GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of April 22

Posted by Adrienne Wilson on April 27, 2007

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Scuba Diving, Festivals and Events, Asia, North America, Oceania, China, United States

Time to catch up on some of what you may have missed over the week... Without delay let's hop right to it!

5. Write for Wend:
Here is your chance to get your travel writing out there and into a new glossy. Don't save all those adventure tales for the grandkids - write for Wend and share them with us all.

4. 24 Hours of Flickr:
This May 5th Flickr is calling all around the world to photograph their daily routine and submit one single great photo from the day for an event/project called 24 Hours of Flickr. While something like such has been done before, it is still awesome to participate in if you haven't before and love the Flickr community.

3. Environmentalist Greats Tour:
Heal the world and make it a better place - Yes? Then why not head out on one of these mean-green-eco-machine type tours... Okay, they aren't mean, but you get the picture.

2. Underwater Post Offices and Mailboxes Around the World:
I have a hard enough time finding a post office on land and I'm not one of the greatest swimmers, so going underwater to mail off a package isn't quite my thing. For those who do love exploring the ocean fully clad in scuba gear and discovering new exotic creatures (like underwater mailboxes) please send me a little something when you're down there. I'd appreciate it.

1. A Canadian In Beijing: Two-Wheeled Matrimony:
Ember doesn't stop does she? In fact she recently found a bike to keep her going and going in the land where bicycles almost totally rule the road. See what's happening in Beijing now that she has her first set of wheels.

 

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Pacific Reef Fish Photo Gallery

Posted by About.com Scuba Diving on April 27, 2007 Have you ever wondered what kind of fish you would see while scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean? The reefs in the Pacific Ocean are among the world's best and...

How To Stop a Runaway Ascent

Posted by About.com Scuba Diving on April 24, 2007 A runaway ascent is one of the few frightening things that could happen while scuba diving. If you lose control of you buoyancy during ascent you risk injury. Here’s how...

Underwater Post Offices and Mailboxes Around the World

Posted by Willy Volk on April 23, 2007

Filed under: Scuba Diving

With the proliferation of WiFi and cell phones, does anybody mail postcards anymore? I haven't gotten one in years, so I assume the answer is "no." If, however, on your next trip you decide that you not only want to send a postcard, but you want to do something unique, why not send a card from an underwater mailbox? Though not common, there are five underwater mailboxes for you to visit:

1. Vanuatu Post created the world's first underwater post office. Situated within a marine sanctuary off Hideaway Island, this post office, staffed by a postal employee, can receive mail if you are a visiting diver or snorkeler. The best part? The lines are always short.
2. On Japan's southeastern coast, there's a mailbox 33 feet beneath the surface of the water -- the deepest mailbox on record. Each day, the contents are collected from the box, which reportedly contains as many as 200 pieces of mail. Conveniently, the group who developed this post office also invented Surumail: edible, squid-flavored postcards.
3. Malaysia's Reef Dive Resort has set up what it believes to be that country's first underwater mailbox. Any mail sent through this mailbox is sealed inside a plastic bag and postmarked with a special stamp.
4. St. Thomas, USVI, has an underwater post office inside its Underwater Observatory, which means you can get the "underwater stamp" without getting "underwater wet."
5. Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, boasts an underwater mailbox adjacent to a spiraling 100-foot tower.

I'd love to get a postcard sent from an underwater mailbox. The first person to send me one gets an Amazon gift certificate worth 10 times the amount of the postage.

 

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Shortfin Mako Shark May Set New Class Record

Posted by About.com Scuba Diving on April 20, 2007 Fishermen recently caught a shortfin mako shark weighing 1,063 pounds and measuring over 12 feet long in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida. The catch is eligible for the...

Scuba Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies Book Review

Posted by About.com Scuba Diving on April 18, 2007 Scuba Diving & Snorkeling For Dummies is an entertaining and easy to understand book by John Newman. The book is great for new divers, those thinking of being certified, and...

Undersea Eatery

Posted by Erik Olsen on April 18, 2007

Filed under: Scuba Diving, Oceania, Maldives

I caught news about this cool restaurant in the Maldives at first over at this blog, and I was getting all giddy over the post heralding a "all new undersea restaurant". Then I realized that the blog post was dated in 2005, so I had to rewrite things.

But I am still going to post about the restaurant because I have to say it's really cool. I literally just left the Atlanta Aquarium and was blown away by some of the huge walk-in aquariums. Whale sharks swam overhead! But to sit and have dinner, perhaps a lightly baked fish, with the ocean and sea life overhead, well, that'd be great. Not to mention how cool to be in the Maldives, said to be the location of some of the best diving on the globe. So if you're planning a trip to these islands before they disappear under the waves due to global warming, check out the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, and then let us know what you think.

 

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World’s Best Active Beaches

Posted by Willy Volk on April 4, 2007

Filed under: Paddling, Scuba Diving, Surfing

Living in South Florida, we head to the beach a lot. I love relaxing on the sand, in the sun, with a beer on one side, a dog on the other, and a magazine with lots of pictures in front of me. Occasionally, I gaze out at the paragliders and envy them their active lifestyles. Then, I take a long, slow sip of my cold drink and remember why I came to the beach. Yes... relaxing on the sand is wonderful.

If you're among the people who thinks cooling it on the sand is boring, and you're rather get up and DO something, you need to check out Concierge's list of 11 Totally Active Beaches and their attendant activities, which includes:

• Scuba diving in Turks & Caicos
• Kiteboarding in Essaouira, Morocco
• Sea Kayaking in San Blas Islands, Panama
• Surfing in Bali, Indonesia
• Hiking in Washington State
• Mountain biking in Dominica
• Sailing in Captiva Island, Florida
• Fly fishing in Isla Holbox, Mexico
• Golf in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Wakeboarding/Waterskiing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Tennis in Kiawah Island, South Carolina

To the list, I'd like to include whale watching in Hermanus, South Africa. Although it sounds passive, it can be a very active endeavor.

 

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Look Honey! It’s Diver Jack!

Posted by DiveBuddy.com on April 3, 2007 My aquarium dive buddy Tim and I were walking back to our cars after "performing" our feeding show at the Seattle Aquarium today. I worked comms and topside support as I had wanged my eye with a strobe cord yesterday (don’t ask), nothing serious, but no diving for a couple of days. Tired and laden with wet gear I suddenly heard a woman in very excited tones say, "Oh look, it’s Diver Jack! Honey, it’s Diver Jack. May we take your picture?" Huh? Me??? What’d I do?? Diver Jack is my stage name. We now do feeding shows, talking to the audience, taking questions and showing off the wolf eels and animals when we feed them. The wolfies are my pets and will sit on my head to eat squid. We use full-face Aga masks and comms with surface-supplied air. As part of that, we wave to the crowd, talk to kids, and get people involved, so that we can impart a conservation message. But I never thought I’d have groupies! My groupie was cute as a bug, pretty in pink, and about 3 years old. Very excited, Mom asked to take my picture with her daughter Gretchen. I taught Gretchen how to make an "ok" sign. She was so excited she could hardly talk. So was I. They promised to come to other shows, and it seemed we had both made our afternoons. [ This is an external blog. Read complete blog here... ]...

The DigiDivers Do Keystone!

Posted by DiveBuddy.com on April 3, 2007 I had the great pleasure of finally meeting and diving with Jan Kocian, aka "Honza" at his favorite local spot, Keystone Jetty, where one of the ferries comes in on Whidbey island, here in Puget Sound. Our club dives there on and off as conditions can be tricky, it is very open to the wind and currents can be strong and un-predictable, even at slack. Even so, it is a very popular state park with great facilities, hot showers even. So I was very surprised when we pulled into the parking lot at 10am and found it completely empty on a Saturday morning. Usually it is jammed up with student divers. Winds were light and off-shore. Overcast, but no rain. The currents were settling down and as we started to get ready, Jan pulled in and we greeted each other, having had long mutual admiration for each other’s work on the various boards including DigiDiver.net. We’ve traded emails on and off, but never quite connected for a dive. We looked each other’s rigs over and got in the water. Of course the first thing that DigiDivers do is to take pictures. Not of marine-life, but of each other! Swimming out along the jetty, there was a very slight current pushing us out and then once we kicked through it’s back-eddy we were completely out of the current at the end of the jetty. It is usually very strong and can even be somewhat dangerous, as it can sweep un-wary divers around to the other side underneath where the ferry comes in. Not fun, and a long walk back. I’ve never seen the conditions so nice and Jan said it had been that way all week. The critters weren’t too cooperative, but we shot a few fish and nudis. All-in-all, a great dive and I enjoyed meeting Jan. I’ve invited he and his family down for a tour at the Seattle Aquarium and i hope to dive with him again soon! Here’s his commemoration of the event: Here’s a link to some of Jan’s other work and a bit more about him: REEF - Jan’s Creations More photos: Keystone [ This is an external blog. Read complete blog here... ]...