Scuba Diving in Cuba, Caribbean – El Patio de Vanesa (Vanesa’s Patio), Maria la Gorda, Cuba

Dive Site: El Patio de Vanesa (Vanesa’s Patio)

Location: Maria la Gorda, Cuba

Description: Reef / drift

Depth: 15 metres max (50 feet)

Visibility: 15 metres (50 feet)

Marine life consists of the reef and lobster.

Scuba Diving in Fiji – Mana Wall, Western side of Mana Islands, Mamanucas

ive Site: Mana Wall

Location: Western side of Mana Island, the Mamanucas

Description: Wall dive

Depth: 14m (45 feet)

Visibility: 30 metres (100 feet)

Mana Island‘s fringing reef has created a lagoon on its western side, the interior of which is used for topside watersports and also as a location for confined-water diver training. The outside edge of the lagoon wall drops off to 30m+ although most of the life is in the top half of the water column and as such is great for a repetitive dive after a deeper first. The wall has many outcropping spurs and all are home to plentiful marine life. Night dives here are as colourful as those during the day with feather stars coming out in force.

Scuba diving in Malta – Cathedral Cave, Gozo

Dive Site: Cathedral Cave

Location: Gozo, Malta

Description: Cave dive

Depth: 18 (59 feet)

Visibility: 25 metres (82 feet)

A wonderful dive. One needs to climb down 150 steps with all the required kit on to get to it, and this is even more tiring after the dive, but the view going down is lovely. The dive starts in a little inlet and which can be descended in from the mouth of the inlet. After passing a lot of rocks there is a huge hole in the cliff at 18m. Ther is a cave inside the rock. It is very dark and full of echoes. Underwater bright blue arch of the entrance can be seen. On the way back one cames across several scorpionfish.

Scuba diving in Malta – St. Paul’s Bay reef

Dive Site: Saint Paul’s Bay

Location: Malta

Description: Reef

Depth: 15 metres max (50 feet)

Visibility: 20 metres (65 feet)

A unique area that provides excellent confined open water options to conduct beginner courses. This pleasant bay is full of local marine life gives the new diver good opportunity to develop their diving skills.

Scuba Diving in Malta – Bugibba Bay reef

Dive Site: Bugibba Bay

Location: Malta

Description: Reef

Depth: 20 metres max (65 feet)

This is an area of easily accessible water that offers excellent training opportunities. An entry from a low jetty wall into a metre of water allows you get comfortable before descending to your required depth.

Diving in Malta – MV Karwela wreck, Gozo

Dive Site: MV Karwela
Location: Gozo, Malta
Description: Wreck dive
Depth: 36 – 40 metres (118 – 131 feet)
Visibility: 30 metres (100 feet)

This dive is accessed from the shore, across some reasonably flat rocks and down a ladder. The wreck is about 36-40 metres deep. It was sunk very recently. It is possible to swim through both the middle deck and top deck. The water was very clear, and as we went though the ship bright blue light came in through the windows.

The places to explore and see are the wheelhouse, the Beetle (car), the propellers and the bow.

Scuba Diving in Fiji

Dive Site: Grand Banks
Location: South of Yadua
Description: Reef
Depth: 18 metres (59 feet)
Visibility: 30 – 40 metres (100 – 130 feet)

An exuberant maze of coral formations – just allow yourself to get lost and swim in whatever direction you find to be most intriguing. Expect to find white tips and marbled groupers, and on one dive I saw a never-ending shoal of female bullethead parrotfish pass by… amazing

Suba diving in Tanzania – Mtangani, Pemba

Dive Site: Mtangani South
Location: Mtangani, Pemba, Tanzania
Description: Reef / drift
Depth: 29 metres (95 feet)
Visibility: 10 – 15 metres (30 – 50 feet)

Hammerhead sharks can be seen at the Mtangani Lagoon if searched for. The reef slopes gently down to about 40 metres and there are lots of boulders covered in prolific coral and algal growth. The prominent feature is the green algae and soft corals that covers everything gives everything a ‘soft focus’ feel as the current moves about in the water. A lot of reef fish such as unicornfish and wrasse are found swimming in big shoals as well as big clouds of anthias and fusiliers. There is an unusual effects in the water itself where freshwater from the lagoon mixes with the seawater in layers, leaving a shimmering that could be normally associated with cavern or cave diving. The freshwater run off also causes the visibility to deteriorate to about 10 metres in places.

Scuba diving in Tanzania – Ompanja, Pemba

Dive Site: Omapanja

Location: Pemba, Tanzania

Description: Reef

Depth: 18 metres (59 feet)

Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)

The reef at Omapanja begins at 3m the gently slopes to a sandy plateau at 20m before dropping away again to a depth of 40m. Lot of macro life exists on the reef such as nudibranchs, trevallies, flatworms and a lot of reef fish.

Scuba Diving Ils de Pins, New Caledonia

Dive Site: Faille de Noupa
Location: Ils de Pins, New Caledonia
Description: Reef
Depth: 11 – 45 metres (36 – 148 feet)
Visibility: 30 metres + (100 feet)

Faille de Noupa dive site is a 15 minute boat ride from the Kunie Scuba Centre at Vao. The local Melanesian inhabitants still refer to the island as Kunie, the local name of the Ils de Pins (Isle of Pines). The short journey to the site was made on an 11 metre ridged inflatable before being dropped over a large reef plateau of around 11 metres depth. At the edge of the plateau and the start of our dive the wall dropped down to a maximum depth of 45 metres where there was a sand sea floor with large coral heads. On the reef wall itself there were large red gorgonian fan corals and the viz was excellent at a good 30 metres or more. Tuna and trevally hung in the open water and dense groups of small chromis and damselfish swam all over the upper reef slopes. As we ascended the reef we drifted leisurely with the current over the plateau where there were layer upon layer of stunning blue acropora and stony corals; oranges, blues, pinks and yellows glistened in the sun which easily penetrated to 10 metres.

There was quite a surface swell, even as deep as 10 metres and as is customary on all the dives we did in New Caledonia we launched our delayed SMB from 6 metres and carried out our safety stops before ascending for the boat to pick us up.

After many of the morning dives from Ils de Pins you head for a surface interval in the ‘blue lagoon’, the worlds largest natural lagoon. The light blue water is almost blinding and the sheer size astounding. Whilst here, it is possible to wade from the boat to the small sandy beaches which surround the lagoon. After our morning dive at Faille De Noupe we were the first to arrive on a pristine white sand beach and I was surprised to find a perfect burgundy and white striped nautilus shell lying in the sand near the water line (these creatures inhabit depths of 150 metres and have remained virtually unchanged for over 500 million years). The guide offered to let us keep it, however I was keen to leave it where it had come to rest. After a short swim in the lagoon to cool off I returned to find it had become the property of a group of Japanese divers. More disturbing was their use for the vacated home of this deep sea fossil – an ashtray!