Kelvinyu73
Registered
Dear all,
just wanted to share some highlights from a recent trip to Okinawa Kerama Islands.
In general, the diving was amazing
- healthy corals, great visibility (25-30m), and awesome amounts of marine life. On the first day out, a pod of dolphins was spotted around the dive boat, and we had a fun time photgraphing them.
Day 1: 3 dives, on air:
Dive 1: Gishippu / Kamiga: 17m for 35mins
- observed clown triggerfishs, parrotfish, moorish idols, goatfish, nudibranches. Spotted white-tip reefshark under overhangs
Dive 2: Gishippu / Turtle Reef: 19.2m for 26min (cut short dive due to sore throat
)
- many many schooling fishes, anemonefishes, parrotfishes.
Dive 3: Zamami / Chishi: 13m for 37mins
- dived in canyon, observed a large lobster in a hole. Very large triggerfishes, threadfin butterflyfishm trumpetfish.
Day 2: 3 dives, on nitrox 32%
Dive 4: Gishipu / Sand Triangle: 22m for 39 mins
- observed turtle, actually foraging for food among corals. Wide diversity of healthy coral, reef fishes like parrotfish, triggerfish, damselfish, angelfish.
Dive 5: Kuroshima / Shark Cave: 19m for 44 mins
- Saw 4 sleeping white-tip sharks among cracks
Dive 6:Kuroshima / Southern part of Shark Cave: 16m for 42 mins
- Saw a large white-tip reef shark (~ 1.8m) hunting among the reef
- observed 3-4 bluefin trevally holding station off reef, and actively hunting the smaller reef fishes
- saw small tuna, squid, lionfishes
Lessons learnt:
- still got to control breathing to bring down SAC
- still got to improve buoyancy, esp in confined spaces like Chishi, where it got a bit tight
As this was my family's first trip to Okinawa, we tried out 2 operators:
Bluefield: Okinawa Scuba Diving – Dive Shop Bluefield Dive Center Information
Reef Encounters:Okinawa Diving, Japan - Reef Encounters - Japan's Tropical Dive Paradise with World Class Reefs! We are the only international full service dive shop.
I received very good service from both operators. Both of them owned their diving boats, which is a plus. Bluefield has only 1 english-speaking guide, which might be a stretched if the group is large though.
In terms of providing continuation training, Doug would be able to teach courses in English, including technical diving, and i'm looking forward to taking some further courses with him in future.
In summary, I think Okinawa is a relatively unknown destination, compared to the more prominent SE Asian ones, and thus really under-rated. Definitely offers great diving opportunities. For divers based in Shanghai, Seoul, Taiwan and Hong Kong, its a great destination, requiring only a 2+ hrs direct flight.
Anyway, I can't wait to get back soon !!!!
just wanted to share some highlights from a recent trip to Okinawa Kerama Islands.
In general, the diving was amazing
- healthy corals, great visibility (25-30m), and awesome amounts of marine life. On the first day out, a pod of dolphins was spotted around the dive boat, and we had a fun time photgraphing them.Day 1: 3 dives, on air:
Dive 1: Gishippu / Kamiga: 17m for 35mins
- observed clown triggerfishs, parrotfish, moorish idols, goatfish, nudibranches. Spotted white-tip reefshark under overhangs
Dive 2: Gishippu / Turtle Reef: 19.2m for 26min (cut short dive due to sore throat
)- many many schooling fishes, anemonefishes, parrotfishes.
Dive 3: Zamami / Chishi: 13m for 37mins
- dived in canyon, observed a large lobster in a hole. Very large triggerfishes, threadfin butterflyfishm trumpetfish.
Day 2: 3 dives, on nitrox 32%
Dive 4: Gishipu / Sand Triangle: 22m for 39 mins
- observed turtle, actually foraging for food among corals. Wide diversity of healthy coral, reef fishes like parrotfish, triggerfish, damselfish, angelfish.
Dive 5: Kuroshima / Shark Cave: 19m for 44 mins
- Saw 4 sleeping white-tip sharks among cracks
Dive 6:Kuroshima / Southern part of Shark Cave: 16m for 42 mins
- Saw a large white-tip reef shark (~ 1.8m) hunting among the reef
- observed 3-4 bluefin trevally holding station off reef, and actively hunting the smaller reef fishes
- saw small tuna, squid, lionfishes
Lessons learnt:
- still got to control breathing to bring down SAC
- still got to improve buoyancy, esp in confined spaces like Chishi, where it got a bit tight
As this was my family's first trip to Okinawa, we tried out 2 operators:
Bluefield: Okinawa Scuba Diving – Dive Shop Bluefield Dive Center Information
Reef Encounters:Okinawa Diving, Japan - Reef Encounters - Japan's Tropical Dive Paradise with World Class Reefs! We are the only international full service dive shop.
I received very good service from both operators. Both of them owned their diving boats, which is a plus. Bluefield has only 1 english-speaking guide, which might be a stretched if the group is large though.
In terms of providing continuation training, Doug would be able to teach courses in English, including technical diving, and i'm looking forward to taking some further courses with him in future.
In summary, I think Okinawa is a relatively unknown destination, compared to the more prominent SE Asian ones, and thus really under-rated. Definitely offers great diving opportunities. For divers based in Shanghai, Seoul, Taiwan and Hong Kong, its a great destination, requiring only a 2+ hrs direct flight.
Anyway, I can't wait to get back soon !!!!
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