New Reefs

Hey Blog followers,

We hope the weather isn't too bad where ever you are, I read this mnorning that the UK is bracing itself for snow and freezing temepratures.....brrrrrr...! Its nice and warm here!!

This is an update on our new reefs that we have been exploring.
Exploration diving is an important part of any dive shop and when a dive shop dives the same reefs over and over again, returning customers can get a little tired. However, here at Octopus Diving we are always searching for something different and interesting and so far we have found 3 new reefs that are awesome dive sites.

Chris's reef.

Out in the channel between St.Martin and Anguilla we found a beautiful reef, so Sally named it after me.
Its a long reef ranging from 50 feet to the sand and 35 feet to the top. It is covered in sea fans, at one end there are wrecks of old cars, creating a perfect artificial reef system. At the North there are some large rocks and crevices, full of lobster, two huge 6 foot Nurse Sharks hang out there and also we get turtles too.
Its position is quite exposed but we can dive it in most conditions, also its only 15 minutes from the dive shop.

Shark point.

Located quite close (5 minutes from our shop) we dived this site with Erb (who is the legendary DJ from Island 92 where we are now advertising http://www.island92.com/) and dived this site for the first time in rough conditions and it was great. Vis was low, but we found turtles, a baby nurse shark, large spotted drum and coral in great condition.
This is a really easy drift dive and great for an additional discover scuba dive site.

Kusasa Reef.

This site is a true gem.

Auree our French Instructor was out sailing his Yacht KUSASA a few days ago on his day off.

Sailing back from a nearby Island he kept well away from a known shallow reef (which will remain nameless - this is top secret information) when his depth sounder alarmed and he saw a reef system beneath him. To save his boat from certain fate, he changed course and headed away from danger.
However thinking like a true diver, he marked the position on his GPS.
This reef isn't marked on any charts or GPS and is certainly unknown on St.Martin amongst the local fishermen.
Two days ago we headed back to the same place in extremely rough conditions and dived it.
The reef is just out of this world and clearly un-touched by fishermen and divers. The fish and Turtles looked surprised that we were there.
The Platax or spade fish were the size of 21 inch TV's, so were the French Angel fish and the reef is just in perfect condition.
This will now be one of our main dive sites when conditions are good.

There are more and we are using Google Earth to pin point them.

Our aim is to stay well away from diving the Dutch side and the usual reefs that all the dive shops dive.
There has been rumours between the local Fishermen that a wreck exists out in the Channel and nobody knows where it is?? We are searching for it any chance we get!

Other news:

We are now live on Island 92 http://www.island92.com/, Mark and Jenn from Les Fruits de Mer have helped us to write some great commercials and we are starting to get some business from it, which is great.

Sally and I visited the Mega Yacht show and are now getting charters, from the private yachts.

The first two day charter is on SY Riela http://www.syriela.com/ this week and also on another Yacht (to be confirmed) next week where I may be staying on board overnight as the Dive guide!! Its a tough life!!

Our ratings are up for Trip Advisor - we are now number 4 in the whole of the Caribbean:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147351-d1092282-Reviews-Octopus_Diving-Grand_Case_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

Snuba is doing well and our bookings and reservations are up. Also we have confirmation from Club Orient that they want us to operate a permanent dive centre on thier premises next year.

The busy season is officially upon us tomorrow so lets hope this season is better than last year.

Thanks to all of you for reading and we will update again very soon.

Chris.

Fantastic Afternoon!

This afternoon I went to Tintamarre with Marisa (my open water student), her husband Louis, and Michael. Michael was diving with us in May, and we are super happy to have him back.

When I was talking to Michael he was telling me that he is always reading the blog, so I thought that it was only fitting that I blog about him. I always get excited when Mike sends us an email because he works for the military, so the words "unclassified" are always contained in the top of the email. I like to imagine all the other "classified" emails that go out... but Mike assures me that he isn't really privy to classified information, but he would say that, wouldn't he?

Anyway... the diving was really great this afternoon, especially diving from Octopussy. We went to Japanese Garden and saw the biggest Green Turtle hiding under a rock. I learned the other day, from Aurelion, (our new instructor), that the turtles go to the surface, take a gulp of air, and then they wedge themselves under a rock. With the huge gulp of air they are buoyant, so if they want a nap, they need the rock to stop them from floating to the surface. This Green Turtle had two huge Remoras on her back, she let us approach slowly, but then when we were too close, she swam gracefully away. We carried on, checking out all the schools of fish and spiny lobsters. It was a really nice dive. Marisa did fantastic, considering it was her third dive ever!

Then we went diving on the tugboat, where we had close encounters with sting rays and also watched Louis do some break dancing on his head (underwater of course). Aurelion had his camera, so I will post some photos when he sends them to me. The Tug was full of fish, like normal, and it was a beautiful dive.

Other news.... we have had some more great reviews on tripadvisor (thanks everyone) so check those out... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147351-d1092282-Reviews-Octopus_Diving-Grand_Case_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

We are currently the #1 attraction in Saint Martin / Sint Maarten and #5 in the whole of the Caribbean. We want to be #1 in the Caribbean, so if you are so inclined... write good review for us!

I will soon take photos of our new instructors Swen and Aurelion for the blog and the website, so stay tuned for more information about these two characters. They are real characters... Swen speaks 8 languages.... and Aurelion lives on a boat. They both love diving, and they are great guys, so check out the blog soon!

Congratulations to Marisa on her open water certification!

Friday the 13th tomorrow, I wonder if this will affect the marine life...

Good night everyone!

(Sally wrote this blog :) )