Traveling

Diving in the fastest saltwater current in the World.

From the zodiac I look into the current and the whirls. I am ready to go into the water, but my brain is protesting. It tells me: No, you are not going to dive here, are you crazy? No, you are not going!

It is fair to say that the best diving can often be found in some of the most unexpected places. When one thinks of the Sinai, the immediate image is of the spectacular vertical drop offs of Ras Mohammed, teeming with fish life. Venture further north and the canyons and blue hole of Dahab come to mind. But further north still and you have an entirely different kind of diving, the sort that allows you to get close to some of the rarer and most colourful of the Red Sea’s inhabitants.

As the Aleksey Maryshev sails from Ushuaia (Argentina), the southernmost city of our world, towards the Antarctica, I recall images I’ve seen and stories I’ve heard about the Drake Passage, famed for its roughest seas on Earth.

Spring 2006, I’m sitting behind my desk as I’m surfing the internet. A review about a shark expedition in the Bahamas is drawing my attention. The pictures that accompany the article are very impressive. I have always dreamt about photographing sharks and that is what this trip is about! My enthusiasm is taking control over me and ten minutes later I have booked the trip at the internetsite of Jim Abernethy’s Scuba Adventures (www.scuba-adventures.com). That night I lie awake….what have I done? What will my impulsive act bring?

For my buddy it was the first time he was diving in the Philippines. We had been one week on a live-aboard and were diving all around Cebu Island. Beautiful corals, wracks and turtles, we had seen it all. But now we were one week on the island Negros with the capital city Dumaguette. Our hotel was a luxury resort called Bahura. There we went diving on the black sand. Negros is an island created by many volcanoes, hence the black sand.

Diving from the beach

As far as I remember myself, this island always allured me. By now, when I’ve made already several trips to this fabulous place, I’m quite certain, that from the diver’s point of view it should be the «must» of touring itineraries.

Destination № 1 – Cape Giant

It’s our first evening in the south of Tasmania and we are surprised by all kinds of animals around our bungalow. We just cannot believe how many animals we see around here. Our bungalow is not standing in the middle of in the bush. But nevertheless so many wallabies (small kangaroos) and wombats gather around our house. We have become one with nature immediately. Nature we could not have imagined being so beautiful. But besides the airport and our little bungalow we have not yet seen anything of Tasmania yet.

Waking up to our last day of diving in Tofo Beach and we almost have to pinch ourselves. It is another beautiful sunrise over the Indian Ocean, with the sound of the waves gently breaking on the beach just in front of our chalet, and still one more day of diving to go. Yes, we had heard the stories, had seen the photos and watched the DVDs, but until we were here it was hard for us to believe it could be true. But here we were - one week of diving behind us and already we had had close encounters with more than seventy Manta Rays and twelve Whale Sharks!

The Netherlands may not be the first destination you would think of when you are planning your next diving vacation. But there are a lot of possibilities for a diver in this small country. Every year thousands of mostly Dutch, Belgium, German and French divers travel to this northern European country to have a combination of diving and Dutch culture.

The arctic is not the first destination you will think about when planning a dive trip. Many divers from all over the world choose (sub)tropical destinations because of it’s colourfull flora and fauna. The adventurist who dares to go to the most northern part of the world will encounter a unique aquatic world.