Last Weekends Diving in Menorca

[bruciebabie]

Dive #622, 8.4 metres 48 minutes. 24.6.05
Having caught an early flight out we were able to unpack and have lunch then still make the afternoon dive. There was no boat from Salgar so we hired weights and cylinders and shore dived in the bay. This was a good thing because my wife had not dived for 6 months and this was a very easy dive to get her up to speed. In the bay we found two nice octopus(i?) out in the open. They are fascinating to watch, so alien to any lifeform on land. The bay was full of small brown jellyfish but these were no problem with such a small skin area exposed.

Dive #623, 20.7 metres 61 minutes. 25.6.05
A site called Sunday Morning Dive round the back of Isla Del Aire. This time we had a guide for this site of immense boulders and swim throughs. Once again we were lucky enough to see octopus as well as nudibranch, hermit crabs, morays and all the usual Med stuff.

Dive #624, 20.8 metres 60 minutes. 25.6.05
The Coral Galleries on the front of Isla Del Aire. We went without a guide. Firstly down to the sandy bay next to the mooring and through the nice swim through before doing some exploring and finding a different entrance into the Galleries, exiting at 20 metres I rolled onto my back to watch the Baraccuda above. There was a very marked thermocline so we ascended to 12 metres, below the surge, and followed every contour of the wall to the Spike and beyond. Coming round one corner there was a Ray coming the other way which didn't see us for a second before flying off. It had a pointed nose so it may well have been a large Skate. We returned to the Galleries in a straight line and went through the upper levels before doing some more exploring and finally ascending for our safety stop at 5 metres where we were joined by a Baraccuda.

Dive #625, 16.5 metres 60 minutes. 26.6.05
Cap Font is well known in diving circles for it's caverns. One major dive magazine rated Cathederal cavern in it's world top ten dives. Today we started in Tom's Belfry where there were a lot of Nudibranches and we were also lucky enough to find a rare Spanish Squat Lobster. Then we did Cathederal and finally Organ Loft where we found both types of cavern Shrimps.

Dive #626, 23.1 metres 53 minutes. 26.6.05
This was a mixed abilty group so I helped the dive guide by following the group. Sure enough one diver had a problem losing his low pressure inflator hose over his back because a knife was mounted in the way of the velcro. His body language was that he was starting to get aprehensive but it was an easy fix and he completed the dive OK. Once again all the normal Med stuff was around and the site has some excellent swim throughs.

More details of the sites here:
[url]www.salgardiving.com/english/contents.html[/url]

>> Edited by bruciebabie on Wednesday 29th June 17:59

[wolves_wanderer]

Sounds excellent fun. I'm off to Sharm el Shaikh in a while and I'm looking forward to trying snorkelling for the first time as a way of seeing if I enjoy diving enough to take it up properly.

[Zod]

Sounds fabulous.

[bruciebabie]

wolves_wanderer said:

Sounds excellent fun. I'm off to Sharm el Shaikh in a while and I'm looking forward to trying snorkelling for the first time as a way of seeing if I enjoy diving enough to take it up properly.

You will enjoy it, I have dived out of Sharm a few times and the reefs are colourful and teeming with life.
You could do a PADI Discover Scuba Diving where you learn how to use the kit in shallow water then go for a dive with a guide looking after you. All in less than a day. It enables you to sample the sport without committing to a full course.
Whatever you do, have fun.

[aspender]

I was out in Sharm last week, and there's loads of life about at the moment. Visibility is down to about 15-20m due to a lot of eggs floating about and being attacked by other fish. A Hammerhead was seen on one of the local sites, and they were schooling on the northern side of Jackson Reef at Tiran as well.

If you do a discover scuba course then you'll probably just have a bimble from the beach but there will still be plenty to see. A friend did a rebreather try dive from the Naama Bay beach and saw a Manta Ray!

[wolves_wanderer]

I didn't realise that there was such a thing as the discover diving course. I am quite keen but don't fancy giving up several days of holiday learning to dive. Giving it a try and being monitored underwater sounds ideal. Cheers chaps

[AlexH]

wolves_wanderer said:

I didn't realise that there was such a thing as the discover diving course. I am quite keen but don't fancy giving up several days of holiday learning to dive. Giving it a try and being monitored underwater sounds ideal. Cheers chaps

Best way really is to do a referral course to get your Open Water card; you do the theory and confined water (pool) dives here, then your open water dives at your holiday destination. Slightly more expensive but no holiday time wasted. Sharm is a superb location to learn to dive with lots of good dive schools. I can highly recommend Camel.

[aspender]

Check out Emperor Divers as a good dive school to use. You won't go far wrong with Camel, Ocean College or Red Sea Diving College either.

This is Emperor's description of the Discover Scuba 1 day course:

Discover Scuba/ Discover Scuba Diving (Resort Course)
The PADI Discover Scuba/Discover Scuba Diving programs let you experience the thrill of diving whilst under the supervision of a PADI Instructor. You'll master some basic concepts and scuba skills and might even head off on an open water adventure.
You usually spend a morning in the pool to get comfortable and then onto experience a fun dive with your instructor on one of the beautiful Red Sea reefs.

[bruciebabie]

aspender said:

I was out in Sharm last week, and there's loads of life about at the moment. Visibility is down to about 15-20m due to a lot of eggs floating about and being attacked by other fish. A Hammerhead was seen on one of the local sites, and they were schooling on the northern side of Jackson Reef at Tiran as well. If you do a discover scuba course then you'll probably just have a bimble from the beach but there will still be plenty to see. A friend did a rebreather try dive from the Naama Bay beach and saw a Manta Ray!

There are two semi tame Eagle Rays straight off the beach at Naama. They have become so used to divers that they just get on with being Eagle Rays even if you are quite close. Your friend was very lucky with the Manta. Hammerheads are always special to see, my favourite shark.