Day two commenced the same as day one with an 0730hrs start at Nautilus Watersports. We were ‘old-hands’ now and knew the drill. Nautilus Watersports offers a secure lock-up for your dive gear if you are doing multiple dives over several days and after rinsing our gear the day before we had taken advantage of this ‘free’ service. So after finding a staff member to ‘unsecure’ the secure lock-up we proceded to load the ‘Cowrie’ with our gear. While we were doing this, the company shuttle turned up after its run around the resorts to pick up the days customers. There were a couple of familiar faces from the day before, as well as a couple of new faces, giving a total of seven divers for the day.

Day Two

Dive Three − ‘Ollie’s Lolly’

It didn’t take long to load the ‘Cowrie’ and we were soon on our way, steaming out of Port Vila harbour into Mele Bay. After the now familiar safety and dive briefs, we were left to our own devices to fill in the half hour or so it was going to take to get to our first dive site. I elected to head up onto the roof to get some vitamin D and it wasn’t long before we were advised to get ‘suited and booted’ and prepare to enter the water.

Our first dive site of the day was named ‘Ollie’s Lolly’ which was a large reef that starts at 10 metres and heads down to a maximum depth of 25 metres. As we were a smaller group than the previous day we went as a single group with one of the staff leading and the rest of us following and another two staff members following behind. We initially dropped down onto the top of the reef at 10 metres and then followed a rift in the reef down gradually getting deeper until we were around the maximum depth. The first thing I noticed was the large expanses of dead coral. I found out later that a tropical cyclone had ripped through the area back in February which killed off most of the coral. It was amazing to see the new re-growth coming back.

It was during this dive that I finally ‘found Nemo’. This was the third island holiday I had been on in recent years and the first two (Rarotonga and Samoa), ‘Nemo’ was nowhere to be found. So I was rapped when our guide pointed out the small fish hiding in the anemones. Initially I didn’t recognise them as they were a brown colour not the orange that I was expecting, this was due to the loss of colour perception at depth. After seeing our first Clownfish they were a regular appearance on future dives and even when snorkling.

I wasn’t paying too much attention to navigation, relying on our guide to keep us on track but it wasn’t long before I noticed we had somehow made it back to the top of the reef and our guide was signaling us to head up to the 5 metre safety stop bar attached to the boat. While undertaking the safety stop an alarm on my dive computer went off and when I checked it I was surprised to find that 45 minutes had elapsed.

Dive Four − ‘Mele Reef’

Once back aboard we slipped the mooring and headed to our next dive site, Mele Reef. The transit time was taken up with the now familiar roll call, swapping tanks and a hot cuppa and cake. There was a bit of a delay when the boatman couldn’t find the right buoy to indicate the mooring, but this wasn’t a problem as it increased our surface interval, thereby giving us a longer bottom time for the next dive. Maybe a chartplotter would be a good investment.

The Mele Reef dive is described as an extensive reef that rises up in the middle of Mele Bay to around 8 metres from the surface. The plateau is host to a large vareity of reef life including batfish, clown triggerfish and white tip reef sharks. The verticle wall descends to at least 35 metres and has interesting gullies and alleys to investigate along the way. I would have to say the description is accurate although we didn’t see any white tip reef sharks on any of the dives we did in Vanuatu. I have come across them on dives in Samoa and Rarotonga and they are nothing to worry about when you do see them as they usually keep their distance. As with ‘Ollie’s Lolly’ there was more evidence of the effect of the February cyclone. Despite this there were still some stunning examples of fan coral to be seen.

On all the previous dives I had done on this trip, all the ‘items of interest’ had been pointed out by our guide, so I was over the moon when I noticed (I almost typed spotted) a moray eel peeking out from a crevice in the coral before anyone else had. I hadn’t seen one of these before and it didn’t seem to be perturbed by my presence. The markings are quite stunning and despite those razor sharp teeth they are still a beautiful fish.

As with all of the other dives we had done in Vanuatu, this one achieved a maximum depth of around 25 metres and was followed by a two stage safety stop regime. Once back aboard and all divers were accounted for we slipped the mooring and headed back to Port Vila. The ‘Cowrie’ isn’t the fastest vessel around and we had plenty of time to reflect on another great days diving before it was time to unload and rinse our gear.

Day Three

Dive Five − ‘Twin Bommies’

Nautilus Watersports do their two tank dives in the morning and their single dives in the afternoon, so our fifth and final dive of the trip started at a leisurely 1230hrs. When we turned up there was a group doing a ‘Discover Scuba’ course in the pool so we busied ourselves preparing our gear for the dive. The crew were putting a few sets of gear on board as well and as soon as we were ready, the ‘Discover Scuba’ course got out of the pool and straight onto the boat. The ‘Twin Bommies’ was not far from Port Vila harbour and our transit time was taken up with the now familiar safety and dive briefs as well as getting suited and booted. The site is described as featuring a sheer wall as well as two ‘bombora’ formations riddled with grottos with the depth ranging from 10 to 25 metres over the edge of the drop-off. Most species of tropical fish can be found at the site and they are comfortable with divers and not afraid of flash photography.

After dropping into the water we descended down the mooring line to the top of the reef at 10 metres. This was where the ‘Discover Scuba’ crew would spend their time but we headed over the side and made our way slowly down the sheer wall to the now familiar 25 metre mark. This provided an awesome feeling of freedom as in places we could not make out the bottom below us. This is where the true feeling of floating in space comes from and is something that I have not experienced often while diving as we made our way along the wall our guide pointed out items of interest such us some delicate soft corals and other marine life.

At one point my son got my attention and was pointing to something. I couldn’t work out where he was pointing until I just about swam into a Hawks Beak turtle feeding on something in the coral. The turtle was totally oblivious to us as he devoured its meal and we must have stayed and watched it for at least five minutes

.

We soon ascended to the top of the reef again and made our way to the two Bommies that give the site its name. There certainly was a large variety of colourful fish and marine life around them and although I asked the guide what they all were when we were back on board, I can’t recall what they were.

All too soon the dive came to an end and we were making our way back to Port Vila harbour. On reflection, I would have to say that the variety of dive sites and marine life around Port Vila far exceeds that of any of the other islands that I have dived. The value for money was excellent and we barely scratched the surface of the diving opportunities in Port Vila itself let alone the rest of Vanuatu. I would also have to rate the safety systems and procedures used by Nautilus Watersports as the best I have experiences overseas and would thoroughly recommend the to anyone holidaying in Vanuatu.

By Mike Black

During a recent holiday to Vanuatu, I (along with my son and brother-in-law) took the

opportunity to do five dives with Nautilus Watersports in Port Vila. While most people who go to Vanuatu for a diving holiday target ‘Million Dollar Point’ and the ‘President Coolidge’ on Espiritu Santo as ‘must do’ dives, our budget (in both money and time) did not permit such a luxury. I am happy to say that there is plenty of excellent diving in and around Port Vila that will satisfy most eco-tourists.

Prior to departing for Vanuatu I had been in contact with Nautilus Watersports and after an exchange of emails over a period of time we agreed on a dive program of five dives over three consecutive days which allowed us to complete the dives and fulfil our no-fly penalty with plenty of time to spare. The total cost per person for the five dives equated to NZ$300.00, so at NZ$60.00 per dive it provided good value for money. Additional costs included $50.00 per person for the Air New Zealand additional sports baggage allowance and another NZ$35 for the obligatory polo shirt.

Day One

Dive One − ‘The Cathedral’

If you are staying at one of the resorts in or around Port Vila, Nautilus Watersports will pick you up, but as we were staying at a private holiday home some distance out of town we had to make our own way to the dive shop by 0730hrs (FGS − don’t they know we’re on holiday).

After filling out the usual paperwork (Liability Disclaimers and Medical Questionnaires) we headed down to the gear shed to grab a wetsuit and some lead. I had already told them that my brother-in-law was a notorious air hog, so they had a couple of 15 litre steel cylinders ready for him.

We then boarded the ‘Cowrie’ (the ugly-as-sin but very functional dive boat) along with seven other divers, four dive guides and the boat master who would be accompanying us for the morning. As we headed out to our first dive site, ‘The Cathedral’ about 40 minutes away we were given a safety brief and a dive brief. We were told to be ready to hit the water as soon as we arrived as there was no mooring available and it was likely there would be a bit of a swell and we would be dropped close to the exposed shoreline.

Despite the 27_C water temp, it was recommended we dive in 3mm full wetsuits (the guides were in 5mm but three of our group decided to dive just in their boardies). I made sure I was ready to go as soon as we got to the dive site and was one of the first into the water to cool off. The was quite a current running so by the time the rest of the divers had entered the waterwe had a bit of a surface swim to the descent point.

As soon as we started our descent I saw a ray swimming along the bottom which was 26 metres below us − awesome viz. Once we got to the bottom we met up with our assigned guides, however our group ended up getting reassigned as one of the others had difficulties during the descent and ‘called’ the dive, so our guide returned to the boat with her. By now the current that we had encountered on the surface had taken us off target so we had quite a swim along the bottom to the cavern entrance all the time sucking up our precious air supply. We entered the cavern in separate groups waiting for the previous groups to come out before we went in. Although it is called a cavern, it is better described as a rift and my immediate thought was how it reminded me of Sawcut Gorge back in Marlborough. The cavern was probably 30 to 40 metres deep (from front to back) and the sunlight filtered through from the surface creating a surreal effect, the photos do not do it justice.

All too soon our guide was motioning for us to exit the cavern and commence or ascent. As we made our way up the near vertical wall he pointed out items of interest including small coral growths and marine-life that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. We performed two safety stops, the first for 3 minutes at 5 to 6 metres and the second for 2 minutes at 2 to 3 metres, then made our way to the surface where we were picked up by the ‘Cowrie’.

Once back on-board the roll-call was taken and we headed off to our next dive site which was the wreck of the ‘Konanda’ about 25 minutes away.

Dive Two − ‘The Konanda’

The transit time was spent having a complimentary hot drink and piece of cake while

discussing the various sights we saw on the dive. Those who had decided not to take a wetsuit appreciated a hot drink as they were feeling the effects of the water temperature towards the end of their dive. As we neared the site, we prepared for the next dive, changing cylinders and getting ‘suited and booted. There was a slight delay once we arrived at the site as another dive outfit was tied up to the mooring.

The ‘Konanda’ was a 45 metre long inter-island trader which was damaged in a vicious cyclone. She was sunk in 1987 in 26 metres of water on a flat sandy bottom after being carefully prepared so that penetration dives of the wreck into the cabins and holds are safe. The mast, derricks and rigging reach up to within 10 metres of the surface. After entering the water we followed our guide down the mooring line which was attached to the top of the mast. We then followed the mast down to deck level and headed to the bow. After the girls had done the cliche ‘Titanic’ poses at the bow we head back to the forward hold and made our way through the holds to the accommodation area. We then checked out the bridge and made our way through the corridors and cabins to the back of the ship.

During the dive brief, our guide mentioned that we would meet on the top of the bridge and have a cup of coffee. True to his word, we made our way forward again and made our way to the top of the bridge and sure enough, there was a setting of cups, saucers, plates and a teapot waiting for us. As we were now nearing the end of our dive we headed back to the bottom of the mast and slowly ascended up it. Once again, during the ascent our guide pointed out marine-life that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.

We then headed back to the surface completing the 5 and 2 metre safety stops.

Once back aboard, a roll call was held again and we each signed a dive-log proving that we had surfaced safely.

Note: The photgraphs were kindly provided by Nautilus Watersports and the article was written by Michael Black

To be continued next month…

We have had a great week with both the weather and sea conditions and we have had a couple of great families scuba diving with us, the Umbers family have introduced there 2 daughters Kelly and Gemma in to scuba diving and the girls have now both completed their Padi Openwater Course, we have also had the  Heap family diving  and James,  Stuart and Alyce have also completed there Padi Openwater Course, James went on to complete has his PADI Advance course while dad completes his PADI Wreck Specialty course, so well done to everyone that has completed the diving course while diving with us this week.

It has been a good month of diving with dugong sightings, hump back whales, cuttle fish, manta rays, Leapord sharks  and the list just goes on, the water temp is still around 25 to 26 degrees which is very nice and the days have been just perfect with blue skies and cobalt blue waters so don’t be a stranger we would love to see your smiling faces here.

Check out this link I am sure you will love it.  Diving with a Dugong

A couple of our guest were lucky enough to have this opportunity.  Malcolm was out with one of our research dives at the depth of 40mtrs on completing the research they had a bit of time to spare and were heading back to the surface when they can across this beautiful creature she/he was quite happy to just to hang around and have its photo taken.

Here you will find helpful reviews, informative information and tips and much more. This site is in the format of a ‘weblog’ so that each time I post new information, it will come to the top of the front page. This means that you can check back here frequently to see new updates to the information found here.

You can navigate through the site by using the menus on the sides of the page. Also don’t hesitate to follow the links you see in bold throughout each post to learn more about the product being spoken about.

I hope you find the information I provide valuable and helpful.

All the best,
Peter and Leanne

The Shorts Sandringham aircraft was derived from the Shorts Sunderland Military aircraft manufactured by the Short Brothers in the UK. Towards the end of WW2 a demand was created for a long range commercial passenger float plane. The Modifications for the Sandringham included the reconfiguration of the aircraft nose including the removal of the gun Turret. All other armament was removed, with gun positions being faired over, and simple seating fitted. By minor modifications to the engine and flight angles, a significant increase in the cruise speed, a relatively unimportant issue for the combat Sunderlands, was achieved.

The Shorts Sandringham was used by various commercial operators including BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation). TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) on the Aukland-Sydney & Pacific Island flights. QANTAS for the Pacific Island flights.

Short Brothers Manufactured the Tasman in the Uk in 1946. It was purchased by Teal and was delivered to Auckland in July 1946. During its service with Teal it was used on the Auckland/Sydney flights and was a record holder with a fully loaded flight time of 8 hours. QANTAS purchased the Tasman in April 1950 with a new rego VH-EBW and used it to service such destinations as Suva, Lord Howe Island and Vanuatu.

The Tasman Dive Site

Situated five minutes south of Naulitus Scuba Centre in the corner of Port Vila Harbour the Tasman rests upright in 41 mts. of water. The cockpit is @ 36 mts. And the top of the tail plane is @ 32 mts. The aircraft condition is relatively stable lying flat on the muddy/silty bottom facing the heading of 030 degrees. The Port side wing is still attached but has fallen down (due to a mooring mishap by a local fishing boat) and the wing tip rests in the sand/silt @ 40.5 mts. The Cockpit is highly visible with only a small amount of Perspex remaining; there is a large hole at the rear of the aircraft (a great entry/exit point for penetration dives) and there are numerous other entry/exit points.

Points of Interest

• Tail plane/rudder

• Huge wings (34 mts. Wing span)

• Side windows upper & Lower decks (seats, stairs, cargo area)

• Engine Housing’s x 4 (engines removed before sinking)

• Cockpit/gauges/control levers / pilot & co-pilot seats

• Engineers panel & communication / navigation equipment behind cockpit seats

• Front port side entry door (under cockpit)

• Forward mooring attachment bollard & anchor storage

• Fuel tanks removed from the starboard wing

• Fuselage top hatches

• Fish: Habitat in starboard wing & schooling long fin batfish on assent/decent

Dugong (one time nomo)

• Various doors

Story and P.D.F File by Pete Wallace

Nautilus Watersports run dives to the Tasman on demand. Due to its location in Vila harbor visibility is normally very low. The plane is in 40m so this dive is limited to the very experienced.

For more information on this great wreck we have a printable P.D.F file available here. Tasman Float Plane

The Grand Old Lady

The Irish Star

Harland and Wolff built the Star of Russia in 1874.  This Belfast shipping company built hundreds of ships, both steam and sail, but is a household name these days due to the infamy of another ship they built, the  Titanic.

The Star of Russia was assigned the official British Reg. No. 63958 and signal NSLB.

Iron hulled and a fully rigged three masted ship, she truly exemplified the grand old square-riggers of the late 1800′s.

Originally built for the Indian jute trade, the Star of Russia was one of a number of similar square-riggers built at the time. This was one of the last great booms of the sailing era, and in the ten years around the time of the commissioning of the Star of Russia, Harland and Wolff built over 110 ships.

The Irish company J.P. Corry commissioned a fleet of 12 iron-hulled ships from Harland and Wolff, and of them the Star of Russia was the largest.

An Esteemed Career

The Star of Russia enjoyed a long career with a number of good passages to her credit.  At the time the Star of Russia made her first journey, the steam ship was encroaching on the clipper trade, making it difficult for the Star’s owners to obtain jute cargoes from India.

Yet the Star of Russia proved to be a speedy and efficient ship, one to rival some of the steam ships of the day.

Her maiden voyage to Calcutta took just 87 days and she returned to London in only 95 days.

On the way she recorded her best days run, covering 388 miles over 23 ½ hours, an average of over 16 ½ knots!

During the journey she also proved her seaworthiness, braving a number of fierce storms throughout the journey. In fact the crew believed it to be some of the wildest weather they had ever experienced.  The journey was actually slowed by having her main upper topsail blown out, and she continued on to Melbourne without being able to set a full topsail.

The speedy journey was made even sweeter by the fact that the Star of Russia had managed to outrun another fully rigged ship completing the same route, the Sobraon, by more than five days. The Sobraon had been carrying passengers to Australia and arguably had more favourable weather for sailing than the ‘Star’ throughout the passage.

Life aboard the Star

Life aboard the Star of Russia during its ocean crossings could best be described as ‘rugged’.

But perhaps the most infamous journey of the Star of Russia took place in 1884 when she transported a 4000-ton cargo, consisting mostly of cement, from London to Melbourne.   This was her tenth journey and she was still under the command of the same skipper, a Captain Simpson.

The ‘Star’ set out from London on the 4th Dec 1884 and arrived in Melbourne 75 days later.

There was often no escaping the damp wet living quarters, the crew lived on meager rations and had to battle through atrocious seas.  There were no such things as safety harnesses in the Star’s day and work on (and above!) the deck was extremely hazardous.

Many of the texts referenced elsewhere in this booklet provide a good insight into life on board the square riggers of the day.

Tragedy on the Star

Twenty years on from her first voyage, on a horrid night in 1895 the Star of Russia was to lose all hands on watch, apart from the helmsman.  That night the wind and sea had been building but the mate waited until the ship began to steer wildly until bringing down any sail.

With the rest of the crew forward the helmsman allowed the ship to luff and the mate and watch were washed overboard never to be seen again.

The helmsman’s dramatic account of the nights events have been recorded in Fenceless Meadows by Bill Adams, which ended as follows:

“The sail reefed, they [the second mates watch] descended to the deck.  Each man in passing me either avoided me or scowled savagely. The second mate hastened aft to the poop.  I, most cold and hungry, a horrid fear upon me, followed his men along the swamped deck to the forecastle.  I entered the forecastle behind the last of them.  They stared at me. ‘ Where are Scot, Dougal and the mate? Where are my watch? A sailor then stepped towards me, then, ‘They’re drowned,’ he said ‘You luffed!’

“This tragedy gave the ship an unenviable reputation as a man killer.  I don’t think it was really merited, she had no more incidents of the kind recorded against her, and the probability is that she was in no sense to blame.  She was a fast and beautiful ship, like all her sisters, and one cannot feel a pang of pity for a ship thus branded for life with the mark of Cain.”

A Change of Hands

In March 1898, the Star of Russia was sold to Shaw, Savill and Co.

Two years later the ship was sold to the Alaska Packers Association, who was established to service the growing salmon fishing industry in Western Alaska. Their impressive fleet of square-riggers transported supplies and labor north from San Francisco and then returned at the end of the season with canned fish for the markets.

Also amongst the fleet was the Star of India, which is still sailing American waters to this date.  It is now fully restored and carrying a different cargo, tourists visiting the San Diego Maritime Museum.

Interestingly the Euterpe and other ships lost their original names as the Alaska Packers Association based all of their ship names on the pride of the fleet, the Star of Russia.

The Alaskan fishing trade was a fitting twilight to an esteemed career.  The Star of Russia raced with a fleet of 15 other square-riggers to and from the fishing grounds in Alaska once a year, spending the rest of the winters at rest with her sister ships.

The Alaska Packers Association also acquired a number of Harland and Wolf’s iron hulled ships, and could boast one of the last great fleets of square-riggers in the world.  Among them were some of the Star of Russia’s original sister ships including the equally speedy and beautiful Star of Bengal and the Star of France. While she was re-rigged down to a barque, the Star proved her speediness in many of the races north and homeward, her fastest passage being in 1924 when she placed first with the Star of Greenland on the return to San Francisco.

The Star was finally moved to the backwaters of the New Hebrides where she was used as a hulk primarily for copra cargoes and bore the name Dupetit Thours.

In Epics Of Square Rigged Ships, Charles W Domville-Fife describes the surprise a Captain Olsen received when he laid eyes on the ship he had once sailed:

“She was hulked, stripped of her towering spars, and even her deckhouse was gone; this was all that remained of the Star of Russia, once a famous Belfast clipper, and to quote the Captain “one of the smartest ships that ever sailed the seas.”

By 1953 she was lying on Port Vila’s harbour floor. Having been battered on her mooring by numerous cyclones, she surrendered herself to the sea.

The Star was to complete her last voyage in 1926, when she was sold to the French to be used as a cargo hulk in the South Seas. In April of that year she left Tacoma bound for Apia, Samoa arriving 43 days later.

There, she was converted into a hulk by Burns Philp and renamed La Perouse. She was later moved to Noumea and served as a coal barge, under the name Bouganville.

She was later moved on to Sydney and in 1929 she was re-united with her original owner, Sir James Corry. He boarded what was once the grand ‘Star’ and found that while her hull was in fine condition; the rest of the ship had been either stripped or left to deteriorate.

For more information on the Star of Russia and to get a copy of our printable P.D.F File on the Star of Russia click Here

Nautilus Watersports runs dive to the Star Of Russia several times a week. Due to its location viability is limited however this usually ads to the mystic of the dive. Nautilus also runs regular night dive to the Star as well.

You descend to 10 meters, and you can feel the unexpected urge. You cannot hold it.

And there is no way you can get to a toilet without spoiling the entire dive. So you consider if I am in the water, my pee will just dissipate and vanish. Is it OK to PEE in the wet suit? The easy answer’s yes. Take a leak. Many of us don’t understand that pee unlike feces – is sterile, unless you’ve got a urinary tract infection. It contains lots of melted bodily waste (principally nitrates), but poses no health risk to you. The sole symptom of wet suit weeing is brief warm sensation in your vicinity. But beware, if your pee is dark and strongly odorous as well you might get a reaction from other divers, particularly if they happen to swim through your yellowish cloud of warmth. As a frequent diver, your best method for dealing with this common situation is counterproductive: drink more water.

You have certainly spotted the difference between your morning urine and your urine after (or during) a long night of drinking. Dehydration is common, especially in the tropics, yet minimal dehydration is endured and goes unobserved by the majority if the symptoms are reasonably mild. If you are correctly hydrated, your pee is clear and odorless. A diver worried about being detected should drink masses of liquids the night before and the morning of a dive, to guarantee satisfactory hydration and not being discovered in a plume of discolored water as he or she dives.

You could notice that though you relieved yourself before the dive, you want to go again when you get down to 10 or 15meters. Why would you need to urine again? You could be experiencing a phenomenon called immersion dieresis: as your body responds to a rise in pressure, your body feels compressed and your kidneys begin to produce pee.

If you are a habitual wet suit wee-er you must make sure you wash your wetsuit after each dive, you don’t need the additional worry of being detected by the odor from your underwater pee. An unrinsed wet suit develops its wonderful smell that will have you sitting on your own on the dive boat on the way to or from the dive site.

Tinkle away!

Nautilus Watersports is Port Vila’s premier Scuba Diving Operations. Nautilus has been operating for 30 years in Vila and offers a large range of dive sites and courses from PADI Introductory Dives through the Instructor Training. We have an on-site training pool, purpose built dive boat and a huge range of hire gear. We do not allow our guest to pee in the hire wet suits however all our gear is washed in a sterile wash facility daily for your protection. For more information go to http://divingvanuatu.net

A cool fact everybody should know is that the bulk of planet Earth is covered by water. Why not explore some of it and see what else is out there besides humans and land animals? The most creatures on the planet live in the oceans and other bodies of water.

It would make for a great holiday to find out about some of these engaging underwater mysteries. Scuba Diving is one of the great Vanuatu attractions and doesn’t require any previous experience and a basic skill level can be achieved in a couple of hours tutoring. For a great holiday adventure for your family theirs nothing better you can do to bring everyone together then by going scuba diving and exploring the unknown.

There are many scuba diving operators that go to the most remote and exotic locations on Earth. A few of these gorgeous places include the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Bahamas, Kenya, Thailand, and Costa Rica. These are some of the best known and adventurous places most experienced scuba divers try and get to in their career. Another amazing destination that is only a few hours from Australia or New Zealand is Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a well kept secret that has warm tropical water, great visibility, a huge range of wrecks and reefs for all skill levels and due to the great all year conditions diving happen every day.

When it comes to Vanuatu attractions most travel agents offer great accommodation packages and a lot of the Vanuatu dive operators offer diving and accommodation packages. Some of the operators are in more remote area and also offer great deals on day trips and longer stays.

If your a family, many are family friendly and offer lessons and activities for your kids. Most scuba diving vacations will include classes and gear for you to hire or purchase. If you decide to take some lessons you will learn how to use the scuba hardware and the correct safety rules to follow to make your scuba diving vacation as safe and successful as possible. The classes are often held at the diving destination and some operators now conduct theory lessons via the internet. You will learn so much about our amazing underwater world and the different species of fish you can encounter.

Dive operators here in Vanuatu don’t permit removal of fish or lobster from the reefs however most of the restaurants in Port Vila offer a seafood menu.  Great restaurants are also one of the Vanuatu Attractions.

When you learn how to scuba dive it is an activity that you can include in future holidays. So if you are considering a holiday or a trip, think out of the box, think excitement, think journey, think about discovering unexplored underwater caves, think about scuba diving vacations. They will expand your world. You find out how to do a new sporting activity.

Nautilus Watersports offers diving every day. They specialize in Introductory Courses through to Instructor. They run a FREE pool session for beginners each afternoon and they are able to get you certified as a Padi Open Water Diver in about 3 days part time.
They run courses every day and are Vanuatu’s only 5 Star Instructor Training Facility.
Watch our Introductory Dive video and book your pool session by going to http://divingvanuatu.net/padi-course-information/

After we got our open water ticket (see us celebrating in pic), we enjoyed a number of great dives including the Konada Wreck, where we discovered the loo, the wheelhouse and stopped for a cuppa tea on the wheelhouse roof.

We enjoyed our diving so much, we returned to Vanuatu the following year and went on more than 10 dives with our friends at Nautilus (with our instructors Lucy, Drew and the always helpful captain Freddy – see pics).

How can you beat two beautiful dives with 20 metre + visibility with homemade cakes in between (see pic of instructor Lucy and friend below).

Some of the highlights of our dives include: scaling the wall and going under the staghorn at Twin Bommies; the phenomenal wrecks of Semle Federsen, Star of Russia and Konanda; and the amazing viz and colours of the tropical reefs and sea life.
We’ve already booked our third trip in less than 2 years and our mission this trip is to do a night dive to see the turtles!