Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 i Asian Diver

ASIA DIVE EXPO 2015 PROFILE: BIGGEST DIVE SHOW IN ASIA LOCATION: SUNTEC CITY, SINGAPORE BOOTHS: 266 TOTAL VISITORS: 41,053 TRADE VISITORS: 14,436 CONSUMERS: 26,617 FOREIGN VISITORS: 19,063 LOCAL VISITORS: 21,990 THE ZONES The 2015 edition of the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) was a resounding success, even bigger and better than the booming show the year before, with visitors from around the world witnessing another exciting celebration of all things diving. The major zones of conservation, tek, photography, kids, and try dives in the famous ADEX dive tank were joined by additional components that took this year’s show to new heights. While the crowds of underwater trigger fingers flocked to the Photo Video Zone, passionate divers headed to the Main Stage to join the conservation debate, and the swashbucklers of the…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5–7 (For experienced open water divers with excellent buoyancy control skills who are comfortable in strong surge currents) DIVE PROFILE: Max depth at about 38 m (Threshers level, Numidia goes much deeper) CURRENT VELOCITY: No record LOCATION: Red Sea GEAR: Scubapro Everflex 5mm wetsuit Sea Quest Pro XLT BCD AquaLung Kronos reg Mares Avanti Super-Channel fins / Mares Volo Race Saeko mask AFTER six years of almost only diving from RIBs and spreading my clothes around my house, villa, or hotel room, I’d decided it was time to see if I’d enjoy a week on a boat with a bunch of strangers. As a frequent solo traveller, I wondered whether the close confines of a cabin with a random snorer would see me sleeping on the deck…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 7–10 DIVE PROFILE: Drop in at current point About 15m deep BT 1 hour on a 12-litre cylinder (no current fight) Avoid going deeper than 20m Minimum safety stop CURRENT VELOCITY: Approx 2–3 knots to undiveable depending on the tidal flow LOCATION: Mike’s Point, Dampier Strait, West Papua, Indonesia GEAR: Full-length 3mm wetsuit Single 12-litre tank Mares Plana Avanti fins Atomic regulator Cressi Travel Light BC Pegasus Thruster WHEN HE was a young man, Max Ammer was busy in his Rotterdam workshop, renovating vintage Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles. One day, his neighbour mentioned that when he was stationed in Irian Jaya during the World War II, he had witnessed the American army bulldozing lots of war-surplus Willys jeeps into a ravine. Max was off on the plane…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 4–8 (depending on current change at time of dive) DIVE PROFILE: BT 45min, 20–28ºC @ 35m CURRENT VELOCITY: Varied LOCATION: Crystal Bay, Penida, Bali, Indonesia GEAR: Technisub Look mask APEKS XTX 100 reg Scubapro Classic Zero G BCD Suunto D9 Sea Gods custom wetsuit Technisub NASA fins LOCATED to the southeast of Bali, there are three islands that divers from around the world will try to dive at least once in their lifetime. These islands are called the Nusa Penida Islands and consist of Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. Their significance is one of historical value, as Nusa Penida was used by the Balinese king as a penal colony up till the 1900s. Today, the islands are filled with both tourists and locals seeking the…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: > 5 (for experienced Open Water divers with excellent buoyancy control skills and a passion for strong currents) DIVE PROFILE: Depth 14–30m+, Dive time 45 mins to 1 hr CURRENT VELOCITY: 4–5 knots LOCATION: Rasdhoo Madivaru Channel (2-min boat ride from Rasdhoo), Maldives GEAR: Aqua Lung Legend regulators Hollis SMS 50 sidemount BCD Aqua Lung Micro mask Scubapro Jet fins ONE OF THE BEST CURRENT DIVES IN A CHANNEL IS THE RASDHOO MADIVARU CHANNEL. RASDHOO Atoll is one of the smaller atolls that make up the Maldives. There are three main channels, four islands and a number of submerged reefs inside the atoll. Teeming with marine life, this place can keep even the most experienced and well-travelled diver spellbound. The atoll is famous for its schools of…

IN 2003, I set my first world record in the distance freediving category under ice at 90 metres. How do you top that? So I asked myself, where would be the coolest place on the planet to freedive under ice? The answer was very easy: the North Pole, of course! Since then, I have made it my ultimate ambition to freedive under the ice of the North Pole. I found Marcus Fillinger on the Internet; he was the first solo scuba diver to have done the North Pole. After a massive amount of research, I realised that the only way I could do this was to work with the Russians. They ran a camp there called Barneo, a private Russian temporary ice base established annually since 2002 on an ice…

RECENTLY, seven divers went missing for three days, despite having two experienced dive guides with them. The group’s misfortune was caused by the boat captain’s negligence combined with the harsh weather when they surfaced. Five were eventually found alive, clinging to an outcrop, while the remaining two didn’t make it. MORAL OF THE STORY? Not all dive centres have gone through the cuts and bruises necessary to understand the nature of diving in strong, unpredictable currents. So while going with the flow is an experienced diver’s mantra, be careful to wrap your fins around only those who intimately know how to touch the pleasure spots safely.……

TWICE AS NICE! Kebun Chris, Pemuteran Bali, Indonesia By Greet Meulepas It was the second of only two occasions that I have seen the twin-spot goby. One of my favourite goby species, they are so fascinating and fun to observe. They live in pairs and spend a lot of their time feeding by sifting sand and digging burrows. According to Anna DeLoach, who has recorded their behaviour on video, the female will seal the male inside a burrow together with her eggs. Some species of gobies that build their own spawning burrow also build a high mound over the entrance. This mound creates a faster water flow – a mini-current – and as such, helps to provide oxygen to the clutch of eggs inside the burrow. This couple was always…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5 (For experienced Open Water divers with excellent buoyancy control skills who are comfortable in strong surge currents) DIVE PROFILE: Depth 18m–6m, Dive time 45 mins to 1 hr CURRENT VELOCITY: 6 knots per hr (3m per sec) LOCATION: 10 kilometres southeast of Kirinda (southeast of Sri Lanka) GEAR: Apex reg Dive Rite Nomad Lite sidemount BCD SS Scuba Jet fins I AM AT a unique, strange, fearsome, wonderful place. Towering in front of me, like a rocket ship about to be launched to the stars, is a gleaming white lighthouse 37 metres high. The strangeness comes from the fact that I am 12 kilometres southeast from the coast of Sri Lanka (latter day Ceylon); far out at sea and in the middle of nowhere, where no…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5–8 DIVE PROFILE: Average 20m and maximum 40+m, visibility 15–30m, BT 45 min CURRENT VELOCITY: 4–8 knots per hour LOCATION: Tachai Pinnacle, Thailand GEAR: Hollis BCD/reg/mask SMB Reef hook Gull Super Mew fins SWAYING in all directions, I relaxed my body against the strong current while holding onto the rope, gazing into the blue. Some might equate it to doing a safety stop. However, these inert three minutes could bring about the most spectacular sighting, particularly when you are diving the Tachai Pinnacle, where any possible aquatic dwellers could turn up at any time – a huge school of barracuda that might decide to come really close, some playful mantas, or a rather Zen whale shark. Waiting as my computer started its countdown, I looked up; in…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5 DIVE PROFILE*: Depth in cave 12m, offshore 44m, Dive time: Multi-level dive 137 min LOCATION: Daniel Roux Cave, Christmas Island GEAR: Technisub Look mask APEKS XTX 100 reg SeaQuest PRO BCD Suunto D9 Sea Gods custom wetsuit Mares Avanti Quattro fins AFTER AN EXHAUSTING DAY OF EXPLORATION CAVE DIVING, I WAS SURPRISED BY THE UNEXPECTED QUIET. ISOLATED in the Indian Ocean, there remains an island outpost of ominous beauty. Christmas Island, now part of Australia’s National park system, has lush, green rainforests shrouding hundreds of cavernous voids, which contain exciting new discoveries for scientists and explorers. The National Geographic Society sent our expeditionary team, led by renowned explorer and cave biologist Dr Tom Iliffe, to search for life inside remote and challenging caves, both inland and…

Who’s up for driftin’? It’s a facet of diving that has not really been explored properly. So of course Asian Diver would be interested. Always bringing you adventures within the best region in the world for diving like no one else can, Asian Diver once again takes to the gloriously warm waters of the equator… and then goes with the flow. We take on the ripping currents and find out what it’s like to hang loose and coast along with the motion in the ocean. So take out those reefhooks (or not) and come glide with us down some of Asia’s best seascapes.Keep it real, keep it fun, keep it compelling... FOR CURRENT DIVING DOS AND DON’TS: SIMON PRIDMORE SIMON HAS BEEN AT THE SHARP END OF THE SCUBA DIVING…

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: 5–8 DIVE PROFILE: BT 55min, @27° C, Depth: 27 m CURRENT VELOCITY: Unable to measure LOCATION: Castle Rock and Crystal Rock, Komodo Island, Indonesia GEAR: Technisub Look mask APEKS XTX 100 reg SeaQuest PRO BCD Suunto D9 Sea Gods custom wetsuit Mares Avanti Quattro fins PLUNGING into Castle Rock or Crystal Rock in the sun-kissed Komodo Island, you would do well to make a quick descent to 20 or 25 metres. Currents here run fast and furious, but bring with them waters that harbour some of the most colourful marine life around. This is especially true of Castle Rock, where you might need to swim against the current to reach the slope where the action is. Head further north, east of the dive site, however, then do…

“A girl always likes to know if her man has her back,” Lulu whispered, as she handed Leonard some sunblock. Though rather sensual in application, Leonard knew this would never last… If you’re an experienced diver who understands the damage the sun can do to your skin, you’re probably a huge sunblock user. Mom would have probably nagged to never leave home without it, especially on dive trips to the best dive spots in the world – in Asia. Paradise is always ready year round, from the dramatic sun kissed islands of the Similans in January to the blessed idyllic tropics of the Maluku in September. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to step out into the gorgeous sun, lift your face against its healing warmth, close your eyes, take a deep…

SOME OF THE BEST MOMENTS are spent when the sun takes its final bow for the day and disappears behind the horizon. The rather familiar feeling returns and we are again reminded of why we dive. It is a diver’s dream to make cosy on one of Tioman’s beachfront mainstays, the Berjaya Tioman Resort. Set amidst miles of palm-fringed beach, with clear waters rich in marine life, and surrounded by misty mountains and lush tropical rainforest, the resort provides a haven from bustling city life and serves up generous portions of sun, sea, surf and sand on the largest island in a volcanic group off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Chilling at the Berjaya Tioman Resort’s Beach Bar, there’s no better feeling than having a blast recollecting the day’s…