Did a couple of nice dives this weekend.

[jagfish]

Most Japanese boats get freaked out at tech gear.

I guess it depends on what you mean by tech gear.

If you mean backplate and wing...that's not much of a big deal.
If you mean long hose setup, that is a bit shocking for some who have not seen it, but that is the same anywhere, potentially, even in the states.

Now if you mean double tanks and stages (which I doubt you are) that could certainly be problematic if you did not clear the EQ ahead of time. Since you are traveling, I'd guess you're not in this "boat".

What might be a bigger problem is a boat that would fit 10 divers. I dove there with Kim a few years ago and the boat we were in would have been tight with 10. They are basically all fishing boats. I am sure there are other ops/boats.

BTW...Kim's last post in this thread was 2005. I'm not sure if he is still active on this board. He used to also be active on the Dive Matrix, but I'm really not sure these days.

He was the only person I knew with personal experience in Sasebo.

 

[NCBabs]

thanks, we'll be flying so no tanks, especially doubles etc. from my research i was guessing it would be a fishing boat hopefully big enough we were goig to hire it for the week of diving. surely with all the fishing there we can find a bigger boat?
i did notice Kim hasn't replied in sometime thinking he may have moved on, i did check the DMX and the same there. i hope to find someone local that can help us plan this. is there anyone you can direct me to? how was the sea conditions over the summer?

 

[jagfish]

I've only ever dove there once and it was winter. Good conditions...very cold. The boat stayed out for the surface interval and no room to be inside anywhere. I'd had a zip seal leak on my wrist and it was a very cold interval.

I'm sure there are other larger boats.

No chance of being up in the Izu area? That would open up a lot more options for you.

 

[Katamuki]

You could always come to Okinawa! I am sure there are a couple of spare sets of doubles around here somewhere I can scrounge up!

 

[NCBabs]

thanks for the reply, ouch cold weather and a leak bur...my understanding of weather is pretty similar to US east coast weather. June July should be a good time but to plan a trip that far i'd like to know a little bit more before i plan the dates. Not to say i won't explore other areas of Japn but right now my interest is in Sasebo area

i will keep that in mind for the future

 

[NCBabs]

You could always come to Okinawa! I am sure there are a couple of spare sets of doubles around here somewhere I can scrounge up!

I hear good things about Okinawa as well in my search. who knows i'm just may say hello one day, of course if you ever decide to try US NC coast wreck diving let me know i'm on the coast to some great wreck dives.

 

[Katamuki]

I will keep that in mind, diving there is certainly on my list of places I want to go.

 

[jagfish]

thanks for the reply, ouch cold weather and a leak bur...my understanding of weather is pretty similar to US east coast weather. June July should be a good time but to plan a trip that far i'd like to know a little bit more before i plan the dates. Not to say i won't explore other areas of Japan but right now my interest is in Sasebo area

i will keep that in mind for the future

I certainly don't want to dampen your enthusiasm...if you have topside reasons to go to that area, I understand. The islands there are certainly beautiful. I'm curious to know what draws you...heck...maybe I'm missing out on something there.

There are lots of other areas that have a lot more to offer in terms of diving.

If I were coming here with diving a high-list priority, I'd likely put Okinawa up there. If you hooked up with Doug at Reef Encounters, you could do mixed gas deco dives on the Emmons, maybe see mantas elsewhere, turtles, awesome corals, nudibranchs and wartime artifacts.

Up here, I'd likely opt for an Island hopping adventure on the Izu 7 islands.