Scuba Diving

[orthopod]

Just a topic so that all divers can share their experiences good and bad.
Where the best diving is to be found etc....

[TNTMed]

Well I am from Cyprus and I have been diving for 3 years now. I can tell you of great places in Cyprus especially in Akamas and Paralimni/Protaras/Ayia Napa regions. The best one is in Akamas where youy can really see very interesting and exciting aquatic life. The biodiversity is really great in that place.

I am also involved in underwater fishing and I am currently waiting to get my formal permission for having a "fishing gun" (or whatever it is called)

[Admin]

Haven't been for a while but I did my PADI in the Perhentian Islands off malaysia in 3rd year of med school. Very clear and saw loads of great coral and aquatic life including turtles!

[deco]

I have dived all over the place but by far the best is Sipadan off of Malaysian Borneo - sharks and turtles all over the place. Egypt is a great place to get to fairly cheaply from the UK.

I spent 6 months working as a DM in Cyprus but apart from an amazing wreck (Zenobia) it is distinctly tedious diving, hardly any fish - I wonder why?

[Sipadan]

I too would rate Sipadan :wink:

[TNTMed]

Originally Posted by deco

I have dived all over the place but by far the best is Sipadan off of Malaysian Borneo - sharks and turtles all over the place. Egypt is a great place to get to fairly cheaply from the UK.

I spent 6 months working as a DM in Cyprus but apart from an amazing wreck (Zenobia) it is distinctly tedious diving, hardly any fish - I wonder why?

Where did you go diving in Cyprus deco? There is a large number and diversity of fish in Cyprus.

I would recomment the Akamas region there are a large number of rare fish and aquatic life but most of them are now endangered and are under protection.

[orthopod]

i notice that everyone is posting destinations that have nice warm water!!!
ive dived Malaysia and all around the med, but i still think its hard to beat a cold, dark, brutal viz dive in northern waters! :wink:
plus it takes more concentration to dive when your frozen as everything becomes that much harder.

[deco]

I've only dived the eastern end of the island - Larnaca, Ayia Napa, Protaras so don't know first hand about the Akamas area. However, I've heard from many dive guides who work all over southern Cyprus that the fish life is the same everywhere and chances are you will only see something half decent on Zenobia.

[TNTMed]

Actually Ayia Napa and Protaras are major Tourist destinations and Larnaka is a proper industrial and tourist town, oil refineries are present there. So I'm not suprised you didn't see any fish wondering around :wink:

[orthopod]

dive in malta, the viz is great, loads of marine life and plenty of wrecks -oh loads of depth too if that your thing.