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Hidden in amongst the turquoise waters and peaceful lagoons in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands lies a small island called Gizo. Gizo, like all of the Solomon Islands, remains virtually untouched by the mayhem of tourism, and away from the town centre, life goes on as it did 500 years ago. As well as being the gateway for some world class diving, Gizo is a tropical treasure-trove blessed with sun drenched lagoons, white sandy beaches fringed with endless coconut palms, coral caves and volcanic islands.
The waters around Gizo are famous for having the most diverse and exciting diving to be found anywhere in the Solomon’s; some may even say the world. The gin clear wateropens up an amazing display of sea whips, giant gorgonian fans and an immense display of hard and soft corals. There is a vast array of fish & fauna plus some sensational World War II wrecks. Sharks, pelagic fish, turtles, and eagle rays are ever present plus huge schools of reef fish make the diving memorable. For the underwater photographer, the marine life is astounding and so spectacular, it is considered to have some of the most photogenic seascapes in the world.
Dive sites along the Uepi Island passage and barrier reef drop-offs and bays are on the coral reef ecosystem. The diving is extraordinarily varied with over 10 main dive sites of differing structure and bio-assemblage; including coral gardens with magnificent drop-offs, ledges and gutters, featuring sharks, all manner of light game fish and an enormous diversity of reef fish. Turtles, mantas and eagle rays are fairly common sights, together with the (friendly) Uepi hammerheads seen throughout the year.
Because of the location of Uepi Island, a barrier reef on the edge of a large volcanic (extinct) landmass, the clarity of water is usually good and water temperature is about 28−30 °C. Wetsuits are not essential.
Swim with Minke Whale programs are available during June and July each year. Taka Dive passengers travelling during this time have the opportunity to contribute to the research of these whales. They team up with the James Cook University researchers, and record all sightings of these fantastic mammals. All passengers who have had interaction with the Minkes fill in a questionnaire, which helps to further research. Diving with these majestic creatures will be the most exciting and momentous experience of your life.
You can win a week's diving holiday for 2 on Bilikiki, Sign up here to go in the draw.
The best feature of these islands is their diversity. Over 3000 species of fishes and over 300 species of corals have been identified here. Seas from the Philippines, Maluku Islands, and Australia meet here to support an incredibly prolific and diverse assortment of marine life. In addition to the non-stop fishes, there are oddities like Wobbegongs, giant clams, and a variety of interesting critters.
Strong currents are good for drift diving and isolated lagoons are great for muck diving. Walls, coral slopes, and patch reefs are terrific for all-around diving. Island topography, too, is varied. There are coral cays and granite islands with steep walls. Some areas have hundreds of rock islands similar to those in Palau. Others are surrounded by mangrove forests. This area is not to be missed. Tantalize your taste buds and do 4 dives a day from the comfort of one of Indonesia's best livaboards.
Uncrowded diving on virgin reefs of Kadavu, with well over a dozen world class sites with an enormous variety for divers of all levels. All these wonderful sites are within five to thirty minutes by boat from the resort. Visibility rarely goes below 25 metres and there is a fantastic variety of fish and coral to be found here.
Dive Kadavu and the Great Astrolabe Reef offers a huge variety of fish life and an equally diverse range of both hard and soft corals. Astrolabe is the third largest coral reef in the world yet possibly the most unexplored. ‘Virgin Diving’ is a term often flaunted but is the best way to describe the diving from Matava. There are whole segments of the Astrolabe reef no one has ever dived or even seen; it is all just waiting to be explored. Astrolabe is renowned for the prolific amount of large fish and great pelagics are a common sight on these reefs.
Experience exciting drift and wall dives, superb fish life with BIG schools of pelagic fish, night dives, soft corals, a shark feeding station and the incredible “SS Yongala” wreck.
At the world-famous Cod Hole you will see more spectacular marine life in the course of one day than you would see on a whole trip elsewhere. You may even dive with Manta Rays and giant turtles. Combine this with the 45-60 metres visibility only found on the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea and you have the right combination for a fantastic diving holiday. We all know the Great Barrier Reef is huge. It's massive size often underestimated. But to dive the best of these reefs you need to dive from the comfort of a specialist dive liveaboard.
There are basically 2 types of trips on offer, shorter 3 or 4 day trips or 7-10 day trips that travel to remote offshore coral sea reef systems. Both types of trips have boats and grades of cabin to suit your budget.
List of Liveaboard boats for Diving in Great Barrier Reef
Sipadan, is regarded as one of the best dive locations in the Indo Pacific region. If it live in the tropical ocean, chances are you will find it in or around Sipadan.
Most of the diving in Sipadan is combination of wall and drift diving. The walls are covered with hard corals, soft corals, gorgonians, sponges etc. You can see more turtles on one dive here than in a lifetime of diving anywhere else. Divers may also get to see huge resident school of barracudas, which make beautiful circling patterns on top of the reef.
For the ultimate in big fish diving anywhere in the world, you won’t get any better than the big fish action in the Cocos Islands. Cocos is as good as it gets when it comes to adrenalin diving with Big Pelagics on Steroids.
The island is about the size of Little Barrier, lying 290km off the coast of Costa Rica, Central America. The only way to get there is by boat – normally a smooth sailing as Cocos lie just off the Equator, in the doldrums. As the crow flies, Cocos is only 600km north of the Galapagos Islands, and is blessed with 2 warm tropical currents plus a deepwater colder current that hits Cocos, creating upwellings which bring all the food and nutrients with it. It is this vast natural supermarket that all the big fish of the ocean come to feast. Expect the unexpected to turn up on any dive at any time.
Palau rated as one of the world's best diving destinations by scuba aficionados. And why not...Palau has unspoiled reefs, caves, and walls with the most amazing array of marine life you can ever imagine.
Palau beckons to you with some of the world's most awesome natural wonders. Imagine the whitest beaches you will ever see, gardens of coral just beneath the clearest waters, lakes filled to the brim with "sting less" jellyfish. Forests, waterfalls and caves that have never been ravaged by man, and hundreds of islands of the purest beauty abound all along our pristine archipelago.
This archipelago of islands offer an absolute feast for the eyes, blessed with such tranquil beauty above and below sea level, complimented by its rich Polynesian history, culture and the friendly, beautiful local people.
The intensely blue depths are home to some of the most beautiful species ever created by nature. Here you can encounter almost anything, from manta rays, lemonfish, hammerhead sharks, and humpback whales, to every kind of shoal fish.
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