bay checking for the pass in the barrier reef and summing up what was happening inside the bay.

The bay was alive. The surface was boiling with divers splashing around in the water. Disorganized and everywhere, swimming in all directions. In between all this mess I could see some white buoys floating on the surface and then disappearing underwater. A fountain of water spraying into the air as the whale surfaced away from the divers who were awkwardly splashing around in the water. Everyone seemed to be ready to help and at the same time hesitant to approach the suffering Humped Back Whale. Buoys and bits of rope and net were floating everywhere. They had being cutting away at the end of the mass of entangled net dragging behind the whale. But this was not the solution. I knew that we had to get to where it was attached to the whale tale and take it all away at one time. My dive team where ready and donned masks snorkels and fins. We could see the fishing net dotted with white ‘polystyrene’ buoys entangled around the whales tail. This mass of net, rope and buoys preventing the whale from swimming causing immense drag. As the whale moved away from the divers in the water I tried to judge the direction it would move to and spun the helm quickly to gentle maneuver the boat into ahead on position to the direction the whale would take. The dive team, a group of five scuba instructor and divemasters with ‘dive knives’ in their hands. Some had a normal typical Mauritian fish knife with a long but very flexible blade that can be easily sharpened and cuts through anything. Everything was happening very quickly.

Belize’s Great Blue Hole Is It Really Worth Diving       

This is a question that is repeatedly asked on the many dive message boards across the internet and the answers it receives is sometimes misleading depending on the experience of the diver whom answers.

This article is written to provide an unbiased factual information source based on the reaction of hundreds of divers that I have had the opportunity to speak to after diving the Blue Hole.
Since I was a dive operator in Belize for many years and love the country, there will be some readers that say, of course I will promote the Blue Hole in a positive manner but the real truth is I personally think for 90% of divers it’s a great experience a great dive and a great addition to diving Belize.

The Great Blue Hole of Belize is 1000ft across and 460ft deep and forms an almost perfect circle. It has been a favorite fishing ground for Belizean fishermen for hundreds of years and in 1970 it was introduced to the public by Jacque Cousteau whom on his boat the Calypso charted the Blue Hole for the first time and highlighted its wonders in a TV documentary.
The Belize Blue Hole is unique in many ways, one being that it is the only Blue Hole in the world that can be seen with the naked eye from outer space.

It is a fact that thousands of years ago the Blue Hole was a cave that was above sea level, the reason we know this is because Stalagtites and stalamites cannot form underwater, and can only grow with the constant drip drip that can be seen happening to the stalagtites in many above ground caves systems today.
When you consider that it takes more than 100 years for a Stalagtite to grow just one inch, its a spectacular sight to see a 40ft stalagtite that has taken literally thousands of years to reach that size. The Stalagtites can be found in the Blue Hole starting at 100ft, hanging suspended from the ceiling some more than 40ft long.

The Blue Hole and the surrounding area has been designated a World Heritage site due to is uniqueness and is another one of Belize’s many protected areas. (did you know that almost one third of the country of Belize is designated as protected reserves)

Many people don’t realize it but there are only 2 diveable spots in the Blue Hole, The north side which is the more popular side for the larger boats, due to fairly easy access to that side, and then their is the south side which generally only the smaller boats can access due to wind direction and the fact that it has to be dove from within the circumference of the hole itself.
Each has only about 300ft or so of Stalagtites hanging down after that is just a flat wall of basically nothing. On the North dive-site you only have Stalagtites (those that hang down) with nothing but the abyss below you, on the South side it has both Stalagtites and Stalagmites which can be found at around 145ft where there is a small ledge that has some Stalagmites, this is the side you are more likely to encounter the resident Shark population.

In many message board posts you will read that some divers see lots of sharks while other divers see none and there is a simple explanation for this.
I dove the Blue Hole for more than 12 years and while today the Blue Hole has a large population of Caribbean Reef Sharks it will depend on how you dive the Blue hole and whom you dive it with whether you will see the resident sharks or not.

Many years ago before this large population became a near daily occurrence, we did on occasion see sharks in the Blue Hole but always on the South side, and almost NEVER when we dove the North side which was 99% of the time, because as mentioned the size of the boat we were using only allowed us to dive the south side when winds were favorable..

So why do some divers see sharks and other do not ? heres the scoop

Nearly all the boats that dive the Blue Hole from San Pedro see the sharks on many occasions, and the reason for this is that they get to the Blue Hole FIRST before the Aggressors and other large boats, resorts etc that are located in the area. (make a mental note here that normally its the very experienced divers that usually book the liveaboards and stay at the remote Atoll resorts because that is where the best diving in Belize can usually be found)
Being the first to dive the Blue Hole affords them better visibility since the first group to dive the Blue Hole gets the best vis, the reason for this is, as you descend it causes the silt to dislodge as the bubbles rise and releases the silt causing visibility to become reduced. (these days due to the large number of boats and divers visibility is nearly always quite bad compared to the other fantastic dives at Lighthouse Reef)

When you consider that San Pedro sends many boats a day to the Blue Hole you can understand why those that dive it later in the morning under the pretext (Lets wait till the san pedro boats leave so its less busy) dive a site that has had probably 50 divers through it already before they get the chance to dive it.
This puts them at a distinct disadvantage as to the quality of the dive especially in the area of visibility since 40-50 divers and there bubbles will reduce visibility by up to 50% in some cases, in addition there are the Sharks.
The Sharks will sometimes follow you throughout the dive but are mainly utilized at the end of the dive since you have an extended safety stop of 10 minutes or so and while waiting out that time on the sandy ledge located at 15ft you are buzzed and entertained by up to 30 Caribbean Reef Sharks.(Not Guaranteed)

The sharks are induced to come to the surface by baiting the water with sardines this will bring them to the surface from the depths of the Blue Hole and give the diver the opportunity to view these magnificent creatures during the safety stop.
The liveaboards do not bait the water nor the local resorts and if this is not done the likelyhood of seeing any sharks is reduced by 90% so you can clearly see that most divers that dive the Blue Hole from a liveabord or an Atoll resort will have a far inferior dive due to these reasons.
Baiting is now not allowed however some operators still do it to try and get the sharks up from the depths.
It is normally the very experienced divers that are usually the ones that are on the liveaboards because this normally affords them the best diving opportunities in Belize and that is absolutely correct with the EXCEPTION of the Blue Hole dive based on how they are currently running that dive.

Over the years a repeated question is posted on the various diver message boards Is the Blue Hole Worth diving ? and you will see the same answers time and time again from don’t bother its a waste of time to its a great dive well worth it and everything in between.
Why is there such a vast difference in peoples opinions, my answer is that most regulars on message boards, that is those that post at least once a week etc are normally very active divers and have lots of experience and have had the opportunity to dive multiple places around the world and give there advice freely to others.This however can do an injustice to a fairly new diver that happens upon a message board and asks the question is the Blue Hole worth diving ?? Most of the answers I have seen on message boards are negative when asking this question, mainly I believe because its a very experienced diver that maybe has 1000’s of dives under his belt and when he dove the Blue Hole it was probably from a liveaboard after a bunch of other divers had dove it and because of his worldly experience he was less than impressed with the Blue Hole, so he makes his experience heard to this fairly new diver that has only dove cozumel since certification and has 20 dives under his belt, he of course thinks this expert diver knows exactly what he is talking about so decided NOT to dive the Blue Hole because of what he has been told.

When this fairly new diver gets to Belize and is asked do you want to dive the Blue Hole I receive the answer OHH no I have heard its not that good i then I ask who told you that, and I receive an answer of I read it on a message board, or my friend came to Belize and he told me, so I ask did he dive the Blue Hole while he was here then ?? and I receive an answer Oh no but he had heard it was not worth it either so did not dive it when he was in Belize. I hear this time after time after time. I then explain the Blue Hole trip and hopefully I had some guests inhouse that have just come back and then I don’t have to say a thing they will sell them a trip for me but if I do not have divers inhouse then I will tell them about the trip and encourage them to go and I usually add that if they don’t think it was worth it I will refund there money, needless to say to this date I have never refunded anyones money normally they are extremely appreciative that I talked them into it and let them make there own mind up and I am happy to break the cycle of the OH No I heard it was not worth it mode.

Why do I do this if I made more money keeping them inhouse? the reason is that I am the first to say that Belize has many different areas to dive and each unique in what it has to offer, based on what a specific diver is looking for in a vacation (that’s another Belize article to follow soon) I want the visiting diver to go back with a positive impression of diving Belize and anything I can do to increase there enjoyment of diving Belize then I will do that.

The Blue Hole is a unique dive that if dove correctly can be an excellent addition to any divers logbook it will be less impressive to those divers with thousands of dives under there belt but the other 95% of divers will really enjoy the dive and view it as a positive DIFFERENT enjoyable dive.

So next time you see a question posted on a message board asking about the Blue Hole be sensitive to the experince of the diver asking when you answer it. Divers whom have been lucky enough to travel all over the world with thousands of dives under there belt will find it less of a thrill however the average diver will enjoy diving the Lighthouse Reef and The Great Blue Hole of Belize the possibility of sharks the eerie feeling and sheer difference,it will be a memorable diving experience for them, give them the chance to make there own judgments.

If you planning a trip to Dive Belize why not visit my website and let me help you plan your trip

Dive Safe

Gaz Cooper

Scuba Diving Malaysia – Sea Dragon Malaysia

Scuba Diving Malaysia Sea Dragon Malaysia Sdn Bhd is an independent, wholly Malaysian scuba diving training center conveniently located near Time Square in Kuala Lumpur.

Scuba Diving Malaysia is a member of PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the world’s largest recreational diving membership organization. The membership includes dive businesses, resort facilities, academic institutions, instructor trainers, dive educators, divers, snorkelers and other watersports enthusiasts.

We recognize that our strength and competitive advantage is in performing outstanding service and developing excellent programs. We pride ourselves in listening to the need of our markets and exceeding their expectations.

The instructors and team that make up Sea Dragon Malaysia have amassed a wealth of experience and skills from teaching and servicing a diverse clientele range over these past 10 years. We are proud to offer the same limitless dedication and commitment to you.

We also offer diving or snorkelling Equipment to buy and rent, dive trips and can even sort you out with accommodation with a wide range of resorts throughout Malaysia.

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In all that we do, we will demonstrate our steadfast commitment to being a world-class leader in every aspect of our business – in the training of scuba divers and instructors, in the support and service we provide, in diving safety and education, in aquatic environmental education and preservation, in the way we design and develop our products. We honor our commitments, take personal responsibility for our actions and practice the highest ethical standards.

For further info please visite our Website http://www.scuba-divingmalaysia.com Or by Email web [at] scuba-divingmalaysia.com . Scuba Diving Malaysia – Bali Diving

Scuba Malaysia – Scuba Diving Malaysia – Sea Dragon Malaysia