http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Oceans/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceans en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:35:30 +0000 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:35:30 +0000 Day 1 of the PADI Instructor Deveopment Course IDC begins. New Instructors here we go On a bright and sunny day everyone sat down with their loaded crewpacks and materials looking through the schedule with anticipation about what is to come. Assignments were handed out intros made and the day was rounded out with a well done skill circuit. Lesson learnt Don't confuse a DIVE ALERT with an infl http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-432095.html During the last week of June two instructors Bob and I boldly took a step forward to benefit diving in Costa Rica. We finally qualified and made Oceans Unlimited into a technical diving center. Our visiting trainer from the states Keith Mattson has been teaching and diving technical for many years and is an absolute wealth of knowledge so we were very lucky to have him visit us in Costa Rica to http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-415964.html We were in our surface interval just finished a dive and were checking out a new site that we had found just a couple days before called Sitting Bull when Bob who was captaining that day shouted down that he could see something in the water...a BIG shadow.Everybody shifted to one side of the boat and I jumped up to the captains tower to get a better view. And then I was it..the first Manta of http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-377377.html Finishing up Open Water Dive 2 with two students. Viz wasn't bad..about 35 ft. We were heading off the point of Punto Quepos at about 30 40ft when we start hearing a deep rumble. About 10 seconds later it sounds again but this time followed by the unmistakable sound of whales singing. Awesome. This goes on for about 6 mins. One deep and one higher pitched. When we hit the surface we find out tha http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-362494.html Ever since the Oceans Unlimited's Battle of the Burger 4 years ago where 30 out of 40 people agreed that they preferred Captain Bob's Burgers the BOB BURGER has become a legendary in Quepos. Now our Barbeques are famous in the area and when Bob asked Georgia or I how many people are coming he always estimates double the burger meat. This Barbeque I bought 9 kilos of meat to be added to Bob's s http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-353108.html Last weekend I had one of those dives that reminds you why you started divingEven when I sprung out of bed in the morning I knew it was going to be a good day...we had decided to have an instructor play day out at the 26 one of my favorite dives sites.Bob Scott Tim Georgia and I practically skipped with our tanks onto the boat and we could not wait to get out there diving. The 26 is about 20 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-349706.html We piled the truck high with trash bags gloves leaflets on reclying marine debris project aware and the blue flag program and headed to the beach Playa Espadilla Sur in Manuel Antonio.At 9am we were about the only people on the beach most normal people still in bed after a Friday night out. Doris Alonso Doris Dennis and I were joined by people from Arenas de Mar Costa Verde Fourtrax and http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-318343.html About 6 weeks ago I signed our shop up for a bowling competetion only 1 of us had bowled before....so we were a little apprehensive about the ability of Los Tiburones our team name. I was only vaguely aware that there was a bowling alley in Quepos But Quepos has Bobby D's a proud relic of the Palm Oil Production company Palma Tica that is being kept alive by Bobby an avid bowler. Bobby D's h http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-291257.html A week ago Georgia and I went up to Playa del Coco a little town right in the north western part of Costa Rica. I had been there about 6 years ago and this time I had athe perfect excuse to return...a PADI member forum. We headed off in our rental car armed with plenty of driving tunes and diet coke and of course our diving gear squeezed in the back...just in case.Afer 4 hours we arrived in C http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Guanacaste/Playas-del-Coco/blog-275851.html If you are not a regular diver it can be a little difficult trying to identify what exactly you are looking at when you go diving. For example what was that big blue fish that went past and why exactly is that red fish hiding in a hole This past weekend we thought wersquod try and solve some of those problems and encouraged a few of the local divers to take a fish id class. For our first speci http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-257127.html I'm writing this from a different perspective as I unfortunately did not get to play in the latest escapade of Oceans Unlimited due to a recent mishap with a sharp object say no more However I did get to witness the fun that was had by everyother person while I'm hobbling around on crutches.....much to the amusement of others This port cleanup was organized by our ever industrious Kath strivi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-250065.html I was at a loose end at the dive shop a student having left me hight and dry as I pondered between surfing the web and getting wet... I spotted a Project AWARE coral watch slate and decided to head to the water. There was a local dive trip going out so I grabbed my gear and headed to the boat. As we left port I listened to the other divers in the group swapping dive tales of Manta Rays and BIG http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Costa-Rica/blog-240737.html The sun was a massive orange ball on the horizon as we headed out of the port we waved to the the tipsy merry makers on their sunset cruises heading abck to land.Meanwhile our little merry band of flash light welding thrill seekers headed out of port all very sober but with the adrenaline rush of a night dive ahead.We all excitedly got ready I breifed a couple of first time night divers whilst h http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-237765.html A couple days I was diving with Trudie an Open Water student at the Aquarium just off the coast fo the Manuel Antonio National Park. We were nearing the end of our dive and I noticed out the corner of my eye an unusual movement on the sea bed. It looked like a sizable rock about a foot in diameter was moving up and down. I got closer and peered underneath the rock and there was a mesh of legs an http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Costa-Rica/blog-234133.html Costa Rica famous for sportfishing and diving in coco island. Recently it came to us via various fisherman news of an offshore pinnacle. Finally i got a couple of friends together got a boat and headed out there. 26 miles offshore. At a depth of 95ft at its shallowest point surrounded by sand at a depth of 130 140 ft veinteseis is no easy dive. We loaded up with ponies and dropped anchor. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-233762.html Hola and welcome all to Oceans first official blogWe figured we would start the new season and new year with a bang and actually keep everyone up to date with whats going on down here in Manuel Antonio Quepos. We are instructors at a relatively young dive center down here and living my everyday sometimes adventurous sometimes random life working as a dive instructor and helping run the center http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Quepos/blog-233758.html