Coastal Water Dive at Asia Divers

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Asia Divers

One happy Coastal Water Dive group enjoying the diving in Puerto Galera with Asia Divers

Coastal Water Dive is owned by Torry and Tiffany Goodall and located in Bunbury, Western Australia. They have been in business since 1999 and are the largest regional dive store in Western Australia. We have had the pleasure of having them here this week for the very first time and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them in the future. Torry met Allan and Tommy while they were on their charity ride around Australia raising funds for street children and Project Aware and got inspired by them to get a group together to come over here…and were sure glad they did! The group consisted of 17 from ages 18 to 51. “ We have enjoyed our stay and the dive team and staff have been flawless!”
http://www.coastalwaterdive.com.au/

Allan Nash

Allan is touring around Europe in a couple of fancy cars with Adrian, Bonny and Peter at the moment. We’re getting all sorts of photos of fine wine, great food and fantastic scenery sent daily from him…enough is enough! Ha ha

The most up market jeepneys I ever saw.

Mark Mitchel’s keen eye found this.

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Asia Divers

: Another first find in Puerto Galera

Mark Mitchell has some shot some pretty amazing photos and this week he and Jamie found this Spiny Tiger Shrimp (Phyllognatia ceratophthalmus), also called the Bongo Shrimp, or Horned Bumblebee Shrimp. None of us have ever seen this before so we were all quite excited to see the photos that Mark got. They belong to the same family as the Harlequin Shrimps and are relatively small in size – they grow to a maximum of 2 cm but are often smaller. They live cryptic and are usually hidden in sponges, rubble, Algae or broken coral – mostly in an encrusted mix of them. Often in pairs – sometimes even in little groups or families. Characteristics are their beautiful coloration, their spikes and their wave like movements. Cool huh?!! Check out more of Mark’s photos on the link below:

http://mbmitchellphotography.com/

Asia Divers cleans-up.

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Asia Divers

You are going to need a mch bigger bin than that!

Asia Divers participated in an under water clean up dive organised by the Sabang Barangay. It was an afternoon of cleaning above and below the water to help encourage everyone to have a good think about what they are throwing away and keep Puerto Galera beautiful. Lots of folks from our community turned out to get in on the fun and also to get a new t-shirt and snacks. Thanks to Troy, Ruben, Kjell and Mazi, who “splashed for trash”!

Cleaning up Sabang waters and beach 2012

Cocos Island on Wind Dancer April 28-08 May, 2012.

Group enjoying the Cocos Island trip on the Wind Dancer liveaboard.

On the trip was from the left back row: Mark, Andreas, Wolfgang, Tommy, Ulf, Luc, Mikael and Rudy left middle row: Allan, Fitri, Dave, Rosina, Maria, Leen, Suzi, Brian, Kenneth and Ali and in the front John and Johan, missing on the picture is Andre, guess he had a nap.

Half of the team who went for the Cocos Island trip started with 3 days of Whitewater rafting and some other activities but that is another story.

We all got picked up for the 1 1/2h bus ride down the port town Puntarenas and once onboard the Wind Dancer we didn’t waste any time. The 34h hour crossing to Cocos Island went very smooth and we quickly got in the water soon after breakfast. 

We had 7 days of world class diving with more fish then you want as the small ones often got in the way while you tried to spot the Hammerhead sharks in the distance! The wallpaper of Scalloped Hammerhead sharks was what Cocos Island is known for, but due to the very warm water 29-30 degrees we didn’t see as many Hammerheads as expected. They were still there in number but obviously the great amount was down deeper in cooler water. However we got some compensation for this in a approx. 4 meter Tiger shark who was spotted on number of dives, very cool!! Add lots of Whitetip Reef sharks, quite a few Silky sharks as well as Galalagos sharks and some hunting Blacktip sharks on the surface, so we got some action.

It’s raining Rhinopias…

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Asia Divers

“Just seen the article in the newsletter about rhinopias – didn’t realise that they were so rare or such a big deal to spot. I saw a pair of them last year in November. I didn’t have my camera with me but Hugh Moore did. Only 1 of the photos is clear & in focus but I’ve sent the others so that you can see the pair of the fish.”

But…the plot thickens! We went out there again and this time we found the second one. So now it’s confirmed that there are two in the area…BUT……IT GETS EVEN BETTER. Pete found another one at a completely different dive site!! So now there are at least three!! Peter Webster from Vision Divers, Melbourne Australia took the photo below. He caught it at just the right moment!

Colourful Rhinopia in water off Puerto Galera

Alli couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw this little tuft of fluff moving along the bottom. With magnifying glass and camera in hand and a bunch of other divers with her, they got to see the extremely rare hairy octopus. It’s a small octopus, reddish brown in colour, covered with long and branching skin filaments, mimicking a tuft of Algae about 2 cm. Supposedly it’s only known to be found in North Sulawesi, but surprise surprise they are here in Puerto Galera too!! It’s been an amazing month for new critter findings in the area. Stuff that is only supposed to be in Lembeh is actually here too.

Hairy octapus a new discovery at Puerto Galera by Asia Divers

Hairy octapus found at Puerto Galera with Asia Divers

Our 25th Anniversary Party is coming up soon

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Asia Divers

Asia Divers and El Galleon in the early days

Has it really been 25 years?

Please mark this on your Calendar and book in for what will be a fantastic and very special weekend here. We’re hoping we can get a good crowd of many of our friends who have been part of Asia Divers over the past 25 years to come over and help us celebrate. All perhaps a bit older and a perhaps a wee bit wiser…ha ha ha

Partying in the Point Bar

Event: Asia Divers 25th Anniversary Party

Date: Friday November 2nd to Monday November 5th

Activities Planned (so far!): We will have a special dinner at El Galleon on Friday night. Saturday, Verdi Island trip and our local dives. Saturday night will be the big party on the The Platform. The theme will be “60’s Night” then from there we’ll continue on to the Point to carry on the party. We’ll be announcing the winners of the Photo contest and also the raffle that night. Sunday will include a couple of options of golfing, diving and perhaps a sunset cruise. We’re still putting the plans together, but it is already shaping up to be a great weekend. Please contact us soon and let us know if you can make it.