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SCUBA News 35
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 35 - March 2003
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to SCUBA News. We hope you enjoy it but should
you wish to cancel your free subscription please do so at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html
Contents:
- What's new at SCUBA Travel?
- Creature of the Month: Leopard Shark
- Women Divers in Saudi Arabia
- Thailand Diving Experience
- Diving News from Around the World
If you have any diving news, comments on this
newsletter or dive reports we'd love to hear
from you. Just fill in our Contact the Editor form.
__________________________________________________________
What's New at SCUBA Travel?
===========================
Australian Photo Gallery
We've opened an Australia underwater photo gallery with
some splendid pictures of manta rays, turtles, sea
snakes and the like. The photos are mostly by our
photographer Tim Nicholson, but we also feature work by
guest photographer Ed Pilling.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/photoaus.html
Sharm El-Sheik, Red Sea
Our dive operators in Sharm El-Sheik page continues to
grow.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/redsea/sharmop.html
Thai Dive Operators
We also now have more operators listed in our
Thailand section.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thaiop.html
Top Ten Dives
Another change round on the Top Dives in the World
chart. View the new list or vote for your favourites
at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/topdives.html
:ADV_____________________________________________________
Save money on a vast selection of posters and prints:
whales, sharks, dolphins, fish, seascapes...
Browse the offers at
www.allposters.com
______________________________________________________ADV:
__________________________________________________________
Creature of the Month: Leopard Shark (Stegastoma fasciatum)
===========================================================
Leopard Sharks are a favourite with divers as they sit
lazily on the bottom and are easy to approach. They are
harmless unless provoked. Reaching lengths of 3.5 metres,
you can instantly recognise them by their spots and long,
straight, tail. See our photo at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/leopardshark.html
The sharks live in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean - including around Thailand and Australia.
They feed mainly at night on small fish and molluscs.
Their 25 cm long offspring hatch from large, dark
brown, egg cases.
The leopard shark is the only member of the
Stegostomatidae (Zebra shark) family. It's called the
Zebra shark family as the juveniles are black with
yellow stripes.
For more about leopard sharks, and other sharks and rays,
we recommend the book "Sharks and Rays (Collins Nature
Guides)". Available from
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
__________________________________________________________
Women Divers in Saudi Arabia
============================
by Denise McCracken
For those women wondering about diving in the Red Sea off
Saudi Arabia - the process is a little bizarre but works.
Women like everyone else must obtain government permission
to venture off-shore to dive. This is normally readily
available from the work site or through the Diving company.
Women must wear their Abaya (black long Robe) as ususal
when boarding the Dive boats and will be asked to present
their work Igama or passport to the Coast Guard authorities
before entering the Red Sea from Jeddha. Once the
permission to dive has been obtained by the dive boat the
trip to the dive site can begin. At the dive sites and en
route women are able to prepare for a dive as normal in
any other part of the world. Women do dive here and enjoy
it immensely dispite the obvious restrictions put on
them in this country.
__________________________________________________________
Diving Southern Thailand
========================
by Bill Mashek, USA
Thailand is such a wonderfully diverse country. It would be
a pity to spend eight or ten days on a live aboard then go
home. Plan on at least a couple of weeks and do both land
and sea.
In my very limited amount of time (15 days) I explored three
different regions of southern Thailand. In this issue I'm
concentrating Phuket area and Krabi / Koh Phi Phi. Next
month more on my trip to the Similans.
*
GETTING THERE
All transfers to our different locations were pre arranged.
This is not always the best method to use; however, it
was nice to see a sign with my name on it as we exited
the airport. The ride from the airport to our hotel in
Karon Beach was a ride I could have survived without.
Everything you have heard about Thai taxi drivers is true.
This includes passing on curves, hills, tailgating inches
behind the car in front - all the things one would get
"shot" for in USA. The irony is, there is no road rage
but plenty of traffic deaths. I would recommend against
renting a vehicle during your stay.
*
PHUKET AREA
We stayed at the Sea Breeze inn, where we immediately
became "best friends" with the staff. You can get
anything you want in this little neighborhood, clothes,
jewellry, Thai massage (highly recommended), hair cut,
many restaurants, mini markets, tailors, pharmacy and
even a dental office.
Dive Operators:
There are many Dive shops in Phuket
area. There are also many dive boats. Some are good
and some are not so good. This is why I used a local
dive shop that was also a tour operator. I looked at
websites and other recommendations for dive shops.
I found several good ones. Sheldon Hey, an
Australian ex-pat who owns Dive the World Thailand
(info@divetheworldthailand.com) responded immediately
and in a professional manner. He answered all my
questions and worked with me on an itinerary. He
picked out the dive boats I used in Phuket and
Phi Phi Island. He also arranged all my transfers
(seven) in air conditioned taxis. There was often
some confusion though everything worked out well.
I later found out that all hotels will arrange
transfers--this may be my next option.
Dive Sites:
My first dive was with a German operation named
Sea Bees. They had a brand new dive boat: Excalibur.
The trip consisted of four dives including one
night dive. We dove the Phi Phi Islands and
surrounding areas:
Shark Point (Hin Bida)
Typical South Pacific corals and fish.
Interesting but not spectacular. Visibility
around 50 ft. Maximum depth 80 ft. The highlights
were 2 cuttle fish, a seahorse and a sleeping
leopard shark.
Koh Bida Nok
This site was a little more diverse. Saw more
cuttle fish, huge tube corals and lots of colours.
The highlights were two mating leopard sharks and
lionfish. Maximum depth was 72 feet. The
visibility was much better, in the 75 foot range.
Koh Bida Noi
Though this dive site was less than 100 meters
from our last dive site it was quite different.
There were similar corals but the current was
much stronger and the visibility was under 50 foot.
We did see more lionfish and leopard sharks.
Night Dive - Koh Dok Mai
This dive consisted of a rock sticking out of
the water half way between Phuket and Koh Phi Phi.
Interesting wall dive with unique colours and
different fish. We entered a huge cavern with a
small cave (about 15+ ft straight in) enduring
fairly strong currents. This was not a dive for
the faint of heart or first night dive. Being
a marginally experienced lobster hunter for this
dive would be an appropriate prerequisite.
Maximum depth 66 ft.
It should be noted these were all computer
non-decompression dives. We dived in small groups,
2-4 divers in each group. Jurgen, from Belgium,
was my dive guide-excellent and the only one who spoke
fluent English.
*
KRABI AREA AND PHI PHI ISLANDS
We travelled to the Krabi village of Anong Beach.
Swiss tourists mostly populated this area.
Subsequently, we stayed in some quaint Swiss bungalows
across from the beach called Wannas Place for $30 US
per night. Just don't get the bungalows way up the hill
(a long hike). The next day we dove with a
Swiss operation, Anong Divers. They put us on a
Kon Tiki Boat (Swedish) and we dived the Phi Phi
islands. In my opinion, Krabi area is not recommended
for diving from because of the distance to dive sites
which is reflected in the price. Your best bet here
is to stay at West Railey Beach for a couple of nights
then go to Phi Phi island, where you are only 15 minutes
from most diving.
We spent our last two nights on Phi Phi Island.
From Phi Phi, I took a "speed boat" to Hin Daeng;
this site is considered one of Thailand's best wall
dives and a noble end to a remarkable dive vacation.
Hin Daeng is also considered the place to see mantas
and whale sharks-of which I saw neither. Hin Daeng
(red rock) is an insignificant rock protrusion in the
middle of the ocean. Underwater, the rock is mammoth.
If you like wall diving you will love Hin Daeng.
Saw bigger fish here including, large groupers, schools
of big barracuda, several morays, lionfish mating,
and all the normal tropicals. Visibility and depth
of dive exceeded 100 feet with challenging currents.
Definitely, need to watch your computer at Hin Daeng.
The next dive, only 100 meters from Hin Daeng was
Hin Muang (purple rock). This is an under water reef
covered with a variety of corals, and abundent sea life.
Hin Maung is another deep dive with moderate to strong
currents. The dive operator was Phi Phi Scuba, an
Australian operation on Phi Phi Island. The next
morning we took our ocean taxi to Phuket and after
a six-hour wait at the airport flew home.
*
TRAVEL TIPS
From the USA get air price info by calling the airlines
directly-not via internet. Then go through an Asian
travel agency, usually in a larger city. They buy
most of the wholesale tickets and this is reflected
in their prices. I saved over $100 on my ticket.
The best time to travel to Thailand (weather) is
December to March.
Plan on spending some internet time checking out
dive operators and planning an itinerary. Use a local
(Thailand based) operation not an American travel agency
for booking your dives. Almost all dive operations are
European or Australian managed. All boat captains are Thai.
Excellent diving equipment can be rented for about
$12-15. per day, I choose to bring my mask, snorkel,
fins and regulator and rented a bc and torch for about
$3.00 per day. If you are going to do a lot of dives
and are on a budget you may consider bringing your
equipment, especially your computer.
- Thai folk like receipts keep all receipts or you may pay twice.
- Rent a moped, but not in Bankok or Phuket.
- Check out Tourist trips. Like sea kayaking, rock climbing,
whitewater rafting, side trips and trekking. Diving is
great but not the only thing to do and see.
- Spend a day shoping in Bankok.
- Take a cooking class.
- If nothing else you have to get a Thai massage.
---
Many thanks to Bill for supplying this article, and watch
out for his second installment next month. For more
information on diving in Thailand see our Thai section -
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/
__________________________________________________________
Diving News From Around the World
=================================
COMMENT SOUGHT FROM AUSTRALIAN DIVERS ON SHARK PROTECTION
The grey nurse shark is critically endangered. The
Australian government has drawn up a recovery plan
for the shark and invites comments from divers and
other interested parties.
http://www.ea.gov.au/coasts/species/sharks/
DIVER ATTACKED BY MAKO SHARK
A diver in New Zealand was attacked by a mako shark as he
was about to climb into the dive boat. He was
hospitalised with severe lacerations to his left forearm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
DIVER SURVIVES JELLYFISH STING WITH NEW TREATMENT
A diver survived a deadly jellyfish sting when he was
given a new treatment, which happened to be developed
by his cousin. This magnesium-based drip probably
saved his life.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2852833.stm
NEW DOLPHIN CONSERVATION STRATEGY UNVEILED
Plans to help protect dolphins and other small cetaceans
from acccidental injury or death in fishing nets have been
announced by the UK Fisheries Minister. Recommendations
include: a legal requirement to use acoustic deterrents
(pingers) with nets; an effective observer scheme to
monitor cetacean bycatch; better cetacean population
monitoring and a recognised accreditation scheme for
cetacean friendly fisheries
http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1086
LOBSTER LARVA STAY CLOSE TO HOME
Recent research has found that instead of travelling
far in ocean currents, lobster (and other) larva stay
local. The study supports the importance of marine
reserves in reviving fish populations.
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-03-13/s_3384.asp
:ADV_____________________________________________________
Log data from GPS, sonar and other instruments to your
database or mapping program with the free Windmill
software. For diving, marine archaeology, salvage, coral
reef monitoring, etc. Download your free copy at
http://www.windmill.co.uk/gps.html
____________________________________________________ADV:
CORAL REEF ALLIANCE CALENDAR PHOTO CONTEST
Have you some superb photos taken at locations where
steps are taken to protect the reefs: be it marine
reserves or just coral friendly dive briefings? If
so you can enter the Coral Reef Alliance contest.
Deadline is 1 May.
http://www.coralreefalliance.org/photogallery/
EARTH DAY
22 April is Earth Day and before it arrives the
Coral Reef Alliance want you to take their Dive In
Pledge to show your support for coral reefs and
eco-friendly diving.
http://divein.coralreefalliance.org/
OUR WORLD UNDERWATER
From the 25th to 27th April the 33rd SCUBA show takes
place in Chicago. 12000 visitors are expected.
http://www.ourworldunderwater.com/
__________________________________________________________
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