World’s Largest Man-Made Reef Made by Man Yesterday

by Neil Woodburn on

The world’s largest man-made reef was created in just under 40 minutes yesterday when the 888 foot-long Oriskany aircraft carrier underwent a controlled explosion and settled gently into the sea. 

In typically bloated fashion, it cost the US Navy $20 million to sink the ship and create what will inevitably become a diving paradise 24 miles off Pensacola Beach in the Gulf of Mexico.  Couldn’t we just get some hostile nation to do it for free you ask?  Apparently the old ship was full of environmental nasties that had to be stripped before the EPA would sign off on the sinking.

The good folks over at Divester have been posting about this highly anticipated sinking  for a couple of days now and include a link to a rather cool video of the ship blowing up and disappearing below the waves. 

Shark Video

by Erik Olsen on

And while I was over at Divester…where I have not been nearly enough lately…I also caught this link to some incredible video of a shark leaping out of the water to nab a poor little seal. The super slow-mo efect here is almost too much, but man, it’s an amazing shot.

Diving in Libya

by Scott Carmichael on

The fine folks over at Divester have a rather cool posting that caught my eye even though I don’t dive.  Libya, it appears, is about to become the next hot diving destination.

Thanks to the State Department dropping Qaddafi’s homeland off the state-sponsored terrorist list, American citizens can now venture into Libya’s uncharted waters, literally!  The country boasts 1250 miles of coastline that is apparently teaming with underwater wrecks, ruins and Nazi gold. 

Pop on over to Divester to check it out.  I’ll be looking topside myself to see what the old terra firma has offer.

Good Karma in Mauritius

by Karen Walrond on

Back in 2002 when my then-husband-to-be and I were planning our wedding, we pondered, as fiancés often do, about where we would have our honeymoon.  After doing extensive research on the best places to surf (him) and scuba dive (me), we landed on Mauritius.

Unfortunately, once we arrived, we learned that because of the time of year, the sea was flat and cold — perfect for neither sport.

Nonetheless, Mauritius is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful islands I’ve ever been — and remember, I’m from the Caribbean.  So it was with more than a little bit of nostalgia that I read this fantastic article in the Times on the oft-forgotten island.  Assuming the author was writing from recent memory, Mauritius hasn’t changed a bit — and I would strongly recommend that everyone run, not walk, to their travel agent (or Expedia) to book a holiday soon.  You’ll be glad you did.

Great Barrier Reef Guide

by Erik Olsen on

Divers are generally united around one thing: that
the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is one of the finest places in the world to dive. That said, it’s a hard place to
reach (it’s on the other side of the world after all), and once you get there finding the best places to go can be
hard. The reef is big….really big..and stretches for literally thousands of miles up the coast.  So how to you
make sense of the place? How do you find the little islands that are the most secluded or mist highly recommended?
Where the blabbering tourists and over-excited dive amateurs are kept to a minimum?

Well, I was browsing
around a little bit and found this handy guide
to the Great Barrier Reef over at the Sydney Morning Herald. I spent some time looking around at its description of
places like Fitzroy
Island (named after the captain of the Beagle) and Lady Elliot Island.
The information about these places is refreshingly deep and useful. It’s coming upon winter at the reef, so perhaps
this is for long-term planning, but the list of places here is extensive and I’m sure