People traveling to Egypt do not do so only to view the many fascinating historical sites stretching up and down the Nile River. They also come to take in the glories of the far Western Desert and its five large oases. Visitors also enjoy trekking and exploring through the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula as well. Currently, however one of the strongest reasons that people from around the world plan a visit is to enjoy the scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt.

Scuba diving in Egypt? Absolutely! In fact, the eastern coast of continental Egypt and the southernmost point of the Sinai Peninsula (which is a territory of Egypt) are frequently referred to as the “Red Sea Riviera”. This is for several reasons, but primarily due to the charming towns and villages that have grown to accommodate the enormous number of visitors who make a point of scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt.

The waters are famous for their remarkable conditions and sea life. Travelers to any of the popular towns and resorts along the coastal areas can learn how to snorkel, scuba dive, kite sail, surf and many other activities in this excellent region.

Scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt has become so popular in fact that the government has deemed most of the area as a protected region. Because the bulk of the waters off of Egypt’s Red Sea coast are protected many visitors hoping to enjoy scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt will have to book passage with a diving company or private guide service. While this may sound like an annoyance, the reality is that divers frequently comment on the uncrowded conditions and the peaceful environment in which they experienced the diversity of wildlife and scenery beneath the waves.

The popularity of scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt has created an enormous range of accommodations from which visitors may choose. This includes many all inclusive resorts, with luxury amenities and diving certification courses. It also includes vacation rentals, which provide access to a private home or condominium in the town or nearby harbor. Finally, there are traditional hotels which deliver excellent service with Egypt’s traditional and famous hospitality.

Additionally, the large numbers of tourists who choose to enjoy their scuba diving in this area have also motivated some small fishing villages to develop into significantly larger towns. Some provide incredible shopping and dining, while others are known as excellent spots to enjoy international night life. Clearly, scuba diving in the Red Sea, Egypt is a great way to plan an excellent vacation.

Amar Mahallati
http://www.articlesbase.com/exotic-locations-articles/scuba-diving-in-the-red-sea-egypt-740937.html

Phuket is located in Thailand and is very highly rated. In fact, it is among the world’s top ten scuba diving locations. Exotic culture, adventure both above and below the surface, unforgettable food, Phuket has all the right ingredients for a perfect diving holiday. There are breath taking reefs and remarkable underwater rock formations in addition to the different types of marine life that are found here that provide some amazing opportunities for divers of all levels and persuasions.

One can go live-aboard diving and there are also daytrips and plenty of dive points, dive centers as well as dive courses available for the scuba diver. Liveaboard diving in Thailand from Phuket and Khao Lak with liveaboard boats to Similan islands, Richelieu Rock, Phi Phi, Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, are good examples of where you can go to in this great scuba diving location.

Phuket and Phi Phi Island, which are among the top 10 scuba diving locations in the world boasts of splendid crystal clear water, awesome rock formations as well as an ecosystem that is vibrant and contains a lot of marine life. The water is also warm having average surface temperatures of 82 degrees Fahrenheit and there are hundreds of different varieties of both stony as well as soft corals surrounded by bright colored fish as well as other creatures of the sea which also includes some large reef fish. While stony corals are the life blood of the reef, soft corals are a prominent part of the reef. In some places they look like vast fields of undersea wildflowers.

For those who would like to see big animals there are the Whale Sharks as well as Manta Ray whose sighting is pretty common. In addition, there are also dozens of other picturesque island destinations that lie in close proximity and can be reached by day boats as well as live-aboard cruises, from Phuket. The consistent water temperatures make it possible to go diving throughout the year, right off the coast of Phuket.

For those who desire to visit this beautiful scuba diving location, they can look forward to having great food and under expert supervision they may enjoy their stay where the accommodation too, is very comfortable. And those who wish for Scuba certification, this extraordinary scuba diving location will provide many affordable Dive Shops where beginners may learn the basics and others may try out the master instructor certification.

Besides its outstanding water treasures, there is a whole lot more available right here at this wonderful scuba diving location in the form of beautiful beaches, gourmet restaurants, vivacious night life as well as a number of other attractions all available where and when one wants it. There are also popular dive centers such as Dive Asia, Colona Diving, Similan Diving Safaris, Moskito Diving, Blue Planet Divers, and Sea Bees Diving plus a number of others for those who desire to try out more of this scuba diving location at Phuket.

Jose Rossello
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/phuket-an-amazing-scuba-diving-location-73457.html

Diving at Cooke Island is pretty good. This is a story I wrote when we dived there 2 or 3 years ago. Here’s a picture of the island:

We had a great time! The viz was poor, however we still saw lots of stuff. We went with about 5 other people, and Luke led us.

Luke found a couple of turtles sleeping, so gave them a bit of a nudge, and off they swam.

I saw John brushing at something on his head, and afterwards he told me this Damselfish was tapping him on the shoulder, and then came back later on, having a go at his head. He wondered what it was!! These fish are very territorial, so it was just protecting his environment.

The BEST part of the dive for me, was that I was able to descend easily, with my head up and in a kind of sitting position. And, I did it easily and on my own.

Also, I controlled my bouyancy, and made NO runaway ascents.

John was funny when we ascended. He was worried because I was going so slow. He thought I wanted to stay down all day! It was one of the slowest ascents John had ever done. When we got to 5 metres, we all hovered and were watching our depth and time. John wondered what we were all doing:-)

On the second dive, he was used to it, and loved it. It feel sooo good, going up slowly, watching different kinds of fish, and just relaxing, listening to my breathing. What a way to meditate!!

By the way, this is the boat that we go to Cook Island on
It’s called Blue Juice 1.

The ride out today was a bit hairy. I think we were air born at one stage and this poor new lady really freaked out. We asked the driver to slow down, and she seemed happier then.

On the second dive, the viz was even less, but we still had a good time. Someone spotted a gigantic wobbegong shark, and showed all of us. It must have been at least 6 foot long and maybe 2 foot wide. He was laying down with his back to us, and we hovered around him, just watching. I wonder if he knew we were there? To me, his shape was sort of like a crocodile ( just the shape of him ).

The rest of the dive was uneventful and we had a great slow ascent again!!

And, we dived on it!  We were there the day after the 2nd anniversary of it being sunk.  It was very exciting to see the ship and I took some movie of our first dive.  The second dive, we went inside the Engine room, but I didn’t take the camera down for that dive.

The ship was sunk especially for divers to play on, so it was a very easy dive. Very long ship – 33 metres long and the deepest end is only 27 metres.

Here’s the movie I took, can’t see much of me because I haven’t learnt to take good shots of myself yet:-)

Scuba Diving Magazine have a guide to Scuba Diving vacations in Red Sea written by readers of the Magazine. They say that the lack of fresh water flowing into the sea, and the intense evaporation causes the Red sea to be saltier than most. The water is cooler, the seas are choppy , and visibility varies.

They also say here that:

Depending on which part of the Egyptian Red Sea you visit, you can dive shallow patch reefs, deep walls and shipwrecks, but for many divers, the best diving is found on coral ergs. Seamounts, pinnacles or bommies by other names, these coral mountains rise to within feet of the surface, offering shallow coral gardens swarmed by tropical fish and deep coral walls tended by massive pelagics.

Read more on Scuba diving vacation in the Red Sea.

As usual, Island Dream has an exciting story to read about a Scuba Diving Vacation Galapagos Island

Ken Knezick writes aobut his adventure aboard Peter Hughes’ new Motor Yacht (M/Y) Sky Dancer live-aboard dive boat. First of all, he describes the islands and the boat, then he warns that diving around the Galapagos Islands is not for beginners. And, he emphasizes that the water is quite cold by Caribbean standards.

Then he goes into much detail about the diving and the immense pelagic animals to be seen, including Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, hammerhead sharks, mobula rays, eagle rays, and the awesome experience of swimming with immense whale sharks.

Read this story about a Scuba Diving Vacation Galapagos Island

Most people have probably heard of Cairns in the north of Queensland. Port Douglas is about an hour north of Cairns.
Port Douglas – top of Queensland and still part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Undersea Explorer take Scuba Divers to Ribbon Reefs, Cod Hole and Osprey Reef on their LiveAboard boat.

At North Horn, Osprey Reef, where the currents meet, they all see the large schools of tuna, barracuda and sharks – white tips, grey and silver tip whalers, leopard sharks, thresher sharks and schooling hammerheads. There are also Manta Rays.

Undersea Explorer have been studying sharks at Osprey Reef since 1995 and their researchers capture the sharks underwater while guest observe, then bring them to the surface for measurement and tagging. Read more here about a Scuba Diving Vacation on the Undersea Explorer around North East shores of Australia.

Read more about a
Scuba Diving Vacation Port Douglas

On one side of Croatia is the Adriatic Sea, with Italy just on the other side of the Adriatic Sea. Sea termperature at a depth of from 20 to 30 m remains constant througout the year, ranging from 16 to 17 degrees Centigrade. The sea is relatively calm, with no high waves or strong currents. In an article by Franco Banfi, she says the Adriatic coastline is the perfect place for a scuba diving tourist. Here’s the article about Scuba Diving in Croatia. Franco describes the sponges, squid eggs and featherstars, nudibranches, some squid eggs and lots more.

Ten Scuba Diving locations are described here for Scuba divers who want a Scuba Diving Vacation in Croatia. There is a wreck of a passenger ferry, sank in 1914, another wreck of a trade ship, a reef descending from 5 to 17 metres with a ship wreck in the reef’s incision. Another location is close to a small island, where there is a beautiful underwater wall, which extends from 5 to 45 metres in depth. There’s also an underwater cave located at a 26 metre depth.

There are more than 85 registered diving locations in Croatia. Here is a list of Resorts and Charters for when you are going on a Scuba Diving Vacation in Croatia

An article in The Guardian on May 14, 2005 describes Scuba Diving in Croatia There is even a 5 day course in Underwater Photography available in Croatia.

The more I read about Croatia, the more I want this on my list of places to dive. Shipwrecks and Underwater caves are common, and there is a lot of reef. It’s on my list for when I visit Europe.

FISH ROCK CAVE DEPTH 12 TO 24 METRES

The craggy island of Fish Rock is no indication of the splendor that lies underneath. At 120 metres long, and well known as one of the largest ocean caverns in the southern hemisphere, FISH ROCK CAVE has attracted divers worldwide. Enter the deep end of the cave at a depth of 24 metres where thousands of bullseyes hang suspended. Swim into the tunnel entrance over huge wobbegong sharks and a large bull ray resting on the bottom. You will pass by clusters of live cowry shells, a large Spanish dancer, bryozoan lace coral and sea cucumbers to name but a few.

More about a Scuba Diving Vacation South West Rocks

I just went for my BEST dive ever!! Even the dive leader who’s been diving about 40 yrs said he’d give it a 9 out of 10.

We saw just about every fish that it’s possible to see at Julian Rocks, and soooo many and sooo BIG!!!

The first dive we went out from the rocks to a deeper dive site named Spot Ex. We’d only swam a couple of feet and saw this magnificent Black Cod, which was almost as long as I am tall ( about 5 foot ).

I scanned some photos in from a poster which came from the NSW department of Primary Industries. John shared Ruth’s camera with another guy, who’s going to send me the photos. More about a Scuba Diving Vacation at Byron Bay