Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
It doesn't feel much like Thanksgiving in St. Martin. First of all, it is 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit). Secondly, I am surrounded by French people (who don't really celebrate Thanksgiving) and lastly, I got attacked by another bat last night!
However, we do have lots to Thankful for, here at Octopus Diving. So I thought that my Thanksgiving Day blog should be about that.
We are thankful for....
All the great people that come to dive and snorkel with us.
A fantastic night dive last night with Patrick, Stan and Fabrice.
Our great staff, Max and Craig.
Our dive boat, Arvor. We take care of her and she takes care of us.
We are definitely thankful that the St. Martin government has repaved the road in front of the shop. This has been so great because now there is so much less dirt and dust in the air.
That they not only paved the road but also put in a speed bump which is slowing everyone down (the new road made them all drive faster, you see).
The sun is out, the weather is good, and the diving is great.
Our contractor Raymond says that once we get the "ok" from Le Marie (the local council) he can have our new dock built in two weeks..... Yeah!
The great people in Grand Case, like Reverend Hodge (owner of Les Alizes), Emile and Jacqueline (owners of Sky's the Limit in Lolo's), Ronald, Dominique and Marc (owners of the kitchen shop), and there are so many others in beautiful Grand Case.
On a personal note, I am thankful that you are reading this blog. And I am also thankful that I get to live my dream life with my dream husband in the Caribbean. I highly recommend it!
Happy Turkey day everyone, remember to say thanks!
(This blog was written by Sally)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Congratulations Students
I haven't blogged in a couple of days... mostly because I had a day off yesterday. It was wonderful AND no one saw anything too totally awsome while I was at home. Plus I got a well needed haircut!
I just wanted to say congratulations to some of our newly certified students. Alan and Niklas (pictured above) successfully completed the PADI Open Water Course under Craig's expert guidance. As they cruised around Creole Rock they were lucky enough to see stingrays, turtles, cleaner shrimp and an octopus and handle the parrot fish's gooey sleeping bags...not bad for a first dive....oh and they managed to complete the neccesary skills without any hitches. So congrats to yet another two Octopus Diving trained PADI Open Water Divers.
I just wanted to say congratulations to some of our newly certified students. Alan and Niklas (pictured above) successfully completed the PADI Open Water Course under Craig's expert guidance. As they cruised around Creole Rock they were lucky enough to see stingrays, turtles, cleaner shrimp and an octopus and handle the parrot fish's gooey sleeping bags...not bad for a first dive....oh and they managed to complete the neccesary skills without any hitches. So congrats to yet another two Octopus Diving trained PADI Open Water Divers.The visibility around the bay is unbelievable at the moment, at least 50 feet at our local sites. This is resulting in the divers seeing the full range of marine life that inhabit this part of St Martin. Currently we are getting beautiful Blue Spotted Rays crusing along with the divers every time we go to Creole Rock, and of course at Turtle Reef the hawksbill's turtles are out in force. It seems like they are just as interested in us as we are in them.
With Max having joined the staff the shop is in full swing ready for the busy season. I will be updating the website soon, once I get some good photos of Craig and Max, so keep watching that space.
That's all for now, I will write more later.
(this blog was written by Sally, except for the part about "Craig's expert guidance"... he wrote that! It is true though.)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Six eagle rays - Building Dock
For those of you who were feeling bad for me because I didn't get to see the Hammerhead shark the other day, you can feel a little better because at Creole Rock yesterday... I saw not one, not two, but SIX eagle rays all together. Further, I didn't just see them for a split second or far in the distance, they were close and hung around for about 10 minutes. We couldn't believe it! The eagle rays, combined with the really great visibility made it so perfect. I stayed in the shop in the afternoon, but Chris said that he saw an eagle ray again in the afternoon trip!
Chris also went to the Tugboat in the afternoon, around Tintamarre and although the visibility wasn't great above 5 meters, below 5 meters he said that it was fantastic!
On other news... we just had a contracter in to make drawings for a pier which we are going to build in Grand Case by the boat. After OMAR we lost so much sand and the steps got a little wrecked and both Chris and I feel that it will be worth the investment to build a small pier with a floating dock at the end. This way customers will be able to just step onto the boat in absolute ease (plus it will be a lot easier to load the tanks onto the boat!). It is a big investment though, so if you are reading this..... COME AND DIVE WITH US! We will need a lot of divers to pay us back for this investment!
I also wanted to inform everyone that it is illegal to kill bats, they are protected. This means that when you call the exterminator to get rid of the bats that fly into your face in the middle of the night, they tell you there is nothing they can do. In case you were wondering.
(Sally wrote this blog).
Chris also went to the Tugboat in the afternoon, around Tintamarre and although the visibility wasn't great above 5 meters, below 5 meters he said that it was fantastic!
On other news... we just had a contracter in to make drawings for a pier which we are going to build in Grand Case by the boat. After OMAR we lost so much sand and the steps got a little wrecked and both Chris and I feel that it will be worth the investment to build a small pier with a floating dock at the end. This way customers will be able to just step onto the boat in absolute ease (plus it will be a lot easier to load the tanks onto the boat!). It is a big investment though, so if you are reading this..... COME AND DIVE WITH US! We will need a lot of divers to pay us back for this investment!
I also wanted to inform everyone that it is illegal to kill bats, they are protected. This means that when you call the exterminator to get rid of the bats that fly into your face in the middle of the night, they tell you there is nothing they can do. In case you were wondering.
(Sally wrote this blog).
Thursday, November 13, 2008
This is what happens when I take a morning off!
it isn't often that I am not at the shop or in the water. Looking back on my hours working here, it is usually around 75 plus a week, sometimes up to 80 hours! (Not that I'm complaining). So... when I get the opportunity to have a sleep in, I take it!
And I will say now that I really needed it. Mostly because the night before I didn't sleep well at all as a bat landed on my head at 02:45 AM! Yup... a bat! We have a bat problem at our apartment. So far they haven't been too much of a nuisance, just a couple flying around the room. The exterminators on the island say that there isn't much they can do as this hasn't happened before (I find this hard to believe!). I was deep in sleep (as I am most nights after diving) and all of a sudden WHAP! I completely freaked out. Chris said "what's wrong? What's wrong?" and I just looked by my pillow and there was the bat! Chris also jumped up at this point. The bat must've been flying around the room when it hit the fan and then was propelled onto my face! The joys of island life!
So... back to the point. I had a really nice morning, slept late, did the laundry, did some dishes, watched a little bad TV and then came back to the center. When the morning group of divers came back they were really excited. They did the Fusheng and The Gregory. On the Fusheng they saw two Caribbean Grey Reef Sharks and.... a Hammerhead! Can you believe that I missed the Hammerhead? I can't. Still bitter about it. As you can tell. I would describe it more, but I wasn't there, was I?
That's what you get for sleeping late! Hmpf!
(this was written by Sally)
And I will say now that I really needed it. Mostly because the night before I didn't sleep well at all as a bat landed on my head at 02:45 AM! Yup... a bat! We have a bat problem at our apartment. So far they haven't been too much of a nuisance, just a couple flying around the room. The exterminators on the island say that there isn't much they can do as this hasn't happened before (I find this hard to believe!). I was deep in sleep (as I am most nights after diving) and all of a sudden WHAP! I completely freaked out. Chris said "what's wrong? What's wrong?" and I just looked by my pillow and there was the bat! Chris also jumped up at this point. The bat must've been flying around the room when it hit the fan and then was propelled onto my face! The joys of island life!
So... back to the point. I had a really nice morning, slept late, did the laundry, did some dishes, watched a little bad TV and then came back to the center. When the morning group of divers came back they were really excited. They did the Fusheng and The Gregory. On the Fusheng they saw two Caribbean Grey Reef Sharks and.... a Hammerhead! Can you believe that I missed the Hammerhead? I can't. Still bitter about it. As you can tell. I would describe it more, but I wasn't there, was I?
That's what you get for sleeping late! Hmpf!
(this was written by Sally)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Porpoise and Gregory
Had a fantastic day yesterday, a little busy so I didn't have time to blog, but it is great to be busy. In the morning we went to Creole Rock and Turtle Reef with some snorkelers, first time divers and also certified divers. The first time diver, a french girl called Elise, had a fun time. I really love seeing people underwater for the first time. It reminds me of how much I loved my first breaths underwater.
The highlight of the two dives in the morning was a Loggerhead turtle eating a jellyfish. This is something that I had never seen before. At frist it looked like he was just chomping on air... but then as I looked closer I could see this transparent substance with some purple on the edge, and that when I saw the jellyfish. He actually made it look kind of tasty! It was cool because we all stayed really still and watched him eat for about five minutes. When we got back on the boat I was relly excited and we were all talking about it, then Philip said "what turtle?" And I said "the one eating the jelly fish, the one we were looking at for 5 minutes." He hadn't seen it. I couldn't believe it. He was looking directly at it! It's like not seeing your mom come in with the birthday cake and candles. I told Philip he seriously needed to get some prescriptive lenses for his mask.
Then in the afternoon we went to the Dutch Side. This was the first time that I went to dive The Porpose and The Gregory since hurricane Omar and I was relieved. The Porpoise is on it's side. See before and after photos here.
So you can see that she has tilted about 45 degrees to the starboard. Think of the power that must have done this! She lies at a depth of about 95 feet, sothe waves must have been BIG. Also, look at the sand around the ship, there is a crater around it now. It is still a really cool dive, even more so now that we have seen the before and after.
The highlight of the two dives in the morning was a Loggerhead turtle eating a jellyfish. This is something that I had never seen before. At frist it looked like he was just chomping on air... but then as I looked closer I could see this transparent substance with some purple on the edge, and that when I saw the jellyfish. He actually made it look kind of tasty! It was cool because we all stayed really still and watched him eat for about five minutes. When we got back on the boat I was relly excited and we were all talking about it, then Philip said "what turtle?" And I said "the one eating the jelly fish, the one we were looking at for 5 minutes." He hadn't seen it. I couldn't believe it. He was looking directly at it! It's like not seeing your mom come in with the birthday cake and candles. I told Philip he seriously needed to get some prescriptive lenses for his mask.
Then in the afternoon we went to the Dutch Side. This was the first time that I went to dive The Porpose and The Gregory since hurricane Omar and I was relieved. The Porpoise is on it's side. See before and after photos here.
So you can see that she has tilted about 45 degrees to the starboard. Think of the power that must have done this! She lies at a depth of about 95 feet, sothe waves must have been BIG. Also, look at the sand around the ship, there is a crater around it now. It is still a really cool dive, even more so now that we have seen the before and after.
We also dived the Gregory, and the most significant difference that I noticed was that a lot of the beautiful sponges around the wreck have been destroyed. There was lots of wildlife still though, spade fish..... stonefish.... lots of horse eyed jacks...
There was also a turtle, but I didn't get the photo. What is of note at the Gregory is now there is a bigger hole in the side of it, making it easier for divers to go inside. Although, we still all agree here that only very experienced divers (i.e. one's with wreck diver speciality, Divemaster or Instructor level) should go inside.
But I did maanage to get this cool pic when I went inside.
Some other fun photos from that trip are as follows....
A Jelly with some divers in the background
Chris not letting me take a photo of him, so showing me his butt instead! (I know... charming. Isn't my husband handsome? If you could only see his face!)
Max's siloutte coming up the shot line!
Helen and Sim.... DIVERS!
Well, that is all for now. Hope you are enjoying the blog. If so sign up! So far the followers have increased from six to seven, however the seventh is Sim... as pictured above.
This blog was written by Sally
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Some Photos from DEMA in Las Vegas
These are just some photos of DEMA 08 which was in Las Vegas this year. In the pictures you will see me (Sally) and also Peter and Kim (from the Scuba Shop here in Sint Marteen / St. Martin www.scubashop.net)
They are super nice people and looked after me at my first ever DEMA.
They are super nice people and looked after me at my first ever DEMA.
Creole Rock Delivers...
Hello... not sure if anyone is reading this blog yet. We have 6 followers so far, but I have to admit that two of them are my parents, so I'm not sure if that counts. But four others is pretty good .... okay, one of them is me. Alright, alright, I'll tell the truth. The other two are really good friends of mine and the other is one of our old divemasters, Chuck (By the way... thanks for the blog support). But... I am going to persevere in the hopes that the "followers" of the Octopus Blog will increase. Plus this is a great way to let my parents know what is going on here.
It is lunch time right now and Chris and Craig have just gone out on the boat with some snorkelers and divers. I went this morning to Creole Rock and Turtle Reef with two really nice French Snorkelers and it was amazing. The best I have seen it since the hurricane OMAR. Visibility was great and we saw two turtles (both Hawksbill, one was a little baby and the other was bigger). We also saw an amazing eagle ray. They really seem to stick around if you are snorkeling, but when you see the eagle rays on scuba they get scared more easily. I adore eagle rays, seeing them while snorkeling is really nice too because you get the full benefit of seeing their spotted backs. We also saw a giant southern sting rays and just millions of fish. For me, I love the little herring fish, you know... the ones that are small and silver and travel in a group. When you swim into them they all separate around you and you are encircled in a silver cloud of fish, it was too cool. I really wish that I had had my camera with me.
Creole Rock was just fantastic today! It is also really great getting there in the morning, where there are no other boats, just us and the wildlife.
Other events here at Octopus are that our cat Max came back from the vet yesterday. Well, most of him came back but he left two small parts at the vet. Well, they weren't really that small actually, but that is another conversation. He is recovering and doing fine. The vets in St. Martin are really great, and not expensive either. Just in case anyone is thinking of moving here and they have pets....
Things really seem to be going back to normal here after OMAR. We are looking forward to the busy season as we see more and more potential divers walking by!
OK. Enough for now. Keep watching this space!
(this was written by Sally)
It is lunch time right now and Chris and Craig have just gone out on the boat with some snorkelers and divers. I went this morning to Creole Rock and Turtle Reef with two really nice French Snorkelers and it was amazing. The best I have seen it since the hurricane OMAR. Visibility was great and we saw two turtles (both Hawksbill, one was a little baby and the other was bigger). We also saw an amazing eagle ray. They really seem to stick around if you are snorkeling, but when you see the eagle rays on scuba they get scared more easily. I adore eagle rays, seeing them while snorkeling is really nice too because you get the full benefit of seeing their spotted backs. We also saw a giant southern sting rays and just millions of fish. For me, I love the little herring fish, you know... the ones that are small and silver and travel in a group. When you swim into them they all separate around you and you are encircled in a silver cloud of fish, it was too cool. I really wish that I had had my camera with me.
Creole Rock was just fantastic today! It is also really great getting there in the morning, where there are no other boats, just us and the wildlife.
Other events here at Octopus are that our cat Max came back from the vet yesterday. Well, most of him came back but he left two small parts at the vet. Well, they weren't really that small actually, but that is another conversation. He is recovering and doing fine. The vets in St. Martin are really great, and not expensive either. Just in case anyone is thinking of moving here and they have pets....
Things really seem to be going back to normal here after OMAR. We are looking forward to the busy season as we see more and more potential divers walking by!
OK. Enough for now. Keep watching this space!
(this was written by Sally)
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 3rd, 2008
Just an update on how the weekend went. We went out to Tintamarre on Sunday with some of the AUC med students. Apparently there was some kind of practice exam in the morning, so of course they were late (no big surprise with the Medical Students). But it was well worth the wait. For most of the divers it was their first dive after their Open Water Certification with us, and I have to say that I was very proud as one of their instructors. Buoyancy was great, buddy checks were fantastic, the descents and ascents were all nice and slow. Nice diving, guys! The viz at Tintamarre was really gorgeous and one of the divers counted 23 box fish!
In the morning on Sunday we went to our two local reefs. The viz still isn't fantastic, but I was really surprised at how many fish there were. There was just shoal after shoal after shoal of fish. it is amazing how resilient the reefs are after OMAR, and it was just so nice to be diving our local sites again. For me, anyway, it is like visiting a friend.
Chris, Craig and I are still making improvements to the center. Chris has just installed a pipe ensuring that the water from the rinse tank goes into a soak away and not into the road. It is only a small thing, but all the small improvements add up. I will post some photos when I take them.... Let us know if you have any suggestions, we always welcome comments. We are thinking about starting a day trip to Tintamarre. This would include 2 dives in the morning, a couple of hours at the beautiful Tintamarre beach over lunch (which we will provide) and then another dive in the afternoon. Is this something that would interest people? We usually stop at Tintamarre for about 30 minutes during our surface interval, but everyone always agrees that they could spend more time there. We would take a mud bath, maybe do some sun bathing, a really cool day for everyone.
That's all for now, I will "blog" more soon.
(this was written by Sally)
In the morning on Sunday we went to our two local reefs. The viz still isn't fantastic, but I was really surprised at how many fish there were. There was just shoal after shoal after shoal of fish. it is amazing how resilient the reefs are after OMAR, and it was just so nice to be diving our local sites again. For me, anyway, it is like visiting a friend.
Chris, Craig and I are still making improvements to the center. Chris has just installed a pipe ensuring that the water from the rinse tank goes into a soak away and not into the road. It is only a small thing, but all the small improvements add up. I will post some photos when I take them.... Let us know if you have any suggestions, we always welcome comments. We are thinking about starting a day trip to Tintamarre. This would include 2 dives in the morning, a couple of hours at the beautiful Tintamarre beach over lunch (which we will provide) and then another dive in the afternoon. Is this something that would interest people? We usually stop at Tintamarre for about 30 minutes during our surface interval, but everyone always agrees that they could spend more time there. We would take a mud bath, maybe do some sun bathing, a really cool day for everyone.
That's all for now, I will "blog" more soon.
(this was written by Sally)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Reef condition after Hurricane Omar
After Hurricane Omar whistled through the Caribbean a few weeks ago many people have wondered what the condition of the reefs are around St.Martin.
The team at Octopus Diving have been out and about around St.Martin since the hurricane and here are the findings so far:
Creole Rock:
The classic spot for snorkeling and Discover Scuba Diving has survived remarkably well considering it was battered by 18 foot seas at the height of the storm. Alot of sand has been removed along with the eel grass, but generally its in good shape and still very diveable. We were there on 30th October 2008 and saw two large Octopus, stingrays and the usual numbers of reef fish. The visibility is eventually clearing to around 20 feet.
Sec De Grand Case / Turtle Reef:
The turtles are still there which is a huge relief, the North West side if the reef has a light dusting of sand, however the south East is in good condition.
Gorgogna sea fans and soft corals are still there and have survived.
Dived on 31st October 2008 saw two large turtles, two huge stingrays and the most fish we have ever seen on this dive site. Vis wasn't so great but still a nice dive.
Tintamarre:
Japanese Garden and Chico haven't been touched and the Nurse Sharks are still there.
Diving the Tug Boat today so will update soon on the condition of it.
Fusheng:
The moorings were missing so the Octopus Diving Commercial diving squad went into action and made a temporary mooring. The condition was a surprise, at 34 metres deep (100+ feet) it had taken a beating from the storm surge, with more debris than usual lying around it.
Its still in good shape and a fantastic dive for Advanced Open Water students - a great reason to do your AOW course !!
Gregory:
Some say the wreck has been moved a few feet from its original position?? Alot of the coral has been damaged but generally we werr surprised how little it had changed. Still a great dive site.
Porpoise:
Haven't dived it yet, but allegadly it has been knocked over?? Hard to imagine that a 100 foot long Tug boat can be knocked over by a wave. We will dive it again soon and let you know how is.
So thats it for todays update. The team at Octopus Diving are out again this afternoon at Tintamarre and are ready for the busy season.
Come down to the newly refurbished shop and check out our excellent deals on all dive equipment.
Happy Bubbles...
Team Octopus.
The team at Octopus Diving have been out and about around St.Martin since the hurricane and here are the findings so far:
Creole Rock:
The classic spot for snorkeling and Discover Scuba Diving has survived remarkably well considering it was battered by 18 foot seas at the height of the storm. Alot of sand has been removed along with the eel grass, but generally its in good shape and still very diveable. We were there on 30th October 2008 and saw two large Octopus, stingrays and the usual numbers of reef fish. The visibility is eventually clearing to around 20 feet.
Sec De Grand Case / Turtle Reef:
The turtles are still there which is a huge relief, the North West side if the reef has a light dusting of sand, however the south East is in good condition.
Gorgogna sea fans and soft corals are still there and have survived.
Dived on 31st October 2008 saw two large turtles, two huge stingrays and the most fish we have ever seen on this dive site. Vis wasn't so great but still a nice dive.
Tintamarre:
Japanese Garden and Chico haven't been touched and the Nurse Sharks are still there.
Diving the Tug Boat today so will update soon on the condition of it.
Fusheng:
The moorings were missing so the Octopus Diving Commercial diving squad went into action and made a temporary mooring. The condition was a surprise, at 34 metres deep (100+ feet) it had taken a beating from the storm surge, with more debris than usual lying around it.
Its still in good shape and a fantastic dive for Advanced Open Water students - a great reason to do your AOW course !!
Gregory:
Some say the wreck has been moved a few feet from its original position?? Alot of the coral has been damaged but generally we werr surprised how little it had changed. Still a great dive site.
Porpoise:
Haven't dived it yet, but allegadly it has been knocked over?? Hard to imagine that a 100 foot long Tug boat can be knocked over by a wave. We will dive it again soon and let you know how is.
So thats it for todays update. The team at Octopus Diving are out again this afternoon at Tintamarre and are ready for the busy season.
Come down to the newly refurbished shop and check out our excellent deals on all dive equipment.
Happy Bubbles...
Team Octopus.
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