What have you seen underwater recently?

[island_sands]

went for a dive at 630 this morning before starting the day...

at the safety stop, a manta ray sailed past.

there is a god after all...

where do you live and what are the frequent sightings?

 

[Griff]

on my swim back in on friday, a turtle swam across my path an arced around me about 2m away, gave me the fright of my life when this big shape suddenly crossed in front of me! i've seen plenty of turtles before, but its the first time one has checked me out.

 

[island_sands]

hi Griff

i can imagine.. it happened with me once with a nurse shark and i nearly sh@t myself.

i have never dived down south coast.. and i am south african! where do you dive? at Aliwal?

 

[Griff]

i have dived aliwal, but not that much. i'm a spearo, so i mostly dive the inshore reefs, from ballito down to margate. then there's also sodwana, which i go to 3-4 times a year.
where did you operate while in sa?
maldives must be pretty awesome.
cheers
mark

 

[island_sands]

i have never dived in SA! i learnt to dive in Spain while i lived there (Catalonian coast) and have dived mostly maldives and caribbean.
but.... will be going to CT on Valentine's weekend to do the cage dive.. can't wait!
so tell... spearing off SAn shores..with those hefty waves... do you go offshore a little?

 

[Griff]

it depends on the time of year. in summer, the gamefish migrate south, and they prefer the 60ft reefs, so we dive about 500m+ offshore, but in the end of winter/spring, the only fish about are on the backline, so it gets a bit tricky if the surf is sizable. still, it always involves a swim through the surf.

i've just spent a month in mauritius, from nov to dec. that was incredible diving, not from the prespective of fish life (i've seen more at sodwana) but the fact that you can just put on a pair of fins, swim over the barrier reef and you are diving coral reefs in warm crystal waters.

it must have been a while since you've been to SA? i hope you have a great dive in CT.
cheers
mark

 

[island_sands]

thanks. 12 years since i have lived in SA.. and 8 since i was at Natal coast... can't wait to go back.
will get in touch when back.
kiff and all that

Sara-Lise

 

[flyboy748]

On my last dive I saw (in the following order) Ice; a cinder block; sand; ice. Oh ya, snow too.

Aaron
Toronto, Canada

 

[bluecape]

Hey Island Sands !!

I dive / spearfish in CapeTown, give me a call when you come thru and will be glad to take you to some of my spots.

I did my cage dive quite recently at gansbaai, STUNNING !!

Probably the best dive spot is CapePoint, residents are giant rays ( Off Rooikrans ledges), Bronzie's ( Copper sharks) and if you're having a bad day, great Whites.
If you can get to dive in Knysna / George area, excellent. I will be heading thru to Knysna during that week from the 14th to deliver some spearguns and dive, so let me know if you're keen to see the place.

Cheers

Jeff

 

[island_sands]

hi bluecape!

haven't been to CT for five years! or even SA that is.. dying to go home...
will be staying in Constantia over the weekend of 13-16... most definitely will be going for a cage dive.!

spending first week in JHB with my folks, 2nd week on safari with mum somewhere near Hlhuhluwe/Umfolozi... and then coming down to CT with the man.

i checked out your beach camp, looks like an amazing "jorl"! it's something i might do next december when we finish this project here in Maldives and will be taking a month off to chill out in SA... looks great.

i took note of your details from the website. thanks!

 

[tylerz]

Mostly come across curious seals, curious sea lions, dogfish, giant nudibranchs, and moonsnails.

A funny situation was in November when Pete, Eric, and myself were diving at the local Tahsis favourite diving spot, and darkness fell on us suddenly. We were still enjoying ourselves looking to catch some deep life on camera, when at the surface we were startled by a series of huge breaths which sounded as though they were 10 feet away.

We quickly imagined a group of orcas passing through this life filled area and engaged in a hasty retreat to shore. We could not see a thing but we knew which way was away from the monsterous breathing. It was the lack of breathing that followed that encouraged our legs to increase their cycle to super-human frequency.

We managed the shore and a safe return back to base-camp. We were not sure but didn't really believe the breathing was orcas. None of us were keen however to determine this fact. The next day we were back out in daylight diving at the same location and witnessed a large group of sea lions passing by. We recognized immediately the breathing pattern. We had hear sea lions breathing previously but not a group of that size... and not in the dark, where the mind is tuned slightly differently.

Cheers

 

[gonetobaja]

An octopus with two green rings on him, a couple of electric green(thats the only way to describe it) parrot fish with bright yellow marks on their back and red dots on their face, a big fat cortez angelfish that came out of a cave to defend its home and made a couple of weird grunts. alot of opaleye. vis was real good this week.

GTB
www.gonetobaja.com

 

[Daryl Wong]

What hae you seen recently?

It sounds like everyone is getting cabin fever with winter settled in. Its winter here, but our water temp is still 79 degrees. I took a freind Scott cambell out blue water diving and all we shot was our cameras. It was great. Thi is what we shot.

Aloha, Daryl

 

[Daryl Wong]

Under water picture

Now I know why I don't put pictures on the posts! Heres another try.

Aloha, Daryl

 

[Daryl Wong]

One more shot

Here is Scott and freinds.

 

[island_sands]

wow!

unbelievable...

can you see that all year round?

oh i am so jealous... fantastic!

 

[Daryl Wong]

Hi,

 

[Daryl Wong]

Hi,

THe Humpback whales come over for the winter here. They migrate to breed and have calves. They usually arrive in November and stay through May and early June. I see them often when going out diving,and a few times while blue water diving. But this is the first time I ever had two whales come up to us (seven Divers) and interact with us. We put away all our stuff and got out the cameras. We spent an hour with them till they got their curiosity filled and then just drifted into the depths.

Aloha, Daryl

 

[ash]

Daryl - fabulous photos man! Thanks for posting them, especially the 2nd one. Looking at the water clarity and the subject matter, I think I need a 40-year holiday in your neck of the woods.

What have I seen underwater lately? Well, I had some good vis at my local shoredive site today and saw one of the biggest rays I have ever seen in NZ waters, just lounging around on the sand at 3m. I also had the pleasure of diving with a small school of big kingfish, which are great fun to dive with. They always manage to show me how ungainly I am in the water compared to such purposeful hunters. Watching them blast through the masses of small fish is quite a sight, I would need a rocket powered scooter to keep up

Ash

 

[tylerz]

MY OH MY OH MY... Daryl you have witnessed my dream come true!! For the last two years, I have been waiting for the chance to dive in a location nearby that Gray and Humpback whales frequent, but seeing your pictures makes it all come real!! I had not heard of people freediving with these whales... you must regularly be sitting on top of the universe.

I feel like the idea of mine is a distant fantasy after having to admit the reality of your situtation. I will have to remedy that! This year.

So what does it feel like to have one of their eyes peering at you as it drifts by? How close was the one that you caught a photo of just the head/eye? Did they ever open their mouths? Must have been neet to seem them breathe at the surface?

Once again... amazing!

Cheers,

Tyler