As promised here is a write-up on drift diving speciality. This will be available on the Maldives Trip and it highly recommended as Maldives is one of the best places to enjoy drift diving.
If until now your experience has been that current are something you fight to swim against; drift diving will give you a whole new perspective. Drift diving grew out of the philosophy, “if you can’t beat them,join them” and is the prevailing practice in many areas with nearly continuous strong currents.
Drift diving can give you a real adrenaline pump. At some drift dive sites,the current rips you along far faster than you could swim, or even cruise with a DPV (Dive Propulsion Vehicle), sailing you along effortlessly. Some divers compare drift diving in clear water to hand gliding or horizontal sky diving but no airplane needed and you don’t have to worry about your chute opening.
Advantages of Drift Diving
- Drift diving usually requires little effort. During the dive, you just go along for the ride, buzzing through the scenery with the current “swimming ” for you.
- Drift diving opens up dive sites that are nearly impossible to visit any other way. In particular, rivers and some reefs are constantly in strong current that precludes non drift dive techniques.
- Since you are floating along in the current, you cover more area and see more on a drift dive.
- Many types of drift diving relieve you of having to return to or look for a specific exit point. The boat travels with you.
All you have to do right now is contact us and book for your drift diving speciality for the Maldives Dive Trip happening this month. Don’t miss out on a great oppurtunity!!
What you are going to miss
I hope you have all booked your places for our Maldives Livaboard Trip in September. If you haven’t this is what you are going to miss out on.I pity you[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yihoIvUBDM4]
Are All Sharks Dangerous?
A very common question and here is the most sensible answer to that question.
No. There are around 300 different species of sharks, only 40 of which are known to have attacked
people. One of the most dangerous sharks in North America is the great white shark, found along the Pacific coast between Mexico and southern Canada. Another one to watch out for is the tiger shark, which lives in the warmer Atlantic waters off the coast of Florida and around the islands of Hawaii. Shark attacks really are pretty rare. For instance, there are usually only two or three reported in Hawaiian waters each year. There are different ideas about why sharks attack people. Tiger sharks, it seems, may attack because they get confused in murky water — and mistake surfers in black wet suits for seals. Reef sharks seem to attack because they are territorial animals, protecting their piece of the sea. The whale shark, which has 5,000 teeth and can grow up to 50 feet long, is the largest type of shark. However, it prefers food like small fish, shrimp and plankton, and therefore is not dangerous to people.
Rescue Diving
In the PADI Rescue Diver dvd they call it ‘Serious Fun’ when it should be more accurately titled “Seriously tiring”. It isn’t just the physical aspects of the rescue diving course that tires you out. The mental aspects of being constantly alert to danger is what takes the toll on you. But it is not all gloom and doom. The course itself is very fun. It has its moments of sheer slapstick comedy you could only find on a television sitcom.
My course was a devious plot from the start. I had been informed that my open water scenarios would be held a day later. So i was pretty much not thinking about it while enjoying my 2 fun dives. Well, that is abit of a stretch. My first fun dive left me scratched from trying to do a walrus beach assault speciality(that is a whole different story) So i was taken by surprise when someone while snorkelling suddenly shouted he had a cramp and was struggling. It didn’t strike me yet that it was a test so i responded as the training instructed. Stop Breathe Act. I didn’t jump into the water straightaway as what i would have done. I looked around the boat and found a life buoy with rope attached and swung it out. Sure after that i had to swim in and rescue a “panicked” snorkeller. The devious part was that the instructor didn’t wait for me to heal up from my scratched incident at the rocks. He cunningly used that as a stress test and threw me into the fire. It was a good thing i was pretty ready.
The fun didn’t end after that, there were 2 more scenarios thrown in before we headed back to the jetty. Heck, while at the jetty there was a YET another incident. This time in full view of spectators waiting for the next ferry. So there was panicked shouting from the stands as an added realism bonus. After a successful save there was even applause. The final scenario was held the next day. I have to say that it wasn’t as easy. The only way you can ever be 100% prepared to handle an emergency is to train for it every single day. But when scuba diving is concerned there is no such thing as 100% sure. There will be some elements to shake things up abit. I remembered what a Divemaster on the boat told me while i was preparing to go out and make a save. ” Don’t worry about doing all the right things. Doing a save half prepared is better than NOT doing a save at all”
I am glad i went through the course. It has taught me a valuable lesson in keeping my head together and not panicking. It also allowed me to see my first shark ever. Now THAT IS SERIOUS FUN!
What next?
The next PADI-OWD course starts on 5th June 09. Start booking your place now. Why is this news? well for the simple fact that if you sign up for the next course you will be ready to be certified in Tioman. Cos our next Tioman trip is right around the corner in June as well!! That’s right! exciting days await you. Sign up for your course now don’t let excitement pass you by.