Adventures of Anette: Diving

Showing posts with label Diving. Show all posts

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Papua New Guinea: Diving Report from the Walindi Plantation Resort

Anette 2:02:00 PM

You can see various sea creatures lurking around in the waters around Kimbe Bay
Photo: Anette

Papua New Guinea is known for its world-renowned diving spots, and diving was also one of the main activities on the bucket list for things we wanted to do while visiting the country. After arriving in Port Moresby we took the first local airplane to Hoskins Airport in Kimbe where we were met by the Walindi Plantation Resort shuttle bus taking us the 1-hour drive to the resort. We were eager to dive into the pristine Papa New Guinean waters, so for our first day at the resort we signed up for a full day of scuba diving.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Snorkling

Luxury Resort Life in the Maldives: Chaaya Reef & Ellaidhoo by Cinnamon

Anette 8:42:00 PM

Arriving at Ellaidho

After having spent one day sightseeing in Male it was time to experience the real luxury life of a Maldivian resort island. Our choice had fallen upon the four-star resort Ellaidho by Cinnamon situated at the Chaaya Reef, and we were looking forward to trying out one of their eminent Maldivian water bungalows.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Japan

Sightseeing Trips from Tokyo: Experiencing the Volcanic Miyake Island (三宅島)

Anette 7:30:00 PM

With its 6,852 islands Japan sure has enough islands to choose from for those who like to explore the wild nature on the outskirts of Japan's bustling cities. Just a couple of hours south of Tokyo and the Izu Peninsula you can find the Izu Islands, a group of volcanic islands that administratively are a part of Tokyo. These islands are relatively easy to get to, as you can reach some of the islands by plane in about an hour or so from Haneda airport. If you're on a budget it is also possible to take a night ferry from Tokyo's Hamamatsu-cho getting you to some of the islands in as little as 6 1/2 hours.

Departing from Tokyo by ferry

I visited the volcanic island Miyakejima (三宅島) by ferry with Yuma for three days as a part of our summer vacation. The price of the ferry depends on the class you travel on, and in our case we had chosen one of the cheaper options where you sleep on the floor (you can check the prices here but it's all in Japanese).

Our "bed" for the night

I didn't sleep that well to be honest, there had been a typhoon sweeping by the day before and the sea was anything but calm. Despite the rather turbulent sea on the way there we arrived safely at Miyakejima's harbor at 5 am in the morning where we were picked up by the owner of the guest house we were staying at.

On a side note, the ferry of Tokai Kisen's logo looks suspiciously similar to the Norwegian flag..

The main activities you can do as a tourist at Miyake Island are diving, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins and bird watching. If you're interested in volcanos you might be particularly interested in learning more about the island and its history, as its volcano remains active to date.

The Shiitori Shrine getting covered in mudflow

The main volcano on the island, Mount Oyama, has an eruption every 20 year or so. The most recent one in 2000 resulted in the whole population of Miyake Island having to evacuate the island, and the residents were only able to settle down on the island again four years later. There are still a number of buildings on the island that were destroyed by the eruption and remain in the same state until today which you can pay a visit. One example can be seen in the pictures below where the eruption in 2000 led to the torii of the Shiitori Shrineto to be covered in volcanic mudflows.

The torii of the Shiitori Shrine

The rebuilt Shiitori Shrine

The Shiitori Shrine can be reached on foot as the island is not that big, but you can also get there by taking a bus to the Shiitori Jinja Mae bus stop.

Diving
For those who like to take a closer look at the life underneath the ocean there are loads of opportunities for both snorkeling and diving. In our case the guesthouse we stayed at also offered diving tours at a cheap price, and we ended up taking a couple of dives of Miyake Island's coast. The water was very clear, and there were many types of fishes to be seen as well. I have included some of the pictures Yuma took during our dives:

Although seeing the remains of the volcanic activity on Miyake Island and diving of the islands coast was a lot of fun our main reason for coming here was actually the opportunity to swim with wild dolphins. I will write more about the experience in my next blog post so stay in tuned.!

There are a number of tour operators providing diving trips and other activities at Miyake Island. We only went on trips arranged by the owner of the guesthouse we stayed at, but for those who don't speak Japanese there are other tour operators who might be more suitable for the trip. For more information, please check out the links below.

Other Pages:

Tokai Kisen Co., Ltd.: About Miyakejima

三宅島スナッパー Snapper (Japanese Only) - Our guesthouse and tour operator
Dolphin Club Miyake - A tour operator offering tours in English

Agoda Partner Links:
Hotels in Japan

Hotels in the Izu Islands

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Snorkling

Experiencing the Great Barrier Reef with Reef Magic Cruises

Anette 6:02:00 PM

Our visit to the Great Barrier Reef was definitely the most amazing adventure we have had in Australia so far. We went out on a boat with Reef Magic Cruises to the reef, were we had the opportunity to snorkel as much as we wanted the whole day. It had been a bit windy the last couple of days, and this day was not an exemption, so the number of tourists was significantly lower than normal. Fortunately I've grown up pretty much spending my summers at sea, so the waves didn't really bother me that much, but it seems that other tourists complained about the for them large waves. Also, Reef Magic Cruices have their own great pontoon, so once you step onboard it you aren't affected that much by the waves.

All the snorkling equipment was included in the price. We decided to rent wetsuits as well in order to avoid getting sunburned from the strong light. That turned out to be a good choice, because many of the others looked like they had gotten a little bit too much sun once the day was over.

My stepmother had never snorkeled before, and she was afraid to look down into the water. But once she did she was surprised to discover a whole new world she had never seen before. She later told us it was her best experience on the trip.

The water was really not that deep by the reef, and in some places one could even stand. Which one of course shouldn't do, because you'll probably ending up damaging the corals and get scratched too. But that's how shallow it is. It is somewhat annoying if you get loads of water into your snorkel though, because it is harder to get rid of the water at the same time as you're trying to avoid the corals below.

And there were of course a lot of pretty and colorful fish to look at! My dad used the opportunity to take a selfie while feeding the fish.

In addition to the snorkeling we also had some additional options for entertainment such as a semi-submersible and glass-bottom boat tour where a guide taught us various facts about the corals and the reef's environment.

They also offered additional activities that were not included in the price such as a reef-scenic helicopter flight, guided snorkeling trips around the reef, and scuba diving both for certified divers and trial dives for people without diving experience. My dad decided to try out diving for the first time, and although he thought the dive was too short it seems it was a nice experience.

For those who don't want to do a regular dive, there's also the option to experience helmet diving. On the picture below you can see four helmet divers meeting Wally the great Maori Wrasse.

Although all of these experiences made the trip worthwhile it was Wally that really made the trip to the great reef an unique experience I'll never forget. Wally is a great fish called Maori Wrasse, he is about a meter long, and although he is a wild creature he seems to like human company. We could get out photos taken with him, and he stayed close to the boat the whole day. I brought some crackers with me into the ocean, and he literarily ate the crackers from my hand.

"G'day!"

Wally the Maory Wrasse is almost tame like a pet

All in all it was the experience with Wally that made the trip to the Great Barrier Reef unique, or at least for me. The professional photographer is down there all the time, and she can take photos of you while you're diving with Wally. He is a very friendly fish, and after I had fed him he remembered me and came back to me even when I didn't have any food with me so that I could touch him. I would advice you to be careful while feeding him though, he is a wild animal after all. Don't blame him if you get scratches from his teeth. But he is a fantastic creature, and I felt so honored that he came up to me. Since he lives by the Reef Magic Cruises' pontoon I think it is likely that you'll see him if you go on their trip. I would strongly recommend them, they did everything they could to make our trip wonderful and memorable! Definitely my best experience in Australia.! ;)

Relevant pages:

-The Reef Magic Cruises

-Feeding Wally

Other alternative day trips from Cairns:

-The Kuranda Scenic Railway

-The Butterfly Sanctuary

-The RainForeStation
-The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

-All blogposts from Australia

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Palau

Diving in Palau - The Turtle Wall

Anette 4:56:00 PM

In addition to beautiful sights like the Jellyfish lake and the Milky Way it is also worth checking out some of the great diving opportunities Palau has to offer. Yuma and I ended up taking only a day trip this time, which was not enough to see all of the most interesting diving spots in the area but still a nice experience.

Exploring the underwater world in Palau

If we ever come back to Palau would be cool to go diving at the places where one can see the remains of shipwrecks etc. There was unfortunately no opportunity this time, but we did see some other amazing things though.

Hi there ;)

Into the unknown

We visited a place that was known as the "Turtle Wall", which apparently is supposed to be good for novice divers like us. And the name did not disappoint: we saw quite a large number of turtles down there.! The largest of them was resting on a projection of the rock wall with a pair of fisherman on the back. I never thought we were going to see such a big turtle! The water was very clear and visibility was good so we could also see some small sharks swimming around in the distance.

Discovered a huge turtle!

I'm not really touching the turtle. But this illustrates how close we got to it..

Look at this beauty (and her/his two friends^^)!

Huge turtle swimming by

The tour was carried out by the company Fish 'n Fins. They are one of the major diving companies operating in Palau. Although the trip itself went smoothly, I was quite annoyed by the fact that they demanded additional 10 dollars per person when we wanted to pay by credit card. It would have been fair enough paying 10 dollars per person if we paid each of us, but when we pay the bill together they should not take double payment (20 dollars) for a transaction that is only carried out once.. I would probably have written a better review if it had not been for this incidence. Although the extra 10 dollars is not much to nag about we did feel like they were using a rather cheap method to gain as much cash as possible from their visitors.

Boat arriving at the doc

The Fish 'n Fins Scuba Dive Center

Having lunch at the Fish 'n Fins Scuba Dive Center

Anyway, the dive in itself was a nice experience. There is not that much to do in Palau besides the activities offered by the various travel companies on the island, so trips like this one are definitely necessary if you want to get something out of your stay in Palau.!

Related blogposts

All blogposts from Palau

All blogposts about diving

Recommended Hotels in Palau

More Palau Hotels

Palau Royal Resort by Nikko Hotels

Airai Water Paradise Hotel & Spa

DW
Motel

Lighthouse
Hotel

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Southeastasia

Diving in the Philippines: Balicasag - the Diver's Heaven and the Marine Sanctuary

Anette 9:03:00 PM

One of the activities you shouldn't miss out on while in the Philippines, is diving. There are many great diving spots all over the country, and you can see things like coral reefs, colorful fishes and even whale sharks while swimming in the ocean.

Yuma and I had also decided to spend a day to go diving, and we found that Panglao island was the perfect starting point for this trip. Staying close to the Alona beach we had no problems finding a good diving company, as there are literarily a whole bunch of them to choose from. We visited 3-4of them and listened to their offers, and finally our choice fell on a company called Mr. Diver. They offered us a diving trip to the Balicasag island, which is surrounded by great diving spots such as the Marine Sanctuary (Rico's Wall), the Cathedral, Diver's Heaven and Rudy's Rock. The price for the trip was 2600 pesos per person (plus 100 for the nature conservation fee), which included equipment and two dives.

The next day we found ourselves in a group of happy divers heading for the designated island along with our crew of dive masters and other staff. Our diving spots for the day was the Diver's Heaven and the Marine Sanctuary. Yuma had dived around ten times in total and I had only gone through three, so we got our own dive master to look after us during the dive. Since I got my diving certificate in February last year I was a bit nervous about diving again, but it did not take too long before I became adjusted to the underwater environment. Both of the diving spots had a great variety of colorful fishes, and we also were lucky enough to spot one sea turtle during both of our dives! (Apparently they are quite commonly seen there though)
As Yuma had brought his underwater camera we could capture the underwater world with some beautiful pictures:

I think both Yuma and I were very happy with our dives that day (maybe especially Yuma with all the photos he managed to get). I already look forward to a new destination with new dives!!