You’ve probably heard me
mention Larry Smith before.
Because he’s one of the best
divemasters in the business, I’m
always interested in what Larry is
up to. This time he’s setting up a
live-aboard operation that will move
all over Indonesia. My picks would
be the Banda Sea or Komodo tours;
however, because of reports of
rioting in Ambon, some schedules
and departure cities may change.
For more info on Larry’s new
operation, Sea Contacts: 011-62-
361-725430, Fax: 011-62-361-725431
or http://www.seacontacts.com
The Solomon Islands are
another great dive destination, and
the Aggressor folks were taking
bookings on a new Solomons
Aggressor that definitely sounded
promising. Before booking,
however, I’d make sure the boat
had all its permits in place, as this
area has a history of making it
difficult for new operators to
acquire the necessary live-aboard
permits. For more info: 800-348-
2628 or 504-385-2628 or http://www.aggressor.com
The Undersea Hunter, which
normally plies the waters off Cocos
Island, Costa Rica, has been
chartered by a mystery man for an
entire two-month period just so he
can sail and dive the South Pacific with a friend this year. While there,
the Hunter will also be offering a
few spots for those of us who aren’t
fortunate enough to move in such
circles. One trip is to start in the
Marquesas and Nuku Hiva and
continue on down through the
Tuamotus, finishing at Rangiroa.
While the diving lacks the species
diversity found in many other areas
of the Pacific, the adventure and
charm of the south Pacific is a
strong lure. It will probably also be
good shark diving, especially in the
current runs into the atoll. For
more on Sea Ventures and the
Undersea Hunter: 800-203-2120 or
506-228 6535, Fax 506-289-7334 or
http://www.underseahunter.com
Two new resorts were touting
imminent openings on the southern
coast of Mexico’s Yucatan
Peninsula. Both are planning to
open in February or March and say
they will be diving Chinchorro
Banks, an excellent diving area that
few divers have had the privilege of
exploring. The eighty-room Fiesta
Americana, operating under the
name of The Explorean, appears to
be aiming toward the high end of
the marketing spectrum with its
new soft-adventure package. Word
is that the Dive House on Cozumel
will be running their dive operation.
See:
http://www.theexplorean.com or 1-
877-EXPLORE
The second resort in the area,
Maya Ha, has a capacity of about 50
divers and appears to be focusing
specifically on dive travel. For more
info, see:
http://www.mayaharesort.com
If the Niños or Niñas aren’t
messing with the waters around
Kiribati (Christmas Island), the
water temperature runs around 82
to 84 degrees. But it’s La Niña now,
and Undercurrent readers Mac
McInnis and Mary Kay Millhouse
(Richmond VA) reported a cool 72
degrees on their November trip.
The corals that took a beating in
the heat of last year’s El Niño are
bouncing back, and the reefs are
looking good, as is the fish and
critter life. They report “a zillion
endemic reef fish, octopus on every
dive ranging from the size of a
volleyball to that of a basketball, turtles, rays — about the only thing
we didn’t see was a whale shark.”
I also have it from reliable
sources that there are a few dives
(although Dive Kiribati’s owner,
Kim Andersen, doesn’t much like
to do them) where you can jump
into rough-and-tumble whitewater
with large and aggressive reef
sharks for some dramatic photo
ops. Prices are still a bit steep to get
here, but this is a Pacific destination
that’s only three hours from
Hawaii. Contact: 800-245-1950 or
724-935-1577, Fax 724-935-5388 or
http://www.frontierstrvl.com
Back in our April issue, we took
an insider’s look at Grand
Cayman’s dive operations. One of
the operations we recommended
on the East End was Ocean Frontiers.
Ocean Frontiers has since
fired its entire staff, reportedly
replacing them with divers straight
out of ProDive’s instructor school. I consider the East End some of the
best diving that Grand Cayman has
to offer, and Ocean Frontiers may
already be back to its former
standard, but I’m taking it off our
recommended list until we collect
new information. Contact: 947-
7500 phone or fax.
A couple Canadians have
bought the Club Caribe on South
Caicos. The old Club Caribe had a
lot of problems producing what
they were selling, a fact that
apparently escaped the new owners
until they showed up at DEMA and
heard it from everyone. The new
owners of the property, now called
Ocean Haven, are offering twodive-
a-day packages with accommodations
(24 rooms) and meals for
around $800 a week. I hope the
new version works, as I consider the
walls out in front of South Caicos
excellent diving. I still hold on to
the memory of a squadron of 20
eagle rays in V formation I spotted
cruising the deep walls.
The direct contact number on
Caicos is 649-946-3444 or fax 649-
946-3446. In Canada, call 905-898-
0982 for phones or faxes, or log on
to Ocean Haven’s website: http://www.southcaicosoceanhaven.com
The Oceanus, a live-aboard
departing from Cozumel and diving
Cuba, Chinchorro, and Alacrán,
announced through an e-mail at
the end of January that it had
ceased operation and all trips had
been canceled. Hortas Jose Antonio
of Oceanus told me deposits were
being returned on a first in/first
out basis. Reader Frank Farmer has
received his full refund, but like
others he will have to eat airline
charges for ticket changes and look
for a new destination.
— John Q. Trigger