Curacao Sept 13-20, 2008
October 26, 2008 by Shannon · Leave a Comment
Curacao Sept 13-20, 2008
We just returned from a wonderful trip to another one of the ABC (A= Aruba, B=Bonaire, and C = Curacao) islands. This was our first trip to Curacao! Curacao is a small island slightly north of Venezuela. We chose to go there because our trip took place during hurricane season, and the ABC islands are generally considered to be out of the hurricane belt.
We chose to stay at Lion’s Dive resort, as there was a reputable dive shop on site, and it was attached to the marine park. Any resident of Lion’s Dive has free access to the marine park for your entire stay. The hotel, in our opinion, was adequate, although there were a few frustrations here and there. When we first arrived they didn’t have a lock to our safe, as promised, and we couldn’t get it until after noon the next day, which was quite inconvenient to us. We also had a ton of mosquitoes floating around our balcony, and several slipped into our rooms for nightly visits! I left with many more mosquito bites than I care to have had! People we met from other hotels said they did not have issues with mosquitoes, so not sure if it was the position on the island, or what… but definitely if you go here, bring your DEET! In general, however, the front desk staff was quite friendly and helpful. The rooms were OK, but not quite what we noted on the website. A little smaller, and a little more plain, but the oceanfront view was nice, and there was a refrigerator for our beverages. It was adequate for our needs. You don’t really spend much time in the room anyway!!
Lunch and dinner was most excellent at both Nemo’s and Hemingway’s, the hotel’s two restaurants. We ate a wonderful dinner at Nemo’s the first night we arrived, although the food there was pretty expensive. We frequently visited Hemingway’s for their wonderful cheeseburgers, pizzas, and sandwiches for lunch. The Nemo staff was excellent, but the staff at Hemingway’s, one of the two hotel’s (less expensive) restaurants varied a bit. Many of them were friendly, but it seemed they were a little inconvenienced by some requests. Prepare yourself for no split bills (as it plainly says on their menu). There are no split bills, and there are no exceptions. Our friends and ourselves (four of us on this trip) started sitting at different tables so we could easily keep our finances straight. Oh, and just an aside, if you happen to be a ketchup freak like myself, buy a bottle at the nearby store, and take it to your meals, both on, and especially off the hotel grounds. After two packets of ketchup at the local Kentucky fried chicken, you have to buy each packet!! Breakfast at Nemo’s was just so-so, and I didn’t think worth the $13 and some cents price tag. We only did that one day, and stuck to our granola bars and store bought stuff the rest of the week. They also informed us they didn’t give change at Nemo’s for breakfast, so you lost even more money if you didn’t bring exact change (if you decided not to pay for the entire week ahead of time like we did). After a few days, we rented a car, and hit a nearby grocery store, and the cost for meals came down significantly.
Lion’s Dive dive shop is Ocean Encounters. It was a well equipped facility with very nice dive boats. The staff there was very accommodating to the changing needs of our group. Sherman was one of my favorite divemasters… he was very funny and fun to be around. The diving was good. BE SURE to go to the Mushroom Forest as that was one of the most, if not THE most beautiful reef I’ve ever been to. It’s mushroom after mushroom of coral reefs with so much marine life there. It’s $40 extra as it’s about an hour boat ride each way, and lunch is provided, but it’s worth every penny. After that far of a haul, I was disappointed we only did one dive there, and then a second at a nearby site. The second one wasn’t nearly as good. However, I imagine they do that so as to keep that reef as pristine as it currently is. Also during our surface interval we snorkeled to the edge of the rocky shore, dove down, and came up in a cave with an air pocket where we could all see and breathe above the water. That was pretty cool. It was a much better than the average ‘sit around on the boat’ surface interval.
One difference between the dive shops at Bonaire and Curacao, was that Bonaire was much more structured and informative to divers when they got to the island. I felt this way with both the shops I dove with there. First day in Bonaire, you sit down with a dive shop member to pay your marine park fee, fill out your paperwork, and then go over dive procedures on the island. In Curacao, there was no marine park fee (paid at the dive shop, anyway), and there was not much of an introduction. We basically felt our way around and asked lots of questions along the way. Being experienced divers that was no big deal. For new divers, however, this would be a little more of a disconcerting way to get started. Proper orientation is a lot more comforting than being thrown into your dive day, and figureing out your check-out dive, schedules, and procedures all on your own.
Sherry, Crystal, and myself also did the dolphin dive. It was about a 30 minute open water dive with, in our case, two dolphins. The dolphins, Annie and Tayla were both pregnant and preferred to spend a lot of time together, so they were both present on our dive. They came very close and everyone had 4-5 opportunities to touch them. George, the marine biologist, gave us a very good briefing prior to the dive and then met us at the site with the dolphins following his boat out there. It was a wonderful experience, I’d do it again in a heart beat, even for another $200!! We have the video and have included at the bottom of this post.
The Sea Aquarium next door was a little small, but definitely worth a visit. There is a schedule, and you can watch the dolphin and sea lions train, as well as feeding of the fish. We also have some great photos of Crystal and Sherry feeding the nurse sharks. You can schedule a time to snorkel with the dolphins or sea lions if you like. Sherry and Crystal scheduled private time with the sea lions where they were allowed to touch one, get a kiss from one, and then snorkel with several in their pens attached to the open ocean.
One of the biggest highlights for me on the trip is that I was introduced to Dolphin Assisted Therapy. At the sea aquarium they have a two week therapy session for the disabled. They take anyone from childhood to young adult. The facility is staffed with physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers and speech therapists, who work with the patient dockside. As part of their therapy or behavior rewards for the child, each child gets to interact with the dolphins. A dolphin trainer is also present at each platform to work with the therapists. Because of my background as a therapist, I was encouraged to come learn about the center, and was permitted to observe as the sessions were going on in the water. It was a wonderful thing to see. The director of the program introduced me to the program itself, and gave me information to bring back home. As most of the participants are from Germany and Holland currently, she was hoping I’d take the idea home to the Americans. It is only one of a very few facilities of its kind in the world. She said she had seen some phenomenal results, as kids come back year after year. It is $6000 US to participate, but it appeared to me to be worth every penny. She also stated they were building more hotel rooms right next door that were being designed to be more handicapped accessible, not only for program participants, but also for the general population that has more difficulty getting around, due to age or disability.
Towards the end of the week we added a few non diving activities to our agenda. First we went to the Aloe Vera farm, where you could see aloe plant after aloe plant after aloe plant. Their products are 98% aloe vera, which is supposed to have very healing properties. It was a quick stop, but I thought worth the trip. Right next door, we went to the Ostrich Farm, which was some of the most fun we had all week. We climbed up on a big old German world war two vehicle that had been outfitted with benches for tourists. Our guide took us around the farm explaining facts about, and the habits of the ostrich. There is a restaurant onsite were fresh ostrich is served, if you desire to partake. We just took the tour out of pure interest. For $10 it was worth the trip. At one point we got off our vehicle, each held a big pan of ostrich food, slowly backed our way up to the ostrich pen, and all these ostrich heads appeared curling around in front of us going crazy on that bucket of food. You couldn’t help but just burst out laughing! Later we actually got to hold a 3 day old chick and we each stood on an ostrich egg because they’re so strong they can hold up to 400 pounds! They have to, because the males fertilize them! We learned they’re not the smartest animals, but that they are some of the strongest! Their method of defense is kicking forwards with both of their legs. They can defend themselves and kill a cheetah by kicking them in the head. They broke both the forearm bones of a hired hand awhile back the guide told us. “He didn’t come back after that”, the guide said.
We also went to a small cave in the area which was a fun diversion. It was the first cave Mike had ever been to, so he found it very entertaining. There were plenty of bats on the ceiling, and interesting formations inside to be found. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Most people on the island spoke Dutch and English, so wherever we went there was someone who could speak to us in English. After the cave we drove north and hit the coast line. We walked over a natural bridge, went into caves the sea ran in and out of, and hiked along the coastline to see what we could see.
The last couple of days we went downtown for a little shopping. They had a very quaint little, Dutch styled downtown. There was a waterway dividing the two sides of town. Connecting both sides of the town was a bridge you could walk across to get from Punda to Otrabanda. The interesting thing about the bridge is that it had a motor at one end. When the large cruise ships or cargo ships went through, they engaged the engine on the bridge and pushed it to the side to allow the ships to pass. During this occurrence, people were shuttled from one side to the other via small ferry. We used both methods of transit during our stay just for the fun of it. Also downtown we saw the floating market. This was where all the small boats gather that carry produce across the ocean from Venezuela. Locals go there to purchase their fresh produce and exchange goods. We saw some fun artwork in their alleyways, an old beautiful church with white sand for its floor, and lots of the local wares. Of note, the map given to us by the hotel had many unmarked roads on it. Also some of the roads on the map were marked very poorly with lack of street signs on the island. It took a little bit of getting used to getting around on our own, but with a little help from the front desk for directions, by the end of the week, we were getting around to just about anywhere we wanted to go.
All in all, it was a very fun trip. Curacao is definitely a place I’d return to. We’d been to Bonaire 3 times, as we liked it very much. We expected Curacao to be very similar, and in many ways it was. The language, the laid back people, and the diving was much the same. However, Curacao is a bit more developed. It’s larger with more to do than on Bonaire. So, if non-divers were participating on the trip, I’d have to pick Curacao over Bonaire, because there’s more places to go and more things to do. Nightlife is also more plentiful in Curacao, as compared to Bonaire, for all you party hounds our there!
We hope you enjoy.
Shannon
How to Become a Dive Instructor
October 25, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
How to Become a Dive Instructor
By Chris Campbell
What diver wouldn't want to spend their days diving in a tropical paradise? Teaching others about your passion for diving, can be a very rewarding career. While, it may not be the highest paying job, there something to be said for an office with a view. I spent one glorious getting my Padi certification a few years ago, down in Aruba. The dive instructor I had actually came from Venezuela every day, as it was only 50 miles across the water. They weren't the toughest bunch of instructors I've seen. The day the water temperature dropped below 80 degrees they all started complaining. Water temperature aside, they all seemed to really love their jobs. So if your thinking about becoming an instructor, here are some tips.
Here are a few basic requirements you will need to meet. Don't worry, if your already a diver, chances are you've already done some of them.
1. An education is a must for just about anything these days, and dive instructor is no exception. A high school diploma should be considered a minimum, but a college degree would be even better. Marine biology, or outdoor and recreational leadership would be a couple of applicable degrees.
2. If your not already a diver, you should take some courses, and at least get your PADI or NAUI certification. It's a sure way to tell if your going to like the job.
3. Get your dive master certification, and complete at least a hundred dives. If you haven't got tired of diving at this point, then instructing could be the gig for you.
4. Keep yourself in good physical shape. Swimming is an excellent way to do this, and pretty handy for a diver to know how to do.
5. Your ready to start browsing the job ads.
Of course that's the simplified version of how to become a scuba instructor, but I think you get the gist of it. For more info about scuba diving jobs, or how to become an instructor on my blog, just click the previous links.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Campbell
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Become-a-Dive-Instructor&id=1608992
Diver Panic
October 25, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
What is the most serious condition a diver can experience underwater?
DCS (bends), narcosis...?
It's probably panic, for the simply reason that once a diver starts to panic he/she looses all rational thought processes. In most cases the irrational thinking renders the diver giving self-help almost impossible. The diver is not able to 'think there way out of a problem'; below is an example:
You are diving a famous wreck in local waters, the depth of the wreck is at 40m and the visibility is around 10m. The pre-dive excitement and anticipation are high as you enter the water, once you and your buddy reach the wreck you are overwhelmed by its size... You both spend the next few minutes swimming around the wreck until suddenly you look around and can't see your buddy. Then your dive computer starts to beep as you run out of bottom time, you realize your some distance from the ascent line; so you make a made swim for it. In your haste to get to the ascent line, you don't see the mass of fishing line and it gets entangled around one of your feet/fins. The more you struggle the more you get entangled, with no one to help, you start to panic. No bottom time, limited air supply (at that depth on a single tank)...
It's easy to say, but not so easy to practice; BUT if you stop for just a few seconds try to calm yourself before you hit the panic stage. You can think about your predicament more logically... Relax and slow your breathing (to conserve your air and reduce CO2 build-up), which will make you feel more relaxed and less stressed. Look down identify the problem, maybe removing your fin will make it easier to untangle! If you have a knife or EMT shear (which are highly recommended), take them out and start cutting.
Even if you exceed your bottom time by a minute or two, your diving computer will still prompt you as to what to do (safety stop, ceiling etc); and obviously in this kind of situation it would be advisable to stop diving for a 24hr period if your no decompression limits are been exceeded.
A simple trip to break the circle of panic in a diver is to get them to perform a very simple task for themselves. This shows them that they are in control, and help clam and reduce the level of panic.
By James Costello, SDI Intructor Trainer #13056; visit my website Dolphin Dive Adventures & Services for more information about scuba diving.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Costello
http://EzineArticles.com/?Diver-Panic&id=1602263
Diving in Strong Currents
October 25, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
Fins - This may seem an odd thing to bring up, but it does have an affect. Soft/flexible fins may be comfortable to use where there is little or no current; however in strong current they aren't going to 'cut the mustard'! You need fins that can move a lot of water without bending... (Jet fins are great for this if you have powerful legs!)
Technique - About the best technique for fining in current, is the flutter kick. But there are also a few things you should take care of; firstly when you use a steady powerful kick, but make sure you don't open your legs too wide. As doing this will cause drag and reduce the effectiveness of your fining! Secondly, remember fining in current is a marathon not a sprint; pace yourself so that you can maintain the speed, and take advantage of the changes in current (currents will always vary as you swim through water) i.e. when the current reduces slightly take advantage and use it to relax your leg muscles a little.
Depth - the current will always be less close to the seabed, so where possible always descend to the bottom.
Cover - use the underwater landscape to shelter yourself from the current, such as large rocks/coral heads, etc. This allows you to rest, and relaxes for a few minutes before continuing on; or you may use it to decide on your plan...abort the dive being one option!
Hands - don't forget you can use your hands to pull yourself along, or a pointer/knife if you have one. The obviously isn't the most ideal situation, but if you really have to get to a point it maybe the only way!
Plan - last of all don`t forget to plan! If you don't like strong current, don't dive! Or plan a drift dive, so the boat will pick you up as you surface!
By James Costello, SDI Intructor Trainer #13056; visit my website Dolphin Dive Adventures & Services for more information about scuba diving.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Costello
http://EzineArticles.com/?Diving-in-Strong-Currents&id=1602286
Cold Water Diving in Alaska
October 25, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
In the Alaskan winter the glacial runoff and plankton bloom is diminished along the shoreline. For this reason, our winter diving transitions from Resurrection Bay boat diving, to shore-based diving in Whittier at Smitty's cove. Winter conditions include water temps get as low as 38 degrees, but the visibility can improve up to nearly 100 feet. Smitty's cove has debris which was dumped into the water during WWII. This debris includes pipes, railroad tracks, pilings, an aircraft fusalage, a railcar tanker, and the parts of a crane which lie in water ranging from 30 to 100 feet.
The bottom composition is primarily gravel in the shallows, yielding to a deep "silt" arond 70 feet, There are sea pens and whips in the deep, and ling cod, octopus, rockfish and a whole variety of invertabrates and smaller fish. In the winter you'll find divers concentrated at Smitty's cove due to the lack of accessibility to other water front areas. Industrial developement such as a marine ferry terminal, railroad terminal, and marina occupy the majority of coastline. Smitty's cove has recently been designated by the city of Whittier as a marine sanctuary, but this status seems to remain somewhat tentative in nature and subject to political influences.
To dive Smitty's cove, there is a small fee, but the proprietor of the parking lot has provided a warm up shack for the divers to use before and after the dives. To get to Whittier, you'll drive south on the Seward Highway from Anchorage for about an hour to the Anton Memorial Tunnel. This is a unique one-way tunnel through the base of a mountain and allows traffic in and out of Whittier on an alternating schedule. Be prepared to pay about $12 for a round-trip ticket. Rental tanks and equipment is available in Anchorage, with no support and very little in the way of amenities in Whittier. The cove is protected against prevailing winds and waves most of the time, and represents a convenient dive site for winter time diving.
President of Dive Alaska, Scott has been a cold-water diver for 20 years. With extensive experience diving in south central Alaska, and operating the regions only full time professional dive charter boat, Scott has a vast knowledge of Alaskan waters. Scott is a scuba instructor for PADI, GUE, SDI, TDI, ERDI, and is experienced in cave and technical diving. For more information about cold water diving in Alaska, visit http://www.divealaska.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_C_Anderson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Cold-Water-Diving-in-Alaska&id=1602805
Bull Shark - Appearing Out of Nowhere
October 16, 2008 by mj · Leave a Comment
By Tommy Hayes
One day, while free diving with a friend, the largest Bull shark I have ever seen swam under us. The problem was that we were a half-mile from the beach and Bull sharks are the most aggressive type of shark in the world. Luckily, for us, he wasn't hungry at the time and slowly swam away after a few tense moments of observation.
The Bull, Tiger, and Great White are considered the top three sharks most likely to attack humans. Growing up to 11.5 feet in length and weighing up to 500 pounds coupled with the Bull shark's very aggressive behavior means it can be extremely dangerous if a person happens to unknowingly enter into its territory or cross its path.
Although sharks are commonly known to hunt individually, I have two friends who have been SCUBA diving and seen three Bull sharks hunting as a pack in both instances (in Galveston, Texas and Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands). When the first two sharks passed my friend, diving off of Jost Van Dyke, the third one, bringing up the rear of their formation, took a bite at one of his fins. Luckily, the shark continued after its companions who were chasing a large school of fish.
The Bull shark is unique in that it is commonly seen throughout the world swimming in fresh water. Sightings and attacks have occurred in the most improbable locations such as Lake Nicaragua, 2,200 miles up the Amazon River in Peru, near St. Louis in the Mississippi River, and in Lake Michigan off the coast of Chicago. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, there were numerous sightings of Bull sharks in Lake Ponchartrain. If a river or inland body of water connects with the open ocean, there is always a possibility that Bulls could investigate and appear where it is least expected.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tommy_Hayes
http://EzineArticles.com/?Bull-Shark---Appearing-Out-of-Nowhere&id=1568613
