I just made a map of our dive locations. I love maps.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Santorini Diving. June 5, 2015
Last week we traveled to Santorini to meet up with my birth mother, Janice. Since we were going for 5 nights, we thought we should sample the diving in Greece, especially since we've both been longing to go diving again, after too long of a break from it.
We chose Santorini Dive Center, but decided to start off by only booking a 2-tank dive the day after we arrived. If Santorini surpassed our rather low expectations, diving-wise, we could add some more diving later in our trip. Spoiler alert: we dove just the one day.
Dive 1: by boat to the Old Volcano (Palea Kameni). The shop owner, Paul, led this dive which is mainly to see the volcanic rock formations. This was just rocks to me, nothing unusual or startling. And very little marine life, which is the main reason we love to SCUBA dive. All we really saw were sponges, spirograph worms, and a couple of schools of very small fish.
Dive 2: by shore on the house reef at Caldera Beach, near Akrotiri. DM was Marc Lopez. This was the better of the two dives. Firstly, because there was much more sea-life here. We saw some great nudibranchs and some small but colourful wrasse and parrotfish, and one medium-sized barracuda. Since this was a Greek Islands dive, it was cool to see a large, undamaged amphora (a huge pot with two handles near the mouth). The other reason I enjoyed this dive more was because my buoyancy improved a lot after the previous dive and working out the kinks from not diving for awhile.
First: 1st Mediterranean Dive (temperate water)
This is the TripAdvisor review I wrote about the shop.
Dive Report I posted on ScubaBoard (a bit more detailed than above, but similar).
We chose Santorini Dive Center, but decided to start off by only booking a 2-tank dive the day after we arrived. If Santorini surpassed our rather low expectations, diving-wise, we could add some more diving later in our trip. Spoiler alert: we dove just the one day.
Dive 1: by boat to the Old Volcano (Palea Kameni). The shop owner, Paul, led this dive which is mainly to see the volcanic rock formations. This was just rocks to me, nothing unusual or startling. And very little marine life, which is the main reason we love to SCUBA dive. All we really saw were sponges, spirograph worms, and a couple of schools of very small fish.
Dive 2: by shore on the house reef at Caldera Beach, near Akrotiri. DM was Marc Lopez. This was the better of the two dives. Firstly, because there was much more sea-life here. We saw some great nudibranchs and some small but colourful wrasse and parrotfish, and one medium-sized barracuda. Since this was a Greek Islands dive, it was cool to see a large, undamaged amphora (a huge pot with two handles near the mouth). The other reason I enjoyed this dive more was because my buoyancy improved a lot after the previous dive and working out the kinks from not diving for awhile.
First: 1st Mediterranean Dive (temperate water)
This is the TripAdvisor review I wrote about the shop.
Dive Report I posted on ScubaBoard (a bit more detailed than above, but similar).
Sunday, January 5, 2014
AOW Certification (Dominican Republic), Dec 1 - 6, 2013
Advanced Open Water Certification (5 specialty dives) with Diving Dominican Republic aka Sharky's Crew in Bayahibe. Vlad Heger was our Instructor, Pierre Pletinckx our Divemaster.
Dive 1 - Viva Shallows
Dive 2 - Dominicus Reef
Dive 3 - Parque 1 (Guaraguao), Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive (1)
Dive 4 - Atlantic Princess, Wreck Dive (2)
Dive 5 - St. George Wreck, Deep Dive (3)
Dive 6 - Coca Reef, Underwater Navigation Dive (4)
Dive 7 - Viva Shallows, Night Dive (5)
Dive 8 - El Penon
Dive 9 - Aquarium (La Tortuga)
Firsts: First Night Dive! First Octopus. First Wreck Dive.
Dive 1 - Viva Shallows
Dive 2 - Dominicus Reef
Dive 3 - Parque 1 (Guaraguao), Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive (1)
Dive 4 - Atlantic Princess, Wreck Dive (2)
Dive 5 - St. George Wreck, Deep Dive (3)
Dive 6 - Coca Reef, Underwater Navigation Dive (4)
Dive 7 - Viva Shallows, Night Dive (5)
Dive 8 - El Penon
Dive 9 - Aquarium (La Tortuga)
Firsts: First Night Dive! First Octopus. First Wreck Dive.
This is the TripAdvisor review I wrote up on the Dive Shop.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Akumal Diving. Dec. 4 - 8, 2012
6 dives with Dive with Natalie and Ivan. 2 referred out to Sebastian for Cenote Diving.
Dive 1 - Tzimin-Ha (Seahorse) Reef
Dive 2 - Las Redes (The Nets) & Motorcycle Reef
Dive 3 - Dos Ojos Cenote, Barbie Line
Dive 4 - Dos Ojos Cenote, Bat Cave Line
Dive 5 - Morgan's Reef
Dive 6 - South Point Reef
First: 1st cenote dive!
This is the TripAdvisor review I wrote up on the Dive Operation
Dive 1 - Tzimin-Ha (Seahorse) Reef
Dive 2 - Las Redes (The Nets) & Motorcycle Reef
Dive 3 - Dos Ojos Cenote, Barbie Line
Dive 4 - Dos Ojos Cenote, Bat Cave Line
Dive 5 - Morgan's Reef
Dive 6 - South Point Reef
First: 1st cenote dive!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Cold Water Diving in Sechelt Inlet. Aug. 6 - 7, 2012
4 dives. Including one dive which Steve and I did on our own!
Lew and Rob from Suncoast Diving.
Dive 1 - Swinging Tire Ridge, shore dive
Dive 2 - Piper's Point, boat dive off Zodiac
Dive 3 - Tuwanek Spit, South Island, boat dive off Zodiac
Dive 4 - Tuwanek Lamb Islets, North Island, shore dive off dock, unguided dive
Firsts: 1st cold water dive. 1st unguided dive.
Lew and Rob from Suncoast Diving.
Dive 1 - Swinging Tire Ridge, shore dive
Dive 2 - Piper's Point, boat dive off Zodiac
Dive 3 - Tuwanek Spit, South Island, boat dive off Zodiac
Dive 4 - Tuwanek Lamb Islets, North Island, shore dive off dock, unguided dive
Firsts: 1st cold water dive. 1st unguided dive.
Vancouver Aquarium Diver's Weekend. Jan 21 - 22, 2012
We'd wanted to check out the Vancouver Aquarium for awhile and finally went on January 22, 2012. We were pretty surprised and pleased to find out this was the 13th Annual Divers' Weekend at the Aquarium with booths set up, demonstrations, and lots of scheduled speakers on many aspect of diving. Next year, we'll remember to bring our PADI cards for the 50% discount!
As well as enjoying the aquarium, we checked out 2 seminars: Diving the wrecks of Vanuatu, and Living the Dream: Making Money Diving. This last seminar was presented by Greg McCracken owner of Ocean Quest Dive Centre and the instructor of the Professional SCUBA diver program through Capilano University.
Since the seminar, we've checked out Ocean Quest in Burnaby and received top notch advice from Ken on gear and courses. We hope to do a course with these guys in the future.
As well as enjoying the aquarium, we checked out 2 seminars: Diving the wrecks of Vanuatu, and Living the Dream: Making Money Diving. This last seminar was presented by Greg McCracken owner of Ocean Quest Dive Centre and the instructor of the Professional SCUBA diver program through Capilano University.
Since the seminar, we've checked out Ocean Quest in Burnaby and received top notch advice from Ken on gear and courses. We hope to do a course with these guys in the future.
OW Certification. Tropical Referral (Cozumel). Dec. 4 - 7, 2011
Went the tropical referral route. Chose a small dive operation, Buena Ventura Diving, in Cozumel for the open water part of our OW certification.
Mario spent the 4th and 5th with us covering all the skills at Palancar Gardens (twice), Delilah Reef and Paso Del Cedral.
We followed up with a 2 tank dive on the 7th with Jorge, their Divemaster. This was at Palancar Horseshoe and Delilah.
Firsts: 1st Certification! 1st shark! 1st drift dive!
Mario spent the 4th and 5th with us covering all the skills at Palancar Gardens (twice), Delilah Reef and Paso Del Cedral.
We followed up with a 2 tank dive on the 7th with Jorge, their Divemaster. This was at Palancar Horseshoe and Delilah.
Firsts: 1st Certification! 1st shark! 1st drift dive!
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