Galapagos Facts:

-Abundant fearless wildlife, visitors can get up close and personal to some of the world's rarest animals.

-Galapagos is home to the only surviving giant Pinta tortoise, 'Lonesome George'

-The convergence of three major oceanic currents brings an incredible mix of marine life to Galapagos

-The endemic Galapagos marine iguana is the only lizard to swim in the ocean

-Darwin's research in Galapagos led to the groundbreaking theory of The Origin of Species

-In 1978 UNESCO designated Galapagos as the first World Heritage site

-The movie Captain and Commander was filmed on the islands of Bartholomew and Santiago

-The name 'galapagos', an old Spanish word for 'saddle', was originally used by Bishop Tomas and his crew to describe the giant tortoises but the name stuck

-Due to the early presence of both Spanish and English inhabitants in Galapagos, the Islands now have both Spanish and English names

credit to galapagosislands.com

From Recreational to Professional Dive Courses/Certifications.

Padi dive courses list.

Along the entire length of Ambergris Caye the reef is comprised of spectacular three dimensional coral formations which include canyons, grottoes and tunnels. Curiously, the more common reef fishes do not appear here in great numbers compared to elsewhere. However, there are a greater number of pelagic fish such as sharks and rays. There are also a considerable number of porpoise and turtle to be seen.

Ambergris is the largest and most popular of the offshore cayes, with 25 miles of Belize's spectacular barrier reef sitting less than a mile offshore. The calm waters are full of dense coral and lush reef growth with visibility up to 150 ft. Dive operators making trips to the barrier reef off Ambergris Caye select sites that combine good diving with variety. Spur-and-groove reefs with deep canyons, swim-throughs, and reef cuts are popular and teeming with abundant and colorful life.

Thanks to the installation of permanent mooring buoys and natural resource management initiatives such as the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, the reefs remain protected from anchor damage. This entire northern stretch of reef is ideal for macro photography. Vase sponges, tube sponges and coral pinnacles are home for countless miniscule creatures awaiting discovery. Shrimps, brittle stars, nudlibranchs, tube worms and tunicates of every imaginable color are often overlooked by the diver.

A particular favorite is the red-banded coral shrimp. These are present on almost every dive and are usually found along ledges and gullies, or on the ceilings of swim-throughs and overhangs in the shallower stretches of coral. Without touching them, they are easily coaxed out into a suitable position for a photograph. Twenty five miles of solid barrier reef, one-third mile from shore with several channels passing through. Mostly deep diving outside the reef in spur and groove coral formations.

Ambergris Caye is part of a chain of islands that all have one thing in common. Barely one mile in front of them to their east one can find the most astounding scuba diving and snorkeling on the second largest barrier reef of the world.

Out here are more dive sites one can count and a never ending beauty of fish life, coral variety and interesting underwater landscapes to view. Typical for the barrier reef are the canyons that stretch out from west to east and sometimes create tempting swim-throughs and caverns. Depth ranges on the barrier are between 50 and 200 feet of water. At it's deepest, the wall starts and drops to a few hundred feet. The diver can see a great variety of soft and hard corals and many different species of swimming and crawling marine life such as the Nassau Grouper, Angel Fish, Lobster and the Stone Crab. Morray Eels and Rays can be viewed as well.

If one is lucky and dives to the right time this barrier reef is known for sightings of all kinds of large creatures as well. The Reef shark and Nurse Shark are occasional visitors as well as the Whale Shark and the Loggerhead Turtle. Also Manta Rays and larger species of sharks are known to visit these waters. Average Water Temperatures:

JAN     FEB    MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC
80         79       80         82         83          83        83         84         84       84        81          80   

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credit - AmbergrisCaye.com

Beauty is being able to Scuba Dive along with other creatures of the sea , moving to the rhythm of the waves? In the Bunaken Marine Park, you will encounter that beauty, and you can also get a glimpse of amazing sea life here.

Bunaken is an 8 km² island in the Bay of Manado, situated in the north of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bunaken forms part of the administrative city of Manado , capital of North Sulawesi.

The marine Park around Bunaken is part of the  National Park that also includes the ocean around the island of  Manado Tua – or Old Manado, Siladen and Mantehage.   

Within the Bunaken Marine Park, visitors can see various unique and colorful marine life along its sea bed. To reach this park, you can take a motorboat. 

The journey from Manado takes about 40 minutes.  Entrance fee is 25,000 rupiahs per person per visit. 

The translucent waters of the Bunaken seas enable people to clearly view numerous sea life. There are 13 species of coral reefs in this park, dominated by edge ridges and block ridges of rocks.

The most attractive view is the steep vertical sloppy coral reef that plunges down as deep as 25-50 meters. 

Feast your eyes on 91 types of fish found in the Bunaken National Park.

Divers may also meet mollusk like the giant kima , goat head and nautilus.

With about 20 scuba diving spots to choose from, divers will have the chance to swim below the sea, and frolic joyfully while admiring the sea creatures.

 Make sure to visit Bunaken during its best season between May to August. That way you can explore the Park  to its fullest.

- see our Asia section of the site for Dive Centers, Resorts and Liveaboards in the area.
Credit - indonesia.travel

With our fast custom built dive boats you have access to a wide range of divesites in the Mamanuca group of islands. Generally, there are two very distinctive marine environments. One is a huge lagoon many thousands of acres in area. The other is found at the Barrier Reef and its passages. Click on some of our divesites below for more information, but be sure to look at the Supermarket and Namotu divesites.

The outer Barrier reef in 20 minutes:

Gotham City: Three pinnacles situated in a passage in the outer Barrier Reef where fish and corals are in incredible abundance. Famed for providing the unusual, Gothom City never disappoints. The soft corals are every colour of the rainbow.

Namotu Wall:The stunning Namotu coral cay stands perched on the edge of a 1000 metre plunge into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Diving here on the outer reef slopes is spectacular. The prolific fish life, the visibility (normally 25-50 metres), reef sharks, turtles and schools of Barracuda are all in abundance.

The Big W's: Outside the Barrier Reef on the edge of the abyss, the 'Ws' provide the big fish action. Mantas and ocean going sharks cruise the reefs and occasionally the elusive whale shark makes an appearance.

Barrel Heads: A large pinnacle rising up from in excess of 60 metres. Excellent hard corals and sea fans are observed here, along with resident reef sharks and turtles. This site can produce the unexpected - large sharks, schools of Yellow Fin tuna and other pelagic species.

Castaway Passage: A gap in the outer Barrier Reef that allows large volumes of ocean water to enter the lagoon. Diving in this passage almost always produces fantastic visibility (30 metres plus). Like a number of our other dives, this site will frequently produce the unexpected. Manta Rays, Sharks, Marlin, and other pelagic species are frequently sited here.

Namotu Reef: This reef is situated in a passage on the Barrier Reef itself. As with all our Barrier Reef dives, you would expect great visibility - anywhere between 30 metres and 60 metres. Pristine corals, abundant tropical marine life and the possibility of Manta Rays, Hammerhead Sharks and Dolphin.

The Big Blue: There are several different sites in one of this location, ranging from the outer wall which drops into oblivion to the amazing coral canyons located on the inner section of the reef.

Wilky Wall: A drift dive over some of the most pristine coral in Fiji / the world. Lots of pelagic fish life including the chance to see Manta Rays and Sharks.

Wilkes Passage: An exciting drift dive with the current running through this passage. Schools of Barracuda and Trevally are common as well as beautiful corals.

Diving inside the Malolo Barrier Reef:

The Supermarket: just 10 kilometres away from the resorts is possibly the world's most famous shark encounter. Grey reef sharks, White tip reef sharks and black tip reef sharks keep the adrenaline pumping! Occasionally we feed the sharks some of which are in excess of 2 metres. This is one of our most exciting dives - you can guess where the staff dive on their days off! Watch a video clip of shark feeding!!

B26 Bomber: This American Bomber aeroplane crash landed only 1 1/2 kilometres from Beachcomber Island in 26 metres of water. Although the aeroplane is well broken up and strewn across the bottom of the ocean, most parts are still all there. We have connected them by a rope so they are easy to find. Entire wing sections, both engines, tail section, electronics, ammunition, the undercarriage, and in fact, the entire aircraft is on the seabed. Although there are no skeletons to be seen, we understand that all the crew were killed on impact.

Salamanda Shipwreck: The salamanda is a decommissioned, 40 metre cruise ship that we sank in 30 metres of water. Diving on a shipwreck is always an exciting dive. The vessel is now covered in soft corals and anemones. Shrimps and crabs in some of these anemones have produced a number of prize winning photographs.

Jackies Reef: For 35 years the resort has been fish feeding here from coral viewing boats and this has bought about a fish population of great diversity and abundance. Both large and small reef fish, both solo and in huge schools, allow a rare opportunity to see all these fish at one shallow, easy and close dive site.

Vomo Island: We have two separate dive sites here; Ronnies Reef (named after a famous New Zealand diver) never fails to please even the most discerning of scuba divers. Dramatic canyons and gullies along with great fish life, unusual and spectacular coral formations will be found here. The other site, known as Vomo Caves, consists of caverns and swim-throughs with shafting light breaking through crevices in the reef above makes this dive a very memorable experience.

Tui's Reef: An easy dive in 18 metres of water or less on a series of pinnacles close to Beachcomber Island. Often used for night diving where divers frequently observe Crayfish, Clams, Moray Eels and a multitude of other tropical marine life.

Stonehenge: This dive site is frequently used by Subsurface for training purposes. It's a series of pinnacles rising to within 5 metres of the surface. This dive is absolutely ideal for training divers because of its shallow depth and the inside arena that these pinnacles create.

Bird Rock: A dramatic sheer wall plunging in excess of 40 metres. This site is known for its swim-throughs and caves, soft corals and plentiful fish action.

The Circus: Superb hard corals adorn these 7 bommies. Acropora, Staghoms, giant plates in a kaleidoscope of colour.

Coral Gardens: A shallow reef dive with a mind-boggling variety of different corals and reef. Pleasure Point & The CrossroadsNEW!!!!

Two new stuning dive sites covered in soft corals with all the colors of the rainbow and an amzing variety of immaculate hard corals

The Pinnacles: This site is made up of three deep water pinnacles with swim- throughs, lots of large roaming fish, like Grey Reef Sharks, Barracuda, while the top is covered in a clown fish garden.

Sunflower Reef: A shallow coral reef with rainbow soft corals, cabbage corals, moray eels and an incredible abundance of fish life.

PAPETOAI POINT

The best spot for beginners and lessons in the lagoon. On a white sand valley, coral patches with a lot of small coloured fish are waiting for you. A little bit deeper, you will encounter the leopard rays Ballet.

 OPUNOHU WALL

A Moorea Fun Dive exclusivity. An atmosphere dive on a coral wall populated with groupers, black and convict surgeons. The dive finishes on two underwater headlands covered by wonderful corals and sponges. A grandiose site where you will cross black tip sharks, red snappers and schools of surgeon fish.

 CORAL ROSES

This dive is only for experienced divers, at a depth of 140 feet. You will admire the magnificent coral giant roses, occupied by many tropical fish. Don’t be surprised if you see some sharks behind a giant rose, you are on Moorea.

 OPONOHU KANYONS A superb underwater scenery made by canyons as far as you can see, what makes an original dive. You will sometimes cross the gracious swim of a turtle, admire the magnificent feathers of the lion fish and shiver in front of the big mouth of the giant moray eels. A 10 feet lemon shark will come to see who visits its territory.

TAOTOI

As soon as you arrive on the dive spot, you will be welcomed by a big and very curious napoleon fish, who will maybe follow you in your underwater discovery. Black tip sharks, pipefish, jackfish, giant triggerfish and big moray eels will be your dive buddies.

 TAOTA PASS

Another Moorea Fun Dive exclusivity where you won’t meet a lot of divers. You will see schools of eagle rays, jackfish and some white tip sharks. A drift dive where the current can be very strong. And like everywhere on Moorea, you will find the abundance of fish which is the typical feature of this island.

 TIKI

For shark lovers. Photographers take your camera ! This spot is very popular on Moorea for its numerous sharks : black tips, grey sharks, and don’t forget the impressive lemon sharks, who sometimes measure up to 10 feet. And to make you really satisfied, you will encounter many yellow snappers and barracudas

LEMON SHARK VALLEY

FUN DIVE a novelty, may also be a drift dive with great corals …. lemon sharks, sometimes in groups of more than 6 ….. You’ll be impress, event for thoses of you who are used to dive surrounded by sharks.

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