Get down with the fishes: A diver's guide
|
It’s a whole different world underwater. Even sound and light are different, sunlight appears in individual shafts, and it’s never quiet, a continual current of noise murmurs, clouding water-filled ears. The life here is alien at first. Imagine seeing coral for the first time, its strange hard shapes and texture, and tropical fish in all their colours, and a seahorse or a starfish, after only seeing the world above the waves? Must have been like visiting another planet. These days we grow up on nature documentaries and aquariums, so many people are inspired to venture under water to meet what they already know is there. Diving is the best way to get down with the fishes; it allows you to get deep enough to play with the friendlier members of the marine population and the freedom of movement to get around comfortably. Neither of which a submarine shell affords. Your first step into the blue has to involve diving lessons, but the good news is you can take lessons in some fairly exotic places. A weeks worth of coaching and diving in the warm waters of Fiji or the Red Sea will both instruct and inspire. The Great Barrier Reef and the waters off Manado may be familiar to you from the nature documentaries, but they’re not as inaccessible as you may have thought, you can learn to dive there as well. Once you’ve mastered the basics you can start to consider the kind of diving trips you’d prefer, boat based or land based is the big choice. Divers need access to a lot of gear so they need a base in a resort or dive centre or on a boat. The next decision is what do you want to explore? Wreck diving on the S.S. Yongala, Million Dollar Point, or Bali’s Liberty Glo will amaze history buffs, there aren’t many circumstances when you can have such open access to such large ships, and each sunken lady has a sad story to tell. If you took your inspiration from Jacques Cousteau and his colourful and unusual discoveries, North Save a Tack Passage, the waters off Sipadan Island and Egypt’s Sha’ab Rumi were some of his own discoveries and favourite diving destinations. Water temperature may also be an influencing factor. If you’re a cold fish you may not want to swim with the other cold fishes, but if you're made of tougher stuff Barkley Sound and Scarpa Flow are pretty incredible, the water tinged green rather than the bright blue of aptly named The Blue Hole or Blue Corner. |
|
Best diving destinations » To dive first:
|
North Save-a-Tack Passage DiveDiving in Fiji Namena is in the migratory path of both whale and dolphin species, is lined with islands where turtles come to lay their eggs and just thrives with life. There are something like 400 different kinds of coral growing on the reef and thousands of different kinds of fish, including very healthy populations of jacks and barracudas. North Save a Tack begins as a wall dive known for shoals of jacks and yellowtail barracudas then levels out onto a flat plateau sprouting sea grasses and gorgonian fans. Channels, tunnels and a rocky bridge are the other features, but it’s the coral colours that have given this spot its international reputation. Chimneys is another well known local dive centred around three large coral bommies – it’s a good place to commune with eels – and there is a lot to investigate growing on the bommies, but take care this is an exposed site and the currents, which are what support so much life and colour, can be unfriendly.
Review by Photo by flickr user gshowman |
|
Snorkeling MolokiniDiving in Hawaii, United States Off Maui’s coast, Molokini is a tiny sunken volcano island with what must be some of Hawaii’s best diving and snorkeling. The best spots are in the channel and in the caved in section of the volcano which creates a protected area for marine life. No fishing except by birds who have a sanctuary on the island as well and you can only get here by boat which conserves the coral health as well as the fish numbers and means the water is some of the clearest you will come across - visibility is up to 200 feet. The arc of the volcano rim stops the ocean crashing in. Best snorkeling is around the shoreline which is where the best feeding is. I’ve seen jacks, eels, snapper, goatfish, emperor fish, wrasse, tang, butterfly fish, parrot fish, scad, hawk fish and manta rays, humpbacks and seals. You have to go as part of a boat tour so take some time considering which provider to go with…
Review by Photo by flickr user fallingrock |
|
Diving the S.S. YongalaCoral Reefs in Queensland, Australia Again, this has been called ‘the best dive in the world’ and ‘the best wreck in the world’ but it’s hard to compare dive or wreck sites. This is a steamer trading ship which was caught in a cyclone off Cape Bowling Green, just off Townsville on Australia’s east coast, in 1911 - which is why some guides will tell you it's Australia’s Titanic. It sunk onto sand which is probably why it’s so well preserved and against the Great Barrier Reef which is probably why it’s now a garden of colourful coral. It also sunk in an upright position which makes it easy to get around, but you’re not allowed to go inside, it’s a finable offence and people have been fined. There’s plenty to see on the outside, as well as the coral gardens, full of anemones and sponges, there are batfish in schools which move like magic carpets across the wrecks surface, beautiful, flying manta rays and eagle rays, jacks, wrasse, barracuda, giant groupers, trevally, as well as turtles, octopuses, bull sharks, tiger sharks and sea snakes. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef so this amount of life and colour is to be expected, but it’s still astonishing to see how nature reclaims wrecks. It’s like Geoffrey Rush’s character’s face from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, corals growing on to other corals or on to living, moving creatures and parts of the wreck. In water about 15ms deep at its shallowest point the wreck is about 100ms long. Currents can be unpredictable and so can visibility, but people who have done a lot of wreck diving rave about this wreck despite that.
Review by Photo by flickr user Leonard Low |
|
Exploring the Namena Barrier ReefSnorkelling in Fiji In good weather this long narrow, open water reef provides an ideal environment for larger fish and smaller sharks, like silver tip sharks and grey reef sharks. There are a couple of popular diving and snorkelling sites along the reefs ridge, but as with all open water snorkelling you need to either have experience yourself or go with an experienced guide to get the best out of your water time, this will also help with directions to the places I will mention. In an area near the edge of the reef are three long thin bommies the tops of which are only about six feet below the surface, these bommies, called Chimneys are home to nudibranches, clown fish, hard and soft corals and elegant pipe fish which are among my favourite small fish to watch. A bit deeper below the surface you’ll catch site of barracudas and maybe a grey reef shark. At the other side of the reef is a much larger single bommie called Magic Mound which is about thirty feet wide, on the flat top of which lives an intricate array of coral, twisted lace sea fans and hard and soft corals amongst the coral caps which make good homes to lionfish. This site is where I saw the most sharks during my most recent trip to Fiji in 2005.
Review by Photo by flickr user Looking Glass |
|
Diving the wreck of the USAT Liberty GloDiving in Singaraja, Indonesia Commonly mis-named the USS Liberty, the Liberty Glo lies beneath active volcano, Gunung Agung and is surrounded by stunning reefs. The Liberty Glo is one of Bali’s most famous and accessible dives, lying just a few metres off the shore, parallel to the beach, and is one of the worlds safest wreck dives. She has also become on of Bali’s most spectacular artificial reefs. Nutrient rich currents flowing over it has promoted the growth of huge corals and sponges and divers can hope to see turtles, reef sharks, angel fish,. parrotfish and batfish. The Liberty Glo was built in 1918, at the end of WW1, as an armed cargo ship and was torpedoed in WW2 while carrying rubber and railway parts. Rescued by a Dutch destroyer, she was towed towards Bali and beached in Tulamben where her crew were evacuated. She then sat exposed on the beach until 1963, when volcanic movement caused her to slip into the ocean. She is 120m long and has the unusual accolade of having been wrecked twice. Bali is an established dive location with lots of diving facilities.
Review by Photo by flickr user jipii |
|
The SS President CoolidgeDiving in Vanuatu S.S. President Coolidge was a luxury liner commandeered by the US Navy and refitted as a troop carrier. In October 1942 she ran into one of her own mines in shallow water off Espiritu Santo and was wrecked with only two lives lost, after she was beached then slid into a channel. The Coolidge is now known as one of the largest accessible wreck dives - you can dive in off the shore. There was a platoons worth of WW2 military cargo including big guns, ammunition, jeeps, tanks and personal solider’s kits, like helmets and mess sets in the hold and it all well down still in crates which you can now get down and dive amongst – quite an eerie experience. Soliders walked off it onto the beach, many leaving their kits to go back to once the fires had been put out but they never got to. At 200 metres long there is also plenty to explore above decks, including what used to be two swimming pools - which is a photo opportunity waiting to happen – chandeliers, a gym and a barber shop. A lot of the finery was boarded up when she became a troop ship but some of it has since been revealed. One of the key relics is a huge porcelain statue of a lady riding a unicorn which decorates the fire place of what was once one of the first class lounges. It is interesting to see both the military trapping and those of a first class liner on one wreck. One of the main marine sights is Boris, the 300 pound grouper who lives near the wreck and has been fattened up over the years by friendly divers. Trevelly, sharks, eels, turtles, lionfish and schools of barracudas are the other locals, as well as the rest of Boris’s shoal. This is a really big wreck, with a full hold of varied cargo, and it will take you a couple of dives to see it properly, but the water is warm and visibility good so it’s probably worth planning an entire trip around diving the President.
Review by Photo by flickr user thmcmahon |
