Bull Sharks in the Riviera Maya....coming soon with a new attitude

Bull shark season is fast approaching and we have been spending the last few months thinking about the pros and cons of this diving activity. We will be honest, this is a tough call for our business and our divers. Bull sharks are interesting and dangerous, but they are a key piece to the waters of the Mexican Caribbean and we have finally decided that these tours will continue through the Abyss Dive Center BUT they are going to take a bit of a different spin.

The decision to continue the Bull Shark dives was based on a commitment to make these dives educational, non feeding and observational. There are many arguments as to why people should not engage in this dive and there are many arguments why we should engage in these dives. Our decision comes down to education.

There is a reason why we all are divers, and learning about the underwater world is one very high if not top on the list. The diving philosophy at the Abyss has always been to make people divers, long term, engaged and happy divers. This has been shown in our care for classes, on going education and our desire to not just sell a course, as the diving industry has been accused of, but to teach divers to be good divers. If someone is struggling with their buoyancy, their new computer or the logisitics of a drift dive, we feel it is our responsibility to educate and build opportunities for our divers where they can test their skills and learn.
Bull Sharks, whale sharks, caverns, sting rays, seahorses and of course the turtles, are all creatures or diving locations in the area that we have educated our divers about. The Bull Sharks deserve the same respect and our divers deserve the same opportunity.

In the first part of our investigations on the Bull Sharks, I have to say we have all learned some super interesting things. Here are some bullet points about the Bull Sharks. In the upcoming weeks we will be outlining the guidelines for our Bull Sharks trips so that divers can decide if they want to participate in this excursion or not want to participate.

Bull Shark Facts

1. They can swim up to 11 km per hour…that is super fast for a sea creature..
2. They can live in any type of water, fresh or salt, super salty to very fresh
3. They give birth to their babies in fresh water. The parents travel thousands of miles to do this. This makes sense as to why they live in this area as we have fresh water and salt water.
The cenotes eventually lead out to the ocean . In certain areas along the coast, there are river mouths of fresh water, similar to Florida. It is here that the Bull Sharks give birth to their young…though we have not discovered exactly where that may be…the point is, this is a great area for the bull sharks to access fresh water.
4. They are the third most dangerous shark alive. This is fact and truth. The other fact and truth is that there have been no shark attacks on the area.
5. They migrate away from salt water for up to three months out of the year to give birth..this maybe why they disappear for a few months in the summer…look for cooler and fresher water, and then return to the area where we dive with them.

We are continuing to find more facts about the Bull Sharks so that our predive video is comprehensive and educational. If we are going to engage in this activity, it is important that we learn more, understand more and teach others what we know…..and for that reason we are excited about the new upcoming season!
Ask away if you have any questions, but this investigation is getting pretty interesting. It would be great for the Photo contest being help Dec 5 to the 12th to have some excellent pictures of these incredible sharks…would be worth the trip and the week of diving, don’t you think?

Great new scuba diving event in Playa Del Carmen

Great news everyone! We are preparing a very exciting new event, The Canon Riviera Maya Underwater Photo Contest. This event will be held from December 5th to the 12th and includes diving on the reefs, in caves and in the caverns in the Riviera Maya, a perfect scenario for this contest and it is sure to be a great success.

We have a lot of events planned for this week. First we have diving on the reefs in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Puerto Morelos. These are part of the Mesoamerican reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world. Participants also get the opportunity to dive in the cenotes; fresh water caverns unique to the Yucatan Peninsula. The purpose of the photo contest is to capture in photos, the beauty and uniqueness of the dive sites that the Riviera Maya has to offer.

As a dive center belonging to the Riviera Maya Dive Alliance, we are committed to protecting and conserving our diving environments. That’s why we encourage our divers to never stress or endanger marine animals for the sake of a photo; we want to convey a real world message in marine conservation. The Photo contest will teach people how to take great pictures without disturbing the reef or cavern environment.

During the event week, we will have a photo workshop, by Protec Dive Center, where their qualified instructors will point out important points for taking great underwater photos and enhance our underwater photo skills.

We are proud to announce Canon as the official sponsor for this event with their experts hosting an evening for all of our participants. They will review the lastest in underwater photography, cameras and housing. If you have questions, these are the people to ask.

Abyss Dive Center is in charge of a very fun and entertaining evening with a movie and a scuba quiz; Tank-ha Dive Center has a very special event planned for your entertainment. These activities will be detailed in later blogs.

To top off the week and to finalize the winners, the closing night will be held Hotel Tropical Casa Blanca, with our very famous BBQ chef Ubaldo, The man in charge of the wonderful food that will make everyone happy. During this final evening photo contest participants will watch a slideshow with all the participants photos, we will present the winners of each category and prizes and surprises will be awarded to all the participants, but there will be only one big winner which will get… a great prize sponsored by Canon. Watch out for a great grand prize…!!!

The photo contest is the first event held by Abyss Dive Center and Training Facility, Protec Advanced Training Facility and Tank-ha Dive Center, the Riviera Maya Divers Alliance. They are committed to encouraging good diving practices and promote quality diving in the Riviera Maya.

This photo contest is the perfect opportunity to discover all the amazing things the Riviera Maya underwater world has to offer. If you have any questions or want to book your spot, email us at info@abyssdivecenter.com and ask for our special package prices!

Mi primera experiencia de buceo en Abyss Dive Center en Playa del Carmen

Tengo la oportunidad de trabajar en el Hotel Tropical Casablanca ubicado en el maravilloso Caribe mexicano y por medio de este fue que un día me sorprendieron Dany y Nicola con la noticia de: -Buceas el lunes- La primera reacción fue miedo, no era algo esperado y supongo que es normal en alguien que nunca ha visto mas allá de sus pies dentro del mar.
Llego el tan esperado lunes. Llegue a la tienda de buceo y Dany me entrego una hoja en donde tienes que dar información sobre tu condición de salud, y algunos datos personales; al terminar con el llenado y firma de las hojas correspondientes se presento mi instructor de buceo con una pareja que también haría el Discovery Scuba Diving ese día conmigo.
El instructor nos mostró un video en donde te explican a grandes rasgos y de manera muy didáctica lo que es el buceo, el equipo que se utiliza y te dan algunos tips para que disfrutes más esta actividad sin dañar tu salud ni al ecosistema, al terminar de ver el video fuimos a la piscina del hotel, en donde nos dieron el curso.
Al principio, familiarizarte con el equipo no fue sencillo para mi; como toda primeriza, tengo que confesar que me genero un poco de estrés, particularmente la cuestión de la flotabilidad neutra, así que siendo sincera subía y bajaba sin control alguno, inflaba y desinflaba el chaleco una y otra vez… lo mejor de esto es que el instructor siempre estuvo ahí al pendiente de cada uno de nosotros, ayudándonos y apoyándonos con paciencia y resolviendo cada duda, subíamos a la superficie de la piscina y me explicaba, después de algunos intentos lo logre! Y el estrés fue desapareciendo poco a poco…
Después salimos del hotel rumbo a la playa en donde ya nos esperaba un barco para llevarnos al mar, los marineros ya nos estaban esperando para ayudarnos con el equipo; hicimos un viaje en el barco no muy largo como de unos 10 mins. …. Y así fue, el instructor nos explico como debíamos lanzarnos del barco al mar y una vez sumergida todo cambio… La presencia de peces es impresionante! y en definitiva puedes apreciar una amplia representación de toda la fauna y flora típica de los arrecifes caribeños; lo disfrute tanto; que creo que estando ahí deje todos los miedos dentro de la piscina, porque una vez dentro del mar todo fue impresionantemente hermoso, como si por arte de magia todo mi miedo y nerviosismo se volvió emoción, y todo esto gracias al gran equipo de Abyss que saben hacerte sentir seguro y disfrutar al máximo esta maravillosa actividad.
Por Sare Montero

Exciting New Dive Event in the Riviera Maya

New Scuba Diving Photo Contest in the Riviera Maya
1st Scuba Diving Photo Competition to include Ocean, Cavern and Cave Photography

The Riviera Maya Divers Alliance announced the first free entry recreational and technical Scuba Diving Photo Contest in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico during the week of December 5th to 12, 2009, which includes photos opportunities in the Yucatan Caves, Caverns and on the second largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef.

“This new scuba photo contest is designed to celebrate the diversity of diving in the Riviera Maya, a diving location that has access to land and ocean diving. There is not another photo contest in the world that offers such a variety of diving and photo opportunities.” Stated the organizers David Tomlinson, Lothar Batt and Andreas W. Matthes ‘Matt’ from the Riviera Maya Divers Alliance.

The Riviera Maya Underwater Photo Contest is an international annual scuba diving event designed to encourage and expand scuba divers underwater photography skills. Divers from around the world are invited to Playa del Carmen to participate in a memorable week-long experience that includes diving, social events and workshops that culminate in the presentation of winning photos and an awards ceremony. Local businesses and Scuba Diver suppliers are supporting this unique event with giveaways, information sessions and presentations as a means to promote this extraordinary opportunity that has never been done anywhere else in the world. International Judges will be selecting the winners of the contest on December 11th at the final ceremony and contest dinner.

The Riviera Maya, located south of Cancun and includes the Caribbean cities of Puerto Morelos, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, is fortunate to have land dive sites in the underwater caves and caverns and ocean sites along the second largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef, that stretches over 700 kms from Cancun to Honduras.

The Riviera Maya Divers Alliance is a network of dive centers that promote quality diving in the Riviera Maya through events and diving promotions in order to foster the Diving community. Abyss Dive Center, Tank Ha Dive Center and Protect Dive Center joined forces in May 2009 to execute this vision to divers internationally who are interested in recreational and technical diving.

http://www.divingphotocontest.com/
contestrivieramaya@gmail.com

10 Ways to Conduct Eco Diving in the Riviera Maya

Eco Diving is not a new principle, it is a principle we hope held by most scuba divers who choose this as a sport. Being conscious of the fact that you are privileged to view and experience the world beneath the sea is one fact why most divers become divers. It is our personal responsibility to conserve the ocean if it is that we want to continue to see the wonderful ‘cities’ down there. Coral, fish and plants interact in the ocean like we interact on land. They have patterns, places to live, things that they eat and have a cycle of life and death. As guests, we need to respect their natural laws and make sure that we do not interfere in this delicate balance.
As divers we have an environmental responsibility to do the following when going into the depths of the ocean or any water body for that matter:
1. Practice good buoyancy. This is probably one of the most important items in eco diving. Good buoyancy and buoyancy control means that you are not touching, intentionally or by accident, any of the coral, plants or the natural bottom of your dive site. If you can maintain control then you can hover over and around things without having to touch or accidently disturb something. Touching is what creates the damage and this we do not want to do. It is like learning to drive a car, if you have good driving skills you will not hit a tree, you will roll the car into the forest or a flower bed or into people for that matter. Buoyancy provides the same safety principal for divers.
2. Practice good fining techniques. Most divers forget about their fining, and because their feet are behind them they do not realize the trail of upset they can leave. Kicking up sand due to poor fining technique can create as much damage to the coral and the fish as touching. When sand lands on the coral, it actually suffocates it, with the result being a slow death over time. Coral needs to filter the water for food, and sand clogs the filters that complete this task.
3. Ensure equipment is secure. Dangling hoses, dangling anything off of your scuba equipment not only is dangerous to the diver but it can drag and break plants, corals while stirring up the bottom.
4. Feeding of marine life is prohibited. Feeding of marine life can upset the balance of the underwater world. What else can be said but don’t do it!
5. Use of dive gloves in the ocean is not necessary. Having dive gloves on while in the ocean or the caverns and caves for that matter, leaves you, the diver, in a vulnerable position. For ocean divers it gives you a sense of false security where if you are tempted to touch, the gloves will be a barrier to the reaction of sealife and corals that have natural protective and stinging devices to ward off touching. In the caverns and caves, gloves put the diver in a dangerous position as they need their fingers to feel for the cave line in case of an emergency or light failure.
6. Take all garbage out of the ocean. The reality is some people do not get it and there is land garbage in the ocean, bottles, bags, string, metal etc. It is our responsibility as divers to remove this from the ocean floor and get it into the proper recycling post or land garbage site. But this is not a license to remove anything which naturally belongs in the ocean. After hurricanes we see ocean garbage, naturally created garbage from coral, plants etc. though it does not look nice, it is important to let nature do it job and recycle these broken plants and coral bits. It has been doing this for thousands of years and it is not our job to remove anything unless humans put it there.
7. Avoid all contact with the bottom. This point leads back to other diving points on fining, buoyancy and control. Disturbing the bottom is as damaging as disturbing a nest. It can ruin the natural balance of the underwater environment.
8. Look for diving areas that promote and have boat drift diving. Drift diving is one of the best diving practices as the boat does not anchor. Drift diving has the boat following you and your group or buddy so there is little contact and no need to through an anchor out to secure the boat. If you do have to anchor, it is best to have a permanent mooring line so that anchors are not on the ocean bottom each time you have to secure your boat.
9. Use dive operators that have a no touch policy. Nothing more needs to be said….learn and live by example.
10. Share your knowledge with other divers. As with any eco policy or information, many people are aware that actions have impact on our environment. Teaching others about eco friendly dive techniques can save the oceans that we love so much. Being the eco nazi, or dive nazi is not at useful as being an educator. If you see someone with poor buoyancy offer to help if you are dive professional, or offer information about buoyancy classes if you are their buddy….
Eco diving for us is natural. But we do understand that for some it is new, and a reminder that we are visitors is always a good thing. If we damage our diving environments we are hurting not only our sport and the underwater environment but 73% of the world. Everything is connected and everything relies on one another. So think next time when you are diving, are you being the best diver you can be and are you diving without an impact on the reef.