Contest-What is your single(one) favorite dive spot?(so we can come up with a winner)

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Anacapa, Northern Channel Islands, California

Jim, Jim, Jim - San Clemente Island - if for no other reason than the dive briefing "if you find any unexploded ordinance..."
 
Diamond Rock - Saba
 
We did the SE side.
I guess it depends when you are there relative to the tides and how good your guides are, I am by no means an advanced diver and while the currents were strong and tricky I really really enjoyed my dives there, I am going back in 2.5 weeks and I cant wait!

On the other hand there was a group from another dive shop that had near death experiences there while I was in Sabang, it involved divers swept out to sea, caught in whirlpools, and being caught in downcurrents.
According to my divemasters they were in the wrong place at the wrong time-bad guiding.

That is not a dive site, it is a roller coaster ride.

There are two sides that are commonly done. The South West end with all it's shallow chutes and arms... that was pretty cool.

The South East side, well- that was for big kids only. We found an 80 gallon drum filled with concrete that had rope and thick aluminum bailing wire trailing 100 feet off into the blue. We held that wire and gradually inched out to the end and into the cascading turbulence. Like swimming under a waterfall...with a side wind.:eyecrazy:
 
we once did a combo dive of two sites in palau, micronesia. we dropped down in the blue hole, which was amazing in it's own right, but then when we hit the 28 meter mark, we then navigated (almost horizontally) about ten meters out of a window, that led out onto an incredible wall, at approx. 34 meters. there were giant sponges of all colors, giant fans and other corals every place you looked. critters seemed to be in every crevice. giant pelagic's swam by every few seconds. giant dogtooth tunas. giant trevelli, sharks everywhere, and millions of triggers and wrasses. then you notice that you are drifting pretty fast, and it is picking up. as you watch in amazement, and your head is starting to go numb from all of the miraculous things you are witnessing, you gain clarity just in time to realize that the numbers are actually picking up. there are hundreds of sharks and giant fish, everywhere you look. and they are getting closer and closer to you. the corals on the wall are getting even bigger, and you notice that you have slowly ascended to around 25 meters. right when the numbers are truly starting to seem like a fairytale, the dive instructor signals everybody that they need to get their reefhook's out, and clip onto a lifeless piece of rock. ALL OF THE SUDDEN WE ARE AT THE FAMOUS BLUE CORNER!!!!.
after i clip my reefhook on, and put a little air in my bc, i notice that there are pelagic's all around us. there is a giant green turtle, only a few feet above the woman next to me. there are sharks hanging in the water just two or three feet beside me, hanging in the very strong current right in front of me like a parade and swimming in and out of the progression all the way down the line. there are more than 20 species of giant fish cruising up the currents right in front of me, like models on the runway. millions of trigger fish make up the back drop. they are mostly niger triggers, but there are pinktails, and clowns as well. giant napolean wrasses swoon in and get right in your face, as if to say, "hey, look what i found!" giant manta rays fly around with more grace than anything you have ever seen, in and out of the strongest part of the current.
before i know it, all of my group have gone to do there safety stops, and i was the only one left down on the wall. but the instructor and i both had 120's on, because that was the only tanks they had at sam's tours, that day, with nitrox. so while the divemaster stayed with the other divers, to get them onto the boat, the instructor came back down to ask me if i was ready to go start my safety stop. i reluctantly agreed, and released my reefhook. as we were ascending to start our safety stop, she noticed a wall of barracuda, just around 8 meters from us, so she asked me if i wanted to swim over there to complete our stop, and of course i agreed. by the time we made our way over there, the wall of what looked like several hundred cuda's, turned into what had to be well over a thousand of them. after we reach them, suddenly they started to swirl all around us!! it was one of the most amazing things i have ever experienced. they were all around us, and i about spit my reg right out of my mouth. it was just unbelievable! there were approximately six different species of barracuda's making up the swarm. i had a very cheap uw rental camera, but i was snapping away.
finally, when we reached the surface, the dive boat was only a few meters away, and i let out a very loud scream. i have never been so excited from a dive, that i uncontrollably screamed upon breaking the surface. but i did it three times on this afternoon. even the instructor was very excited by the events of the dive. and she said that was her best dive at this world famous site, and she dived it every few days. everyone on the boat was so full of chatter, on the 40 minute ride back to the diveshop, that it only seemed like it took a few minutes to return.
that was the best dive of my life, and i have been lucky enough to dive some of the worlds best sites, in and around the south pacific. easily one of the best days of my entire life.
Just wow! That sounds most amazing. Totally understand the shouting. Always heard good things about Palau, and now I live in the Philippines! Only a flight away! Thank you.
 
Cano Island, Costa Rica. Lots of giant rays, sharks and turtles.
 
Darwin's Pillars (formerly Arch), Galapagos.
 

Back
Top Bottom