Diving in Taiwan

[funscuba]

Wow, sounds cool, diving with hammerhead sharks on green island, interesting Hammerhead Shark Scuba Diving off Green Island, Taiwan: Diving Vacations

Does anybody know how warm is the weather between january and march ? Is a 3mm enough or should a 5semi dry be enough as I have it ?

Does anybody know if it's an expensive destination to get to green island for seeing the hammerhead sharks, or is there a cheap option ?

 

[funscuba]

Their English name (for what little it's worth) is South Green Diving. More important than the name is their contact info, which is: tel: 08-886-6338, 0936-063-688, 07-346-1497, fax 08-886-7865, Index , dive.life@msa.hinet.net. The do boat dives on Saturdays and Sundays for NT$1500 (2 dives, not including kit rental).

Their divemaster Harry speaks good English. Not sure about their other DM Don; never dived with him.

I dived Maobitou (not a lot better than the shore diving sites) and Xiao/Da Lao Gu (quite a nice dive, only accessible by boat, well worth the price) with them this past weekend. Boat leaves at 9 am, back around 1 or 1:30 pm.

Errhhhh... do they have it in english ?

 

[Makhno]

Errhhhh... do they have it in english ?

I think their website is only in Chinese, but here's another bit of contact info for them, an email address: south.green@msa.hinet.net As I said, DM Harry speaks good English, and in Taiwan most people can read and write English better than they can speak it so I'd bet that if you send an email to that address you'll probably get a response.

 

[Black Red]

well, i confirm 'll be in the south between 16 to 19 nov. Anyone wans to dive together? I speak passable mandarin so no issue on either dive shop. Keen to do boat dives but seem like minimum 4 to go. So anyone else?

 

[Live2SeaFish]

I dove the Green Island last week and the water was 85 degrees, so 3mm is plenty. You could dive with less, but full suit protection from all the volcanic rock is a plus. I don't know the water temp in Kenting, but it couldn't be much different.

 

[funscuba]

I dove the Green Island last week and the water was 85 degrees, so 3mm is plenty. You could dive with less, but full suit protection from all the volcanic rock is a plus. I don't know the water temp in Kenting, but it couldn't be much different.

How was it question of marine life, saw lots of big stuff or..... ?

 

[Live2SeaFish]

The corals were incredibly awesome, but the critters and large fish were scarce. The Taiwanese locals tend to catch and eat everything that they think tastes good. They fish with hook and line and spear fish also. Dives were about $35 each with tanks and weights, and a package deal got the price even better. It is hard to find a boat dive during the week when there aren't many other Taiwanese divers there like on the weekends. My wife is Taiwanese and translated for me to find a good deal. If you are looking for English speaking guides, the choices are limited and more expensive. You have to be able to read Chinese to even find the websites for the local shops.

 

[Live2SeaFish]

Also the accomodations provided by the dive shops are mom and pop owned tiny rooms with private bathrooms that were clean and included in the package price. They pick you up from the ferry and provide you with a scooter to get around on. You need an international drivers license for the included rental. Food on Green Island is cheap and pretty good.

 

[Live2SeaFish]

The hammerhead dives are too dangerous at this time of year due to the winter currents and are not an option right now. You would have to go back at other times for those dives.

 

[shellbackdiver1]

The hammerhead dives are too dangerous at this time of year due to the winter currents and are not an option right now. You would have to go back in May or June for those dives.

The hammerheads are not at recreational depths during the months of May or June. I will be doing some tech dives to the 50 meter range next week at the site to have a look for them. Otherwise the time to see them is end of Dec to March when the water is cold at recreational depths. There is only one boat/captain that will take divers there (recreational) and he is real wildcat in my opinion.

Diving Green Island during this time of year (fall/winter) can be awesome....granted the north spots are usually closed due to the wind but the east side of the island is definately diveable and very good. There are large fish and schools to be seen, you just have to go to the right spot.

I have dive trips available Dec 5th-6th and Jan10 1st-3rd to Green Island.