|
headlines on your own web pages for free! Click here for details. |
SCUBA News 73~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) Issue 73 - May 2006 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A packed issue this month with another free draw, an article on the Island of Curacao (Netherlands Antilles), a review of a diving thriller and, of course, the round-up of the diving news from around the world. We hope you enjoy SCUBA News, but should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html Contents: - What's new at SCUBA Travel? - Two Chances to Win an On-line Coral Reef Course - Your Letters - Bookshelf: Double Cross by Patrick Woodrow - Creature of the Month: Nudibranch, Coryphella browni - Curacao, by Tab Hauser - Did You Know? Coral Reef Facts - Diving News from Around the World __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? =========================== Diving Operators in France More diving centres are now listed in our guide to diving in the South of France. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/france/franceacc.html#diveop Diving St Lucia Many readers disagreed with an article we published on diving St Lucia. Read their replies at. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/americas/stlucia.html Diving Operators in Thailand Find which are the recommended dive centres in Thailand - listings now updated at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thaiop.html Underwater Photos We've put more photos of underwater creatures in our photo galleries. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/photouk.html __________________________________________________________ Win an On-Line Coral Reef Biology Course ======================================== Beautiful Oceans are now offering TWO SCUBA News readers free access to their on-line Coral Reef Architecture and Organisms course. To enter the draw just subscribe to SCUBA News then e-mail us and put "Beautiful Oceans" as the subject line. The idea for on-line courses specifically designed for divers comes from Stephan Becker and Ian Popple. Becker has a Diploma in Environmental Studies and a background in interactive education programs. Popple has a MSc in marine biology and has written extensively for many publications including National Geographic and New Scientist. Together they want to give divers the opportunity to learn about coral reefs and directly benefit the ecosystem that they explore. Don't be put off by the term "course". You don't have to attend any virtual lectures and one of the main aims is to be fun. You are given access to the web site where you can see marine videos and read the course materials. You can work through at your own pace, and if you need any help, or want to talk to other students, you use their web forum. Optionally, you can get the course book as a pdf file or printed manual. For more details of the course see http://tinyurl.com/o29pm our read our review at http://tinyurl.com/rmppj __________________________________________________________ Your Letters ============ Mexico Can anyone provide any info. on dive shops or sites in the Ixtapa Mexico area? Thanks Philip -- And from the Diving Board... Mexico We are looking for a bilingual (Eng/Span) OWSI (any agency) to manage a full service dive center on the Costa Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Management experience and computer skills a must; compressor system knowledge and mechanical ability a plus. Job duties will involve management, instruction, guiding. Salary plus commissions and beach front living quarters. Suz62 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=505 -- Commercial Diving Hi, I was wondering if there was anyone that could help me... I'm 21 years old and I've been sport diving for about 5 years. I have decided that I would like a career in commercial diving. I've looked into it and can get funding for the course and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I realise the price of the training etc and I obviously realise that you will need your own equipment. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of equipment is necessary and the general costs of such. I ask this as there is no point in doing a course, to come out and not afford the equipment needed to get work. James http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=463 __________________________________________________________ Bookshelf: Double Cross by Patrick Woodrow ========================================== Patrick Woodrow Double Cross Arrow, 2005 422pp. £6.99 0 0994785 9 5 Review by Andrew Reay-Robinson An all-action novel, with plenty of diving, written by an experienced diver. The author's diving knowledge means that you do not have to endure the cringe-worthy diving sequences in a lot of novels written by people with limited if any diving experience. The book's hero is a British underwater photographer who accidentally kills a woman before going on the run to protect his career. The woman's death, however, provides him with vital clue to his inheritance and what follows is a fast paced globetrotting adventure with plenty of diving, drug trafficking baddies and a thrilling climax. The book is very easy to read with simple dialogue and is a good escapist read. Ideal to relax with between dives on a diving holiday or liveaboard. Available with 20% off from amazon.co.uk at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0099478595/1286 and from amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/ __________________________________________________________ Creature of the Month: Nudibranch, Coryphella browni ==================================================== Subscribe To SCUBA NewsOur newsletter, SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011), is absolutely free. It is a monthly publication, delivered by e-mail. To receive your copy fill in your details below. We will never pass your e-mail address to any third parties, or send you unsolicited e-mail. You will receive an e-mail confirming your subscription. If you don't receive this you have probably entered your e-mail address incorrectly - revisit this page and re-subscribe. Send us your Press Releases
If you have a SCUBA related press release, or would like to write to SCUBA News, please fill in the form below.
|
|
|
Recently an assorted group of middle-aged men spent
5 days on a "soft" adventure trip. Our goal was to get
away from work, our significant others and some of our
responsibilities. The reason we came here to
Curacao was to dive, go ATVing (quad biking as it is
sometimes called), wave running, fishing, hiking and
taking an occasional nap at the pool.
The Diving
I picked Habitat Curacao Hotel as our place to stay
because it is known as a dive destination. They
advertise 24 hour dive freedom. And the dive staff is
where Habitat Curacao shines. Ann-Marie runs the dive
operation very well. She is friendly, attentive and after
the day is over, happy to chat about diving over a beer.
Two people run the dive boat. They were friendly and
their dive briefing was accurate and informative.
Each one took turns leading anyone that wanted to follow
them below the surface. About half the divers on the
boat trip set their own profile and went on their own.
Of the 4 boat dives, we followed the leader for about
half of some of the dives and finished on our own the
second half. One thing all divers were advised on was
to surface in one hour as a courtesy to others. There
was no speech on coming up with low air or penalties
for going too deep. Here, they emphasized knowing the
limits on your own. To me this was a refreshing way to
dive. I have been to resorts where they want you
near the boat with about 1000 psi (70 bar) and on
the boat with 500 psi (35 bar). I know of times
where one person in a mandatory guided group made
the others come up 20 minutes early because they
sucked their air too fast.
Our group did 2 morning boat dives. The destinations
included Rediho City, Pelican Beach, Mushroom Forest
and Harry’s Hole. What we saw on these dives were
beautiful coral formations and lots of small tropical
fish. At Mushroom Forest we did swim with a friendly,
2-foot long, turtle. With the exception of Mushroom
Forest, navigation was very easy. You simply hugged the
wall in one direction and then came back in the other.
Mushroom is on flatter area where we stayed at about
40 feet (12 m). Here we swam in large circle coming
up once to check out the boat’s location (which moved
due to its mooring breaking away).
At Harry’s Hole our group came back to the boat
with a little more air than expected. We enjoyed the
extra 10 minutes swimming around all the soft corals
and sand patches under and near the boat at 20 to 25 feet
(6-7 m) below because of all the small fish activity.
It was here I spotted a juvenile spotted drum fish
swimming back and forth with what must have been
100 newly hatched fish around it under a small ledge.
It was easy to photograph this fish as it ignored me
while my camera was no more than 18 inches (45 cm)
away. I also set the simple digital camera I was
using to video and filmed it for about a minute.
Habitat House Reef
What is nice about the house reef at Habitat is
that is beautiful, easy to dive and you can not
get lost. Starting from their recently updated
diving dock there is a rope that goes straight
out to 90 feet. Our plan for all shore dives
would be to follow the rope to a specific agreed
upon depth. We would then go 20 to 25 minutes in
one directions raise our depth 10 feet (3 m) or so
and go back until we reached the rope.
During the dive we would see plenty of hard coral
all along the wall. The wall was so heavy with
the different corals that there would be no sandy
areas until you got to around 25 feet (7 m). The
reef had plenty of fish. The two largest creatures
we saw here was a grouper about 2 feet (60 cm) and
a green eel that had a head nearly a foot long
head (30 cm). It probably was once of the largest
eels I have seen in my 17 years of diving. Each
dive we did here included a safety stop by swimming
in the shallow area near the moored dive boat
looking for the elusive frog fish that hung out
in a specific area. Unfortunately we did not find
it. The shallow area ranged 15 feet on the top of
the wall to nine meet in the middle of the flats
and offered lots of soft coral an anemones to view.
On our last night our group did a midnight dive.
For 2 of the group it was their first night dive.
The rope, calm seas, no currents and full moon
made it pleasant experience seeing several fish
sleeping in holes. One group from upstate
New York did a few sunrise dives at 6:15AM to
view the day fish waking up and the night fish
finding places to sleep.
Water temperature for our spring trip was 80 oF
(27 oC) with visibility of about 75 feet (22 m).
All mornings had calm seas and the boat rides to
the first reefs were 20 to 30 minutes with the
second stop 15 minutes closer to the hotel.
Our routine for to the first two days was a
2 tank boat dive, followed by lunch, lounging
by the pool and then a late afternoon shore dive.
If you are staying at the Habitat Curacao Hotel
you can also dive the house reef at
Ocean Encounters further west. Both hotels
have reciprocal agreements for their guests.
Prices for shore diving is $24 per day. A
2 tank boat dive is $55 and includes all the
shore diving you can do. Rates include tanks
and weights. Lights for night diving is $2
plus $9 to buy a 4 pack of C batteries. (If
you go, bring batteries).
Accommodation
Habitat Curacao is about 25 minutes from the
airport. The down side to it is that it is a
40 minute ride into town. The upside is that
Habitat Curacao’s house reef is beautiful.
For an ocean view room request in advance the
upstairs rooms as it has a better view and more
privacy. Our opinion of the place was mixed.
The rooms were nice enough. They did not clean
them all the time or that well and the only way
I got shampoo was taking it off the cart the
next to last day as they said it was not always
available. The bathroom was basic but shower
pressure was not good when more than a few
people took showers in your building (like
after a dive boat came in). Also, hot water
was also not constant. Each room came with a
small refrigerator and 2 burner stove. There
is a complimentary shuttle 3 times a day that
goes into town with pick ups twice a day.
Taxis can be arranged for about $30. Information
is at http://www.habitatcuracaoresort.com/
Food at the hotel was run by a different company,
but was no better than average. The hot breakfast
buffet was $10 while the continental buffet was
$6 and was basic. Lunches averaged about $15 and
dinner $30 minus drinks. Service was average
to below average. The waitress staff could use
a bit of polishing and in some cases seemed lazy.
The restaurant and hotels center piece of
attraction was its bar. Drinks we found
reasonably priced.
Non-Diving Activity: ATVs, Fishing, Sight-Seeing
After doing a mid-morning dive on our third day we
headed to Eric’s ATV Adventures (Quadbiking). To
get there we took our van to the east side of
the island just past the Sea Aquarium. Here,
Eric had six yellow and red Honda ATV’s waiting
for us. We were showed a map of where we were
heading. After going through the safety briefing,
we donned helmets and then practiced in the dirt
parking lot a few minutes before it was off on
our adventure.
Eric picks up the tab for refreshments half-way
round. The choice he recommended was a chilled
aloe drink that was quite refreshing and quenched
our parched throats. We also all tasted an aloe
wine that none of us wine lovers in the group
would run out and get. If they sold the all
natural aloe drink in the States, though, I would
not hesitate to buy it.
It is important to know that handling an ATV is
not like driving a car but closer to a motorcycle.
Driving it requires shifting from a clutch less
transmission. In some ways it is like driving
a motorcycle with 4 wheels. You need to be
relatively coordinated and realize you just
can not speed recklessly about or you can
get hurt from hitting a rut or hole. Eric in
a few of the difficult areas did stop and
advise our group what gear to be in and
reminded us to be cautious. Our group had
some experience in ATV’s riding in the rain
forest of Dominica and the desert of the
Baja so was given a little extra liberty
with the machine and trails. If you go and
are not experienced, tell him and he will
make a trail catered to what is the best and
safest for your needs. Lastly, Eric had us
stay on trails and not bushwhack around
ruining the land. For more information on
Eric’s ATV adventure go to
http://www.curacao-atv.com/
We also chartered two fishing boats from
Ed’s Fishing - www.caribbean-fishing.com
Sight Seeing
I highly recommend seeing the town as
Willstad is a busy bustling center. It is
here you will find some of the best old Dutch
architecture on this side of the Atlantic. Due
to our limited time we only saw Temple Mikve
Israel - Emanuel, the floating fruit and
vegetable market and enjoyed seeing the locals
go about their business among the pretty
buildings while having lunch. Temple Mikve Israel
- Emanuel is the oldest continuously used
synagogue in the western hemisphere. If we
had another day or so I would consider a
walking tour to learn about the history and
buildings here.
Final Thoughts
Curacao is not just another pretty Caribbean
island devoted to weekly tourists and daily
cruise boaters. It is a working island devoted
to industry, trade and oil refinement. It is
not the most scenic of islands I have visited
in the Caribbean compared to St. Lucia, Dominica,
Tortola and others, yet it is a place I am glad
to have visited for what it did offer. We
found the people nice and the diving excellent.
Had we spent a few more days here we would have
gone hiking in one of the national parks and
perhaps hit a few of the beaches on and off
the main roads. There are some newer hotels near
the dive spots. If we come back we would probably
shop for a different hotel on the same side of
the island just for a change. The Habitat
Curacao’s is a pleasant enough place but it is
all about diving here. As a dive destination I
give it 5 stars. As a hotel / resort I give the
place 3 stars. If they put a some extra effort
into a few things like better showers, cleaner
rooms and amenities to name a few things as well
as improved the food and service I would have
given them another star. For information on just
about everything you need on the island go to
http://www.curacao.com/
--
Tab Hauser is a free lance writer / photographer who has
contributed articles in trade magazines and local
newspapers on business, travel and community events.
This article has been abridged. For the full
version, with photographs, see