Scuba Diving

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Gunny, Nov 6, 2011.

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  1. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Who else dives or is into it?

    My girlfriend and I got our Open Water and Advanced Open Water diving qualification during our trip in Thailand.
    Over the course of it we did 11 dives and it was incredible.

    Aside from learning all the stuff you need to know, the marine life is incredible. We also got to do a wreck dive on a boat called the King Cruiser which sank about 10 - 15 years ago (if I remember correctly).

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  2. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Here are some of the marine animal photos we took. There are more photos there as well. The photos were taken by our instructor and it was only 2 of the dives where they came from.
    I tried photography but wasn't very good at it. Interested in doing it but takes a lot of practise and getting used to the colours.

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  3. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    [​IMG] (this one makes me laugh, the expression of the fish)

    Does anyone else Scuba Dive? If so, where have you been? Any places you recommend?

    We joined a dive club here in Melbourne and get to do shore dives weekly (if we choose) as well as going overseas for dive holidays.
     
  4. avvie

    avvie It's another cold day in Hell Tip Jar Donor

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    I totally can't believe I'm NOT dive certified :irked: I LOVE being down underwater and I live RIGHT in the MIDDLE of the Pacific Ocean! The most I've done is "snuba", which is breathing through a tube attached to a raft above you. It was cool for what it was. Did a LOT of reef snorkeling when I first moved here... found that the best place was the marine reserve at Hulopo`e Point on the island of Lana`i.
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    As you can see, Pu`u Pehe (Sweetheart rock) would be a great place to build a zombie-proof fortress.

    Also on the same island- around the other side- is a place called "Cathedrals", which is a huge underwater lava flow with enormous archways and windows. Great hangout to check out sharks. Trouble is, it's rather dark and grey with little or no color.

    And the Word on the Street is that 800 yards off the coast of West maui at Mile Marker 14, Olowalu, is a manta ray cleaning station where they all line up and a group of cleaner wrasse give 'em a once-over.

    I also managed to score a trip diving at night with a bunch of manta rays near Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. That was awesome... as soon as I jumped in the water there was one below me that was nearly as big as the boat. Holy cow, those things are HUGE!!
     
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  5. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    No, these are huge:

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    This wasn't scuba diving (obviously), this was cage diving with the Great White Sharks in Cape Town. Those beasts are massive.
    My underwater photography skills need some work, there was such a delay in the processing that most photos came out too early or late. But this was such a great experience.

    We really want to do diving in Hawaii and plan on it one day. The Manta Ray's would have been awesome.
     
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  6. avvie

    avvie It's another cold day in Hell Tip Jar Donor

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    Have you seen any octopus? (Octopi? He`e? tako?)

    They're a blast to chase around and watch them morph from one color and texture to another. I gained so much admiration for them that for a while I had trouble eating them at luaus.
     
  7. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Didn't see an Octopus, actually not sure if they were around Thailand, no one ever mentioned them.

    The Moray Eels (in the photo) are the ugliest things I've seen so far. They sit in rocks and come out for food. They kind of remind me of the beast in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back that the Millenium Falcon lands in.
     
  8. avvie

    avvie It's another cold day in Hell Tip Jar Donor

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    I'd suggest between November-March so that you can see some humpback whales. They come here to birth and raise their calves, and the waters between Maui, Kaho`olawe and Lana`i turn into whale soup. It's all one land mass (Maui County, five islands) and is fairly shallow so it's easy to keep up with the calves and teach them to swim and breathe. Unfortunately, it's too warm for plankton and the mothers starve; also they only have milk and energy for one calf, so if there's a second one it's abandoned. Kinda sad.
     
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  9. avvie

    avvie It's another cold day in Hell Tip Jar Donor

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    Yes, they are... but they look right silly when they have cleaner shrimp doing their dental work for them. Amazing symbiosis.

    Also, about the octopus: they're hard to find. I happened to meet a local who hunts them weekly during mating season and he flushed them out. Quite the skill, finding them.
     
  10. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Can you actually swim with them? In Mozambique we did a dive safari (ie. snorkel) and got to swim with a Whale Shark and a bit beyond were Humpbacks and we had to get back in the boat.

    I imagine you get a lot of dolphins too?
     
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