Scuba Diving in Arizona's desert

On November 6, 2007 people from City of Mesa, Arizona by vast majority vote to approve Proposition 300, which basically is green light for the city's expenditure of public funds, tax concessions and grant of city-owned land to aid in the construction of the Waveyard Project. The Waveyard will be a huge water park that will offer surf-sized waves, snorkeling, scuba diving and kayaking.

The focus of this development project will be delivering sports options that are not typically available in an urban environment. The 125-acre park will feature a scuba lagoon and a snorkeling pond with reefs. Scuba diving in The Sunken City will be the main attraction in the scuba diving lagoon featuring ruins and ancient relics, encrusted stone walls, colonnades, stone arches, coral, and plants will highlight your diving experience. You won’t find any fish in The Sunken City so don’t bring you harpoon.

The diving facility will have a dive shop with the latest diving equipment, classroom training, open water dive courses, classes in underwater video and photography, dry suit training, rescue diver courses, and diver medical courses. One proposed service of this dive shop that I found unique is that they will offer you the opportunity to demo or rent the latest wetsuits and diving gear.

According to the developer “The Sunken City will also play host to fiber optic night dives, scuba parties, and corporate team building events”. I don’t know you but I am having a hard time trying to imagine a “scuba party”!

This place will open to the public in 2010.

Shoo Shark Shoo

Two weeks ago the company Shark Shield made the public announcement of their new electronic shark deterrent systems product line. These devices are the next generation in shark attack prevention systems based on the not so old PODs (Protective Oceanic Device) designed to be used by scuba divers, snorkelers and surfers.

The unit, according to the manufacturer creates an elliptical field that surrounds the user with an electric shield up to eight meters in diameter. I think this is a neat mechanism to prevent shark attacks. The Shark Shield will only deter sharks, rays and skates; it will not affect any other animals so, you can enjoy underwater photography or underwater video without disturbing the star of your movie or picture. By the way, it will not scare any seahorses or jellyfishes! :-)

The Shark Shield uses three-dimensional electronic waves that create muscular spasms and discomfort in the Ampullae of Lorenzini, one of the main the sensing organs of the sharks. These sensors are capable of detecting with accuracy electric fields, voltage and temperature in the water. What an incredible technology, no? I am referring to the shark’s sensors!

For almost US$600, this device can save you from one the worst underwater nightmares: a shark attack. An increasing number of companies and divers are buying this protective system for work or recreational purposes. Prevention and safety are good things, but also is good to know that a representative of the manufacturer said that the device worked 90% of the time repelling sharks, but it is not very effective when sharks are in an extremely agitated state.

In any case, there is always risk involved when diving with sharks.

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Scuba Diving and Fitness

Frequently, some of my friends and people interested in scuba diving asked me if it is ok to scuba dive if you are overweight or not the best fan of moving a single muscle. I am not a doctor or sports trainer to make an assessment if they are in good shape or not, so I always avoid saying yes or no. I am convinced that scuba diving, as any other sport, requires that you have at least some degree of physical preparation.

I have found that there is the erroneous idea that it doesn’t matter your physical condition to practice scuba diving or snorkeling. We, novice and experienced scuba divers, spend a lot of time researching scuba diving equipment, until we find the best design, technology and security features. And all this is ok, if we think that these are accessories that will support the scuba diving engine, our body.

In general terms, my recommendation is to establish a simple but effective workout routine, something achievable. For a beginner scuba diver, I will say start at the treadmill, after some weeks switch to running and then swimming. For somebody who is used to do some kind of exercise, maybe a combination of running, swimming and light weightlifting. For veteran divers who do some kind of exercise on a regular basis, on top of all these suggested training options, I will suggest some days only for abs and legs combined with stretching. After some weeks, you will notice that you feel great and your scuba diving experience is better now, the reason: your body is in better shape. You can dive more time; consume less oxygen and move faster than ever in the water, and…you will have less calf cramps for sure!

Be aware that these are only general ideas; always consult a professional prior to start any training program.

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Scuba Diving Exotic Place – Coco Island and Costa Rica

The Coco Island is located at 373 miles (600km) southwest of Cabo Blanco in the Pacific Ocean. The official name in Spanish is “Isla del Coco” and is also referred as “Cocos Island”. The Coco Island is a National Park where you can find more that two hundred species of fish, more than fifteen coral types, and what I consider the main attraction, more than ten types of sharks, from including hammerheads to whale sharks.

Have you ever seen a wall of fish? These living walls are formed by schools of fish. The Coco Island is one amazing place where you can scuba dive and at the same time see something unique, like a large group of hammerhead sharks, the Coco Island offers not only great scuba diving spots but also a variety of above the water activities for your after scuba hours.

Another interesting thing about Costa Rica is that you have access to endless diving spots in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, some of the best places for scuba diving are: Murcielago Islands, Coco Beach, Samara, Cabo Blanco, Montezuma, Tortuga Island, Quepos, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo.

In general, Costa Rica’s beaches are quiet places, but just in case you decide to swim instead of scuba dive, you have to be careful at the following beaches: Bonita, Cahuita National Park (Costa Rica’s most beautiful coral reef), and Barranca, since there are no lifeguards and these beaches have strong rip currents (riptides). Remember if you get trapped in a rip current, do not fight it, your best option to get out of this situation is to swim parallel to the shoreline.

Scuba Diving and Snorkeling with Sea Lions in Peru

I did both, Scuba Diving and Snorkeling, many years ago and I can tell you that were awesome experiences! The younger sea lions are friendly and playful animals, while the older are not that friendly, they are not dangerous but a hit could hurt you if they decide to ‘play’ with you, considering the size of this animals, length 8’ 6” and weight 1000 lbs.

As scuba divers, sometimes we look for some kind of interactivity while diving, this is the perfect time to try to do something and get a response. If you have nightmares about sharks biting you, try scuba diving with sea lions! These animals, as I mentioned like to play with the new element in the water, you, the scuba diver. So, don’t be scared if you see one of them coming at lightning speed, for sure he wants to play with you. As a side note, they eat fish, squid, and octopus mainly; and will bite only if provoked. Never try to approach a beached sea lion.

There are many places in the world where you can try this. I did scuba diving and snorkeling during some day trips to Palomino Islands and San Lorenzo Island, the largest island in front of the coast of Lima, Peru’s capital.

My recommendation is that if you are going to practice scuba diving for the first time around this animals or any animal (except crabs, starfishes and seahorsesJ) always, always go with somebody that is familiar with the area and the behavior of the animals.

San Lorenzo Island and Palomino islands location: Lima, Peru
Latitude = -12.1092, Longitude = -77.1927
Lat = 12 degrees, 6.5 minutes South
Long = 77 degrees, 11.6 minutes West

If you are interested, once you are in Lima, Peru you can call or visit some travel agencies in the financial District of San Isidro or in the touristic district of Miraflores, for sure they will help you to book guided tours or boats with scuba diving equipment. If you know very well the Callao port area, you can go directly to the Callao port or La Punta and try to get a boat, I do not recommend this option, but it is up to you.

Do you have any similar scuba diving or snorkeling experiences with animals?