The water in Oman was cold, too cold for my liking. It was also green and murky, enough so to make me wonder why so many of the European guests kept coming back for more. I had spent six weeks telling myself it was only for two hours a day. Surely anything is tolerable for two hours a day. Since I was working, bringing my camera along had not been an option, but now the end of my stay in Oman was drawing near and I had no photographic evidence to show for it. Was it worth venturing back into
In no time at all, our vacation was half gone and it was our last day of diving in the Bunaken area. For our last day of diving, we requested two of our favorite spots we had been to during the week: Sachiko’s Point and Mandolin. Sachiko’s Point proved that no two dives are ever the same. You simply cannot repeat an experience. There is always something new waiting for you in the ocean. In this case, the plethora of dogtooth tuna that had been cruising the reef previously, were now nowhere to be found. On to Mandolin for our final
My favorite dive site around the Mana Island area of Fiji is a spot called Gotham City. On a tame day, it is teaming with ocean life. On the best of days, it’s a journey into another world, where you would think a rainbow exploded underwater there is so much color. The schools of fish are so thick that at times, you almost wish you could part the curtain to see what’s behind. Gotham City is comprised of two pinnacles, with a channel between. The site is a 45 minute boat ride away, and out in the middle of nowhere, with
November The time really does fly here. Before I knew it, Fiji was kicking me out of the country again. I’d known for the past year that my oldest and closest cousin was getting married at the end of November. Unfortunately my visa was up at the beginning of the month, and there’s no way for the dive shop to operate with only two people for an entire month, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to make the wedding. Fletch worked his magic though, and arranged for a previous instructor who used to work here
I estimate that I’ve been to around 130 dives sites in my life. That might not sounds like very many for as much diving as I do, but when you commit to living in one place for so many months, you really just visit the same few dive sites repeatedly. That has allowed me to get to know maybe half of those 130 dive site very intimately. Different dive sites have always been special for different reasons. Some have beautiful topography, some have water so crystal clear you would think you were in an aquarium, some have fun swim throughs,