Ogasawara trip report

[TJO]

I was there in July two years ago and water was about 26 with vis 30m+. It is really good diving there.

Fisheye is ok and speak some English. I think they got two boats now.

Thomas

 

[emanuelw]

Thanks for the info, now what kind of shark is that in the picture? What kind of diving is to be expected out there, from what i gathered from your pics it seems like there's a lof of pelagic life (big currents?) or is it more macro with the occasional shark and ray?

 

[Geoff_H]

I don't know what kind of shark that is.... I need to buy a shark book. A 10 second Google leads me to guess at it being a young sand tiger shark, although I'm very willing to be corrected

http://www.marinebiodiversity.ca/shark/english/stiger.htm

There were black tip reef sharks around too, I have more pictures of them. For the diving composition - I'm not sure. We did 12 dives so can't be considered experts! All the diving we did and saw was boat diving - I doubt it is possible to go shore diving easily. Possibly some shops might offer it but from the locations I saw the shops situated in I doubt it.

Again, simply from what I saw, the bigger stuff is a more compelling reason to go. We didn't really dive reefs, although there were both hard and soft corals there. All the diving we did was around small islands or rocks, but there were plenty of sites with good current and some large fish - groupers, barracudas, tuna, sweetlips etc. Plus there are dolphins seemingly everywhere, and chances for turtles, sharks.

 

[jagfish]

It's profile looked like a Sand Tiger to me as well...

 

[Geoff_H]

We're off to Ogasawara again this year - if anyone is interested in joining please drop me a PM for details!

 

[Antarctic-Adventurer]

We're off to Ogasawara again this year - if anyone is interested in joining please drop me a PM for details!

Did you get to Ogasawara again in the end this year Geoff?

You posted a great report on the diving in the islands. :cool2:
It gives me hope of some more enlightening diving in Japan. (See my other post on frustrating diving in Japan in the Zen Divers sub-forum).

2 dives a day is a bit limiting but as you say perhaps outside of golden week it might be possible to do more.

How long per-dive did they let you dive for here? Was there any of the "40 minutes-only nonsense" that one often sees in Japan or was it a little freer and more relaxed than that?

Thanks again for the report. Here and Okinawa are on the Japan diving list now. Certainly with tuna like that, sharks and whales it has something to see.

AA

 

[Geoff_H]

Hi, I did go to Ogasawara again this year. The weather was a bit of a problem, we couldn't get to the farthest dive sites.... but we still saw whales on many boat rides, and heard them underwater on some dives.

Diving is controlled by the boat crew, with strong currents and only one boat I understand why they don't let you buddy dive outside the guided group - it would be a recipe for disaster chasing buddy pairs across large areas of ocean in heavy swell.

Most dives were 40-60 minutes, depending on depth, air consumption and nitrogen loading.

I would go again in a heartbeat.

By the way, I have not experienced much of this "40-minute nonsense" but I don't dive with Japanese diveshops so much - most places I have been to will let you shore dive without a shop guide at your discretion - especially if you have a divemaster/instructor in your group.

Lots of places cater to the lowest common denominator, and that is as true for shop guided dives in Japan as it is anywhere else in the world. The vast majority of my (admittedly only 300 or so) dives in Japan have been free of any 40 minute restriction.