So I decided to have a quick chat/interview with the team of Aquatrek Fiji

Gabriel here from Scuba Herald… to start, tell us a bit about the history behind Aquatrek…

When did you started and who is the team behind your diving operation?

Aqua-Trek opened Fiji’s first PADI 5-Star Instructor Development center in 1987. In 1989 Aqua-Trek developed Fiji’s first shark dive off the Mamanuca Islands in Western Fiji. In 1999 Aqua-Trek developed what is now known as the #1 Shark Dive in the World, in Beqa Lagoon. Over the last 20+ years Aqua-Trek has been one of Fiji’s premier dive operators serving divers all over Fiji.  Our Beqa facility is comprised of top notch PADI trained instructors and dive masters all trained to uphold a high quality standard of service and safety for divers.

Fiji is a destination that provides divers and non-divers with an amazing overall memorable vacation experience.  Fiji is a romantic, beautiful, pristine country with amazing beaches and lush landscapes. It offers world-class diving and a huge variety land based adventures. The country is rich culture and tradition and the people are genuinely friendly, caring, happy people. And it is very affordable! The US dollar is currently worth 2 FJD!

I understand that you have also created shark conservation program to protect sharks in Fiji?

I created these dives to educate divers on sharks and shark behavior. Sharks are endangered due to shark finning and the sale of shark products. Sharks are a vital part of a healthy marine ecosystem. Without sharks the entire ecosystem will break down die. Sharks have long been portrayed as mindless eating machines and a threat to humans.

In reality sharks are intelligent, graceful denizens of the oceans. After the shark dives were developed, we set out to protect them and created the Aqua-Trek Shark Conservation and Sustainable Tourism Program. We worked with the villages that own the reef rights and the Fiji government to declare both Shark Reef, Lake Reef and the corridor in between marine protected areas (no fishing zones). Each diver pays a fee to dive these areas and this money goes directly to the villages that own the reef rights. This provides the villages with sustainable income. The program supports the involvement of the community in the management of natural resources and it allows them to realize the economic potential as well as the sustainable livelihood that can be derived from conserving and protecting their resources.

This program has been recognized internationally as being a model for other island nations. It has received two international conservation awards from the World Travel and Tourism Council and SKAL International. We are currently working hard to pass legislation in Fiji to ban shark fishing and the sale of shark products.

Do divers need any previous experience to dive with sharks? Yes. The Ultimate Shark Encounter is a high energy dive with a lot of sharks and a lot of fish. There is a lot going on. Divers need to be comfortable in the water and with their gear. They need to be able to pay attention to the dive masters. We recommend certified divers have that level of experience and comfort so they can enjoy and appreciate the dive.

What can you tell us about the sharks in this area…. ?

Aqua-Trek’s Beqa shark dive is the only dive where divers can see up to 8 species of shark. Grey reef, whitetip, blacktip, silvertip, nurse, lemon, bull sharks and tiger sharks. Our dive gets multiple bull sharks, some of the largest anywhere.  The elusive Tiger shark too. There is an interesting hierarchy amongst the different shark species. When the tiger shark arrives, it is like the queen has arrived. All the other sharks disperse so she can feed.  This dive also brings in over 300 species of fish. We get Napoleon wrasse and the rare Queensland grouper.

We have a full description on our website at http://www.aquatrek.com/beqa_diving/beqa_shark_diving.cfm .. but you can also see a teaser… at

Where do you see Aquatrek in the next years?

In Fiji, where we’ve been for over 20 years, but only in the best locations for divers!

Can you tell us in 5 words what diving with Aquatrek is all about? (only 5 !)

Quality, Comfort, Safety, Expertise, Fun!!

Wan to have a chat with the guys of Aquatrek? Contact them today…

Aqua-Trek Reservations

USA Toll Free: 1-800-541-4334

Direct: 415-728-7076

info@aquatrek.com

www.aquatrek.com

This proves that if you can’t find solutions from BP… use the law to sink them and get justice.

Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C. has filed a lawsuit against British Petroleum (“BP”) and several other companies with ties to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The firm represents Adventure Sports II, a SCUBA diving business, which has incurred damages related to the BP oil spill disaster, including loss of profits, business income, and earning capacity.

Current estimates say between 40.7 million and 114.5 million gallons of oil already have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, and oil continues to spew from the undersea well every day. Beaches up and down the Gulf Coast have been closed to swimmers, and visitors who are ordinarily drawn to the area’s emerald waters are canceling plans. But even in areas where waters are open and diving is safe, travelers are staying away out of fear about oil contamination. According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association, dive industry sales total more than $800 million annually.

“The SCUBA diving business is taking a double hit, impacted by actual oil spill damages, and the fear that surrounds reports of the leak’s effect on the Gulf of Mexico,” Rhon Jones, head of Beasley Allen’s Environmental Law section, said. “Even when the water is clean and safe and dive sites are open, many travelers are still avoiding the Gulf Coast because of misconceptions about where the oil is now, and fears about where it might spread in the coming weeks and months.”

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2010/06/18/2372601/beasley-allen-files-lawsuit-on.html#ixzz0rQ2Et4r4

And this is a very serious concern for all the dive centers in Florida and diving operators worried about the health of the dive sites in the area. But so far things seem just fine.

Florida officials and tourism industry executives are juggling two missions, working to protect the shore from oil spreading from the April 20 spill in the Gulf of Mexico while assuring tourists that the state’s 825 miles (1,327 kilometers) of beaches remained safe so far. Hotels relaxed cancellation policies for wary guests while updating photos on websites to show beaches that remained pristine.

“I’ve talked to hoteliers and it’s not so much that there are cancellations — it’s the reservations line,” Grover Robinson, chairman of the Escambia County Commission, said today at a press briefing. “The phone just isn’t ringing.”

In addition to being Florida’s No 1 industry, tourism accounts for 21 per cent of the state’s sales tax revenue. Snorkelling is a $239 million industry here. Scuba diving is worth $45 million and recreational saltwater fishing $5 billion.

So if you are planning to dive in Florida: Just do it… there is no oil in the water… so dive in and support the operators.

Well it seems that Croatia is not the new Scuba Destination to keep in mind…

While the beaches of the jagged Croatian coastline fill up with tourists during the summer period, those who can, escape into the silence and darkness of the abysses, amidst the archaeological sites and sunken wreckage from the two world wars. About 150,000 scuba divers search for peace and emotions in the Croatian waters each year. A group of clients that the country is now eyeing closely thanks to so-called ”underwater safaris”. With about 400 underwater archaeological sites counted by the Croatian Ministry of Culture, including 200 dating back to prehistoric times, Croatia is the fourth country in Europe for its number of underwater archaeological sites. And to protect this immense patrimony, the Croatian ministry has declared 92 cultural heritage sites, placing them under protection.

No diver can travel alone among the wreckage and archaeological sites. Individual dives are prohibited, but they are allowed in groups. In 2009-2013 alone, the Cultural Ministry issued 25 permits to organise underwater activities at protected sites. These are, according to the Croatian tourism group, the four archaeological areas around the island of Mljet, Lastovo and Vis and in the area of Cavtat. In these areas there are 35 sites. Among the hundreds of opportunities offered to scuba divers, the most important are represented by vessels sunk off the eastern Adriatic coast between the World War I and World War II.

The most famous site on the Croatian Adriatic coast is ‘Barun Gautch”, (84 metres long and 11 metres wide), the Austro-Hungarian passenger ship, which was sunk at the start of the Great War by a mine in the waters off the coast of Rovinj. Various Italian ships can be seen, including the ‘Francesca da Rimini’, which sunk off the southern coast of Kaprije island, in the Sibenik archipelago, after being torpedoed by the Allies in 1944. Forty-two metres long and 12 metres wide, before the ship was hit, it was used to transport military cargo between the Croatian and Italian coast. After September 8 1943, it was used by the Germans for the same purposes. In the Kvarner Gulf is another Italian vessel, the wreckage of the ‘Lina’, while near Cres is the Italian freighter, ‘Tihany’. Fascinating due to its vertical position on Split seabed is the ‘Teti’. A final example is the German torpedo-boat S-57, which sank off the Peljesac peninsu

Hello new marine life! hello PADI Gator Specialty.

This is from TheLivingSea.com. (check it out cool site)

As I cruised along the sand, from the hazy distance I could see a dark shadow,” Ruda writes. “Not being able to discern its shape too well, I thought to myself, ‘Holy cow! That’s a huge stingray.’”

Ruda said when he got closer, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“This creature was so out of place that I thought it was nothing more than a well-planned out hoax by my good friends,” he said.

So in the months, Troy Miller, will be blogging about the challenges of the daily life of a future PADI Instructor.

Is this a PADI marketing scheme ? Not really, as we know… PADI has never been really involved with us… the bloggers… instead this is a new way of broadcasting scuba diving adventures. ScubaHerald believes we need less stupid self-made news about scuba diving… and more real bloggers like this apparently nice Aussie Dude. So if you want to follow a new and different blog, check TheDivingTrip.com

So I wonder today: Is this the face that Expedition Fleet want’s to show the world?

If this is the way they target their business… I wonder the way they run their boats.

ScubaHerald.com called them today trying to talk to their manager… but obviously, in the company there is not one single manager, or person in charged and they didn’t know that commenting in 200 blogs per day, posting their link while adding no value to the conversation or topic is Spam. In this case lame Scuba Spam. Expedition Fleet: shame on you!

So let’s re-cap… this guy goes ALONE inside a boat full of Japanese whalers… to do a citizen arrest…?

What is this guy thinking? Peter Bethune vs 100 Japanese whales?

Hi mister Japanese Captain.. this is a citizen’s arrest.. please step down of the vessel…. and jump in my jet ski!

So obviously now… the Japan’s coast guard has an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of trespass and his wife Sharyn, who hasn’t heard from him for almost a month, fears Japanese authorities may make an example out of him.

Well Peter… enjoy Tokio.. enjoy the sushi!

If convicted, Bethune could face imprisonment of up to three years.

Question: Zoe, Thanks for your time ,and to start… tell us a bit about yourself, and how did you end up living in one of the best diving destinations in the world.

I first started diving in Utila, Honduras back in 1998. I fell in love with the sport but returned to the UK to finish my studies. I returned to Utila in 2001 with the aim of becoming a PADI instructor at this time I was lucky enough to meet my future husband Tim, who was also starting his diving career. After we both successfully completed our instructor course we worked in Utila for a year and half before the travel bug got the better of us. The thought of returning to the ‘real world’ was never really an option so we travelled to places where we knew the diving was plentiful. Over the years we have been lucky enough to work as instructors and dive shop managers in Cyprus, Egypt, Thailand, Nicaragua and the Philippines.

We first came to Malapascua in 2004, having left Thailand with no money we took the first instructor job that was offered to us; which just happened to be at Exotic Dive Resort. We honestly had no idea where Malapascua was or how to get there, but we agreed to start within the week. We flew into Cebu City and managed to navigate our way to the north bus terminal where we took the last bus to Maya. We arrived at Maya 4 hours later in the dark and were lucky enough to catch a fishing boat heading towards Malapascua. They deposited us on a stretch of beach in the pitch black. A few locals pointed us in the right direction and we found our way to Exotic Resort. The following morning we woke up to a spectacular sight. The most amazing white sand palm fringed beach with tropical blue waters anyone would want to see. We happily called this place home for a year, before we headed back to the Caribbean island of Little Corn, in Nicaragua. We stayed in contact with Exotic for the 2 years we lived on Little Corn and when we fell pregnant with our first child, there was no hesitation at all in calling up Exotic and saying we were coming back and this time with family.

We were welcomed back with open arms and warm smiles and have been happily managing Exotic Dive since 2006.

Question : Zoe tell us a bit about the history of Exotic Diver Resort….

In 1998 Dik de Boer a Dutch National and his Philippine wife Cora, spent some time travelling around the Philippines looking for their ideal beach get away. They heard about Malapascua from locals of Cebu and made the trek north. Upon arriving on the island they were regaled by tales of leaping sharks, war wrecks, sunken islands and weird and wonderful sea creatures. Being avid divers they vowed on their next trip to bring a small compressor and their dive equipment. On their return a few months later and while Cora was searching for the perfect beach spot Dik and his friend Mikael Person went diving.

They were amazed; all the stories were true, leaping thresher sharks, giant manta rays, wrecks and stunning soft corals housing a wide variety of sea life. That was all they needed to know to open a small dive shop. Exotic was the first dive resort and officially opened its doors in 1999.

Since then Exotic has grown from a small 4 roomed hotel to an internationally acclaimed 33 room 5* resort. The dive shop has also expanded from a small PADI shop to the largest and only 5* IDC National Geographic Dive Resort. “Even though we are big we still pride ourselves on individual service and maintain that small dive shop charm, we will never forget where we came from” Dik de Boer.

Question: Why Malapascua and what it the special secret of this area of the Philippines ?

For me Malapascua has a little bit of everything. The diving is world class I saw my first sea horse here, in fact my divemaster showed me 12 on one dive after I explained I had never seen any before. This is the place where you can tick off the list of strange creatures that you don’t normally get the chance to see. On top of that the thresher sharks are amazing and you can honestly see them every day! The dive conditions change constantly which makes the same sites interesting and sometimes challenging. The local islanders are wonderful people and love tourists. They are not yet jaded by the idea of tourism and have not been exploited as is the case in other regions. Smiling faces, friendly waves and welcoming smiles are how the tourists are treated. So to clarify the diving is exceptional and the locals are lovely, really what more do you want from a diving holiday!

Question: Tell us something the general diving community may not know about diving in Malapascua?

Malapascua is famous or one thing – thresher sharks. This is what the whole diving industry is based on. The nice thing though is that the sharks are only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to see here and divers are constantly surprised by the variety of animal life. Admittedly we do not have many large schools of fish as this is a heavily fished area. However we have more macro life, soft corals and strange creatures than any other place I have ever dived. The diving conditions can be taxing and the same dive one day is totally different the next. Soft corals thrive in strong currents and we have a lot of soft corals!! The visibility is also not fantastic here; we get a lot of divers who expect to jump into 30mt vis every dive. Average vis her e is 12mts, and honestly that is more than enough when you are focusing on macro life and looking at 2mt thresher sharks that are right in front of you. This place is a photographers dream and should not just be famous for the sharks.

Question: We know that recently you become a PADI IDC Center. What future instructors can expect of their PADI IDC at Malapascuba? do you see the Philippines as the next Scuba Career Destination ?

We were recently granted IDC status and are proud to be the first IDC resort on Malapascua. Our philosophy for IDC’s is small groups, relaxed environment, professional and personalized service and of course fun. Unlike a lot of IDC centres we are not in it to make a fortune our aim is to produce competent and confident instructors. We offer all our candidates a free 6 week instructor internship where they work alongside our experienced instructors. Through this process we feel it gives the candidates a chance to understand the real world of teaching after an IDC. Tim is our Master Instructor and assists on every aspect of the IDC. He is the person who conducts the prep days and the AI portion of the course and is basically there to be a friend to the candidates and to help them with any queries concerns or issues that may arise. Jonathan is our Course Director; he is one of the most experienced course directors in the Philippines and has certified over 1000 instructors. His calm demeanour and jovial manner create a nurturing environment for the candidates. We pride ourselves on our personalized service and guarantee success to all our candidates.

I honestly believe that the Philippines is becoming the new scuba career destination. People are no longer enamoured by the draw of Thailand and Malaysia, places where they ‘pump out’ Instructors. I’ve worked in these places and while they are good for the average backpacker on a budget more and more professionals are looking at changing careers and do not just want to be another one of the masses. As a relatively new diving destination most IDC centres in the Philippines average 4-6 candidates an IDC. To me this is perfect, much better than being in a class of 20! As the region is still new to tourism it is still possible to get the ‘budget’ experience but without the crowds and hawkers you expect to find in the more touristy places!

Question: What is your best advise for someone planning their diving holidays to the Malapascua?

For the already certified diver coming to Malapascua make sure you bring plenty of memory for your camera and plenty of batteries for you dive lights! I would recommend staying at least 5 days to be sure to see all the highlights. And in order to be totally satisfied with a thresher shark encounter you will need to be up early every morning until you are happy!! Email us at Exotic and let us know what you are interested in seeing and I will tell you the best time of year for an encounter. For those looking to begin diving, this is a great place to learn, but I advice all potential open water divers to give themselves enough time to do the advanced as well, that you way you can go look for the thresher sharks and manta rays. The diving season in Malapascua is all year round, with the most variety of life during February to May. A practical suggestion to all future visitors is be aware there is no bank or ATM on the island and only the larger resorts such as our selves accept credit cards. Many a visitor has been caught on by this one!!

Question: What is a normal day in the life of your dive resort?

A day in the life of Exotic. The first boat leaves between the horrific hours of 5-6am. This is for the thresher sharks. Luckily for me we have an excellent boat crew so I do not need to be here to supervise things. My day begins at 8am when I welcome back the early morning boat and find out who had a successful sighting and who didn’t. The second boat leaves around 9am for either a 2 dive day trip or a single island dive. Once the boat has left my morning is spent sorting through and answering emails about diving, courses and possible safari trips. I check with the instructors to make sure their students are all ok, and greet any new diving guests giving them an orientation to the dive shop and explaining all our dive sites. The morning boat returns around lunch time, where I again greet the divemasters and divers and see how everyone’s dive went. As I don’t get to dive so much anymore being the manager I like to live vicariously through our guests diving experiences, and am always happy to look through the photos and help them identify the strange creature that they saw. The afternoon boat leaves around 1pm and if I can I jump aboard and go diving, if not then my afternoon is spent planning the next day’s diving schedule making sure all our divers have been signed up and that everyone is happy. I also like to spend time talking with the divemasters to make sure that they are happy and their customers are seeing what they want to see.

As a diver myself I understand the importance of having a good local guide and we try to match divers to their guides and then keep them together for the customer’s entire holiday. The boats all return around 4pm and if there is no night or dusk dive scheduled then the equipment is all rinsed and put away, the dive schedule confirmed for the following day and then happy hour drinks with the customers in the beach side restaurant. I normally head home around 6pm having made sure that everything is organised for the following morning. I work long days, 7 days a week and am lucky enough to love my job!

Interested in divnig with Exotic ?

Check their site today at http://www.malapascua.net

t’s not unusual for disillusioned graduates to pack a bag and hit the road, but what distinguishes dive enthusiasts Ben Stokes, 30, and Sarah Kemsley, 31, is that they kept going. Since meeting in Malaysia in 2003, the couple have worked as diving instructors in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Honduras, Belize and Fiji, clocking up over 5,000 dives between them and leaving their respective studies – in advertising and fashion – far behind.

The couple, who learned to dive while travelling, now have their own bespoke travel company, Dive Safari Asia, which is based in the UK but can be run from wherever they are in the world. They put together unguided package trips (flights, accommodation, diving) for their clients or, for more remote destinations, step in and act as guides. “Being in Asia for so many months of the year allows us to discover new destinations and really connect with the places,” says Ben.

Typically stationing themselves in a location for two to four months, their three essential requirements are internet access, phone signal and “very good-quality diving”.

And when we mention very good quality diving, is because these guys, can simply tailor any type of holiday in Asia, just for you. The best diving in the world? I don’t know about that… but for sure the best service.

check today Dive Safari Asia and re-discover diving.