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Cancún underwater museum – MUSA & The art of conservation
The Cancún underwater museum of art is an amazing project promoting coral life and conservation. The constellation of over 500 life-size sculptures is one of the top attractions in Cancún and you can enjoy the different galleries of the museum scuba diving, snorkelling or freediving. What is MUSA? Back in the 2000’s the protected marine areas of Cancún were in a dire condition. At the time, there were millions of visitors swimming, diving and snorkeling in the area. The number of people and boats in the ocean at the same time was immense. As a result, the level of water contamination increased and the reefs became sick. This led…
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Whale sharks Cancún – Swim with the giants on the best Caribbean tour
The aggregation of whale sharks just off Cancún is one of the biggest in the world! If you want to experience one of the best marine life migratory events on our planet, swimming with the whale sharks in the Mexican Caribbean is definitely something you need to have on your bucket list! In case you didn’t know, whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea and one of the most graceful animals in the water. Keep reading this article to find out everything you need to know about the whale sharks visiting Cancún and the tours you can go on to swim with the gentle giants! Photo by Lluís…
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Freediving in Playa del Carmen, Mexico | Cenote wonderland
Freediving in Playa del Carmen, Mexico is an experience out of this world! The Riviera Maya and especially the area around Playa del Carmen and Tulum is one of the best places in the world to freedive. The sport of freediving (diving underwater on one breath without scuba gear) has grown in popularity in the last few years. It is a fascinating activity that pretty much anyone can try. With the proper training, freediving can open up many possibilities to enjoy the underwater environment in a natural way. You can experience amazing animal encounters that would not be possible or practical when scuba diving. If that sounds appealing, then you…
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Diver SMB – The basics of diving surface marker buoys
A diver SMB is a fundamental part of scuba gear. It is one of the most important pieces as its main purpose is to provide you safety. In short, it helps you get spotted at the surface and picked up by the dive boat. When deployed, surface marker buoys indicate that there are divers below, alerting boats to stay clear, leaving you enough space to surface safely. Alternatively, when it comes to drift diving, the boat will be able to identify your heading and make its way to you at the end of the dive. For those of you who are new to drift diving it is where you dive…
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Brother Islands Egypt – The iconic dive site of the Red Sea
Fishing for your next diving trip? What are you looking for? Pelagic sharks? Wrecks? Beautiful, pristine reefs with colourful corals and reef fish? A remote place? Drift dives? Walls? How about all of that? At a single dive site? Well, even on a single dive? Welcome to the Brother Islands, Red Sea, Egypt! The Brother Islands (or El Achawein) are considered one of the best dive spots in the world. The two small offshore islands in the Red Sea are located around 60-70km from the coast at Al Qusair. „Big Brother“ is around 400m long. „Little Brother“, which is about 1km away, is less than half this size. They were…
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Shark Photography – Fin in Focus
Shark photography is an art in itself. It is not only about composition and light or being at the right place in the right time. The most important thing about shark photography is understanding the behaviour of the different species. And if you have the luxury, knowing individual sharks will help you improve your photography skills immensely. Seeing a shark for the first time A flash of grey catches the corner of my eye and I look up out of the water. A small, white tipped fin silently glides along the surface. When I pop my head underwater for another look, I see that I am sharing the water…
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SS Thistlegorm – The best wreck dive site in the Egyptian Red Sea
SS Thistlegorm is considered one of the best wrecks in the world. It was a British merchant navy ship that is now located at Sha’ab Ali Red Sea, Egypt. The ship is famous for its wartime cargo and was fitted with light weaponry. It consists of a 4.7inch light anti-aircraft gun and an anti-aircraft machine gun. Exploring and diving the SS Thistlegorm is like diving through a history museum. That is why 1000s of divers make the special trip every year to Egypt to dive this wreck. Photo by Marcel Rudolph-Gajda SS Thislegorm history & facts SS (Steam Ship) Thistlegorm was launched in Sunderland in 1940 by Joseph Thompson…
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Manta Point Nusa Penida | Scuba diving and snorkelling with manta rays near Bali
Manta Point Nusa Penida, near Bali is undoubtedly one of the best places in Indonesia, if not the world, to scuba dive and snorkel with the majestic manta rays. Having grown up with a strongly instilled feeling of fear around the ocean, never wading past knee-deep at any point in my life before I turned 18, I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me that my early to mid 20’s would be spent travelling the globe in search of PURPOSEFUL underwater encounters with phenomenal creatures of the sea. Photo by Abdul Latif But here I was, 25 and finding myself for the third time in 3 years giant-striding off…
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How to take photos underwater? Tips from an award-winning pro
There isn’t a single diver who hasn’t struggled with how to take photos underwater! I am sure you have been on a dive where most of the pictures you took came out completely blue. And then one day, playing with your underwater camera, you finally take a decent picture with great contrasts of red, yellow, purple and many other warm colors against a vibrant deep blue. Mistake or not? Surely, it cannot be…. This is how my journey started as an underwater photographer, when I finally got my perfectly lit underwater photograph. I was using only an underwater compact camera with an internal flash and couldn’t understand how to make those…
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What is liveaboard diving? How to prepare & what to expect?
Maybe you’ve recently joined the scuba diver’s world or you are a seasoned diver wondering how to take your diving experience further! Joining a liveaboard will take you to places you’ve never imagined. But, what is liveaboard diving actually? Well, imagine taking the experience of staying at a dive resort and transferring that to a boat, on which you will sail around the glistening ocean for the duration of your holiday. Resort vs Liveaboard diving You might wonder what the benefits are of staying on a liveaboard versus a dive resort. Well, the difference is liveaboards have the ability to take you to far more dive sites, including those…