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Posts Tagged ‘dolphin’
This is not a fish...
Want to dive surrounded by lots of rich history and few other divers? Then Turkey is the place for you. Scuba diving in Turkey is relatively new and slowly developing, which means the facilities are there, but not the crowds. The warm weather in Turkey makes scuba diving possible all year round; however, the true scuba diving season begins around April when average water temperature in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Turkey is 18C. The height of the scuba diving season in Turkey occurs in August where the waters reach temperatures of 30C (86F).
Turkey offers a wide variety of scuba diving options including reef diving, wall diving and cavern diving for divers with all levels of skills. The underwater scenery is varied and interesting, with tunnels, caverns and rocky pinnacles providing divers with plenty to explore. There are also many diveable wrecks along the Turkish coast, both historical and modern. Diving conditions are excellent throughout the diving season with clear blue waters and visibility of up to 100 feet.
This isn’t the Caribbean, though. Not all dives will yield profuse and colorful fish like in tropical seas, but on most dives one will encounter an interesting range of species of fish including nudibranches, octopus, groupers, morays, barracuda, moray eels, seahorses, sting rays, and sea bream. Though rare, there is also the possibility of seeing dolphins and turtles depending on the dive site.
For me, the true appeal of diving in Turkey is the chance to encounter glimpses of prior civilizations that the sea has gobbled up. The area is rich with underwater historical artifacts. The most common items divers encounter are broken amphora and pottery, but a wide range of ancient artifacts, even shipwrecks, exist in shallow water and deep water alike. Formal underwater archaeological sites, however, are strictly controlled and diving at these sites is not open to the sport diver. But, plenty of informal opportunities exist to see relics lost long ago.
Although there are some scuba diving sites on the Black Sea resorts of Turkey, scuba diving is especially popular around the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Most tourist resorts on the Southern coast of Turkey have scuba diving sites and offer scuba diving trips. Some of the most popular locations in Turkey include Alanya, Antalya, Bodrum, Kas, Kalkan, Marmaris, Fethiye and Gallipoli. All of these scuba diving destinations have plenty of non-diving related things to do too, including yachting and sailing.
Bodrum
Bodrum is a wildly popular vacation spot on the Aegean Sea. On land, Bodrum boasts both trendy modern amenities and historical treasures to explore. Diving is particularly nice here due to the warm, calm waters of the Aegean that are free of tides and strong currents. For those who want to dive beyond the bays and beaches, rugged, volcanic offshore islands provide some very diverse locations including hot springs, caverns, reefs and spectacular drop-offs. It is not uncommon to come across evidence of ancient civilizations, such as artifacts and wrecks, on almost every dive.
With sea temperatures ranging from 14 to 25 degrees between summer and winter, Bodrum is a great location for diving holiday at any time of the year. Just to be on the safe side, recompression facilities and the services of a hyperbaric doctor are on 24-hour call in Bodrum.
Marmaris
Marmaris is a popular resort town located in the south-west coast of Turkey where the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea meet. Marmaris is a natural harbor that provides a safe haven for a variety of water sports including diving. Its clear sea waters range in temperature from 18 to 25 degrees C.
Marmaris offers a good variety of diving, located largely in the Bay of Marmaris. Around Yildiz Ada and the smaller Keci Ada (respectively Star and Goat islands) groupers, octopuses, jacks and sea breams are commonly seen. At the western tip of another small island, Bedir Ada, divers can see the remains of an 800 year old Ottoman wreck. Another interesting aspect of diving in Marmaris is the numerous underwater caverns: Baca Magara, the chimney cavern of Yildiz Ada, the entrance of which is at 14m and the exit at 3m below the surface, makes a stimulating second dive. Further out at Kadirga Point, divers can spot broken amphora on the sea bed up to a depth of 30m.
Alanya
The interesting flora, the variety of underwater marine life and especially the enticing underwater caverns and caves have made Alanya a popular dive. Most of the dive sites are situated around the coastline of the Alanya Castle, the steep cliffs of which turn to dramatic drop-offs under the surface of the sea. The close proximity of these dive sites makes them easily accessible even by inflatables and diving three or four times a day is possible with the option of returning to base after each dive. The sites are also very suitable for night dives.
Like Bodrum and Marmaris, Alanya doesn’t disappoint when it comes to things to see underwater. Several sites, like the Aquarium, host an incredible array of fish in a small area. Creatures such as snails, mussels, octopus, black scorpion fish, moray, soldier fish, grouper, thornback rays and pıgfish are all easy to spot. Looking for evidence of prior civilizations? Well, that’s here too. At the spot named Amphora, divers can see…amphorae, mostly broken pieces, but plenty of them. And at Pirate Cave, an ancient mill stone sits easily accessibly on the ocean floor.
Kas
Kas packs a one-two punch of dense underwater life and extremely clear water, with visibility extending past 100 ft on good days. There are around 30 different dive spots, all reachable within 30 minutes starting from the harbor of Kas. Wreck diving, cave diving, underwater canyons, stone reefs, swim throughs, tunnels, and night diving are all options in this area. Kas even boasts its own blue hole with an incredible array of sea life.
Many critters call Kas home. Barracuda, stingrays, turtles, rare snails, dorado, jackfish, soldierfish, octopi, eels, trumpet fish, huge groupers, trigger fish, anemones, crabs, and even soft-corals.
Kalkan
Kalkan has at least 14 excellent dive sites including islands, reefs and walls. The visibility at all of the dive sites is usually quite good, often in excess of 25-30m. Water temperatures range from about 18oC in April to 30oC in August. Kalkan’s tides are modest, and easy to navigate by divers.
A large variety of marine life is found in the area: groupers, sardines, moray eels, turtles, stingrays, barracudas, sea bream, rainbow wrasse, damsel fish, bonita, sea mullet, starfish, octopus, dolphins, nurse sharks, squid, mackerel and more. Other items of interest include ancient pottery remains and an old wreck of a steamship.
Whether you think of Great White Sharks as ferocious or just misunderstood, you have to admit they are exciting animals. Due to their nomadic lifestyle and periodic deep water forays, we have limited knowledge about them, which perhaps adds to their mystique. We do know that these powerful sea-dwellers can grow to over 20 feet and live to upwards of 100 years. They are found in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have water temperature between 54 and 75 °F, with greater concentrations off the coasts of Australia, South Africa, California, the northeastern US, Mexico’s Isla Guadalupe, New Zealand and the waters of the Mediterranean. Their preferred habitat is the cooler, deeper waters of the ocean and the waters around oceanic islands and rocky outcrops where deep water is within easy reach.
Great Whites are truly apex predators. They are capable of sensing the blood of an injured animal from over a kilometer away. Their Ampullae of Lorenzini organ, which enables them to detect and stalk the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals, can detect movement that generates as little as half a billionth of a volt. Though Hollywood has spectacularly portrayed them as preferring humans for lunch, they actually live on a diet of fatty fish and animals such as rays, tuna, smaller sharks, dolphins, porpoises, whale carcasses, seals, sea lions, and occasionally sea birds. Diving with Great White Sharks is certain to be on anyone’s list of Most Extreme Scuba. So, where can aquanauts meet these beauties eye to eye?
• Farallon Islands, California, USA – The Farrallones are located 28 miles west of San Francisco. A protected National State Wildlife Refuge since 1969, the Farrallones are an important research spot for great whites. These islands are one of the few places in the world where great whites can be observed in predatory attacks upon seals, birds, and sea lions from dry land. But doesn’t getting in the water with them sound like such a better idea? Cage diving is offered from late-September through November. Divers are offered a tank/regulator or a hookah setup. Since random chumming of the water is illegal in the Refuge, operators often pull along seal “decoys” to attract the sharks. It is an amazing day trip from the city, with many of the operators leaving right from the tourist hub of Fisherman’s Warf.
• Isla de Guadalupe, Pacific Coast, Mexico – Guadalupe Island is a volcanic island about 145 miles offshore of Baja Mexico, 200 miles south of San Diego. Due to the remote location of the island, this trip is done via a live aboard operation over multiple days. The island has a dramatic sheer rock wall extending hundreds of feet up into the air, as well as hundreds of feet into the ocean. The islands’ large population of seals attracts the white sharks in large numbers. The rocky outcrops of the islands have dramatic drop-offs around the edges that reach down into cool, deep water, also attracting our toothy friends. Visibility at this site is fantastic, up to 100 feet or more. Also, the water temperature ranges from 67 to 70 F, making it much warmer than some other Great White watching spots.
• Dyer Island, False Bay, South Africa – South African Great White cage diving occurs mainly in False Bay and the Whale Coast. Dyer Island is a small, low, and rocky island located just offshore from Gansbaai in the Western Cape of South Africa. During winter, the warm Agulhas Current sweeps down from the Indian Ocean, meeting the cold Benguela Current, creating a temperate zone just off the South African coast – providing ideal conditions for the Great White Shark in particular. This island serves as a breeding ground for a wide variety of seabirds, while its neighbor, Geyser Rock, serves as a home for a large resident seal population. White Sharks are seen on a regular basis in the channel between the two islands (“Shark Alley”) where they feed on a variety of seals, seabirds, and penguins. As an added bonus, Great White sharks in these waters often display very unusual, but highly spectacular breaching when chasing their prey, which makes for some amazing topside photos.
• The Neptune Islands, South Australia – The Neptune Islands sit on a shelf south east of Port Lincoln off South Australia. Grey granite and coastal loam make up these picturesque islands, which support an array of wildlife, including many bird species, a large colony of fur seals, as well as a colony of endangered Australian sea lions. Known as the place where the hit movie “Jaws” was filmed, the waters around these islands are a natural feeding area for Great Whites. Most shark diving here is done via a live aboard vessel. Operators practice cage diving combined with surface bait to give divers an unforgettable experience, sometimes with more than one Great White in sight at a time. The water is very cold here, but the shark action is definitely hot.
• Lampedusa, Sicily, Italy –Have you swam off the coast of Sicily or found the offshore waters of Nice to be nice? Oh yes, there were Great White sharks there, and you didn’t even know it. Great White sightings are becoming more common in the Mediterranean, where a high concentration of nutrients attracts some of the whites’ favourite snacks: large pelagic fish, dolphins and turtles. There have been numerous sightings of the Whites along the Spanish, French, Italian and Croatian coasts, but by far the largest concentration of the sharks is in the channel between Sicily and Tunisia. As far as I can determine, no one does cage diving here because of the infrequent nature of the sightings. However, there are many dive companies that operate out of Lampedusa, Sicily, which puts you in waters with the highest density of Great White sightings in all of the Mediterranean. Divers have encountered large white sharks while diving in the open sea at Sicilian Channel sites such as Pantelleria, Malta, and southwest Marretimo. Though rare, these experiences are as amazing as you can get: no chumming, no decoys and no cage bars between you and the jaws of the Great White.