Bringing the Underwater Marine World to Your Couch

by Abha Malpani on

For someone (like me) who is petrified of marine life — but still thinks it’s phenomenal and often moans about probably never being able to see the “real thing” — the leading resource of marine life imagery, Wetpixel has launched a quarterly print magazine to quieten such moans and to bring the splendor of the marine world to your couch.

In the market since 2000, Wetpixel is the best online resource for professional real-life underwater photography and videos; the new quarterly is an extension of the site that will bring that quality to print.

When I see mind-boggling photography (especially underwater shots), be it online or in print, I always think that there must be some computer manipulation here. But no: It is possible to capture marine life in its complete essence without using Photoshop, and Wetpixel’s new print piece proves just that.

Wetpixel has always provided a platform encouraging dialog between those interested in marine conservation, and is open to contributions from professional as well as amateur photographers and videographers; the magazine will continue with that.

For as little as $45 a year, you can subscribe to this slick quarterly, especially if — like me — you want to see the underwater wonders without any fear of fish attacking you or of your tank running out of air.

To get a taste of what you’ll be getting as a subscriber, check out the sample images below…

Budget Fares from New York to Egypt

by Grant Martin on

Airfare Watchdog is reporting the latest in a string of strange USA-LON-XXX flights that are remarkably cheap for this time of year. This week, the Egyptian port of Sharm el-Sheikh is on sale from New York City for the paltry sum of about 600USD.

Availability appears to be anywhere between November and March, and AFWD has created a series of handy dandy links to help you search throughout an entire month of availability. The trick with booking this flight is to be flexible. Most dirt-cheap tickets are going to require a little bit of leeway on your part — leaving on a weekday or flying out of your way to get to where you need to be. Just remember that you’re getting a steal on airline tickets and any deal you can work out and book is a gift.

Another thing to remember is that deals like this often don’t last long. Gadling readers searching for this fare on Wednesday may already be too late; often times you may have a few hours to research, book and confirm your tickets. I won’t advocate making any snap decisions on international travel, but it may be a good idea to check the cancellation policy on your favorite booking engine’s FAQ. Many have a clause where you can cancel a ticket within 24 hours without penalty. That way you can book a ticket for you and your girlfriend from work right now and ask for her permission when you get home.

Trans-Atlantic legs appear to be mostly on British Airways, a oneworld alliance member earning you miles on American, British, Cathay and Quantas among others.

With regard to Egyptian travel, you can pay for a visa at the border (nifty postage stamp visas that you can paste into your passport yourself) for a reasonable price. Sharm el-Sheikh is a fabulous city at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula well known as a tourist destination and home to excellent scuba diving and western hobnobbery.

Don’t forget your Cipro.

Scuba Dive and Play Tennis in a Cave

by Jamie Rhein on

We’ve written about how you can mail a postcard in a cave, stay the night in a volcano cave–or some other caves, bungy jump in a cave, paddle in a cave, and go to church in a cave. There’s a whole lot more you can do in a cave and I’m sure one of us have mentioned it, but these will do for now. Missouri is the place to go for even more cave fun. It’s not called The Cave State for nothing.

The reason Missouri has such cave wealth has something to do with mining. When you dig sand, limestone and lead from underground, huge caverns are the result. These left behind caverns make for terrific underground recreation facilities since the temperature stays constant year round regardless of what the weather is doing above ground.

Here’s what you can do in Missouri’s caves besides walking through them. You can:

And in the future, hopefully, you will be able to ice-skate and kayak at Crystal City Underground, once a sand mine.

What Is Panama Like?

by Iva Skoch on

I am planning a trip to Panama. Not sure why. I don’t know much about the country but I have a free Continental voucher to use up and they fly there directly from New York. That’s a good enough reason for me. Plus, it sounds like a pretty interesting place.

I am sure many of you have been there already. I hear that Panama is trying to brand itself as the new, wilder (and possibly more dangerous) Costa Rica. Any recommendations? Any must sees and must avoids? Are there good diving/rafting opportunities?

World’s Scariest Shark Dives

by Catherine Bodry on

If diving with sharks no longer gets the adrenaline going, then maybe you’ve been hitting the wrong spots. Forbes Traveler assembled a panel of noted shark experts to compile a list of the world’s scariest shark dives, and here are the top three:
1. Dangerous Reef in the Neptune Islands off the southern coast of Australia.
2. Shark Alley near the Dyer Islands off the southern coast of South Africa.
3. Guadelupe Island off the coast of Mexico.

Accidents do happen — you don’t want blood in the water, or anyone fishing — but in general you’re more likely to be killed by a falling vending machine than a shark bite. But if the real thing is a little too much for you, you can check out the slide show from Forbes Traveler from the safety of your desk chair.

[via Msnbc.com]

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