robint
Contributor
I totally get what you are saying, but I think you also have to understand that the entire planet has problems with coral reefs and it is not getting any better. Anywhere you go, you are going to hear that the reefs are not what they used to be, they are in decline everywhere, you should have seen them 10 yrs ago, etc. That is just the state of planet Earth.
Places like Philippines have great diving, sort of, but also have local fishermen taking all the fish and also dynamite fishing. You aren't going to get pristine coral reefs unless you go on a liveaboard, far from land, and that isn't even guaranteed.
The most pristine diving I have ever experienced was Palau, but that was also blasting currrent on most dives. It is not diving for people without good diving skills and divers must be confident in their own skills as it was not uncommon to get separated from group on surface, in choppy water, with sharks coming by to check you out... :shocked2: The DMs on our liveaboard boat were FABULOUS. There were 4 of them, and on some dives ALL of them were on the dive with us 15 divers. One lead, one followed at end, and the others were there in case someone needed to go up early or was having problems. On one dive, we were hooking in our reef hooks at Blue Corner (considered one of the best dives on the planet), and I couldn't get hooked in as current was ripping and I was trying to hold my video camera. A DM spotted my isses and came over without being asked, hooked me in, and asked if I was okay. When I said I was good, he hooked in next to me, and stayed until the end of dive. When we unhooked we all went flying backwards at mach speed and he stayed right with me all the way to safety stop and onto boat. Yes, it was scary screaming current, but I felt safer having such good DMs there with me. That was the only dive that a DM saved me all week but I saw others fighting on one dive or the other to stay with group and a DM always swooped in.
If we hadn't had such great guys there all week with us, I am certain it could have been ugly on several dives. One dive at German Channel we had to kick like crazy the whole dive in order just to stay still, but we had 7 mantas circling us so we didn't mind. I got tired, so did a few others, so we dropped down to bottom and kneeled on sand and rested. When we got low on air, we signaled a DM and we got back up in currrent and went screaming backwards, and the DM went with us while the other DMs stayed in the manta action. BTW - vis was maybe 50' at best due to large amount of plankton, which the mantas were feeding on. The boat was there on surface to pick us up and shortly afterwards the rest of the group started popping up. We all made it safely back to boat. Screaming mad current........ yes! Worth it...... heck yeah! One of the BEST dives of my LIFE.
Point I am trying to make...... pristine reefs and current go hand in hand, in most cases. If you want one, you are going to get the other.
Liveaboard in Palau........ freakin' amazing diving.
check out my video of some highlights:
[vimeo]3506378[/vimeo]
the rest of my Palau videos are here: http://www.vimeo.com/album/18777
not every dive had screaming current, but there was always current. The dives with no current also didn't have the lush soft coral which needs current to bring in nutrients.
I have heard that the diving off north end of Fiji, Bligh Waters, is similar to what we experienced in Palau BUT it is also current, drift diving, and not for faint of heart! Pure adenaline diving but worth it.
robin
