Thursday 29 August 2013

Ocean Art Photography Competition

The deadline is coming up for the 2013 Ocean Art Photography Competition!

So if you fancy yourself as a bit of an underwater paparazzi then now is your chance to shine!

There are categories for every camera and experience level and over $75,000 in prizes!

For more details and entry forms check out the official website here

GOOD LUCK!!!

Thursday 15 August 2013

Its all happening...

Well here we are, slap bang in the middle of the high season!

Its busy, its hot and the diving is as beautiful as ever.

This week we have been to all our usual spots and ventured a little further than usual for us, up to Llado Sur.

There are two rock out crops just off the coast from Roca Llisa.

Well worth the visit if your planning on diving here with us soon.!

Here are some shots of the last weeks discover scuba divers, Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses and of course fun divers!

We will be posting some details soon of the PADI Speciality courses that we are offering this summer so stay tuned....


























Saturday 3 August 2013

Friend or Foe?

The scourge of of the ocean? No, not really.

Actually as important as any other animal in the food chain and the marine environment.


Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...



After reading an article on the website of the Guardian we thought it best to balance the story a little.

The article does give some valid points as to why we are seeing jellies in such large numbers, over fishing, global warming, the same muted facts that never seem to change anything.

The worst part is the section on jellyfish sting prevention which tells the reader to use more suncream as this prevents the venom from penetrating the skin! Whilst that may be true its really not a good idea to be adding to environmental damage by filling the seas with slicks of suncream which is highly toxic to many of the delicate marine life.

Best prevention would be to where wetsuits, skin suits or rash guards.

One point the article barely touches on is the decline of turtles. The Mediterranean used to be home to three species, the Green, Loggerhead and Leatherback.

All three species are in sharp decline for the same reasons plus the fact that the seas are now full of plastic which the turtles mistake for jellyfish and eat them, suffocate and or drown.

Just another story of too little too late for the marine environment. The problem is that things people can't see, they generally don't care about.
If we can get more people interested in diving and snorkelling and help them to understand the threats and learn how easy these problems can be reversed the world would be a much more harmonious place!

Here is a link to the article and also a link to Litterati which is a website set up in conjunction with Instagram to record and remove trash and rubbish from the planet.

Litterati

Jellyfish article


Get involved, take part and do your bit!

Friday 2 August 2013

Not customers but friends...

Working in the dive industry we are always meeting new people who pass through, have fun, we say goodbye and more new people arrive.

Not so with the Connollys!

We first met Martyn, Karen and James in Menorca 2007 when they came back to their favourite holiday destination Cala Galdana.
Nothing much had changed except that the dive centre had new owners, Isa and Karl.

The new name was Sea Gypsy Divers which may have made them a bit apprehensive at first!


After a few dives in the pool with James who at the time was to young to start a course, the guys became good friends and as we used to have bbq's throughout the summer, we invited them along and they slowly became part of the Family!

Included in our family style centre were our Captain, Isa's cousin, Nano, Laura, Nano's wife and their son Nicolas.




The Connollys came back to Cala Galdana year after year and the friendship grew and it was always something to look forward to each season. One season they all came back three times during the summer! 

Isa and Karl sold the dive centre at the end of 2008 and we headed off once more into the deep blue yonder.

After a while they ended up in the Maldives and were still in touch with Martyn, Karen and James. They had been back to Cala Galdana and had a great time but James was now of the age where he could take his Open Water course and he had asked if he could do it with Isa and Karl.

Ok, so if that is going to happen its going to happen in the Maldives! A while later the Connollys were greeted off the boat at Thulaghiri by Isa and Karl, half way round the planet and we were all together again!

James completed the Open Water course and allot of fun was had by all. Even if they had the weirdest waiter in the world, Mohamed. (which was not his name, he just used to tell people that so that when they complained, the managers didn't know who they were talking about!)






So that was a few years ago and since then Isa and Karl have been travelling around and here we are now in Ibiza at Somni Blau. Martyn, Karen and James have been back to Menorca a few times to dive and also to see Nano, Laura and Nicolas who are still there running his own boat charter visiting the beautiful calas of the south coast. (if your heading to Menorca its a must!) check it out here

Once again the guys decided to try something new and came to Ibiza this week!

Martyn and James dived almost every day while Karen was relaxing at the hotel. We have been really busy this week so only managed to have dinner once but its great to see them all again!





The moral of the story?

There isn't one really. Its just a great feeling to realise how lucky you can be in this industry.
Not only do we get to work at something that is a passion, but we sometimes come across good people who become great friends.

Thank you guys to make the effort so many times to find us wherever we are in the world!







Wednesday 31 July 2013

That was July! Transitions into August...

As we say goodbye to July we look forward to August...! Its been a month of hard work, ups and downs and very busy! We say goodbye to Rob and Michel, who are leaving on new adventures and we wish them all the luck in the world! We welcome Julie, from France who we met in Thailand and soon to arrive, Jonatan & Marie from Sweden who were also working with us in Thailand last winter. Great people and and very professional, welcome to Ibiza! Here are some pics of them and the last couple of days here at Somni Blau!

Shots from Thailand...
Marie
Marie
Marie & Jon
Jon
Jon
Julie with Isa & Bern
Julie
Julie, Isa & Bern

Shots from the last few days...