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H OW T O M A K E A SA F E A S C E N T + H AWA I I : T H E U LT I M AT E G U I D E

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I CAT I O N O F T H E PA D I D I V I N G S O C I E T Y

The Secret Life of

LEMON SHARK S

The Best Gear for

COLD WATER P 30

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Predive T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I CAT I O N O F T H E PA D I D I V I N G S O C I E T Y

From the Editor’s Desk

Saving Sharks Please join us in educating the world about sharks On page 58, photographer Shane Gross documents the crucial work being done by researchers on Eleuthera to study lemon shark pups.

We hope the story spurs you to do what you can to save these vulnerable animals. Why not begin by visiting projectaware.org?

Patricia Wuest, Editor-in-Chief

@ SPORTDIVER

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Clockwise, from top left: milletseed butterflyfish on YO-257 wreck; day octopus with diver off Oahu; green sea turtle on San Pedro shipwreck; divers off Maui.

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e divers are always thrilled when a shark materializes out of the blue. There are more than 500 species of shark — from the 7-inch dwarf lanternshark to Earth’s largest fish, the whale shark — that are known to scientists. The earliest known sharks date back to roughly 420 million years ago, long before dinosaurs ruled the planet.

Scientists are constantly identifying new species or subspecies. In 2015, for example, the Pacific nurse (Ginglymostoma unami), dark speckled catshark (Scyliorhinus ugoi) and the headline-grabbing ninja lanternshark (Etmopterus benchleyi ) got their own taxonomic classifications.

Today, many species are in a population tailspin, which is why it’s critical that we support shark conservation.

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Contents November/December 2016 Vol. 24 No. 8

Departments

9 Dive Briefs Underwater videographer Bryce Groark dishes on one of the coolest jobs in the world; stocking stuffers for divers; fun facts about marine iguanas; and more.

25 Images The challenge is great, but the reward is even greater when you head to open blue water — our photo tips will help you nail breathtaking shots every time.

30 Gear The right gear can be the difference between a miserable and amazing cold-water dive. These picks won’t let you down when the temperature drops.

35 Training Make safe, easy ascents with our pro tips; plus, how bubbles of nitrogen grow in your bloodstream.

63 Travel The best secret dive spots from Vancouver to Fiji; prime diving and more in the Society Islands aboard Paul Gauguin; and the best on land and sea in Riviera Maya.

P52 Covered in sponges and corals, the reefs and wrecks like Tugboat in Curaçao are awash in color.

40 52 The Ultimate Guide to Hawaii Curaçao: In Living Color

58 Tracking the Swamp Sharks

Each of the Aloha State’s major islands has something unique to offer, with incredible dive experiences in the mix.

BY ERIC MICHAEL AND

From the fanciful backdrop of Mushroom Forest to the cavernous hold of Superior Producer, the diving off Curaçao is truly a sight to behold.

Lemon sharks return each year to Eleuthera’s mangrove habitat to give birth to their young, providing researchers special insight into their lives.

PATRICIA WUEST

BY ROBBY MYERS

BY SHANE GROSS

6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | SPORTDIVER.COM

On the Cover A juvenile lemon shark cruises in the mangroves of Eleuthera, Bahamas.

PHOTO BY SHANE GROSS

ANDREW SALLMON

Features

GO DEEPER. Promaster Diver

Š2016 Citizen Watch Company citizenwatch.com

ISO-Compliant featuring one-way rotating elapsed time bezel, helium release and luminous hands and markers.

T R AV E L T I P S / P 1 1 NEW WRECKS / P12 SPECIES / P15 H O L I D AY S T O C K I N G STUFFERS / P16 DIVE LIFE / P20 PR OJ E C T AWA RE / P2 3

Dive Briefs

The people, places and events making headlines underwater

Groark was nominated for a 2015 Emmy in cinematography for his work in Mission Blue.

Profile

Bryce Groark

I

f you’re not the least bit envious of underwater cinematographer and producer Bryce Groark, then you don’t know his story. The Kona, Hawaii, local is on the short list of cameramen on call to Discovery Channel and National Geographic to document pelagic traffic spanning from oceanic whitetip sharks to humpback whales. He was part of the documentary team that produced Mission Blue, including none other than “Her Deepness,” Sylvia Earle, and is at work on a handful of diverse projects coming out soon.

Q: What was it like to

WADE FERRARI

share the ocean with Her Deepness?

Groark: The woman is amazing. We spent nine hours in the water with whale sharks at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The world doesn’t know how epic she is at 81 – she got out only one time to eat a PB&J. Her feet were bloody at the end of the day.

IN DEPTH

Before the Flood Bryce Groark joins a pretty impressive list of names in the credits of Before the Flood, including Leonardo DiCaprio and President Barack Obama. The Fisher Stevens documentary, which includes underwater shots from Groark, takes an in-depth look at climate change as DiCaprio witnesses signs of it around the world.

Catch the film in select theaters starting Oct. 21 or on National Geographic Channel on Oct. 30.

SPORTDIVER.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 9

water that was so milky, so full of spawn. It got cleaner and cleaner. Just before sunset, there were thousands of feet of visibility. The whale sharks had eaten the ocean clean. The scientists couldn’t believe it, and I was freaking out. We just documented something that had never been documented before — but more because we had done so with Sylvia Earle.

Q: Wow. And yet — what

you’re most excited about right now isn’t exactly thrilling audiences.

Groark: I’ve been working on a film released June 2016 on YouTube called The Working Waterfront. It’s aimed at policymakers, backed by aquaculture groups. I know it’s on the boring side.

Q: So what makes

it relevant?

Q: Let’s end on a diving

Groark: Aquaculture farmers

note. Where have you

been swimming with your camera most recently?

Groark: Shark Week producers reached out, wanting footage of oceanics in my backyard. But that’s a hard shark to find nowadays. I warned them it might be a total skunk. Sure enough, the first seven days we didn’t see any off the Kona coast.

Then, as with any film, miraculously on the last day, a couple of oceanics came in, including one female that made a beautiful pass. This shark [species] never lingers.

It either doesn’t show at all or comes in really close. I always feel an awesome, intense presence around them because they give off this vibe — you can tell they live in an open blue wasteland. They don’t see much, so when they do, they’re right up on it to check it out. They reek of badass.

— Brooke Morton

BRIAN SKERRY. OPPOSITE: THOMAS BURNS

Q: And afterward?

Groark: The day began with

don’t have any bargaining power. They needed a tool to get the word out: Fish farming matters. As a diver, I feel a responsibility to make people understand that 50 to 70 percent of fish eaten in America is farmed in another country where there are no regulations. People want to eat fish, and they trust what they buy in stores. If you’re going to eat fish, ask where the exact fish came from. If the waiter has to ask the manager, don’t buy that fish. If it’s sustainable, the restaurant would brag about it. At the grocery store, the majority of what you’re buying was caught five weeks ago and gassed with carbon monoxide. The label says it was packaged yesterday, but it wasn’t processed or caught yesterday. Not by a long shot.

Travel Tips

Better Safe Than Sorry A little bit of planning goes a long way in keeping your valuables safe while you enjoy the water B Y T R AV I S M A R S H A L L

back and forth to your room.

Some have gear lockers — check beforehand if you need to bring your own lock — while others offer a communal shelf or room in the shop where you can stash your dive bag between dives. A zipper lock for your dive bag adds an extra level of security.

4.

On the Boat

A dive vacation is all about blowing bubbles and relaxation, so the last thing you want is to worry about items getting stolen from your room or dive bag. Theft is rare at most dive resorts, but it can and does happen.

Usually these are crimes of convenience — someone snatching cash or other valuables left unattended — which means making just a little effort to keep your things secure can go a long way toward preventing the most common occurrences.

1.

Lock It Up

Passports, cash, jewelry and electronics are easy targets for thieves, and losing them can cause you serious headaches. At check-in, ask about secure storage at the resort. Most offer safes in the rooms, while others might have a hotel

safe in the office where they secure guests’ belongings.

You can make a copy of your passport to have with you if needed, and carry only small amounts of cash or a single ATM or credit card.

2.

Keep the Small Stuff

If you plan to leave your gear with the dive shop, it’s a good idea to hang on to small, fragile items, like your dive computer, or items that can’t be easily replaced, like a mask with prescription lenses. Even if they’re safe from theft, they could still get dropped, knocked around or otherwise broken.

3.

Stash Your Scuba Gear

Most resorts and dive shops offer storage so you can keep your scuba kit safe without lugging wet gear

Most divers know not to bring unnecessary items like jewelry or electronics on the dive boat, but you’ll likely still want to carry a few things on board, like a camera, sunglasses and some cash. Along with your dive bag, bring a small backpack or dry bag, then ask the crew about the boat’s dry storage. There’s usually a shelf at the forward of the cabin or a small closet belowdecks where you can keep things safe and out of the way during your dives.

5.

At the Pool or Beach

For those times you’ll be in the water not diving, whether at the hotel pool or the beach, it’s best to leave as few things sitting onshore as possible. Leave all but the most necessary items secured in your room.

If you’re with other people, you can use the buddy system, with each person taking turns staying onshore while the others go in the water. Otherwise, consider getting a small waterproof container or wallet that can hang around your neck or zip inside a swimsuit pocket.

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 11

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Dive Briefs

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A Perfect Sinking Small Atlantic Ocean island of Porto Santo sinks warship for divers

BY WILL HARRISON

The warship settled perfectly upright on the seabed, the culmination of two years of hard work for all involved.

Everything had gone according to plan for Porto Santo, a 9-mile-long Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic. The 1,438-ton, 279-foot General Pereira d’Eça corvette warship was built in 1970, and it completed decades of active service.

The scuttling was a collaborative effort between the Portuguese navy, Madeira’s Promotion Association and the Ocean Revival Project, which has scuttled several warships off Portugal’s Algarve coast over the past few years.

Porto Santo’s newest dive site sits at a maximum depth of 100 feet — in yearround clear water — just a short distance from Porto Santo’s artificial reef, the wreck of the Madeirense.

DIVE IN

More dive-friendly wrecks to explore Adrianna Type of Ship: Freighter Where: Bahamas Length: 100 feet Depth: 50-60 feet Date Sunk: April 8 Experience Level: Beginner

Ana Cecilia Type of Ship: Freighter Where: Florida Length: 170 feet Depth: 50-87 feet Date Sunk: July 13 Experience Level: Beginner-Advanced

Newsmakers The people trending in dive news headlines

Social-Media Fiends With the help of the Aqwary Smart Console, a diver posted a Facebook status 50 feet underwater in a Swedish lake. With this new technology, are you able to produce a magazine at depth? Asking for a friend.

FROM TOP: ZACH STOVALL; ISTOCKPHOTO (2); COURTESY APPLE. OPPOSITE: WILLIAM HARRISON

President Barack Obama A newly discovered fish species was named Obama after the president expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii.

He may be out of the Oval Office soon, but now “Obama” will be in the ocean for years to come.

Aussie Scientists Researchers found a 2,300-squaremile deep-ocean reef hiding in plain sight off the coast of Australia behind the Great Barrier Reef. Any signs of the lost city of Atlantis down there?

Tech Lovers The recently released Apple Watch Series 2 is waterproof, but it’s not recommended for scuba diving. That’s OK, Apple. We’re not offended. We have plenty of fancy wristwear to choose from as it is.

Odds & Ends From under the sea

LONG-LOST LOVE

Code: BON16

Thanks to a Facebook post that went viral, an observant diver was able to prove there’s no such thing as a lost cause. Jessica Nisos found a wedding ring covered in sediment while diving off the coast of Benidorm, Spain.

It turns out the ring belongs to Agustin Aliaga and Juani Sanchez, who lost it while swimming in 1979. Thirty-seven years later, Nisos posted a photo of the ring with the wedding date inscription on Facebook, and it made its way back to the original owners after more than 80,000 helpful people shared the post.

Shark Central

Sea Clearly This Holiday Season.

Have research scientists found a great white shark nursery near Montauk, Long Island? Over a span of two weeks in August, research group Ocearch tagged several great white pups in the area, leading them to speculate they discovered the first birthing hot spot for the vulnerable species in the North Atlantic.

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Achmat Hassiem, a South African Paralympian swimmer, has every reason to hold a grudge against sharks. Hassiem lost his right leg in a shark attack off the coast of Cape Town in 2006. But now, the 34-year-old — who finished eighth in the 100-meter butterfly race at the Paralympics in September — is an outspoken shark advocate.

Known as “Shark Boy,” Hassiem is active with the Save Our Seas Foundation and was named a Global Shark Guardian by the United Nations earlier this year.

Dive Briefs

1.

The marine iguana is found only in the Galapagos Islands.

2.

As a result of El Niño, pollution and the introduction of nonnative species, the marine iguana is considered vulnerable to extinction.

12.

ILLUSTRATION: EMILY S. DAMSTRA. PHOTOS, FROM LEFT: ISTOCKPHOTO (2); WESTEND61 GMBH/ALAMY. OPPOSITE: OCEARCH/ROB SNOW

Species

The Marine Iguana

3.

Marine iguanas feed exclusively on marine algae, a unique trait among lizards.

Isolation in the Galapagos Islands helped shape these deep-diving reptilian marvels

BY DR. RICHARD SMITH

4.

Charles Darwin was revolted by their appearance, writing they are “disgusting, clumsy lizards.”

5.

Amblyrhynchus cristatus can reach 26 pounds in weight, which is equivalent to an average 18-month-old child.

6.

These marine reptiles encountered terrestrial predators for the

The female marine iguana is receptive to mate for just three weeks per year. It lays one to four eggs, which take 100 days to hatch.

13.

first time about 150 years ago.

Introduced dogs have reduced their population by a third in some areas.

7.

The marine iguana removes excess salt from its body through glands in the nose. It excretes salt by squirting it several feet out of its nostrils.

8.

than permitted for a PADI-certified Open Water Diver.

El Niño greatly reduces algal growth and can cause widespread starvation in marine iguanas, killing up to 85 percent of individuals in some cases.

Galapagos hawks and certain herons, which feed on young iguanas.

9.

10.

The marine iguana’s only natural predators are

11.

These graceful swimmers can dive to 65 feet, deeper

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 15

The males sometimes swim between islands to mate, which explains why there is just one species of marine iguana compared with a dozen Galapagos giant tortoises isolated on different Galapagos islands.

During a mating period, the male marine iguana can fast for two weeks in order to maintain its territory, a period of time in which it can lose a quarter of its body weight. Some males — typically black or gray — also turn shades of red and green around mating season.

Follow Richard Smith’s underwater adventures at oceanrealm images.com.

Dive Briefs

Just Surfaced

Stocking Stuffers We’ve got holiday gift ideas for your favorite dive buddy B Y R O G E R R O Y // P H O T O B Y C H E L S E A P O M A L E S

1

Kindle Oasis

The lightest and thinnest e-reader yet, the Kindle Oasis is perfect for divers who like to read and who spend a lot of time on airplanes getting to their dive vacations. We wish it was waterproof; otherwise, this is a nifty, zippy device. $290; amazon.com 2

1

Our complete collection of holiday gift ideas — many with a fun scuba-related theme — can be found on sportdiver.com.

SeaLife Super Macro Lens

Get tack-sharp stills and videos at close range — from 3.5 inches to 7 inches — with SeaLife’s Super Macro Lens.

Compatible with the Micro HD and 2.0 cameras (as shown), the Super Macro can be attached or removed underwater. The lens features two optical elements with a broadband anti-reflective coating. A rubber-armored exterior protects it against shock and the lens port from scratches. $99 (lens only); sealife-cameras.com 3

2

Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II

Because your dive buddy is worth it — and so is the Great Barrier Reef. Oris will make a donation to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, funded by sales of the watch.

The watch features a stainless-steel case, automatic winding with a 26-jewel movement, ceramic minutes-scale top ring, and Superluminova numerals and hour markers. $2,300; oris.ch 4

Cressi Finisher Knife

This sleek knife offers a stiletto-style blade made from 420-J2 stainless steel. It comes with a lower full-length edge, upper serrated edge, line cutter and spear point. The slim handle has a contoured, overmolded body, and the sheath offers a push-button release. $60; cressiusa.com

3 4

16 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 | S P O R T D I V E R . C O M

Lionfish Nachos 1 lb. boneless, skinless lionfish fillets Sea salt Granulated garlic 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 pack Asian wonton wraps Hot frying oil set to 350˚ Wasabi Drizzle: 4 oz. wasabi powder 1 cup water 1 cup creole mustard 1 cup mayo ¼ cup sugar

Doing the Lion’s Share Without a major advance in technology, the fight against invasive lionfish falls on divers

BY A N DY Z U N Z

he first time Lad Akins was served lionfish, he paused to carefully examine the other taste tester.

“When they didn’t keel over, I said, ‘Well, let me have a taste,’” says Akins, with a laugh. “It was really good. We realized that this is an edible fish, and that could be a way to address the invasion.”

The invasion that Akins, director of special projects at the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, refers to is well-documented. Lionfish are invasive in the Caribbean and western Atlantic.

And thanks to its predatory nature and rapid reproduction, the lionfish has gone from pesky invasive species to big problem as it feasts on native juvenile fish.

“The first time I cooked lionfish, I was shocked by how white, buttery and flaky it was,” says Chris Sherrill, chef at the Flora-Bama Yacht Club. “It lends itself to a wide variety of cooking styles: blackened, grilled, even raw in a ceviche.”

Sherrill is on the front line of the fight against the invasive species. He is president of the NUISANCE Group, which works to raise awareness of underutilized and invasive species through sustainable culinary endeavors

FROM TOP: MICHAEL PATRICK O’NEILL/OCEANWIDEIMAGES.COM; COURTLAND WILLIAM RICHARDS

T

on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. But without an easy way to retrieve the fish — the only effective way is for divers or snorkelers to remove them one by one — the going price is too high for chefs like Sherrill to put lionfish on the menu regularly. He estimates that a lionfish plate done right should sell for about $45. Whole Foods Markets in Florida sell the filleted fish for $29.99 per pound.

“People say, ‘Wait a minute, we have an invasive fish that we’re trying to get rid of, but you’re making it a delicacy and selling it at this price?’” says Sherrill.

“We can’t just tell them it’s more expensive because divers have to go down and get them one by one. We need to do stewardship; we need to do our part. We need to step back and ask, ‘Can I make a difference in this world?’ We need divers to want to do this not just for a huge profit.”

One day, technology may be invented to help curb the growth of nonnative lionfish. But now, Sherrill says, it’s up to divers and spearfishers to do their part.

“Asking your restaurants to put them on the menu is all well and good, but at some point we need to come up with an affordable way to serve them,” S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 17

Spicy Mayo: 2 cups Sriracha hot sauce 1 cup mayo Garnish: 1 cup chopped roasted red peppers ½ cup chopped banana peppers ½ cup chopped green onions ½ cup diced red onions 2 cups seaweed salad

1. Season lionfish to taste with salt and granulated garlic.

2. With a skillet on high sear, lightly and quickly saute the lionfish in oil.

3. Set aside on a plate in a cooler or refrigerator. Make sure the lionfish are ultrarare.

3. Cut wonton wraps into triangles and fry until crisp.

4. Place on paper towels to drain.

5. Make wasabi drizzle. Mix wasabi powder into water until dissolved. Mix rest of ingredients.

6. Mix ingredients for spicy mayo.

7. Remove lionfish from cooler, slice ultrathin, and split into four portions.

Set up a pile of wonton nachos, and place lionfish on top. Garnish with chopped peppers and onions. Drizzle a small amount of each sauce onto the nachos. Top with seaweed salad.

— Chef Chris Sherrill

says Chandra Wright, co-founder of the NUISANCE Group and nature-tourism specialist at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant. “Until we find a commercially feasible way to harvest lionfish, the solution is that we need more divers spearing and either donating them or selling them at a reasonable cost.”

With training, everyone can help.

“If properly trained and equipped, divers can remove lionfish on their own.

Not necessarily to become commercial fishermen, but to take home and consume,” says Akins. “Every lionfish that comes out of the water is one less that is out there causing damage.”

THE WAKATOBI WAY

Kids Sea Camp travels to Indonesia

Photos by Margo Peyton

Welcome to unparalleled, memorable and the most intimate and uniquely crafted family dive adventure vacations imaginable.That said, I would like to showcase the newest addition of Kids Sea Camp partners,“Wakatobi.”

Sharing our strong values and dedication for family travel, this PADI 5 star resort is located in southeast Sulawesi, a part of Indonesia that is remote, but as Tom and I experienced easily EGGIWWMFPI % HMVIGX GLEVXIV ¾ MKLX MW MRGPYHIH from Bali.This brings Wakatobi within easy reach for families who want an off-the-beatenpath upscale dive adventure.We made the journey more comfortable by adding a night in Bali.

When arriving at Denpasar (DPS) Bali international airport, all Kids Sea Camp guests will be personally met, assisted and then

whisked off to the Discovery Kartika Plaza, a beach-front resort, for much-needed rest and to acclimate.

Tom and I enjoyed a stroll down the beach along the boardwalk lined with local vendors, surf shops and music.The beach seemed to be a hot surf spot as the wave action was all the rage.

Well rested, we returned to the airport for a private charter to Wakatobi. %JXIV XLI LV ¾ MKLX E QMR FSEX VMHI had us stepping ashore to experience a kaleidoscope of colors and spectacular views.

A warm heartfelt welcome from owners and staff on arrival made us feel like VIP’s even after we found out that’s just the Wakatobi way and how all guests are greeted. We were given a fresh cool minted cloth for our face

and a glass of fruit-infused water placed in hand, as our personal escort for the week oriented us to this newfound mesmerizing paradise. Guests have a choice of bungalows or villas. Both are perfect for families.The 2 bedroom villas have an oversized private pool along with outdoor shower. The ocean bungalow category, that we stayed in, are either sitting on or overlooking the gorgeous white sand beach and turquoise sea.

Keeping in line with Kids Sea Camp values, I feel Wakatobi Resort is a testament to environmental responsibility and intelligent travel. My husband Tom is always telling me that I’m a human doing, not a human being. It’s extremely rare for me to relax and soak up the beauty of the here and now when my job is creating that perfect utopia for others. But

KIDS@FAMILYDIVERS.COM 803-419-2556 WWW.FAMILYDIVERS.COM

DIVE ADVENTURES

OUR DESTINATIONS AUSTRALIA Mike Ball BONAIRE & DOMINICA Buddy Dive GRAND CAYMAN Divetech GALAPAGOS FIJI Beqa Lagoon INDONESIA Wakatobi MEXICO Quino & Rocio Del Mar PHILIPPINES Sea Explorers & Amun Ini PALAU Sam’s Tours at Wakatobi, I had the distinct feeling that this resort was more a place to be than a place to do, or as Tom calls it “the Wakatobi way.”

The resort is the self-sustaining, eco-friendly and family friendly vision of two Swiss brothers who live on the property, Lorenz and Valentin Maeder.Their passion in creating and maintaining a symbiotic relationship with nature and the local community was very evident in every aspect of our experience here.

While Tom enjoyed the spa & dive experience, I watched the owner’s children having fun with kite boarding, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking and paddle boarding.

I instantly knew this was another perfect partner for Kids Sea Camp.

Everyone is thrilled that we are coming and they cannot wait to LEZI OMHW JVSQ EVSYRH XLI [SVPH ½ PP the resort with excitement.

We have created extraordinary family dive vacations to new and far away places that are designed with peace, calm and sustainability in mind, with education being blended into every facet of our plan. From turtle rescue to desalination and coral reef ecology, we feel this resort is rich in experience, wisdom and compassion.

The story of Wakatobi Resort is similar to our own. Built with love,

heart and extraordinary vision, I feel it is truly a place that divers from around the world will travel the long distance to enjoy more than just once.

There is no pollution, over crowding or dying coral. The Wakatobi way is our way of disconnecting you from your routine world and reconnecting you to each other and the underwater world.

For individual custom family dive vacations or Kids Sea Camp weeks at Wakatobi give us a call.We look forward to serving you.

Margo Peyton, founder of Kids Sea Camp

KIDS@FAMILYDIVERS.COM 803-419-2556 WWW.FAMILYDIVERS.COM

ST. LUCIA Anse Chastanet & Jade Mountain YAP Manta Ray Bay ROATAN Mayan Princess

Dive Life

The Total Experience Total Submersion 2016 packs world-class diving and nonstop topside fun into a week to remember on St. Lucia

BY MELISSA GASKILL

acking up at the end of the week, I struggled to fit everything into my suitcase. Blame the addition of a PADI dry bag, coffee mug, water bottle, hat and other swag collected during the 17th Annual PADI Total Submersion.

This week of world-class diving, great friends, parties, contests and more exceeded my expectations. So did St. Lucia, Anse Chastanet Resort and Scuba St. Lucia, a PADI Five Star Dive Resort and Divers Alert Network Partners in Dive Safety facility.

For the week, the group divided into two teams, each with its own dive boat and crew (and a little friendly rivalry; water cannons may have been involved).

Jimmy Stinson took advantage to notch his 1,500th dive, for which sponsor Scubapro awarded him a pair of Seawing Nova fins. I hit dive No. 100 on my final giant stride of the trip. Several other participants completed various certifications: J.B. Brown and Barb Sladeck completed their Open Water Diver

“The extremely friendly, knowledgeable dive staff made it very easy for us to earn three new certifications while not distracting from our group experience.” certification; Don Battaglia finished his Drift Diver specialty to earn a PADI Master Scuba Diver rating; and Chris Valerian and Dawn Desmelyk completed Drift Diver, Boat Diver and Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty courses.

“The extremely friendly and knowledgeable dive staff made it very easy for us to earn three new certifications while not distracting from our group experience,” says Valerian. “We are definitely planning to go back to Total Sub.” Numbers and certifications aside, we experienced diving at its finest. For one thing, we had the water mostly to 20 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 | S P O R T D I V E R . C O M

ourselves. For another, more than 150 species of fish call these protected reefs home. At sites just a short boat ride from the dive shop, we swam through swarms of brown and blue chromis, and watched colorful parrotfish, peacock flounder, soldierfish, trunkfish, needlefish, pufferfish and more. Moray eels and enormous lobsters tucked into the coral. Enormous purple barrel sponges harbored tiny, brightly colored fish.

Seahorses hid in red sea fan coral. Sea turtles loitered near the reef. We even spotted a tiny, juvenile smooth trunkfish, little more than a hovering spotted marble. We could thank the sharp eyes and expertise of the dive masters for many of these sightings.

The crew members not only made our diving productive, but they also made it effortless: helping us gear up, navigating underwater, signaling safety stops and helping everyone back onto the

BUDD RIKER (5)

P

Daily boat, shore and night dives are just the start of the activities offered at PADI’s Total Submersion.

boats. There, we enjoyed pastries fresh from the resort kitchens while the crew readied our gear for the next adventure.

Night dives from the resort beach served up crustaceans, large basket stars, octopuses, squids, bioluminescence and “The Thing.” (You’ll have to ask.)

Topside, we enjoyed games, safety clinics and parties, executed by PADI staff and team leaders Theresa Kaplan and Adrianne Miller, along with special guests Julie Andersen, director of global marketing for Scubapro and founder of Shark Angels; Frances Smith, DAN

medical information specialist; and PADI photographer Budd Riker. Andersen brought along bags of brand-new Scubapro gear for us to field-test, including fins, masks and BCs. She also gave an informative presentation about the efforts of Shark Angels to protect every diver’s favorite marine predators.

Cathleen Burns won the “Dangerous or Safe?” game sponsored by DAN, which presented various diving scenarios with players voting whether they were dangerous or safe. Karen Upchurch took

…AND SMALLER

Powerful

Simple

Reliable

Dive Life

We know where the best dive sites are and where other divers aren’t.

Fastest liveaboard in the Maldives 3 dives per day PADI 5-Star Dive Centre with Nitrox On-board marine biologist

For reservations, contact your travel consultant, Four Seasons at 1-800-819-5053 or visit fourseasons.com/maldivesfse

Advance reservations required. Offer is subject to availability at time of reservation. Rate listed is per person, per night and does not include service charge and applicable taxes.

“Total Sub unites divers from all over for one actionpacked week of diving, fun and shenanigans, below and above the surface.” first place in the Photo Safari, a weeklong quest to capture a list of underwater and topside images, winning a GoPro HERO4 camera for her efforts. I frequently spotted Upchurch — a fellow Blue Team member and previous Total Sub Photo Safari winner — in impressive underwater contortions with her camera gear. We all won at the duck hunt, obscure beach games and our private sunset catamaran cruise, which included a bonus whale sighting and ended with everyone dancing to live music.

“Total Sub unites divers from all over for one action-packed week of diving, fun and shenanigans, below and above the surface,” says Miller. “We all arrive as strangers and leave with a long list of new dive buddies.”

Many of those buddy bonds formed over our private buffet breakfasts every morning, buffet lunches next door to the dive shop between morning and afternoon dives, or dinners at one of three resort restaurants. Anse Chastanet’s menus feature organic produce from the resort’s own farm and fresh seafood right out of the water, turned into Caribbean and Creole specialties. Most afternoons ended over cold, local Piton beer or fruity rum punch at the Beach Bar as we watched the sun set over the blue Caribbean and compared dive memories.

The Total Sub staff obviously took a 22 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 | S P O R T D I V E R . C O M

lot of care selecting the destination for this event. The island of St. Lucia wowed with classic Caribbean scenery as well as a famous landmark and World Heritage Site, the Pitons. The steep slopes of these twin peaks continue underwater, forming the dramatic walls we explored at dive sites such as Superman’s Flight, Piton Wall, Jalousie and Coral Garden.

We also enjoyed views of the Pitons and the stunning blue water from our resort rooms, which are scattered along their own steep hillside. For those able to tear themselves away from the diving long enough, topside activity options include 12 miles of biking and hiking trails, bird-watching, boutiques and an art gallery, a spa, and a watersports center with complimentary snorkel gear, windsurfers, sunfish sailboats, paddleboards and sit-on-top kayaks.

I managed to stuff everything into my bag, grateful that I didn’t need extra room for all my Total Sub memories.

Next year, I’ll bring a bigger suitcase.

BUDD RIKER. OPPOSITE: GARY GREEN/COURTESY PROJECT AWARE

3, 4 and 7-night cruises start at USD 850 per person, all inclusive

SABA Project AWARE

Returning the Favor

UNSPOILED QUEEN OF THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN

IT’S AN ADVENTURE!

A combat veteran finds solace and a worthy cause in the ocean B Y A L E X A WA R D , C O M M U N I T Y R E L AT I O N S S P E C I A L I S T , P R O J E C T AWA R E F O U N D AT I O N

W

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ar

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e all have our reasons for giving back to the ocean. For Gary Green, his is simple: “The sea saved my life. It gave me hope.”

You see, in 2009, Green’s life changed forever while he was based as a rifleman in Afghanistan. Stationed at a small patrol base about 300 feet north of a territory heavily controlled by the Taliban, Green faced daily fire and Diving helped comhigh threat of IEDs (improbat veteran Gary vised explosive devices).

Green cope with During an attack on August for the first time, it was also the effects of post-traumatic 21, 2009, Green was hit by the first time that PTSD was stress disorder. two IEDs concealed in the not attacking my mind,” says side of a compound wall, leaving Green. “For me, it’s a therapy him blind in his right eye and with I can swim through, a feeling of shrapnel buried in his face, arm and legs. oneness that I can experience without After receiving a medical discharge constant negative thoughts that plague from the army in 2010, Green returned my mind. If that’s not worth saving, then to his home in the United Kingdom and I don’t know what is.” began the challenging process of recovAlongside his fellow divers at Deptherery and reintegration into society. Like apy, Green now participates in Project so many others returning from combat, AWARE Dive Against Debris surveys to Green struggled with symptoms of combat the negative effects of marine post-traumatic stress disorder. debris in underwater environments.

Battling alcohol and drug abuse, During a recent Dive Against Debris anxiety, and self-destructive thoughts, in Egypt, he and his group were tasked he longed for an escape from what had with cleaning a large patch of coral. With become his daily reality. He found solace every piece of fishing wire and every in scuba diving. bottle he removed, Green felt more relief Green was introduced to Deptherapy, and satisfaction. a U.K. charity that uses scuba diving as He’s pledged to continue his efforts to a means of rehabilitation for returned care for the underwater world through British Armed Services personnel who Dives Against Debris. have suffered life-changing physical and “The ocean — something that has mental injuries. The underwater world meant so much to me and could potenprovided Green with a sense of calm, tially mean so much to someone else stillness and peace as he progressed — has to be protected,” says Green. through his dive training. The ocean’s To learn more about Project AWARE energy was healing. and its Dive Against Debris program, visit “When my head went under the water projectaware.org/diveagainstdebris.

The island of Saba rises majestically from her clear azure waters.

She is like no other Caribbean destination. Untouched by the pace of the modern world … Saba is safe, friendly and charming with natural beauty above and below her waterline.

Saba offers dive sites for every level of experience. Past volcanic activity has created spectacular formations. Saba’s reefs teem with tropical fish and healthy coral.

Close-to-shore walls are covered with sponges, and the heavily encrusted deep-water seamounts attract pelagic creatures rarely seen by divers.

Saba, Unspoiled Queen of the Dutch Caribbean

sabatourism.com Photos: Cees Timmers, www.tvc-advertising.com

PRO TIP PERSEVERANCE IN OPEN-WATER PHOTOGRAPHY BRINGS THE REWARD OF UNUSUAL CREATURES.

Images

Everything an underwater photographer needs

to shoot amazing images

JURGEN FREUND

Jellyfish are naturally photogenic. Compose them with sun directly behind so they glow like a lightbulb.

BLUE WATER

he big blue is beautiful, but it is a challenging place to shoot photos. Subjects can be scarce, and the enviT ronment has few visual references. It is easy to find yourself ascending or descending accidentally when fixated on a subject. I strap my dive computer to my strobe arm so it’s always in my eye line. Calm conditions are important for safety and pictures, as flat water gives reflections and focuses the sunlight into beautiful beams.

T E X T B Y A L E X M U S TA R D

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RODNEY BURSIEL

Images

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Photography Tips

Dolphin Dreams

1

Hit the Hot Spots Few subjects in the ocean are as special as dolphins.

Experienced divers know it is reasonably common to see dolphins from the boat but much more rare to meet them underwater. If you really want to photograph dolphins, seek out locations that are known for them — such as Bimini in the Bahamas, home to Atlantic spotted dolphins. Then go out with operators who specialize in swimming with them, who will know the optimum time and brief you on the best approach for encounters.

2

Gear Down Most of the subjects we shoot underwater move pretty slowly. Dolphins buck that trend, and then some. The first rule for photography is to ditch as much gear as possible.

Leave your tank, BC and reg on the boat, and take off your strobes and strobe arms too.

Use a small dome port if you have one. You want to be as streamlined as possible. The faster you can swim, the more chance you’ll have of keeping up with the dolphins for longer.

The more you can dive down, spin and loop underwater, the more chance you’ll have of piquing their interest and getting the close passes that yield the best images.

3

Beat the Blur Swimming with dolphins is incredibly exciting, so if you remember only one thing, it should be to use a fast shutter speed.

Dolphins swim fast, and without strobes, it is easy to take slightly blurry pictures. The really bad news is that with all the action, photographers tend not to look carefully at their LCD screen and discover all their images are blurry when they download them.

I aim for a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 with dolphins.

To achieve such a high shutter speed, it will mean increasing the ISO and opening the aperture. The first will increase noise in the image, the second will make the corners of the frame blurry. But both are better than blurred dolphins!

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 27

The Islands of Hawaii

DON’T MISS THIS

DIVE OAHU Hop aboard Oahu’s only 46’ Handicapped Scuba Association approved dive boat and experience the rarely visited Navy Tug, Nashua. This recently sunk artificial reef sits in 65’ of crystal clear water offering frequent sightings of sharks, rays, and turtles!

(808)922-DIVE www.DiveOahu.com

Dive Maui

Seasport Divers

Kona Honu Divers

Join the friendly crew of Jack’s Diving Locker on the Kona Coast of Hawaii with healthy coral reefs, lava formations, and big animals – dolphins, whales, sharks, and manta rays!

Full service Lahaina dive shop, great deals on Dive Gear, sales and rentals, two tank Lanai boat dives from our custom built 37’ RIB Hoku located at 1223 Front Street in Lahaina, GoPro Dealer and Underwater Camera systems for sale.

808-329-7585 dive@jacksdivinglocker.com www.jacksdivinglocker.com

808-661-7333 Toll Free 1-866-529-2544 goscubadivemaui.com facebook.com/HawaiianRaftingAdventures

Full service dive shop specializing in SCUBA tours and Certification Courses.

We are located on the south shore of Kauai. We offer 2 dive charters 365 days a year while also running seasonal trips to the Forbidden Island of Niihau.

Join our expert crew for the best diving in Kona. Spacious 46’ Custom dive boat running 2 Tank morning charters and Evening Manta Dives. Advanced diving including the world famous Black-Water Dive. All levels of instruction available. Photographer friendly.

808-742-9303 seasportdivers.com

844-821-8561 konahonudivers.com

Jack’s Diving Locker

KAUAI

OAHU MAUI

THE BIG ISLAND

Images

Positioning is key when trying to capture the movement and scale of schooling fish for video.

Schooling Fish Pulsating, shape-shifting, relentless — schools of fish are the perfect subject when you’re ready to switch to video mode TIP

ALEX MUSTARD

Beginner Every underwater still camera can shoot video, but how often do you make use of this feature? Video lets you capture the movement of schooling fish and also the scale of some gatherings that are too big to fit in a single frame. Count to 10 when shooting to make sure your clips are long enough to cut together. It’s always disappointing when you have to scrap a good shot because it’s not quite long enough for your video sequence.

THE AUTHOR

TIP

Intermediate Because of their size, schools are better filmed in natural light.

To get the most detail and color, approach the school from the side with the sun

Video lets us capture the movement of schools and also the scale of some gatherings that are too big to fit in a single frame.

behind you. With silvery fish, look for an angle that catches reflections, so as the fish change direction, they flash the light back at the lens.

TIP

Advanced The aim with video is not just to capture a clip, but also to build a sequence. A zoom lens helps because you want to join together clips of the subject at different sizes to tell its story. Try starting with a wide shot with just blue water and allow the school to swim into the frame.

Dr. Alex Mustard is a marine biologist who has been a full-time photographer since 2004. His latest book, Underwater Photography Masterclass, is out now. To see more of his work, visit amustard.com.

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Gear

1. ArmorTex 5 mm Gloves Akona These gloves keep your hands warm and protected, without giving up dexterity. The palms and fingers are covered with ArmorTex, a material used in industrial protective wear that’s resistant to punctures or cuts but also extremely flexible. Seams are glued and blindstitched for a tight, water-resistant seal, and the fingers are pre-bent into an ergonomic shape so they flex more easily without binding, offering surprising flexibility for a 5 mm glove (they’re also available in 3 mm).

The seals on the wrist are smooth, so they’ll form a tight seal whether they’re against neoprene or skin.

$64; akona.com

2. Cyclone Jacket Fourth Element Designed for divers, the Cyclone is made of a triplelayer material that’s waterproof and breathable, and can stand up to hard use in punishing weather conditions.

The tough outer layer provides durable protection from wear and abrasion, the middle layer blocks water and wind from entering, and the inner layer adds insulation and allows moisture to escape. The shaped hood fits comfortably and has room for a hat underneath, and the seam-welded chest pocket has a water-resistant zipper. The hood and the cuff enclosures are adjustable, and the hand-warmer pockets have water-resistant zips. The Cyclone packs down small, so it’s handy for travel or for stowing on the boat or between-dive warm-ups. The Cyclone is available in men’s and

We get gear wet so you don’t have to — here are this month’s Editor’s Picks

Cold Comfort Brace yourself: Winter is coming. Here’s some gear that can help you stay warm and safe when the thermometer falls.

BY RO G E R ROY

women’s sizes.

$220; fourth element.com

3. Perdix Shearwater The more challenging the dive conditions, the more you appreciate a dive computer that’s easy to read and understand. The multicolor display of the Perdix, with a screen that’s 2.2 inches wide, offers a wealth of data in an uncluttered, clear presentation that instantly conveys critical info. For a computer with advanced tec capabilities, including openand closed-circuit modes with up to five gases and the ability to handle any blend of trimix, the Perdix is as intuitive and simple to use as most basic rec computers. (The OC Rec mode is a simplified three-gas nitrox computer that’s appropriate for beginning divers.) The two side-mounted buttons (which are nearly ¾-inch in diameter and easy to operate with thick gloves) work with clear, logical screen prompts to make quick work of predive setups.

The Perdix lets

you customize screen displays from a long menu of options, and the dive display toggles through a hefty selection of data, a color tissue-loading graph and a digital compass. The Perdix uses a single AA battery, which is quick and easy to replace.

$849 shearwater.com

4. Legend Glacia

2

Aqua Lung The Glacia starts out with the Legend — long known for its easy-breathing reliability in the cold — and adds design elements that allow it to perform in even the most extreme conditions.

It’s equipped with three radiatorlike heat exchangers — in the first stage, the second stage and in the hose – to pull ambient heat from the water. The diaphragm cover is machined from solid aluminum, which helps to rapidly conduct heat. The Glacia’s purge is designed with a flow control to avoid excessive purging, which can cause unwanted cooling of the breathing air. The sealed-diaphragm

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3

DAMIEN MAURIC. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: BILL DOSTER; ZACH STOVALL; JON WHITTLE

GEAR TIP

Freezing Up Ice can form in regs at temperatures well above freezing. To stay in the clear, use a regulator designed for cold water and avoid excessive purging or rapid BC inflation, which will quickly chill your regulator.

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 31

Gear

$840 aqualung.com

5. Enuff Salt Spyderco Some knives get tough to hold onto when your gloved fingers are the size of a bratwurst. But the scaly texture of the Enuff Salt’s grip and the machined thumb grooves work to provide a sure hold for gloved or bare hands.

Made of Spyderco’s H1 steel (which we’ve soaked in salt water without it rusting), it holds an edge even with rough use, and the heavily serrated blade rips through finger-thick nylon line with one pass.

$179.95 spyderco.com

6. Halo BC Zeagle

7. Neotek 8/7/6 Hollis How low (in temp, that is) a wetsuit can go depends on everything from body type to suit design and fit. But the Neotek semidry pushes that number as a low as any wetsuit we’ve tried.

The textured lining keeps water from shifting around inside, and a thick back pad keeps cold water far from your spine. Inside the horizontal chest zipper is an internal water dam that pulls over your head from the front before you pull up the hood from the rear. It requires a little tugging to get it into place, but the payoff is a glovelike fit that keeps you perfectly toasty. Available in nine sizes, the ruggedly made Neotek has sealed, blindstitched seams.

6 7

$449.95 hollis.com

The harness makes the Halo one of the most comfortable and secure BCs we’ve ever used, in part because of its wide range of adjustability, which lets you achieve that just-right fit whether you’re in a tropic-weight wetsuit or a bulky cold-water suit.

Equipped with Zeagle’s Ripcord integrated-weight system, the Halo ditches both weight pockets with a tug of the single red release handle, which is secured with a hook-andloop fastener to prevent accidental ditching. The Halo has plenty of room to stow oodles of accessories, with seven stainlesssteel D-rings, cargo pockets that are nearly 10 inches deep with long zippers for easy access, and twin mounting points for a knife or retractor.

8. ARA EBS Hard Blade

$773.95 zeagle.com

$169.95 cressiusa.com

Cressi The ARA offers efficient power for demanding conditions, diveall-day comfort and no-hassle convenience. The lively polypropylene blade has a pronounced snap that provides excellent thrust and momentum with minimal fatigue, and that works well with a wide range of kicking styles. Beefy side rails and grooves along the face of the blade channel water for efficiency and stabilize the fin to keep it kicking true. Much lighter than a steel spring strap, the bungee has a wide, soft heel pad and an oversize finger loop that’s easy to grasp with thick gloves.

The ARA is also available in a Soft Blade version.

8

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ZACH STOVALL; CHELSEA POMALES; JON WHITTLE; BILL DOSTER; CHELSEA POMALES

first stage is equipped with Aqua Lung’s Auto-Closure Device that blocks water from entering the first stage.

Get to the bottom of all this.

With thousands of species, hundreds of wrecks and North America’s only living coral reef, The Florida Keys has always been a little off the deep end. So whether you’re just dipping a toe in the water, or seeking advanced certification, our world-renowned dive instructors will have you engaging in submersive activities in no time. fla-keys.com/diving

Key Largo Dive Center Daily dive boat. 6 divers max, Divemaster. PADI & NAUI Dive Center. Training.

305-451-5844 KeyLargoDiveCenter.com Hall’s Diving Center & Career Institute, Marathon Beautiful Wreck and Reef diving. Lessons for starters and Career Training for professionals.

Great fun at Hall’s. Come see us.

800-331-4255 or 305-743-5929 hallsdiving.com Captain’s Corner Dive Center, Key West PADI 5 Star for novice & experienced divers. Charters & training offered daily!

305-296-8865 captainscorner.com

Amy Slate’s Amoray Dive Resort, Key Largo

Holiday Inn Key Largo

305-451-3595 or 800-426-6729 amoray.com

Located next to deep-water marina.

Spacious guest rooms.

Restaurant on-site.

866-733-8554 or 305-451-2121 holidayinn.com/keylargofl

Florida Keys Dive Center, Islamorada

History of Diving Museum, Islamorada

PADI 5 Star CDC. Diving REEFS & WRECKS of Key Largo, Islamorada & Pennekamp Park.

800-433-8946 or 305-852-4599 mykeysdiving.com

Dive into History!

Join us for special events, lectures and fun Dec 17-18.

305-664-9737 DivingMuseum.Org

Waterfront rooms, pool, beach, scuba/snorkel instr. & boat charters. 3nts/2dive pkg from $300 ppdo.

Sail Fish Scuba, Key Largo

Dive Key West, Inc.

We offer guided Scuba/Snorkel/Kayak tours. Free set of tour photos with each tour!

305-453-3446 sailfishscuba.com

Keys’ Premiere Dive Center.

Our 45th year. Dive “The Vandenberg”!

Custom dive & lodging packages.

305-296-3823 divekeywest.com

Training

The latest best practices, tips and advice to make your dives safer and more fun

Not So Fast

Using an ascent line and the safety-stop timer on your dive computer can help ensure a safe ending to the dive.

ou’ve finished your dive and signal your buddy that it’s time to surface. You start up slowly, but with more than 30 years of dive experience and hundreds of logged dives, you long ago stopped timing your ascent to the surface — which you learned should be 60 feet per minute.

Well, that was the ascent rate if you got certified before 1996.

That’s the year gas cost $1.22 a gallon, Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played in Major League Baseball, Cuba Gooding Jr. famously said, “Show me the money” in Jerry Maguire, and the U.S. Navy adopted the 30-foot-per-minute ascent rate for scuba divers. Navy studies found that a slower rate resulted in fewer cases of DCS. Training agencies, including PADI, followed suit.

“Diving along a reef at one depth, coming back at a shallower depth, and then spending time in the shallowest depth range is a great target,” says Dr. Neal Pollock, research director at Divers Alert Network.

“The controlled ascent rate and staged ascent

ILLUSTRATION: ALEXANDER WELLS/FOLIOART.CO.UK

Y

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Training

BUBBLE MATH

facilitates gas elimination through the lungs, which can reduce the likelihood of bubble formation.”

Avoiding “bubble formation” is the reason your instructor hammered home the 30-feet-per-minute rule.

Decompression injuries occur when your tissues are saturated with nitrogen as you ascend too quickly. The idea behind off-gassing at a slow rate is to give nitrogen bubbles the chance to leave your body before they turn into a problem (see “Bubble Math,” right).

Understanding Bubble Formation You don’t have to be a whiz in physics or physiology to understand what happens to bubbles of nitrogen in your body as you ascend. As you swim up, the nitrogen gas that your body has absorbed expands, but it’s safely eliminated when you exhale.

If you ascend too quickly, however, your body can’t eliminate all of the expanding nitrogen, and the excess

nitrogen forms bubbles in your tissues and blood.

These bubbles are elastic (like half-filled water balloons) and can change shapes. After a bubble stuffs itself into a capillary, it may eventually squeeze past an obstruction. But dangerous blockages are possible when nitrogen molecules form into large bubbles.

When your circulatory system fails to get the nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream into your lungs, the bubbles can jam tiny capillaries, causing blood flow to slow down and nitrogen to back up into your tissues. Bubbles then grow in the tissues and joints. This is what leads to decompression sickness.

Once bubbles get to your lungs, they are filtered out of your blood and dumped into alveoli, the thousands of tiny balloonlike sacs in your lungs. If you don’t drain your alveoli by exhaling, these sacs can burst, similar to how bubbles of soap pop.

The air has to go somewhere,

and that somewhere is your blood vessels. This can lead to an arterial-gas embolism; those bubbles can spell serious trouble if they travel to your heart or brain.

Decompression sickness and arterial-gas embolism are the most serious consequences of a rushed ascent, but there are other issues as well. Kell Levendorf, casualty investigator for Dive and Marine Consultants International, says that when he’s teaching students about the consequences of fast ascents, “I make it a point to tell them never to attempt a Valsalva during ascent, as it will overpressurize the airspace that’s already filling with expanding air, leading to possible ear barotrauma.”

Pretty scary stuff, but it’s nearly 100 percent avoidable if you follow the rules of a safe ascent.

Tip No. 1: Vent Your BC It’s important to get in the habit of venting all the air out of your BC or drysuit

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­ Ascending from 5 ATM to 4 (132 feet to 99), a bubble grows by a factor of 1.2 and gets 20 percent bigger.

­ Ascending from 4 ATM to 3 (99 feet to 66), a bubble grows by a factor of 1.25 and gets 25 percent bigger.

­ Ascending from 3 ATM to 2 (66 feet to 33), a bubble grows by a factor of 1.33 and gets 33 percent bigger.

­ Ascending from 2 ATM to 1 (33 feet to surface), a bubble grows by a factor of 1.5 and gets 50 percent bigger.

ILLUSTRATION: ALEXANDER WELLS/FOLIOART.CO.UK

Neglecting to vent the air from your BC can result in an out-of-control ascent when you reach shallow water.

The pressure a diver experiences at a specific depth is the sum of both water and air pressures above him or her. Every 33 feet of salt water equals 1 atmosphere (ATM); these ATMs are added to the 1 ATM from the atmosphere. As a diver descends, increased pressure underwater causes his or her body tissues to absorb more nitrogen gas than normal. As the diver ascends, any nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream “grow” at an accelerated rate.

“If bubbles exist and are stable,” says Dr. Neal Pollock, of Divers Alert Network, “the volume would go up at a comparable rate as the reduction in pressure a diver experiences as he or she ascends.” If 5 atmospheres equals 100 percent, going from 5 ATM to 4 ATM would be a 20 percent reduction. The “bubble math” looks like this:

before you begin the ascent and risk the possibility of an express trip to the surface.

The air in your BC is growing, just like the nitrogen bubbles in your body.

The problem is that many of us tend to react to “getting light” underwater rather than to anticipate it. You know the feeling — you’re exploring the reef and you feel yourself drifting higher in the water column. You dump air from your BC, establish your buoyancy, and go on with your dive.

But when you’re swimming up and start getting light, your ascent can get away from you. So before you head up, vent all the air from your BC. “Learn to use the different exhaust valves your BC has,” says Karl Shreeves, PADI’s technical development executive.

“Most models have a ‘quick dump’ by pulling down the

The Final Ascent The greatest risk of DCS or AGE might occur after your safety stop Extend your safety stop.

Every moment here is an investment in your safety. So why not spend five minutes instead of the traditional “three at 15,” as DAN’s Neal Pollock suggests? Bored?

Practice some basic safety skills like clearing a flooded mask to pass the time.

Travel 30 feet per minute to the surface. If you’re at 15 feet for your safety stop, that means it should take 30 seconds for you to break the surface of the water. Remember, there’s no rush. Try counting the same way you did playing hide-and-seek as a kid: “One Mississippi, two Mississippi …”

Take off your gear in the water. Or at the very least, hand up your weights to the boat crew so climbing up the ladder is easier.

Be neutral at your safety stop. It’s the same as when you test your buoyancy at the surface before your dive — you should sink when you exhale.

Float on the surface for five minutes. Of course, this isn’t always practical, but when conditions are calm and the water is warm, why not take

Rest and hydrate during your surface interval.

Exhaustion and dehydration are believed to be risk factors in decompression injuries.

inflator/deflator hose, as well as exhausts on the low part of the bladder. Use these so you can vent your BC regardless of your orientation in the water — it’s more convenient, but it also reduces an accidental runaway ascent because you don’t have to turn vertical to vent.”

If you typically add a lot of air to your BC when you’re at depth, try taking off a pound or two of weight.

“Overweighting is a problem because divers have to put additional air in their BCs, which means they need to vent more gas more often to keep buoyancy under control,” says Shreeves.

a few moments to pause at the surface before climbing the boat ladder or exiting from a shore dive?

Tip No. 2: Slow Your Roll A slow ascent is like taking your foot off your car’s gas pedal as you travel through a construction zone — the slower rate is safer, and allows your body to flush out and exhale dissolved nitrogen before it forms bubbles.

“Even within the maximum rate your computer

Training Dive Health

Ask DAN

How do I treat common marine-life injuries?

BY DIVERS ALERT N E T WO R K

When purchasing a BC, consider the three features that become critical during an emergency underwater — buoyant lift that’s adequate for your weighting needs, easy-to-use exhaust valves and inflator hose, and easy-to-ditch integrated weights Seac Trip With easy-release weight pockets and an efficient valve system for pinpoint buoyancy control, the lightweight Trip is a full-featured jacket-style BC with a wraparound bladder that offers plenty of stability underwater. $549; seacusa.com

Cressi Ultralight This back-inflation BC is feather-light — a size medium weighs only 4.4 pounds yet provides 20 to 33.7 pounds of lift. The integrated weights are a snap to load and release, and the buttons on the ergonomic inflator are easy to locate. $419.95; cressiusa.com

Genesis Scuba Gemini Drift The jacket-style Drift includes a cummerbund that self-adjusts at depth, plus a rapid exhaust valve for efficient buoyancy control. The weight system uses top-loading weight pockets that release with a pull of the knob hanging below. $415; genesisscuba.com

allows, it’s easier to control your ascent by going slowly,” Shreeves says. “The slower you go, the more time you have to adjust expanding gas. Tec CCR divers really understand this because they have three gas volumes they have to control: drysuit, rebreather loop and BC.”

shallow stop time is the least ‘expensive’ and most effective way to reduce effective decompression stress. If a three-minute stop is good, five minutes is better.”

Keep your throat open all the way up — inhaling is as safe as exhaling, but do one or the other constantly.

The 30-feet-per-minute rule still applies, so if you’re at 15 feet when you start, it should take 30 seconds to surface.

One final tip, adds Jeanne White, director of education for Jack’s Diving Locker in Hawaii, “is to keep your regulator in your mouth after you’ve surfaced, and keep it in until you have inflated your BC and have a chance to see what conditions are like.”

Tip No. 3: Make Your Safety Stop

It’s pretty simple: The nitrogen you breathe out at 15 feet significantly reduces your risk of forming a bubble.

“The first tip is to make the safety stop in the first place,” says Shreeves. “Not only does it help make your profile more conservative, but having a target stop depth at 15 feet helps you keep your ascent under control. At the stop, you should be neutrally buoyant, and three minutes gives you plenty of time to get that dialed in before you finish your ascent.”

DAN’s Pollock takes it one step further: “Extra

Tip No. 4: Easy Ending With the surface so close, does it really matter if you take the last few feet too quickly? Yes, it can. Remember, during the last 15 feet, bubbles grow fastest.

This is where it’s helpful to have a routine, and to follow it each time you dive.

“Make sure your computer is clear and it’s OK for you to ascend,” says Divetech’s Jo Mikutowicz. “Check one final time that there is no air in your BC. Have a good look above to make sure there are no divers, boats or a low dock, and then slowly kick toward the surface. Look up the entire way, with one hand over your head in case there is something above you cannot see — it’s better that your hand hits it before your head does.”

Tip No. 5: Be Conservative Take it slowly as you climb up the boat ladder or exit the water at the shore, and don’t strain yourself (see “The Final Ascent,” page 37).

Rest, hydrate and stay warm.

Extend your surface interval, especially after long, deep and repetitive dives.

In other words, take advantage of this time to relax so you’re ready to make the next dive.

— Patricia Wuest

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This year, my wife and I are getting ourselves a very special Christmas present – retirement. We’re excited to be able to spend more time aboard our boat, and we plan to do plenty of diving, snorkeling and swimming along the way. Before we set off on our first big adventure, we want to make sure we’re prepared to handle emergencies at sea. In particular, we want to know what to do in case one of us is injured by a marine animal. Any tips?

The best way to manage injury is to prevent it from occurring in the first place, which means that you should be researching native marine life at every destination and learning how to avoid contact when possible.

In the event contact occurs, being able to respond quickly and appropriately can make a difference in the injured person’s comfort and recovery time.

This article will cover the more common injuries. For a more comprehensive guide to managing hazardous marinelife incidents, please visit dan.org/health.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are a type of cnidarian that inject venom through stinging cells called nematocysts. If stung by one, follow these procedures: Without rubbing or touching the affected area, apply household vinegar for no

JON WHITTLE (3). OPPOSITE: JURGEN FREUND/NPL/MINDEN PICTURES

Perfect Buoyancy

Applying vinegar to the affected area of a jellyfish sting can help neutralize unfired nematocysts.

fewer than 30 seconds to neutralize any remaining unfired nematocysts before attempting removal.

Remove tentacle fragments with gloved hands or tweezers.

Wash the area with seawater or saline. Using a syringe with a steady stream of water might help remove any tentacle remains.

Apply heat, measured to

the victim and caregiver’s tolerance, to provide some pain relief and help denature remaining toxin.

Lionfish

Although generally docile, lionfish have sharp spines that can cause very painful and sometimes complicated wounds. If stung by a lionfish, follow these procedures: Rinse the wound with

clean, fresh water.

Remove any obvious foreign material using gloved hands or tweezers.

Control bleeding if needed.

It is acceptable to allow small punctures to bleed briefly immediately after a sting to decrease venom load.

Apply heat, measured to the victim and caregiver’s tolerance, to provide some pain relief and help denature remaining toxin.

Apply bandaging.

Seek professional medical evaluation.

Bites

Most human-associated marine-animal bites occur when animals feel threatened or humans are mistaken as prey. While serious bites are rare, all bites are at a high risk for infection and should receive prompt cleaning. If bitten by a marine animal, follow

these procedures: Control bleeding. In most cases, applying direct pressure using an absorbent pad or dressing and gloved hands will be sufficient.

Secure the pad with a clean or sterile bandage, wrapped tightly enough to maintain direct pressure without preventing circulation.

Once bleeding has stopped, thoroughly clean the wound with soap and fresh water, and monitor for signs of infection.

Seek professional medical evaluation without delay.

Learning these simple techniques is not sufficient for more-serious concerns related to contact with hazardous organisms. Before you depart, consider taking the DAN First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life Injuries course.

For more information on first-aid training or marinelife injuries, visit dan.org.

Travel Smarter With DAN Per Trip Travel Insurance DAN Per Trip Travel Insurance provides coverage for certain unforeseen events, allowing you to enjoy your dive trip or family vacation. In addition to DAN’s trusted Dive Accident Insurance, the per trip plans offer a range of unique benefits to keep you focused on what matters most. Choose from three plan levels to enjoy the ideal coverage for an adventure anywhere around the world.* Travel protection for one special trip. $1,000,000 Emergency Assistance and Transportation $100,000 Medical & Dental Coverage $2,500 Baggage Coverage $2,500 Sports Equipment 150%** Trip Interruption 100% Trip Cancellation

DAN.org/TRAVEL Explore DAN.org/travel for complete coverage. Sports equipment coverage only available with DAN’s Premium and Elite Per Trip Plans.v and limits above are for the Elite plan. *Plans exclude losses caused by, or resulting from, scuba diving below 40 meters or without a dive master. **Percentage applies to trip cost insured.

Travel insurance plans are administered by Customized Services Administrators, Inc., CA Lic. No. 0821931, located in San Diego, CA, and doing business as CSA Travel Protection and Insurance :LY]PJLZ 7SHUZ HYL H]HPSHISL [V YLZPKLU[Z VM [OL < : I\[ TH` UV[ IL H]HPSHISL PU HSS Q\YPZKPJ[PVUZ )LULÄ[Z and services are described on a general basis; certain conditions and exclusions apply. Insurance is underwritten by: Generali U.S. Branch, New York, NY; NAIC # 11231. Generali US Branch is admitted or licensed to do business in all states and the District of Columbia. A201_15_09

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The exotic and the familiar combine in the Polynesian islands of the Aloha State

t’s easy to forget that Hawaii has a star on the U.S. flag. Its remote location in the North Pacific makes it one of the world’s most isolated landmasses. Hawaii is where East meets West, from the food to cultural norms such as removing your shoes before entering a home to the endemic marine life. The people living on the beautiful green isles of Hawaii — Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Kauai and Hawaii Island — treasure their aina (land) and kai (sea). The conservation of native ecosystems extends from the islands’ highest peaks to their deepest waters. Underwater, divers will find unique structures punctuated by lava formations and tubes, some excellent wreck dives and mind-blowing marine-life encounters.

Isn’t it time for you to discover all that is nani (beautiful) in America’s 50th state?

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by eric michael and patricia wuest

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Clockwise: A hitchhiking larval lobster clings to a jellyfish; a manta ray glides past a freediver; a Commerson’s frogfish waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Locker’s Sarah Matye about Pelagic Magic. “We’ll be about 3 miles offshore, with about 5,000 feet of water underneath us. It’s the world’s largest migration, a vertical

migration that happens all over the world.”

Matye hasn’t exaggerated. In the dark, soupy water, we find tons of fragile, practically microscopic pelagic

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animals, including a miniature swordfish or marlin (it’s too tiny to be sure). It’s a notto-be-missed experience.

During our day dives, the nonpareil continues.

“They’re so ugly, only a mother could love them,” says divemaster Tara Brooks of Big Island Divers. Brooks is briefing us on Golden Arches and the site’s resident Commerson’s frogfish.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: GREG LECOEUR (2); JERRY KANE. OPPOSITE: WATERFRAME/ALAMY

verywhere around you off Hawaii Island’s Kona Coast is an education in endemic marine life. Among the fish found nowhere else: flame angelfish, milletseed butterflyfish, psychedelic wrasse — you get the picture.

If you’ve come here to find something specific, whether a tiny nudibranch or a humpback whale, you won’t be disappointed, even if you don’t see the object of your desire. That’s how remarkable Hawaiian marine life is.

Case in point: a dive at Touch of Gray, where the possibility of tiger sharks has my heart thumping.

Aboard Kona Honu Divers’ Honu One, we’re all tingling. Our guide, Kevin Stewart, prepares us for disappointment: “Your best chance to see them is late June through August.”

It’s mid-May, and the sharks are a no-show, so we concentrate on the surfeit of white-margin nudibranchs, moray eels and a lone spotted eagle ray in the sand flats hunting. At our safety stop, a pair of spinner dolphins at the surface zips down to join us. I can hear reg-muffled OMGs as we watch them just as quickly zoom off.

And so it goes off the aptly nicknamed Big Island, the state’s largest island. Every dive is special, including two signature night experiences: a manta ray encounter and Pelagic Magic.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’ve had five dives or 1,000 dives, this is the most unique dive you will ever do,” briefs Jack’s Diving

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THE BIG ISLAND

“Frogfish look like a piece of Play-Doh that somebody threw on the reef.” Brooks shows us the photo of an adult Commerson’s in an ID book, and then points to a picture of a juvenile.

“They’re bright yellow and stand out really well.”

As we drop down, we find a warty adult Commerson’s, looking a whole lot like Star Wars’ Jabba the Hutt. On

one of the arches are two daffodil-yellow babies.

There are high-fives all around, a celebration I see repeated all week long. As one divemaster said of his decision to make Hawaii Island his permanent home, “Great structure, great fish, great diving.” bigislanddivers.com, jacksdivinglocker.com, konahonudivers.com S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 43

Signature Topside Experience A sunset helicopter tour is the perfect way to experience most, if not all, of Big Island. Depart from the Kona International Airport and fly over gorgeous beaches, lava fields, Kohala Valley and the glowing lava at Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano. paradise copters.com

Clockwise: The green sea turtle is one of five turtle species in Hawaii; a whitespotted toby; fish swirl above the Carthaginian; the sun rises over Haleakala crater.

Maui THE VA L L E Y ISL E

he luau buffet off the island of Maui is of the wild underwater variety. The Valley Isle boasts all of the main attractions a diver expects when visiting the islands of Hawaii: radical volcanic

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topography, historic wrecks, cool endemic species, exciting pelagic encounters and that signature deep-blue North Pacific water. With dozens of sites scattered along more than 100 miles of coastline, there are options

to please every diver, from do-it-yourself shore diving through underwater arches and lava tube caverns to valet-style boat diving in a picturesque submerged volcano crater.

Giant striding off Maui Dive Shop’s 48-foot Maka Koa, it’s hard not to be distracted by the topside splendor of Molokini, the crescent-shaped islet left over from an ancient volcano in the Alalakeiki Channel

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between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe. Maui’s signature dive and snorkel attraction site is a towering amphitheater surrounding a bright, shallow coral garden below. Along the inner reef, sites from Eneui to Middle Reef, Tako Flats and Reef’s End provide a hard-coral habitat for a wide variety of colorful tropical fish, many of them endemic to the area, as well as green lionfish, barracuda and several

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varieties of nudibranch.

But Tako Flats is my target, named for the stealthy octopod hunters that prowl the nooks and crannies of the reef. Finning along in 30 feet of crystalline water, I peer into dark holes in search of the secretive critters and spot nearly a half-dozen until my time is up.

But Molokini, required diving for any Maui visitor, is just a pupu (appetizer) of Maui’s dive buffet. Other

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signature sites include the west side’s Mala Warf, a critter-filled shore dive on a former shipping pier ruined in 1992 by Hurricane Iniki, the turtle-filled caverns of Five Caves at Makena Landing on the South Shore and the scuttled whaling vessel Carthaginian off Lahaina.

“What makes diving in Maui so special is 24 percent of all of the marine life and 18 percent of all of the coral are endemic to Hawaii,” says Jeff Strahn of Maui Dive Shop. “Plus, exciting big animals like manta rays, green sea turtles, spinner dolphins and humpback whales are common animals to see.”

The latter species — which frequents the deep channels between islands in the winter months to mate and birth calves in the warm, protected waters — is by far the most moving to encounter, not only because of its haunting, ever-present whale song underwater, but also for the rare chance to share the water up close.

“My most memorable experience underwater is something most people don’t get a chance to do very much because it is such a chance encounter,” explains

Strahn, who has 30 Maui winters under his weight belt. “I have dived with the humpback whales underwater eight times, and what makes this so hard to do is that the humpback must approach you underwater because it is illegal for divers to approach whales.”

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary enforces strict rules of engagement

to protect the gentle giants, so human-humpback encounters are rare — and well-worth bragging about.

“If you are in the water a lot and you are fortunate enough for this to happen, you will remember it for the rest of your life,” Strahn says. “I can remember each and every time it happened as if it were burned into my memory.” mauidiveshop.com

Signature Topside Experience No visit to Maui is complete without a visit to Haleakala crater to witness the most otherworldly sunrise in the Pacific. Leave well before dawn to make the drive up the dormant volcano to witness the sun creeping through the crater, spreading red, gold and purple hues against the Mars-like landscape. But be advised to plan this adventure with your dive schedule in mind, because the 10,000-foot elevation is a serious DCS risk. nps.gov/hale

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 45

iving off the island of Lanai transports divers to a breathtaking alien seascape of towering arches, striking pinnacles and light-filled lava-tube caverns. Once home to the largest pineapple plantation in the Hawaiian Islands, the sparsely populated island that sits across the Auau Channel from sister island Maui offers some of the most dramatic dive sites in the entire archipelago. The lack of major development and minimal population has reduced harmful water runoff that can damage reefs and spoil visibility, so Lanai offers some of the most consistently amazing

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visibility in the state.

Zipping across the wide, deep channel in the yellow rigid inflatable dive boat with Capt. Steve Juarez of Dive Maui is a fantastic preamble to a full day of diving Lanai’s signature sites. Humpbacks breach in the distance, and a giant pod of spinner dolphins easily numbering in the hundreds is drawn in close to flip and barrel roll in the wakes left by the swift rig’s powerful outboards.

Pulling up at First Cathedral, my anticipation is high as I back-roll into the warm water and find my way to the wide mouth of the cavern. Juarez leads our group through the winding passageways, lit from above and each side by holes in the walls that give the site its

name, heavenly beams of light penetrating the darkness and creating a hallowed effect inside. At the terminus of the system, I hover in a massive room and marvel at the scene. I wish I could linger for hours. Thankfully, Second Cathedral is just down the coast.

“First and Second cathedrals are our divers’ favorite sites because both have amazing cavern archways and lava tubes, and abundant marine life,” says Juarez, who knows this area better than anyone after 30-plus years of nearly daily dives there. “We see green sea turtles and the occasional hawksbill turtle, along with harlequin shrimp, frogfish, octopuses and whitetip reef sharks. And really special and rare are the

encounters with monk seals maybe once or twice a year.”

Cruising along the coast, I strain my neck to spy the tops of the towering sea cliffs battered by crashing waves and interrupted by goldensand beaches, including the landmark Manele Bay, which is home to one of only two

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luxury resorts on the island.

It’s this forward-thinking development that has left the island’s pristine reefs such as Shark Fin Rock, Monolith, Lighthouse and Barge Harbor as preserved havens for visiting divers to explore for generations to come. goscubadivemaui.com

DAVID FLEETHAM (3)

THE PINEAPPLE ISLE

Signature Topside Experience For those who enjoy off-gassing on fairways and greens, Manele Golf Course at the Four Seasons Lanai sets the bar for what a Hawaiian course can — and should – be. Designed by the legendary player and course architect Jack Nicklaus, the 18-hole wonder arranged around the towering cliffs of Hulopoe Bay can make grown adults weep at the difficulty — and the beauty.

Surviving this challenge with only one ball is a feat to brag about at a 19th-hole boast fest. fourseasons.com/ lanai

The entrance to First Cathedral, a massive lava tube that’s two stories tall. Opposite: Raccoon butterflyfish have distinctive masked faces; day octopuses are athletic swimmers.

Clockwise: YO-257, Corsair and Sea Tiger are among the wrecks off Oahu; Waimea Bay; acrobatic spinner dolphins are a highlight of any Hawaiian island dive.

Oa hu T H E G AT H ERIN G IS L E

ahu – both underwater and topside – is an exercise in stimulation overload.

From the bustling big-city vibe of world-famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu to the sleepy North Shore where some of the biggest surf on the planet occurs during the winter months, and the bevy of purpose-

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sunk and historic artificial reefs scattered around the island, there’s more to experience on the Gathering Isle than visiting divers can likely complete on a single trip. Not that anyone would complain about making a return visit.

It’s a short ride out of Ala Wai Harbor aboard Dive Oahu’s 46-foot Newton dive

boat to one of the best wreck dives in all of Hawaii. Scuttled in the 1990s to provide habitat for marine life and underwater attractions for divers and submarine-riding tourists, the YO-257 and the San Pedro offer a rare two-for-one iron extravaganza when conditions are right. The YO-257, a 175-foot monster sitting upright in 97 feet of water, offers an amazing swim-through that bisects the stern and is adorned with beautiful blue octocoral, along with a resting turtle or two. And the San Pedro boasts a similarly

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exciting swim-through where whitetip reef sharks are frequently encountered.

“The dive is a slightly more advanced dive, as we come across strong currents in the area often,” says Brian Benton of Dive Oahu. “They are unique in that they sit parallel to each

other, allowing you to dive two wrecks in one dive. One of the sites the Atlantis Submarine company visits, so on special occasions you can hear the hum of the sub and wave to the passengers of the submarine as it passes between the wrecks.”

Another one of Benton’s

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favorite sites is Makaha Beach Park, on the quiet west side of the island. “This is a popular destination for surfers, divers and snorkel tours,” says the Oahu veteran of 25 years. “It is a little swim out from the shore, but you descend upon a beautiful, healthy reef full of life, including eels, large schools of fish, octopuses, cuttlefish and so many green sea turtles. And once you get to the end of the reef, the caverns wind through arches and overhangs where you’ll find more turtles and the occasional whitetip reef shark.”

When you’re waterlogged from all the great diving, Oahu offers culture-rich luaus where you can learn about Hawaiian mythology, hiking through thick jungle to ancient heiau temples, and more world-class shopping in Honolulu than your wallet can withstand. For divers with a taste for urban excitement, Oahu is a best bet. diveoahu.com

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAVID FLEETHAM; KEVIN GRIFFIN/ALAMY; ISTOCKPHOTO; GREG LECOEUR; DOUG PERRINE

Signature Topside Experience Waimea Valley has been a highly sacred place to native Hawaiians for more than 700 years. Today, there’s a beautiful botanical garden, waterfalls to jump from and living cultural exhibits that showcase the rich traditions of the Hawaiian people. And during the winter months, adjacent Waimea Bay is the epicenter for big-wave surfing on the North Shore, called the “Seven Mile Miracle,” where brave surfers challenge 30-foot waves for the pure thrill of it. (Being a spectator is pretty exhilarating as well.) waimeavalley.net

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will find dramatic volcanic features populated by bright tropical fish, plentiful green sea turtles, whitetip sharks, giant trevally and schools of colorful blue-striped snapper — not to mention macro critters from nudibranchs to frogfish. At Sheraton Caves, a giant cavern is a safe haven for napping turtles, and literally dozens of dozing honu can be found here on the best days. Other noteworthy sites on the east and north coasts, including Tunnels Reef, can be accessed during the calm, flat summer months. But the true gem of Kauai diving is Niihau, the Forbidden Isle.

“Niihau is one of the last untouched frontiers in the Hawaii Islands, and the diversity of the marine life and the geography is unlike any other,” says Otsuji, who has been exploring the reefs of Kauai and Niihau for nearly four decades. The westernmost island in the chain, which is about 17 miles from Kauai across the Kaulakahi Channel, is privately owned and off-limits to tourists.

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tep back in time to a seemingly prehistoric environment while diving off the island of Kauai. The oldest in the Hawaiian chain, the Garden Isle is a heaven of thick green rainforests, towering red sea cliffs, deserted golden beaches and the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea Canyon.

Underwater, the reefs have had more time to develop rich ecosystems, which is a strong draw for savvy divers.

“Kauai is not blessed with colorful soft corals, but we make up for it in diversity of marine life,” says Marvin Otsuji of Seasport Divers.

“The endangered Hawaiian green sea turtle is now once again abundant and seen on almost every dive, and during the winter months, humpback whales, spotted eagle rays and manta rays are easily spotted while transiting between sites.”

At signature south shore sites such as Koloa Landing, Stone House and Brennecke’s Ledge, divers

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FROM LEFT: DOUG PERRINE; ISTOCKPHOTO. OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: DOUG PERRINE; DAVID FLEETHAM

Clockwise, from top: A diver fins through Niihau Arches; hikers take in the views on Kalalau Trail; sandbar shark; milletseed butterflyfish are endemic to Hawaii.

Fortunately, Otsuji is able to bring his guests here to experience the most pristine diving in Hawaii at hallowed reefs and walls such as Vertical Awareness, Niihau Arches, Stairway to Heaven and Keyway. Because of the island's isolation, big animals abound underwater here, including several species of pelagic sharks, thick schools of giant trevally, and the elusive, endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

“My best dive was off

Five Fathom Pinnacle,” Otsuji recalls. “Everything that Hawaii has to offer was there — I was surrounded by 200 gray reef sharks, watching tuna feed on a school of baitfish, while listening to the song of a Hawaiian humpback whale.”

Tales like this have kept Niihau and neighboring Kauai on the minds of intrepid divers in search of exotic adventures — and keep them coming back for more. seasportdivers.com

Signature Topside Experience The Na Pali coast of Kauai is one of the most dramatic — and dangerous — coastlines in all of the Pacific. And the daunting Kalalau Trail hugs its rugged back along 11 miles of muddy paths where one wrong step could be your last. For the truly adventurous, a permit from the park rangers lets you hike the entire way to Kalalau Beach, where a “Fantasy Island” waterfall

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and starlit night skies await. For the rest of us, a 4-mile round trip gets you to Hanakapiai Beach, where a cool freshwater stream will refuel you for the return trip. kalalautrail.com

IN LIVING COLOR

FROM THE FA NCIFUL BACK DROP OF MUSHROOM FOR EST TO THE CAV ER NOUS HOLD OF SU PER IOR PRODUCER , THE DI V ING OFF THIS SOUTHER N CA R IBBEA N GEM

T E X T BY R O B BY M Y E RS

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ISTOCKPHOTO. OPPOSITE: ANDREW SALLMON

IS TRULY A SIGHT TO BEHOLD

A diver fins through the wreck of the Tugboat, a site reachable by shore or boat.

I’VE BEEN F O R E WA R N E D

by Go West Diving’s Anne-Marie Vermeer that diving the Mushroom Forest is like being dropped into a Salvador Dali painting. The strange site found off Curaçao’s northwest coast is named for its unique geological formations scattered throughout the reef; these rocky outcroppings all have caps of star coral that give them the appearance of giant fungi.

Mushroom Forest is certainly a surreal experience. I feel as though I’m swimming through a fantasy landscape — all around me gigantic toadstools reach into the sky. Instead of fairies, gnomes or the Cheshire Cat, however, it’s fish that populate this storybook setting.

Everywhere I turn, I’m greeted by bluehead wrasse, damselfish, trunkfish and butterflyfish. At one point we even encountered a juvenile green sea turtle as he drifted lazily over our heads.

The coral canopies make excellent hiding places for all manner of sea creatures. Looking underneath the corals yields blennies, spotted drums and red grouper all trying to stay out of sight. Plenty of eels have also taken up residence inside the forest.

Snowflake and green morays look perfectly at home in this fantasyland, poised like dragons protecting their treasure from nosy divers.

Curaçao — a small Caribbean island 35 miles off the coast of Venezuela — rounds out the ABC islands, along with Aruba and Bonaire. While officially a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the island boasts a colorful blend of cultures that adds up to something entirely unique. The influence of the islanders and their shared history can be found in everything from the local language to the cuisine to even the diving itself.

INTO THE WEST

Our introduction to Curaçao’s underwater wonders begins in Westpunt, the west end of the island. Far from the colorful heart of downtown Willemstad, the terrain here is rocky and arid.

Cactuses and other desertlike plants cover the dry ground beneath the volcanic mountains that hint at Curaçao’s undersea origins.

After our dive at Mushroom Forest, we visit one of the west end’s hidden gems: Watamula. The name comes from the Dutch word for watermill and is a reference to the two currents that flow across the site. These currents can be a touch unpredictable, so our dive guide Daniel Wilson splashes in before us to test the waters. The payoff, he tells us, is one of the most beautiful reefs in the Caribbean.

I’d be hard-pressed to disagree. Once we drop below the waterline, it’s corals as far as the eye can see — which is pretty far considering 100-foot viz

Clockwise: Sponge-covered reefs ablaze in color await divers off Curaçao; spotted cleaner shrimp are among the island’s macro treasures; sea fans, sponges and cup corals help decorate the backdrop underwater.

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is the norm. The bottom is filled with gardens of lettuce and flower corals mixed with colonies of brain and finger corals. Barrel sponges large enough to hide divers are flanked by tube sponges and soft corals. Farther along the reef, we pass a small colony of pillar corals reaching toward the surface.

Scanning along the reef, I’m surprised to find that what at first appears to be a boulder is in fact an oddly shaped crustacean called a slipper lobster. Neither a true lobster nor a piece of footwear, this strange clawless creature has broad platelike antennae that make it look more like a pill bug than your typical shellfish. It stands its ground as diver after diver stops to get a picture.

“There are always turtles and big, big schools of creole wrasse and things like that,” Vermeer says of the additional score of critters that thrives in this marine metropolis.

The coral reefs of Watamula are some of the healthiest on the island, she says. “That’s true for the whole area because it’s not so built up like the other side of the island and other Caribbean islands.”

Curaçao is also out of the path of the Hurricane Belt. Tropical storms tend to pass at a distance. During Hurricane Lenny in 1999, there was some damage from increased wave action. But topside, Vermeer says, “it was only surge on a nice, sunny day.”

ROYAL GETAWAY

DIVERS GUIDE TO CURAÇAO Average water temp: Between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit Average viz: 100 feet What to wear: 3 or 5 mm wetsuit in colder months, depending on your depth When to go: Yearround (with the best chances to dive Superior Producer May through September) Dive operators: Go West Diving gowestdiving.com; Ocean Encounters oceanencounters.com For more info: sport diver.com/curacao

EAST-END GEMS Curaçao’s west coast gets plenty of deserved recognition, but if you head toward the rising sun and the island’s southeast tip, you’ll be rewarded with some of its most pristine dive sites.

Hamrack When the weather is calm, this site — located close to one of the island’s natural water inlets — can deliver encounters with big fish. As the slope becomes less severe, current picks up, and schooling jacks and barracuda flourish.

CURAÇAO

Kathy’s Paradise

Secrets Start at the shallows, which are covered with elkhorn and staghorn corals, and follow the wall down to 70 feet.

The cracks and crevices along the way hold secrets of their own: resident nurse sharks and moray eels.

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Secrets

Hamrack

Kathy’s Paradise This dive starts on a shallow plateau and drops down to about 100 feet. Look for eels, lobsters, turtles and stingrays as you descend, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll spot a seahorse. oceanencounters.com

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ANDREW SALLMON; ALLISON VITSKY SALLMON (2)

Curaçao exists as it does today in large part due to the economic growth provided by the lucrative oil refineries of the Royal Dutch Shell Company, and in some ways, its dive sites do too.

We begin our second day of diving at a site known as Director’s Bay with Ocean Encounters, an operator located 10 minutes from Willemstad. The site’s named after an accompanying stretch of beach that once belonged to the director of the Shell Company.

Now open to the public, this popular destination was once a holidaymaking spot for Dutch royalty.

CORAL RESTORATION FOUNDATION CURAÇAO In 2015, the Coral Restoration Foundation expanded its efforts to the shores of Curaçao by partnering with Ocean Encounters and Lions Dive and Beach Resort.

With the help of the CRFC staff and volunteer divers, the new nursery went from 400 coral fragments to more than 1,200 in its first year.

Divers have already started returning endangered elkhorn and staghorn corals to nearby reefs like Sweet Bottom and Tugboat.

“We are amazed by the amount of people who want to be a part of it,” says CRFC project manager Pol Bosch.

“I’d like to have outplanted 2,000 corals in May 2017.”

Divers have

the chance to join CRFC in maintaining the coral nursery and become underwater gardeners with a personal stake in the sites.

“We harvest, clean, frag corals, hang corals, work with epoxy, everything underwater,” says Bosch. “It’s normal to fall in love with your own corals, once you see them growing and growing fast.” coralrestoration curacao.org

That’s all well and good, but we’re here to dive, not sunbathe. Switching gears from history lesson to dive briefing, our dive guide, Pol Bosch, describes the lay of the water. “This site compiles the best topography of Curaçao; it starts with a sandy slope, where gorgonians and sponges start to merge with hard corals. Later, that healthy slope turns into a wall.”

Minutes later, we’re geared up and in the water ready to go. We make our way across the sand while watching the soft corals swaying with the current. As we pass by, we keep an eye out for all manner of camouflaged fish: trumpetfish hiding in the branches of corals, scorpionfish pretending to be boulders, and even a flounder blending in with the sand. As I snap a picture of the flounder, it realizes that the jig is up and goes skipping across the reef.

“That’s my favorite part,” says Ocean Encounters’ managing director Jeremiah Peek, “watching the flounders coast through the sand like Star Wars landspeeders.”

Plenty of hard corals cover the reef as well, and soon I find myself weaving between outcrops of lettuce, brain and pencil corals. But while the shallow reef is just as beautiful as a twin sunset on Tatooine,

it’s only a prequel for the galaxy of wonder that waits below. The topography takes a sudden turn, straight down. We cruise along the wall at about 70 feet, taking our time to stop and smell the roses. Spotted drums, lionfish and eels all take advantage of the wall’s hiding spots.

When you turn your back to the wall, it’s a different show altogether. Out in the blue, we spot a 5-foot barracuda watching us from afar. Schools of snapper and horse-eye jacks swim in and out of view. Director’s Bay is also known for another distinguishing feature. “Back in the day, Queen Beatrix from the Netherlands used to swim here, and they built a fence in the water to protect her against sharks,” says Peek. We pass this oddity on our return in about 30 feet of water.

Reduced to a few remaining poles by time and weather, it is still easy to imagine how this dilapidated structure would once have looked like a barricade in Jurassic Park. Though it was never a real barrier to sharks — Curaçao doesn’t really have any — the remaining rubble has found a new purpose as a home for a colony of elkhorn coral.

THE SUPERIOR PRODUCER

Our final dive is the superior one.

The Superior Producer — a 278-foot cargo ship

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FROM LEFT: DANIEL BOTELHO; ALLISON VITSKY SALLMON; ANDREW SALLMON. OPPOSITE: ALLISON VITSKY SALLMON

that was stripped of its goods by Curaçaon divers after its sinking in the 1970s — is full of treasures of a different variety these days.

As we fin after Peek underwater, the wreck is hidden from view by a living curtain of fish. A gigantic baitball of big-eye scads swims nonchalantly as we approach. Locally called masbangos, these fish slowly part to let us through. I’m tempted to spend my time watching the show performed by the fish so famous that they have a street named after them on the island.

But off in the distance I can begin to make out the hull of the Producer, and my curiosity wins out. As we approach, I see dozens of silvery tarpon swimming about the wreck. The fish are on average 6 to 7 feet long and fearless. A couple of them are waiting to greet us as we pass between the ship’s propellers. Peek likes to use the Superior Producer for first-time nitrox users. Taking an extended stroll through the ship is a great way for divers to “truly understand the benefits of EANx with an extended bottom time on this magnificent wreck.”

We don’t need any more prompting than that.

Our whole group opts to take the scenic route, using our extended no-deco time to savor every inch of the 278-foot shipwreck. We start with a swim through the pilothouse, where I pause for a moment to watch

Left to right: When the Superior Producer sank in 1977, its cargo of jeans, crates of whiskey and more began to wash on shore; spotted moray eels have plenty of places to hide at Watamula; old cars and trucks have been repurposed at the site called Car Pile.

the tarpon passing by the windows. From there, we descend into the belly of the beast: the cargo hold.

While hardly an overhead environment, the hold still has a cavernous feel. What was probably a claustrophobic nightmare of cargo the night of the sinking is now a vast, open expanse. I can’t shake the feeling that I’m swimming through the skeleton of some gigantic sea creature.

Curtains of soft corals hang down from overhead, adding to the atmosphere, as tarpon continue to glide by unabashedly.

Before reaching the wall, we glide up and out.

As we pass over the bow, sergeant majors defend their nests with vigor. Little do they realize that as they nip at diving giants, blue-headed wrasses have sneaked by their defenses, capitalizing on the unintended distraction. We drop back onto the sand in order to look back at the ship. Its massive hull is encrusted with cup corals and sponges. Angelfish cling to the wreck as well, orienting themselves to swim along its man-made geography.

With one last glance, we swim back toward shallower water. There, the Superior Producer has one last surprise for us. A small reef sits adjacent to the wreck, allowing us one final look at Curaçao’s diverse aquatic realm during our safety stop before the inevitable boat ride back to shore.

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TRACKING THE

SWAMP

SHARKS L E M O N SH A R K S R E T U R N E AC H Y E A R T O E L EU T H E R Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; S M A N G R OV E H A B I TAT T O G I V E B I R T H T O T H EI R YO U N G S T O RY A N D P H O T O S B Y S H A N E G R O S S

I LOVE MANGROVES, EXCEPT WHEN I’M IN THEM.

I’m being attacked by mosquitoes and sand flies while recovering from a mild jellyfish sting. It’s hot — like really hot. The sun is setting over tiny tide-driven Paige Creek on 110-mile-long Eleuthera Island, a beanpole strip of land located in the Atlantic east of Nassau. The sharks I’m here to photograph are not cooperating, so I decided to drag my camera gear (and my stiff, dehydrated body) back to the tent. I begin to fruitlessly swat at the sand flies that are getting into my (theoretically) sealed tent. While dripping salt water all over my sleeping bag, I check the images in the back of my camera, but they are not what I was hoping for. I dry off, lay back and wonder what the hell I’m doing here.

The goal is to capture images of baby lemon sharks. I saw 10 today, and call me crazy, but I find them super-cute!

From a photographer’s perspective, they live in a beautiful habitat surrounded by mangrove trees. Sharks and trees are not things most people correlate, but these sharks depend on mangroves for the first five to eight years of their lives.

A week earlier, to learn more about lemon sharks, I traveled to the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) and visited Ian Bouyoucos. A native New Yorker, Bouyoucos is a tall, young shark researcher whose primary interest is in elasmobranch stress physiology.

Sharks’ lives are far more complex than the eating machines most of us conjure, says Bouyoucos. For example, he says, lemon sharks can form friendships.

“Certain individuals tend to stay close to one another, and they can even learn from one another. They definitely have individual personalities.”

From the moment they are born, sharks are independent. “They learn how to hunt for other juvenile prey and make a lot of mistakes,” explains Bouyoucos,

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MANGROVE LIFE

Lemon shark pups are not the only species to call the mangroves home.

They share this thriving habitat with bonefish, barracuda, crabs, lobsters, rays, seahorses, puffers, snapper and grouper, among others.

In some locations, like Florida and Cuba, alligators can also be found among the tangle of roots; overseas you might even find a tiger! It is always an adventure exploring mangroves, whether by snorkel, kayak or paddleboard.

The Cape Eleuthera Institute is a research station and educational facility teaching and housing students from around the world. In addition to the lemon shark study, researchers there are also doing pioneering work on deep-sea sharks, bonefish, inland ponds, lionfish and sea turtles. The

institute is one of the most ecofriendly campuses in the world. They grow much of their own food, recycle cooking oil from cruise ships to power their boats and vehicles, store rainwater for showers (hot water provided by the sun) and toilets, and use solar and wind power for electricity.

“but they are learning.” Later, I am reminded of Bouyoucos’ comment as I watch shark pups accidentally bump into mangrove roots, get temporarily stuck in small spaces, and grab leaves in their mouths before spitting them back out as if to say, “Yuck!”

As you watch the 20-inch cuties swimming, the first thing you notice is how floppy they are — a far cry from the 10-foot-long powerful predators they will hopefully survive to become.

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scientists at the Bimini Biological Field Station (aka Sharklab), led by Samuel “Doc” Gruber, recently made a stunning discovery: The lemon sharks there return to the same mangrove creek where they were born to give birth 12 to 15 years later. It took 20 years of tagging and monitoring to prove, and is the first time this behavior has been confirmed with any shark species.

Hence, every mangrove creek is important. I ask Bouyoucos what would happen if Paige Creek were turned into a marina. “If it’s developed, we don’t know what a returning mother would do, and

TOP LEFT: ISTOCKPHOTO (3)

SUSTAINABLE STUDY

LEMON SHARK FACTS × Lemon sharks grow to 10 feet (3 meters), but may only be 20 inches at birth. × It takes them 12-15 years to become mature. × The oldest recorded lemon shark is 37 years old; however, it is possible they live much longer. × They are found throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of Africa,

the pups currently in the creek would certainly be displaced,” he tells me.

Like many shark species, lemons are caught in both commercial and sport fisheries for their meat, and their fins can generate high prices for shark-fin soup across the globe. Bouyoucos says their largest threat, however, “is habitat destruction; as mangroves disappear, so will lemon sharks.”

More than 50 percent of mangroves worldwide are already gone, and the Food and Agriculture Organization calculates the world is losing mangroves at a shocking rate of 1 percent per year.

“People want to be by the ocean, so they build their homes or hotels, golf courses, etcetera, right where the mangroves are,” says Bouyoucos.

The good news is there are groups of people working hard to research, protect and restore mangroves. CEI is not only studying lemon sharks, but it is also reaching out to help educate the public. A scenic two-minute walk from CEI (a bridge over a mangrove creek, no less) is where you will find the Island School, which accepts international high school students who participate in CEI’s research. Locally, scientists from S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 61

Australia and the Americas. × They are known to congregate in large numbers for breeding, and give birth every second year. After the pups leave the mangroves, they can be found on reefs, estuaries, sea-grass beds, and have even been found up rivers, showing they can tolerate a range of salinities.

CEI visit all the schools on Eleuthera to talk about sharks, mangroves and many other aquatic topics that will affect their future. Internationally, many conservation organizations are working hard to help mangroves and the many species, including lemon sharks, that depend on them. There is still hope.

As I lie in my tent, uncomfortable, swatting away at an army of mosquitoes and sand flies, I know I want to help bring attention to the plight of these beautiful predators. I realize that I love mangroves, even when they are not so easy to love.

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Dive Travel

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SOCIETY ISLANDS CRUISIN’ / P64

THE WORLD’S BEST SECRET DIVE SPOTS / P66

Whether you’re a world traveler or stay-at-home dreamer, these trips are sure to entice

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TOP 10: RIVIERA M AYA / P 7 0

Warm and Fuzzy T

FROM TOP: ELLEN CUYLAERTS; ISTOCKPHOTO

hey’re about as cute as a 1,000-pound whiskered mammal can be. Head to Kings Bay or Three Sisters Spring in Crystal River when the Florida air shifts from a sweltering heat to a slight chill to snorkel alongside West Indian manatees. Trichechus manatus can’t survive in waters colder than 60 degrees F, so in winter they move to warmer water. It’s illegal to chase after manatees, and you’ll spook them if you swim underneath them, so it’s best to let the creatures approach you. The reward: an amazing connection when you lock eyes with one of the gentle giants, see a mother protecting her calf, or even have one come up and nudge you.

— Andy Zunz When to go: November through March Where to go: Plantation on Crystal River plantationoncrystalriver.com

GIVE BACK

Adopt-a-Manatee After you connect with these lovable marine mammals in the water, support conservation efforts by adopting one. With a $25 donation to the Save the Manatee Club, you get to choose a specific manatee from the adoption program, with your dollars going toward protection efforts. savethemanatee.org

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Dive Travel

Journeys

Tahitian Treat The Society Islands’ highlights start — but certainly don’t end — with unforgettable diving B Y G I N A TA R N A C K I

haven’t been on the bottom long when I get the cue to grab onto a small rock and stay still. Already? I think excitedly as I peer eagerly into the deep blue distance of the calm lagoon surrounding Bora Bora.

I see nothing. Or do I? Slowly, hypnotically, two soft shadows appear against the blue. As the seconds roll by, the gentle movements of the shadows become more lucid until the diamond-shaped bodies of two eagle rays become clear. Their flying mesmerizes me as they glide by, just a few feet away.

The eagle rays’ smooth, easy motions epitomize my dive experience aboard M/S Paul Gauguin: effortless and relaxing.

Add the luxury of upscale staterooms, gourmet cuisine, private beaches, other aquatic activities and stunning island views, and it’s an incredible ocean experience.

DIVE Paul Gauguin Cruises is not a cruise IN operator catering exclusively to divers.

Expert Insight There are plenty of options aboard For a diver’s touch, Gauguin — from fine dining to nightly head out on Paul Gauguin with guest shows to paddleboarding. I was excited host Jean-Michel to experience all that and more, but the Cousteau. The aspect that thrilled me the most as I son of the legendary Jacques-Yves embarked on a seven-night Tahiti and Cousteau will join Society Islands cruise was the diving I the crew next on Nov. 19 to offer knew would be part of the equation. As special lectures anticipated, the dive staff on board made and lead dives on a 14-night cruise the experience easy and unforgettable. off the Marquesas, The stern of Gauguin is home to a Tuamotus and the watersports marina, which is where the Society Islands.

Musical artists, dive excursions begin, and the atmo- winemakers and sphere is jovial and familiar when I show a variety of others as guest up for my second dive in Moorea. After attend hosts throughout a quick briefing, we head to the site via the year.

Zodiac and descend in small groups of two to three with each dive guide.

As I learned from the quick sighting of the eagle rays, the dive staff knows the waters of the Society Islands exceptionally well, and their expertly trained eyes again come in handy for this dive with the spotting of an often-disguised scorpionfish. Easy to spot, however, are the 8-foot lemon shark and inquisitive sea turtle I encounter, and they become two of the highlights of a blissful experience sailing aboard Gauguin.

TRIP TIPS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: RENEE CAPOZZOLA; YANN HUBERT/BIOSPHERE/MINDEN PICTURES; JON WHITTLE; ROGER PAPERNO/PAUL GAUGIN CRUISES (4)

I

Trails of the Ancients Trek Experience

Nightly Shows Stay up after dinner to

Moorea’s lush forest with a hike away from the lagoon to ancient ruins hidden in the trees with an entertaining, knowledgeable guide.

see the shows on board, especially the ones featuring local dance groups that come to entertain when Gauguin is in port overnight.

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TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

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Explore the reef wall at the Ledges dive spot in Moorea and observe a variety of sea animals and coral.

Later, dress up for Polynesian Night featuring traditional Polynesian cuisine and dance performances.

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Day 4

Enjoy snorkeling, kayaking and trying local delicacies before you unwind at a floating bar in the aqua lagoon at tropical Motu Mahana, Paul Gauguin Cruises’ exclusive private island off the coast of Taha’a.

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Day 3

Start the morning at Toopua dive site with eagle rays and iridescent clams, spend the afternoon biking along the Bora Bora coastline, and end the day with a gourmet five-course meal featuring fresh fish.

THE RO

Day 2

IN

Day 1 Savor breakfast — and the water view — on the balcony before heading to the marina to get snorkel equipment, which can be used at Paul Gauguin Cruises’ beautiful private beach on a reef islet near Bora Bora.

Clockwise from left: Groups of blacktip reef sharks and pink whiprays patrol the waters off Moorea; diving is just one of the watersports available from Gauguin’s specially designed onboard marina platform.

THE BOAT M/S Paul Gauguin Total passengers: 332 Cabins: 166 suites/staterooms Total crew: 217 Length: 504 feet Beam: 72 feet Number of decks: 9

Watersports Galore Go paddleboarding, windsurfing and kayaking from Gauguin’s watersports marina platform to easily explore the turquoise lagoons of the Society Islands.

Fine Dining Make a reservation right when you get on board so you don’t miss out on La Veranda and experiencing the gourmet cuisine from its menu created by award-winning chef Jean-Pierre Vigato.

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Dive Travel

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Secret Spots These pristine sites are marked on some dive maps, but that doesn’t mean they make it to many dive logs.

BY BROOKE MORTON

2.

Mavis seaplane Solomon Islands

1.

A Bit Far Rock Indonesia “The Forgotten Islands are isolated even by Indonesian standards,” says Debbie Arriaga, cruise director for the liveaboard M/V Arenui, based in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Islands.

The vessel detours to this location just west of West Papua Island only in April, May, September and October.

In this ultraremote corner, Arriaga’s favorite spot to drop in is off Dawera Island, called A Bit Far Rock.

“We were shown this site in October 2014 by local fishermen from the village of Dawera,” she says.

“They called it a secret seamount.”

Lush corals give way to curtains of bigeye trevally, pyramid butterflyfish and neon fusiliers. Appearing from behind the swaths of scales are whitetip reef sharks, gray reef sharks and the occasional silvertip reef shark.

The site is worth raving about, but few get the chance. Says Arriaga, “It’s been dived by fewer than 100 divers — ever.” thearenui.com

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The site is heavily requested — but only by the divers hopscotching across the Pacific to reach the Solomon Islands.

The country’s more than 900 islands contain some of the world’s leasttouched reefs, as well as a collection of WWII wrecks that includes 13 Japanese Kawanishi Mavis seaplanes in the central region’s Nggela island group.

The liveaboard operated by Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions visits the planes, now sitting at a depth of roughly 100 feet. The most intact has lost one wing, but it’s well-preserved, with tail fins, instruments and controls intact.

Says Shannon Kozak, liveaboard owner, “Narcosis starts to become an issue — but it only adds to the eeriness of the dive.” solomonsdiving.com

The Solomon Islands contains some of the world’s leasttouched reefs.

FROM LEFT: DEBBIE ARRIAGA; ALLISON VITSKY SALLMON

World’s Best Dives

Lush corals give way to curtains of bigeye trevally, pyramid butterflyfish and fusiliers.

Dive Travel

5.

3.

Daini Koyomaru St. Lucia On any St. Lucia dive map, you’ll find the Daini Koyomaru wreck off the southern stretch of the west coast — but that doesn’t mean you can just drop in. There is no mooring ball.

Without GPS coordinates or a ride from a local scuba center, you won’t come close.

Sunk in 1996 as an artificial reef, it now sits at a depth of 108 feet, creating a habitat for angelfish, lobsters and hawksbill turtles.

Nitrox is required by operator Dive St. Lucia. divesaintlucia.com

Dreamgate Cenote Mexico No signs mark the road to Dreamgate cenote outside the town of Tulum, in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. To visit, someone in the know must show you the way by Jeep, 20 minutes on a two-track through the jungle. Then you gear up and climb a ladder down to the entry point, pulling tanks with a rope. But the trek is worth it. Alessandra Figari, one of the owners of Cave Training Mexico, a

4.

Separation Head Vancouver, BC The site called Separation Head sits amid Discovery Passage, a narrow body of water serving as a main shipping route between Washington and Alaska. It’s tucked away from the traffic — but not the tidal influence.

“An enormous amount of nourishment feeds big soft corals and massive sponges,” says Pacific Pro Dive’s Bill Coltart. pacificprodive.com

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scuba center specializing in cenote and cave diving, says, “The decorations are incredible — and the dive is a cavern, but you get what feels like a cave without being in a cave.” The spot is a museum of columns, stalactites and stalagmites, set against yellow-white and brown walls. It’s because the formations are so numerous and delicate that the location stays unmarked. Says Figari, “Only people with good buoyancy can see it because we need to protect it.” cavetrainingmexico.com

8.

“The amount of soft corals in yellows and purples and every other color is just stunning.”

Hepp’s Pipeline Grand Cayman

7.

Three Fingers

6.

Blade

FROM LEFT: GREG PIPER; SIMON MORLEY. OPPOSITE: JASON BROWN

Indonesia

The dive site Blade, so named for its edgelike profile — a series of thin, sheer seamounts rising from the deep — sits an hour’s boat ride from Wakatobi Dive Resort in southeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia.

“Blade is about as picturesque as it gets,” says Karen Stearns, marketing manager for the property.

Sea fans span 10 feet. Barrel sponges, crinoids and corals elbow one another for real estate on the thin foundation. Schools of snapper and barracuda circle above the rooted growth.

“You could spend an entire day there, which some guests do,” says Stearns. Two couples, upon introduction to the site, elected to charter a private boat for the duration of their stay with just one target in mind.

Says Stearns, “Once you see it, you understand why some people can’t help but keep going back.” wakatobi.com

BRING THIS

Bahamas Only one in 10 trips aboard the M/V Aqua Cat liveaboard through the Exumas Islands of the Bahamas reaches the site called Three Fingers.

“It’s so rare to see anybody even in the vicinity,” says Capt.

Desmond Grayling.

The topography is perhaps expected, at least in terms of its name — three long, narrow coral gardens running parallel at 33 feet — but the marine life is anything but.

“A big congregation of nurse sharks nestles at this reef’s edge for protection,” says Grayling, adding that southern and yellow stingrays are also common.

“It’s a phenomenal little reef oasis in a sandy desert.” allstarliveaboards.com

Grand Cayman’s north shore is wild and unpredictable, reachable by dive boat only when winds roll in from the east or south. But when conditions line up, Hepp’s Pipeline is the sweetest spot: Free-fall to a wall starting at 60 feet, scored with narrow valleys. Out in the abyss, expect frequent traffic of pelagics, namely Caribbean reef sharks and eagle rays, and on the rarest of days, a great hammerhead. cobaltcoast.com

In the abyss, expect frequent traffic of pelagics, namely Caribbean reef sharks.

The Whole Enchilada Piecing together an underwater camera rig can be fun — but for those who prefer an all-in-one package, SeaLife released the Micro 2.0 Pro 5000. This complete setup includes the easy-to-use Micro 2.0 camera, two Sea Dragon 2500 lights, a dual tray, grips and Flex Arms. sealife-cameras.com

S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 69

9.

Frigate Passage Fiji You’re not going to Fiji’s Frigate Passage for encounters with big animals — save that desire for Beqa Lagoon Resort’s shark dive — but for a wall studded with so many soft corals, you’d think it’s a farm of the lush invertebrates. The site — 40 minutes by boat from the resort, off a satellite island just south of Fiji’s main isle — can be experienced only when conditions permit: Heavy currents keep the corals swept of sediment but can also sweep divers right off the wall.

Says Dieter Kudler, general manager of the resort: “It’s a beautifully overgrown wall, and the amount of soft corals in yellows and purples and every other color is just stunning.” beqalagoonresort.com

Dive Travel

7.

Fresh-seafood feast

Where fresh fish tacos, guacamole and margaritas meet, a diver is bound to find topside solace. Los Aguachiles restaurant remains one of Playa del Carmen’s most beloved stops for favorites and the chilispiked Mexican shrimp ceviche called aguachiles.

8.

Coco Bongo Show & Disco

Your night at this legendary nightlife hot spot is bound to be memorable. Picture a Vegasstyle party mashed up with ’70s, ’80s and ’90s music on the set of a Cirque du Soleil-esque venue, and you’ll get the idea.

Perfect 10

Riviera Maya This prime stretch of the northeastern Yucatan offers drifts, walls, reefs, sharks, caves and — topping it all off — fish tacos.

Need we say más?

9.

Spanish lessons

Pairing your Mexican vacation with a few hours of language classes will let you experience the Yucatan in a deeper way.

Meztli Spanish Language School in Tulum offers short and sweet morning classes.

B Y T E R R Y WA R D

3.

5.

Giant-stride into the blue water and descend past barelimbed tree trunks to about 95 feet to reach an incredible hydrogen-sulfate cloud. You’ll drop through the cloud into the zone of otherworldly blackness below. The view looking back up is unforgettable. prodivemex.com

Most tourists flock to the Maya ruins at Tulum, but the ancient civilization left its mark across the Yucatan. And the ruins at Cobá are particularly impressive. Climb 120 steps up the Nohoch Mul Pyramid for jaw-dropping views of the surrounding jungle and lake.

Drop down to the reef, and settle in for an exciting drift dive along a sheer wall that plunges to 100 feet. Moc-Che Deep’s currents scream at times, and that’s what keeps the abundant corals and sponges awash with nutrients that lure big groups of turtles, grouper and more. thereefmarina.com

Angelita Cenote

2.

Laguna Bacalar

It’s a surprise, after being surrounded by so much jungle, to come upon this crystal-clear lake with a white sandy bottom south of Riviera Maya near the border with Belize. Kayak trips are optimal for soaking in all the colors and scenery.

Cobá Maya Ruins

4.

Casa Cenote

The meeting point between the Nohoch Nah Chich cave system and the ocean, Casa Cenote is where fresh- and saltwater creatures mingle. Certified cave divers can finish with a thrilling exit — a swim through the cave opening into the ocean. cavetrainingmexico.com

Moc-Che Deep

6.

Xaak

It’s well worth investing your time in a half-day two-tank excursion to this site north of Akumal that teems with turtles, rays and nurse sharks. The coral fingers are especially impressive here, stretching 30 feet from their base in the seabed.

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Tortugas Reef

The site’s namesake – turtles, the hawksbill variety in particular – are regularly seen at this thrilling deepwater dive off Playa del Carmen. phoceamexico.com

DIVERS GUIDE Average water temp: Low to mid-80s What to wear: Skin or shorty Average viz: 70 feet When to go: Year-round More info: sportdiver.com/ riviera-maya

ILLUSTRATION: ANTOINE CORBINEAU/FOLIOART.CO.UK

1.

10.

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S P O R T D I V E R . C O M | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 73

Learn from This Close calls and how to handle them

A thorough predive safety check saves a diver big trouble down the line

BY KARL SHREEVE S

gauge to make sure the gauge did not move, and then switching to do the same with their alternate-air sources.

But Jason’s had a problem.

“What’s with this?” he asked. “I’m getting air, but it’s not scuba air.”

Jason breathed in and out once again, with similar results.

“The side plug’s missing,” Bill said, pointing to an open port on the second stage’s left side.

“What? Well, flip. I took it out to check for debris after yesterday’s dive in all that silt and didn’t put it back. Bet it’s sitting right where I left it.”

Fortunately, the boat had a spare regulator, so he and Bill didn’t have to cancel the dive.

What They Did Wrong

INCIDENT REPORT DIVERS: Jason (Divemaster, 890-plus dives),

Bill (Divemaster, 1,500-plus dives) SITE: Boat dive, Florida Keys CONDITIONS: 82˚F water, visibility 80 feet, sunny and hot

reparing for their first dive of the day, Jason and Bill started through a BWRAF (BC, Weight system, Releases, Air, Final check) predive safety check. At Air, they confirmed full cylinders and checked each other’s valves. Next, they tested their regulators, breathing slowly in and out while watching the pressure

P

Nothing. This is an example of how doing what you’re trained to do can head off big problems. Had the problem not been caught during the check, it might have been caught at the absolute worst time: during an out-of-air emergency.

Providing a nonfunctional air source to an out-of-air diver would have not only raised stress, but might have complicated managing it by leaving two divers only a single second stage to share.

What They Did Right

They conducted a thorough predive safety check, including test breathing both their primary and alternate second stages. Having found a problem, they corrected the problem rather than dive with it.

1.

Make predive safety checks routine.

They prevent a lot of accidents, and incident reports commonly cite causes that a predive check would have caught.

2.

Know each other’s gear. Besides checking functionality, buddies should confirm where to locate each other’s alternates and how to drop each other’s weights.

3.

If you take stuff apart, reassemble and check it immediately. It’s inconvenient at best to find out something’s not right when you’re at the dive site. Only disassemble gear as far as you’re qualified to do so by the manufacturer.

4.

Have a spare-parts kit. Predive checks commonly catch torn mouthpieces, worn straps, missing O-rings, etc. A supply of such user-replaceable items can prevent missing a dive — and make you very popular!

5.

The PADI Equipment Specialist course can help with maintenance and care tips that increase the likelihood that your gear performs consistently and reliably.

Sport Diver (ISSN 1077-985X) is published 8 times per year (J/F, March, April, May, June, J/A, S/O, N/D) by Bonnier Corp., 460 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 200, Winter Park, FL 32789. Basic rate $19.97 for one year. (Canada residents please add $12 per year for postage; all other foreign residents please add $24 for postage, U.S. funds only.) Periodicals postage paid at Winter Park, FL, and additional offices. Contents copyright 2016 by Bonnier Corp. For subscription information or questions, email PADcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com. Contributions: Editorial comments, articles, photography or artwork should be addressed to Editor, Sport Diver, P.O. Box 8500, Winter Park, FL 32790. The editorial staff can also be reached via the Internet by addressing electronic mail to editor@sportdiver.com. Not responsible for solicited or unsolicited material. Advertisers: UPS and overnight delivery to 460 N. Orlando Ave, Suite 200, Winter Park, FL 32789. Information and media kits are available by calling 407-628-4802. The contents of this publication, including diving techniques and use of diving equipment, reflect the individual experiences of the writers and are not necessarily the recommended practices of Bonnier Corp. and are not intended for the sole purpose of diving instruction. Individuals seeking to participate in activities described in this publication should be properly trained and/or certified for such by a qualified professional diving instructor. Diving or use of diving equipment by untrained individuals can lead to serious injury or death. Neither Bonnier Corp., Sport Diver magazine nor its contributors shall be liable for any mishap claimed to result from use of such material. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sport Diver magazine, P.O. Box 6364 Harlan, IA 51593-1864. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Printed in the USA.

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ILLUSTRATION: THOMAS BURNS

Catch a Breath

Five Tips from This Incident