world reviewer
Nick Shaw
Nick is a PADI trained diver and now diver trainer. His diving jobs have taken him part of the way round the world and underneath the water of some exotic destinations.
Nick Shaw's activity
- 15 Jul 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed North Sulawesi below water in Indonesia
Manado and more specifically the Bunaken National Marine Park off the coast of Sulawesi is renowned for its biodiversity and hence colour. Many, many inspirational diving photos have been taken here, full of unusually looking creatures. It’s like divi…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Gizo Island in Solomon Islands
Reefs, unusual and impressive coral formations, WW2 wrecks, wall dives and lots of life and colour, Gizo Island is another tropical-island-ideal diving destination. Water temperature and visibility make diving here even more pleasant, as does the topsid…"
- 14 Jul 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed Exploring the Namena Barrier Reef 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 differe…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Magic Passage and Planet Rock in Papua New Guinea
The warm tropical waters in this part of the world are not just blue but coloured with life from the corals and marine life. Overly dramatic it may sound but it is quite astounding to come upon some of these sites and even after spending years diving I…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Sipadan Island Diving in Sabah, Malaysia
From the name, you’d be expecting Barracudas and you wouldn’t be wrong. Jacks join them in schools amongst the corals which grow out for flat stretches in large fields. Turtles, white tips, groupers, wrasse, reef sharks, parrot fish, tuna and frog fish …"
- 11 Jul 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed The Palancar Reef in San Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico
Again, an area of reef this large will have any number of great dive sites, there are about 40 well known spots used by the guides and dive boats but they’re just the ‘official’ ones. Winding rocky canyons and plummeting crevices and archways make this…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving the Great Blue Hole in Belize City, Belize
A giant, almost perfectly circular sinkhole in the Lighthouse Reef System, the Great Blue Hole is a dive site like no other. Smooth limestone walls go down about 150 metres – straight down – sprouting more and more unusual shapes in limestone as you ge…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving and snorkeling the Somosomo Strait in Fiji
If you want to dive amongst the shoals this is the place to do it. For beginners and experienced divers who just like seeing a lot of fish, the Fish Factory site is basically a large lagoon in the Vauna Reef with a white sandy floor bottom. The best sig…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Sha'ab Rumi in Sudan
One of the clearest spots I’ve dived in the Red Sea, Cousteau set up a base nearby, which is a recommendation that loads of people follow. The marine landscape is obviously breathtaking with a varied range of corals and many different species. It’s als…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Sodwana Bay in Kwazulu, South Africa
This bay and the corals underneath it are part of the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park, so the run off area as well as the reef itself is protected. This means the hard and soft corals are healthier than in a lot of other South African dive sites (not th…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Scapa Flow Diving in Scotland, United Kingdom
Many wrecks line the sea floor of Scapa Flow, a large part of a WW1 German Fleet are sunk down here, but so is the James Barrie, a hull trawler sunk in 1969. Sunk after taking on water she’s in very good condition, just at the bottom of the Hoxa Sound …"
Nick Shaw reviewed Great Barrier Reef in Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Just like the rest of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef but with more sharks. The hard and soft coral gardens are bright and lush, and it’s open water so as well as the sharks there are big fish, pelagics and turtles, as well as the usually colourful sm…"
- 10 Jul 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed Manta Point in Maldives
This is about the smallest island you can imagine, you can walk around it in about 15 minutes, no exaggeration. It’s pretty much a ‘tropical paradise’. There are a couple of dives off it but the best one has to be Manta Point. It&rsq…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Fish Factory Vauna Reef in Fiji
If you want to dive amongst the shoals this is the place to do it. For beginners and experienced divers who just like seeing a lot of fish, the Fish Factory site is basically a large lagoon in the Vauna Reef with a white sandy floor bottom. The best si…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Coral Gardens, Vauna Reef in Fiji
Tavenui is well known for being pretty on top, it’s called Fiji’s ‘Garden Island’ but it’s pretty breathtaking underneath as well. The seabed has been scarred by lava run offs which smooth out certain places and are like ridges in others where the sandy…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Shark Observatory and Anemone City in Egypt
The way the rock of the coast curves under at this site makes it like diving into a Roman amphitheatre. The real observatory is on top of the cliff, topside. The cliff falls pretty much vertically to a depth of about a hundred metres before curling out…"
- 09 Jul 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed Cannibal Rock in Indonesia
Bright maroon and yellow sea apples cling to this rock in a channel off Rinca Island; they have pale tentacles which they attach themselves to the rock with, and purple gorgonian fans sprout out of the gaps creating a truly strange scene. Fans grow to …"
Nick Shaw reviewed Richelieu Rock, Surin Islands in Myanmar
The guide I had on the Surin Islands said that if I didn’t like diving here I didn’t really like diving. Luckily I really liked diving here. The problem comes when you go without a guide as some people attempt to. This isn’t the kind of place you can …"
Nick Shaw reviewed Navy Pier, Exmouth in Western Australia, Australia
Pier dives are generally thought of as being for beginners, it’s easy to access them, the water is shallow and the currents are fairly gentle, so why do people say this is one of the best dives in Australia – the other side of the continent has the Great…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Shark and Yolanda Reef in Egypt
Two reefs wriggle their way out of the Red Sea floor creating an interesting underwater environment at the tip of the Ras Muhammad National Park. The reefs are like tiny atolls, flat on top, and there, and in the steep sides are where the best corals gr…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island in Malaysia
From the name, you’d be expecting Barracudas and you wouldn’t be wrong. Jacks join them in schools amongst the corals which grow out for flat stretches in large fields. Turtles, white tips, groupers, wrasse, reef sharks, parrot fish, tuna and frog fish…"
- 06 Mar 2008
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving the Thistlegorm in El Gouna, Egypt
If it’s not the most famous wreck in the world then it’s in the top ten. 131 metres long, the Thistle was a WW2 military cargo ship bombed from above while carrying a full load of hardware, guns, motorbikes, jeeps, trucks, tanks and entire train carriag…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Sipadan Island Diving in Sabah, Malaysia
Another discovery we have Cousteau to thank for, Palau Sipadan is a treasure trove of potential sites and sights and one of the best places in the world to swim with turtles (green and hawksbills are the most common.). They graze on sponges here, cruisi…"
- 03 May 2007
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving the Japanese Fleet-wreck in Truk Lagoon in Micronesia
Another second World War dumping ground for military hardware, Truk (of Chuuk as it is officially spelled.), was a huge Japanese deepwater port surrounded by a beautiful encircling, healthy reef, which came under profound fire from US forces over a three…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving and snorkeling the Somosomo Strait in Fiji
More soft coral than I have seen anywhere else and growing in beautiful, delicate looking clumps amongst seductively swaying anemones, a paradise for both fish and divers. There are plenty of great sites in the straight, catering to tastes in walls, b…"
Nick Shaw reviewed North Save-a-Tack Passage Dive 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 differen…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving the wrecks of the Zenobia and Citti Di Alesandri in Cyprus
Never making it past her maiden voyage, The Zenobia was a huge ferry that sunk in 1980 due to a computer error that saw the pumps pumping water into the ship instead of out. She was a big lass and it took her two days to sink after she pitched to a 45 d…"
Nick Shaw reviewed The SS President Coolidge 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 …"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving Million Dollar Point in Vanuatu
Military wrecks are some of the most common and most interesting for diving because of both the dramatic historic events they bring you closer to and because all the gear just looks really fantastic, even more so when it’s been re-colonised by nature – a…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving Blue Corner in Palau
Strong currents bring in the food, which brings in the fish, which brings in the divers, who have fun in the currents. And the diversity of fish the currents bring in is impressive by anyone’s standards, three or four barracuda species, tuna, four or fi…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Manado Diving in Manado, Indonesia
Manado and more specifically the Bunaken National Marine Park off the coast of Sulawesi is renowned for its biodiversity and hence colour. Many, many inspirational diving photos have been taken here, full of unusually looking creatures. It’s like divin…"
Nick Shaw reviewed Diving the S.S. Yongala 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 Australi…"
