Okay, so i did technically become 'Open Water' certified back in September, but unfortunately there's a bit of a lack of dive sites in the UK, I would say curse this boring country, but i like Yorkshire Tea too much :)
As an SSI 'Open Water' certified diver, I can pretty much go diving anywhere up to 18m (30m is recreational maximum, Advanced Open Water is required), the oceans are my oyster as some would say. But unfortunately there's the small snag of not living near any amazing SCUBA sites, okay so there are some interesting sounding wrecks up in the Farne Islands etc. but as they aren't main stream SCUBA locations, dive gear is probably not available.
So my options are to either buy my own dive gear (not until I'm on my 21k+ salary haha) or to go abroad and hire some dive gear (potential with a bit of cash). So as i have already dived the Great Barrier Reef and some small (but AWESOME) reefs in Fiji, i thought i would investigate some other dive locations and holidays.
There are really two options for this, go to a resort with SCUBA diving facilities where you can hire gear, be taken out to dive sites and be paired with a dive 'buddy', or you can go out on a live aboard boat. As cool as the live aboard boat sounds, it is recommended that you have at least 10 logged dives before attempting it and I only have 6, though I would probably still give it a go if the location was right!
So here are some of the all important dive locations I checked out (Not including Fiji and Australia):
Some of the best places were in the Red Sea, Indonesia, Borneo, Thailand, the Maldives, Galapagos Islands, the Carribean and the Azores, i have tried to narrow this list down to my faves, but there are just so many to choose from!
The Red Sea:
The Red Sea is a pretty great place to dive for various reasons, the first being that it is only a 5 hour flight from the UK! A much quicker journey than the one i took back from Nandi to Wolverhampton (flight times + waiting and other travel totaled about 40 hours :O), the short flight time also means that the flights will be much cheaper than a cheeky trip to Queensland, Australia!
The Red Sea's location from Google Earth.
There are LOADS of diving schools in the Red Sea area and many are even award winning!
The marine life is supposed to be spectacular with many different types of hard and soft coral aswell as many spectacular fish species, even the water temperature is great at 22-30 degrees Centigrade. After SCUBA diving in Fiji at water temperatures of around 27 degrees Centigrade, I can happily say that warmer is better, I didn't even have to wear a wet suit (much more comfortable with all your gear on, especially the BCD/Tank).
From what i understand, the two best underwater highlights in the Red Sea are the Thistlegorm Wreck and Elphinstone Reef.
Thistlegorm Wreck.
Original picture source.
Inside the wreck.
Original picture source.
Another snap of the inside.
Original picture source.
S.S Thistlegorm was a British armed merchant navy ship, its original port was in Glasgow, Scotland and was sunk in the Red sea on October 6th 1941. The ship had been heading for Alexandria in Egypt, but it was sunk by bombers acting upon German intelligence.
The wreck site is now a very popular dive site, wildlife such as tuna, baracuda, batfish, morey eel, lionfish, stonefish, crocodile fish, scorpion fish and sea turtles can be seen at the wreck.
Elphinstone reef, soft corals and fish.
Original picture source.
A diver exploring part of the reef.
Original picture source.
A white tip shark on the reef, they ar often found around coral reefs but are uncommonly seen as they tend to shy away from humans, so getting the chance to see one is a great experience!
Original picture source.
Elphinstone Reef is one of the Red Sea's best reefs, three different species of shark can be found on the reef (hammerhead, grey and white tip), sharks are quite often hard to spot on reefs as they are generally scared of humans and often swim away.
There are also underwater caves to explore, these are great fun as long as you're not claustrophobic and you're prepared for the possibility of coral scratches!
One of the best things about this reef is that sea turtles are common, these animals are often quite shy, but they are definately worth seeing and swimming with in the wild.
I'll be checking out some more dive locations and posting about them soon!
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the rights to any of the images used in this blog post, links to the original image sources have been given where necessary.
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