Discover the beauty of the underwater world of Curaçao… encounter all kind of creatures…
Awareness.
Awareness is something we teach all our divers. During your Discover Scuba Dive, your open water dive course or your guided dives you might encounter a turtle or two. Look at this movie and see our divers enjoy their encounter with these amazing animals. Awareness in this case means there are a couple of facts you should know when you are diving in a spot with turtles
What to do/not to do?
Don’t chase them! When you stay calm and relaxed, and even make eye contact with the turtle he will let you come pretty close so you can observe or make a great photo.
Turtles need to go to the surface to breathe, so when you see a turtle trying to go up leave him alone. He will breathe a couple of times and come back down.
Don’t touch them! The bacterias we carry with us on our skin might give the turtle a disease. Besides this you only scare them away.
Don’t feed them, let them find their own food. If they get used to being fed by divers/snorkelers they will stop trying to find their own food. When they get really hungry they might mistake your finger for a snack.
Did you know PADI offers a Project Aware specialty concerning turtles? If you love turtles you might want to look into this specialty, might be just the thing for you.
Here on Curaçao we usually see the Green turtle and the Hawksbill turtle. The Green turtle we often find shallower, looking for beds of seagrass. The Hawksbill we see more on the reef itself, scraping algae of the corals. From time to time turtles also nest on Curaçao. So if you’re very, very, very lucky you might see some tiny turtles hatching from their eggs and finding their way to the ocean.
We are still waiting for that precious moment, would love to see this ourselves. Until then we just enjoying observing turtles and teaching you about them during our dives.
Different view on a Fullface mask (IDM) from Oceanreef, seen through the eyes of a frogfish :-))
What is going on over there this frogfish must have been thinking! I’m used to see divers looking at me with a mask on and a regulator in his/her mouth. But these 2 divers have their face covered completely and nothing in their mouth. How do they breath?
Well, Rob and his Advanced Open water student where doing the Fullface mask or Integrated Dive Mask dive. What a different feeling it is to be able to dive whilst breathing through your mouth and nose, whatever you prefer. No water coming in the mask (no matter how hard you try, it’s really difficult to get water in), no fogging of the mask. Even hanging upside down it stays comfortable.
Another plus is that you have a wider view with the Fullface mask.
After doing a couple of exercises necessary to use the IDM correctly Rob and his student had a great dive in which they observed the cute yellow frogfish walking, swam with turtles and looked at a squid for quite a long time. Again something different, squids usually are quite shy and stay a bit further away.
We are very enthusiastic about diving with IDM, it gives us different possibilities. For certain when we set it up with a communication device later this year. Think about the ease it will give when you try to communicate during a wreck dive for instance. Or just to share your enthusiasm about creatures you see underwater.
Do you want to have a different experience yourself and try the full face mask or IDM? Contact us so we can schedule a Fullface introduction dive or even the Fullface specialty course. Already a certified Fullface mask diver? Let us take you on a guided dive then!
Peak Performance Buoyancy, oder Perfekter Tarierung, das ist was die Leute in dieser Film geübt haben. Noch nicht so einfach, wie ihr sehen könnt. Dieser Tauchgang kann mann als Teil von Advanced Open Water Kurs machen, oder als separate Specialty.
Während dieser Tauchgang wird mann sich bewust von alles was am Körper ist während ein Tauchgang. Die Flasche am Rücken, die Instrumente die mehr oder weniger frei hangen, Kameras etc. Aber auch wie mann mit Atmung Tarierung beeinflussen kann.
Gut zu lernen wenn mann darüber denkt Wracktauchgänge oder Höhlentauchgänge zu machen, aber auch sehr gut für die Taucher die gerne Fotografieren unter wasser.
Superior Producer ist Wrack das genau vor Willemstad gesunken ist und auf ein Tiefe von 32 Meter liegt. Deshalb ist dieser Tauchgang nur für Advanced Open Water Taucher geeignet. Dieses Mal haben wir den Tauchgang gemacht mit 2 erfahrener Rescue Taucher und 2 AOW-Studenten.
Zuerst haben wir schon ein Tieftauchgang für AOW-Kurs gemacht, an ein anderem Tag. Dieser Tauchgang soll mann immer zuerst machen im Kurs, um zu sehen ob mann empfindlich ist für Gasnarkosis, oder Tiefenrausch. Wenn, dann ist es nicht klug zum Superior zu tauchen. Aber wenn nicht, dan ist den Weg frei um ab zu tauchen in die Geschichte und das Wrack zu besuchen!
Referral dives, what are those? When you do the pool sessions of the Open Water course and the theoretical part at home already you can choose to do the last 4 open water dives during your vacation. These dives are called referral dives. During these dives you repeat the exercises you already did in the pool once, so you already know you can do it. And afterwards you make a fun tour along the reef.
This mother and son did their referral dives with us last week and today joined us once more for a guided dive. They greeted Neptune and saw a lot of turtles during this dive.
Did you already start your Open water course at home and are you thinking about finishing your course on Curaçao? Contact us for more information! Petricia always answers your e-mails as soon as she can!
Longlure frogfishes are the most common seen frogfishes here on Curaçao, but even then it’s just occasionally. This specific one in the movie was filmed last Saturday during a guided dive. An extremely beautiful one, white with bright red markings and lips just like a little clown. Sadly when I went back to film some more yesterday there was no frogfish to be found anymore so this is all you get to see of it :-))
Luckily I know a spot where a tiny black one lives, so hopefully I will see a longlure frogfish later this week. Because they are so very well camouflaged it’s not easy to find them. You can imagine it’s a challenge to spot a new one, and when we do we can easily spend the remainder of our tank just looking at it and observing.
What does the reef fish identification book tell us about the longlure Frogfish?
Distinctive features: Numerous dark spots over body, some of which are occasionally ringed in white. Three spots on tail can usually be observed.
Description: Long, undivided whitish translucent filament, called a lure, just above lip. Large variety of color phases, including shades of deep red, white, pink, orange, yellow, green and tan. (see our pinterest page for all colors we already found!) Can change color, pale or darken to match background.
Abundance and distribution: Common to occasional to Florida, Caribbean, rare Bahamas (but seldom seen because the longlure frogfish has excellent ability to camouflage); also Bermuda and Brazil.
Habitat and Behavior: Inhabit reef tops. Often rest on look-a-like sponges, and usually go undetected unless they move.
Reaction to divers: Longlure frogfish apparently relies on camouflage, do not move unless molested.
Though we can never guarantee we will see any kind of creature, longlure frogfish, seahorse, turtle and so on, we will definitely be looking for beautiful things to show you during a guided dive. So contact us to schedule yours!
Last week Rob and Fred made a beautiful dive on the wreck Superior Producer, the most beautiful wreck in the Caribbean. If you want to do a dive on Superior Producer yourself it’s recommendable to do this dive as a guided dive. The wreck is not pointed out by a buoy, and entree from shore can be ‘adventurous’ if you don’t know exactly where to enter the water and what you’re doing.
Rob knows exactly where it is safest to enter and will help you get into the water safely and fast, after a which a beautiful dive on Superior Producer will be made. Of course Rob also helps you out of the water in a safely manner again.
Superior Producer is a deep dive, so only available for divers with an Advanced Open water certification and divers who have done the Deep Dive specialty.
The wreck used to be a cargo ship, which sank just after leaving the harbor because it wasn’t loaded correctly. It lies horizontally on the ocean floor and is fully covered with corals and sponges. A lot of small creatures, like shrimps and bearded fire worms, live on the outside of the wreck. Often moray eels and tarpons are spotted near and in the wreck, and occasionally a turtle.
Also eager to visit this wreck? Contact us to ask for more information or make a reservation for a guided dive. Not yet Advanced Open water certified? We can help you with that too! Providing the mandatory deep dive of the Advanced Open water course went well, without nitrogen narcosis etc. you can choose to do the wreck dive as one of the three optional dives. Navigation is a mandatory dive as well.
We hope to welcome you in our dive center any time soon, so we can do this great dive with you as well. Until then you can enjoy this movie!
Deep diving is something you only do if there’s a good reason for it, as you’ve been taught in the Advanced Open water course. For instance a wreck, or something else you really want to get a chance to see. If there’s no reason to go deep, then don’t, just stay a bit shallower where it’s more colorful and where there is so much more to enjoy.
Diving deep makes you empty your tank faster and brings more risks. Some people are sensitive for Nitrogen Narcosis for instance, and when you do not pay attention to your instruments and computer the risk of making a Deco-dive is higher as well.
Last week Rob made a deep dive into the past, together with Fred. Together they dove to Car pile, to take a look at the car wrecks you can find over there. The best wrecks are scattered over the ocean floor at a depth deeper then 30 meters, so also divers with only the Advanced Open water certification can not dive here without an instructor as a guide. For this dive you need to have done the Deep Diver specialty first, which allows you to go to 40 meters maximum, the maximum depth in sport diving. Rob and Fred both dove with their own dive computer (no sharing!) and followed the instructions of the computer so the both came back from this dive healthily and in a safe way.
Enjoy the car wrecks and little boat wreck in this movie! If afterwards you think: ‘I want to experience this for myself’, then stop by our dive center and let us inform you on the Deep Diver specialty!
The Deep Dive specialty consists of 4 dives and certifies you to dive to a max. depth of 40 meters, as told above. You will practice your dive skills, so we are sure you are a confident and safe diver.
Curaçao has a couple of great dive sites for deep diving, where there’s actually a lot of cool stuff to see!
Ein Tieftauchgang machen Sie nur wenn es wirklich ein Grund gibt tief zu gehen, wie Sie im Advanced Open Water Kurs gelernt haben. Es kann zum Beispiel ein Wrack geben, oder etwas anderes spezielles was Sie sich ansehen möchten. Wenn kein Grund dafür ist bleibt mann besser ein wenig untiefer, da sind die Farben schöner und ist mehr zu sehen. Tief tauchen bringt mehr Risikos mit sich. So kann es sein das mann empfindlich ist für Stickstoff Narkose, und wenn mann nicht ganz gut auf sein Tauchkomputer und Instrumente achtet kann mann auch im Deco-Bereich kommen.
Gestern haben Rob und Fred ein Tieftauchgang in die Geschichte gemacht. Sie sind zusammen zum Carpile getaucht um sich die schöne Autowracks an zu sehen. Weil die Wracks tiefer liegen als 30 Meter, also aussen Advanced Open Water Bereich kann mann dieser Tauchgang nur machen wenn Sie zertifiziert Tieftaucher sind. Fred und Rob haben beide mit Tauchkomputer getaucht und die Instruktionen von Komputer genau gefolgt damit die beiden sicher und gesund wieder am Oberfläche gekommen sind.
Genießen Sie in dieser kleiner Film von die Autowracks und das Wrack von Schiff! Wenn Sie nachdem denken: ‘Ich möchte dieser Tauchgang selber machen’, kommen Sie dann bei uns vorbei um sich informieren zu lassen über der Tieftaucher Specialty!
Tieftaucher specialty umfasst 4 Tauchgänge und Sie sind nach dieser Tauchgänge zertifiziert nach 40 Meter ab zu tauchen. Während der Kurs werden verschiedene Tauchfähigkeiten geübt damit Sie so sicher möglich tauchen. Sie lernen ein sicherer Ab-und Aufstieg zu machen auch wenn Sie nur ‘ins Blaue’ sehen können usw.
Es gibt hier auf Curaçao einige schöne Tauchstellen wo mann ein schöner Tieftauchgang machen kann und wo es dann auch noch etwas zu sehen gibt!
Wir reden gerne mit Sie und zeigen Sie die Möglichkeiten. Kommen Sie einfach vorbei oder schicken Sie ein E-mail, wir schreiben immer so schnell wie möglich zurück!
Während Open Water Kurs machen wir nicht nur Übungen und Theorie, wir zeigen Sie auch weshalb tauchen soviel spaß macht! Jeden Tauchgang fangen wir mit Übungen an, denn die sind wichtig, aber sicher so wichtig ist auch den ‘Funtour’. Wir tauchen dann das Reef entlang und schauen uns die schöne Unterwasserwelt an. Es gibt so vieles zu sehen und zu entdecken!
Manchmal finden wir dann auch etwas das ganz schwierig als Fisch zu erkennen ist, wie in dieser Film. Ein kleiner schwarzer Froschfisch!
Kongratuliere Florian und Alina, ihr habt den Kurs jetzt beendet und seid jetzt Open Water Taucher! Wir sehen uns bald wieder für mehr Open Water Spaß!
Geführte Tauchgänge sind ideal für die Taucher die nicht auf Navigation achten dürfen und die darauf vertrauen das die Tauchbasen die schönste Tauchplätzen kennen und genau wissen wo zum Beispiel Schildkröte zu finden sind. Garantie gibt es nie, das ist logisch. Dieses Mal hatten wir viel Glück und sahen wir mehrere Schildkröten zusammen. Wenigstens 8 haben wir gesehen, von ganz kleine bis zum riesigen! Wenn wir darauf achten nicht zu rasch naher an zu kommen, Augen Kontakt zu machen und die Schildkröten die Möglichkeit lassen weg zu gehen wenn die möchten können wir ganz na daran kommen. Wunderschön die zu beobachten. Jedes Mal wieder ein Geschenk!
Möchten Sie auch gerne mal so etwas erleben? Machen Sie ein geführte Tauchgang mit uns und wir versprechen ein schönen Tauchgang!
Relaxed Guided Dives
Martha Koosje 10 Curacao
Phone: +5999-8687710
Phone: +5999-5289277
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.relaxed-guided-dives.com
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