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Snorkeling desde los
hoteles de Ixtapa

Vacaciones de lujo de Ixtapa abarcar mexicano en su más fino. La popular playa justo al lado de la playa de la ciudad de Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa México es realmente muy diferente de su vecino. Infraestructuras modernas y confortables hoteles de la línea de la playa de Ixtapa México, excelente para viajes en familia Ixtapa. La historia de Ixtapa, México es comparativamente corta.

En las últimas décadas, la gente que buscan impulsar la economía mexicana creó una zona de complejos turísticos de Ixtapa para complementar el tranquilo poblado de Zihuatanejo. El resultado fue un paraíso vacacional, con todas las modernas habitaciones disponibles. Los viajeros encontrarán las visitas Ixtapa para tener fácil acceso a la playa casi en cualquier lugar que te quedes. Dado que muchas estaciones de la línea de frente al mar, las playas ellos mismos son limpios y bien mantenidos, especialmente cerca de Isla Ixtapa, accesible por barco o en taxi acuático.

Actividades como snorkeling, natación, body board y absorbiendo sol en la arena blanca. Familias con niños se encuentran las playas seguras y fáciles de encontrar. Si usted tiene pensado salir de la zona hotelera de Ixtapa a comer fuera, el centro de Zihuatanejo cuenta con un buen grupo de excelentes restaurantes, panaderías e incluso de algunos famosos de México. La principal franja de restaurantes se encuentra cerca del mercado público. Los viajeros pueden hacer una buena tarde de compras y comer en la zona muy dinámica, una buena adición al viajar de México. Después de horas de comer puede ser un poco difícil. En su mayor parte, los clubes, bares, restaurantes y morir abajo alrededor de la medianoche, con la excepción de uno o dos en una noche de fin de semana ocupado. Si quiere estar seguro y planear con anticipación si va a estar hasta tarde.

Otro día de viaje populares de Ixtapa es una excursión a Playa Las Gatas. Una forma rápida y barata en taxi hasta el muelle principal de Zihuatanejo pondrá huéspedes cerca de una taquilla, donde los boletos se pueden comprar para el taxi de agua a Playa Las Gatas. El taxi de agua cae fuera de los huéspedes en la playa a lo largo de una línea de encantador de escaparates y restaurantes que pueden fácilmente proporcionar entretenimiento para un día. La función de restaurantes de buena cocina. Hay algunas tiendas locales pintoresco y único. Asegúrese de que “he guardado el billete en el viaje hacia fuera y su viaje de regreso a Ixtapa es libre.

Todos van buceo en Zihuatanejo, porque no hay lugar llamado Scuba Center Zihuataneo donde los principiantes y avanzados pueden bucear con los instructores que tienen todos los certificados de Divemaster.

El nombre La Madera se debe al hecho de que la madera fue enviada a varias partes del mundo a partir de esta costa. Sus olas regulares lo hacen ideal para practicar windsurf, buceo, vela, pesca deportiva y, obviamente, la natación y el buceo. Los dos kilómetros de arena suave de Playa El Palmar son muy populares debido a su ubicación en el mar abierto. Es ideal para practicar windsurf, paracaidismo, buceo y paseos en barco de los alrededores.

Playa Las Gatas es conocida por su legendario dique que sostiene que el rey tarasco Calzontzin mandó construir para evitar que los tiburones se introduzcan en la bahía. Su hermoso arrecife coralino atrae a un gran número de buceadores. Situado a pocos minutos en bote de la Playa Municipal.

Playa Quieta es una playa virgen, que ofrece una variedad de un entorno atractivo. Ideal para el esquí, surf, vela, buceo y pesca deportiva.

Holy crap, have I been busy. I can’t believe tomorrow is November.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m in Malaysian Borneo getting my PADI divemaster certification at Scuba Junkie. At most places, being a DMT (divemaster trainee) is tough work – lugging air tanks around, setting up customers’ gear, rinsing equipment at the end of the day, and generally being a slave. The good thing about SJ so far is that everyone shares the work – there’s no specifically scut work reserved for DMTs. But the hours are *long* – up at 6-6:30 and going nonstop until 8:30-9.

The way SJ structures things, the course will take about 5-6 weeks to complete. It’s a long time, but they make sure you get a lot of experience along the way. Over the past week I have shadowed divemasters (to watch/learn from them as they guide divers) and I’ve assisted three different instructors on Open Water (basic PADI diver certification) and Advanced Open Water courses.

As you’d expect, different instructors have different approaches to things. And the students…wow. Some are enthusiastic and master dive skills quickly, but for many of them I wonder what the hell they’re doing in a dive course. I’ve had people who can barely *swim*, some who show little interest in marine life (Why are they HERE?), and others who I would politely call ADD. Craziness.

My instructor is Rowen, an intense dirty-blond thirty-something Brit (I think?). If he was a character in a John Hughes film, his name would be Blaine and he’d be the slightly arrogant, rich, popular guy who has conflict with the underdog, awkward hero played by John Cusack. Except, since he’s a diver, he is in fact laid back under all his bluster. And he’s very good at his job, too. I think I’ll learn a lot from him, and from all the rest of the Scuba Junkies.

Oy, I have so much more I want to write, but I’m knackered. I did a deep dive today (to 30 meters) while assisting the Advanced course…and that was the day after the Halloween party. I went as a Christmas tree.

OK, off to sleep. I’ll try to be better about writing. Happy Halloween!

on 27th september 2009 i officially joined the ranks of one of PADI’s newest professional divers reaching Divemaster status! thanks to Tim Campbell, my instructor, and everyone i learned from down at Sea Bees Diving in Chalong, Phuket, Thailand (http://www.sea-bees.com/eng/index.htm) – i had a terrific time. i experienced everything from mantas and sharks to panicked divers and dealing with an actual dive emergency. i assisted and guided customers from all over the world. assisted someone who didn’t even know how to snorkel – become an avid and competent diver by the end of the course. it was truly a great experience that i wouldn’t trade for the world. i met and worked with some of the best people in the industry. if anyone wants to dive Thailand – definitely go with Sea Bees. they are hands down the best. contact me if you have any doubts. i am now on my way to becoming an instructor. hope to dive with you all again soon. to everyone i met in thailand and to all the customers who joined me ‘n Sea Bees from around the world…warm love and thanks and happy, SAFE diving!

This wreck is right in front of the town of Brockville, not that far from shore. The line down from the buoy is at a very shallow angle, making for a long pull against the current, which wasn’t so bad at the beginning of the dive, on September 6th, 2009.

This time I had a student, Shannon, who was getting some dives in for her advanced open water course. The dive is reasonable simple, colour comparison, gauge comparison, optional tour and safety stop. We picked an area to do the drills in a reasonably current free area, and got through them quickly, after some confusion about the signals (asking for air left vs. depth). During this confusion I noticed Shannon with a big smile behind the regulator mouthpiece, and was unsure if she was amused by the confusion, confused by narcosis at 90′, or a bit of both. Eventually we got through everything and we all (including Rory, DM in training) had lots of air so we toured around the wreck for a while.

It’s really broken up, but has a fair amount of machinery to look at. During the dive, the current picked up dramatically and I was grateful for the line along the bottom that lead to the buoy line, otherwise we would have had an interesting struggle to catch it in a free ascent. It was definitely a dive that required good handholds in the exposed places.

The bottom time was short, only 20 minutes, but Shannon used very little air so I was pleased with her gas consumption and composure at depth. My own consumption was 1100 PSI but I was diving my doubles, so she did better than me.

We had some serious computer problems (again) the last week, so it took a while to get that right again… Maybe I should think about installing Linux… maybe Mario is right after all… well, OK… our computer is working again for as long as it takes so at least I can bore you people again with some posts here.

Corinne had a bad cold the last few days but she is getting better already. High season has started so there is not really time to be sick now… poor girl.

I (Robert) did a Rescue course the last few days and we had a lot of fun… and… all the victims survived!!! I would like to congratulate Sandra with her first step towards her professional diving career!

In two weeks she will start her Divemaster course with us, so I guess you will read some anecdotes here as soon as they happen…

So, due to courses there is no underwater photos to share with you, but my night shots with long exposure are getting better I guess. This is a photo of the El Gouna main gate. The exposure time I used for this was 2 minutes.

That’s it for now… stay wet and check back here again!!

Whilst it may not be the best time of year with regards to the visibility for diving you can still have those once in a lifetime encounters. The divers came back extra happy today after being treated to a show of mum and baby humpback whale playing around on the surface. On one of the hottest september days I managed to cool off with a confined water class in the afternoon. Without that hose encounters today I think we would have melted!!

Tired after a hard day of swim tests, karaoke and pub quizzes

The IDC is starting to draw to an end now and today was the last presentations in open water. After some nice rain a couple of days previous the ocean was calm and the visibility decent. The key lesson today was practicing descents and controlling students which proved to be quite tough, especially when you have some one trying to go head first down a line! After an adventures in diving workshop where everyone got to play around with knots and lift bags the instructor candidates and Divemasters to be who were helping out all had to complete their 800m snorkels. We decided to make ourselves comfy on the bow of the boat and turned it into a bit of a karaoke session with the nice new loud speakers and PA system to cheer on the snorkeling students! Top points for Kats rendition of “I want to know what love is” and for Drew pulling of a fast snorkel swim and a pair of red rocket fins. Extra mention to Conrad the DMT who managed it. end of story!

blogging about the IDC
http://ping.fm/VmQ1H check it out!

Another beautiful day in Costa Rica, sunny and bright, but our studious candidates were busy with their heads buried in books for the day! Typical, when it rains you’re outside, when its sunny, you’re in! Other students were out on the boat today to witness Divemaster trainee Anton produce a supersonic Stamina test! He must not be using the local Rayovac batteries then! During the afternoon IDC students presented their first prescriptive presentations which went really well and now evryone is looking forward to the adventures in diving program and open water dives tomorrow, with hopefully a bit less current this time ; )

We took a break from the IDC today and worked on our first aid skills with the EFR Instructor course. Whilst the morning was spent studying hard the afternoon involved skill practice and coaching sections. Novel problems and laughter ensued as we were faced with upside down baby mannakins and AED pads placed on the side of heads. Damien even manged to get involved with the class. When anyone is playing victim he always feels the urge to lie down next to them for a scratch!

We took a break from the IDC today and worked on our first aid skills with the EFR Instructor course. Whilst the morning was spent studying hard the afternoon involved skill practice and coaching sections. Novel problems and laughter ensued as we were faced with upside down baby mannakins and AED pads placed on the side of heads. Damien even manged to get involved with the class. When anyone is playing victim he always feels the urge to lie down next to them for a scratch!

decided that practising descents for the IDC can wait until there is less current….bring on fun diving!

An overcast morning turned into sunshine and blue skies as our intreped IDC candidates started the first open water preparation. Some unexpected currents made the descent workshop impossible at first, however the CESA workshop, though challenging was successful. Good to try a new skill in tough conditions, you will always learn more from it! Our second dive was in the quiet bay of Biesanz in Manuel Antonio and this time, after a practice descent, we moved into the presentations. The conditions were not easy with some surge and low visibility after the rains but everyone did really well and scored well, after we even had time to play around with the lift bag afterwards! Remember guys…the last place you want to be when someone else is using a lift bag is beneath it especially when there’s a big weight belt attached ; )

i will be away for the entire month of september in phuket, thailand doing my first professional level scuba course – the PADI divemaster - with Sea Bees Dive Academy. i can be reached via email should you need to contact me. however, it may take me a while to reply as i will probably be underwater for most of the month! sending warm regards from sunny phuket, thailand. wish me luck.

finished day 3 of the Costa Rica IDC. well done everyone and off to the open water tomorrow!

Day 2 wrapped up today. After a full day in the classroom, interaction was the key. Morning was spent preparing knowledge presentation and discussing Discover Scuba Diving followed by Confined water discussions in the afternoon. After spending the first day outside, Damien decided that he would prefer the air conditioning and managed to figure out how to open the new doors by pushing his nose at the right angle. It didn’t take him much before he then contributed to the discussion at the end of the day with strange vocalisations presumably indicating he was tired after a long day at the IDC, much to the amusement of others.
Presentations start tomorrow!

New Instructors here we go! Day 1 of the IDC begins. On a bright and sunny day everyone sat down with their loaded crewpacks and materials looking through the schedule with anticipation about what is to come. Assignments were handed out intros made and the day was rounded out with a well done skill circuit. Lesson learnt: Don’t confuse a DIVE ALERT with an inflator (ouch!)

First day of the PADI IDC! Instructor candidates did fantastically in the pool with their skill circuit practise.

Okay, with only 4 more days until the IDc starts everyone is getting into last minute preparation mode! Even Damien is interupting his day long naps with movement however minimal. The water is perfect right now for training as it is pretty flat and blue. Training for the Instructor candidates is a serious, stressful yet still fun time so its important to make their time during the IDC as easy as possible so that they can focus on the task in hand. We’ll keep you updated as we begin!

Last night the 4 remaining students on our wreck diving course breezed through the classroom work and then headed out across the street to the public park to practice with their reels. It was raining lightly and a little cool so noone really wanted to stay out there for very long, and consequently we had as many as 3 people laying lines at the same time in the same place.

This has been a July tradition with the dive shop for many years, and as time has passed the trees have grown to the point where even those of us with long arms have difficulty reaching around to wrap the lines. Fortunately there were willing helpers to assist in that aspect of the procedure, so the students could concentrate on the parts that were nearer to the real thing.

Each student has to lay a line from one tree to the next while keeping the line taut, and then reel it back in without snagging the reel or letting the line go slack. One accomplished, they do it again but reeling back is done with a blacked-out mask, simulating a complete silt-out inside the wreck. All of our students did a great job, despite having multiple lines with which to contend.

The actual diving takes place this weekend in the St. Lawrence River near Brockville. We’ll be diving three wrecks – the Robert Gaskin, the Kinghorn and the Henry C. Daryaw.

With several dives happening on the same day, we’re going to use optimum mixes of Nitrox, and as the dives are also deep, the prerequisite for this course is both Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air Diver. This time we have 2 Advanced Open Water divers, a Divemaster in Training, and a Divemaster. They’re all looking forward to diving, as are the instructors and safety divers.

Next  stop, the Thousand Islands. We’re also trying to organize a dive of the Rothesay or Conestoga early Friday evening.

On August 2nd, 2008 I was back to Big Bay Point, equipped with a bit of enriched air left over from diving the 3 wrecks (Gaskin, Kinghorn and Daryaw) on our wreck diving course in the St. Lawrence River near Brockville.

This time, Dave, one of the new instructors at the shop (now departed for the west coast, I hear) had some students out, and being first in the water I had the honour of setting the dive flag, which was my first dive to 27 feet lasting 5 minutes on EAN26.

Not having to switch tanks, of course, almost an hour later we were in the water with the students doing open water dive 1, which lasted 25 minutes and went to 34 feet. I’m not sure where we went to get the extra depth but we must have done a short tour of some kind. The water temperature on both dives bottomed out at 18C so it was quite pleasant and could have been a wet suit dive, but I was in the dry suit in anticipation of great depth.

I was joined at that point by Matt and Andrew, and we took off down the line to 84 foot, using my last bottle of enriched air (EAN36). The water temperature was only 10C (50F) at that depth but the dry suit and hood kept me nice and warm. We dispensed with the safety stop because we stopped at 20 feet to play around. I shot a lift bag for practice but didn’t do it very well. It was pretty limp even with the expansion on the way to the surface. I decided then to get some more practice in with it.

We were out of the water at 12:06 and I headed home for lunch. Next stop, more wreck diving in Tobermory.

Day 3 of the IDC at Oceans Unlimited in Costa Rica dawned sunny and bright. After a full day in the classroom yesterday getting into the pool was looked forward too. After some great presentations from the guys on Search patterns and ascents we headed up to the pool. For an extra challenge each person was given an extra presentation for the pool. Everyone did great for their first time at confined water teaching, but Anton the divemaster felt a bit unused so was “encouraged” to swim around during one of the last presentations. Remember….make sure your assistants are being used effectively! Here comes the open water tomorrow : )