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.

Check out http://www.octopussnuba.com/

Hey everybody,

This is Chris just to give you an update on what's been happening in the world of Octopus Diving.

Last week Sally, myself and Christian spent 4 days on Saba with www.sabadivers.com we had an awsome time and are now setting up trips to St.Martin and Saba.
Scouts place is beautiful and the diving is totally different than St.Martin - I wouldn't say better - just very different. We saw a Hammerhead Shark, loads of turtles, Nudibranchs and lots of fish, great dives especially Shark Shoal where we did our un-guided dive, discovered and entered a cave system at 52 metres or 170 feet - really cool but lots of Deco - very naughty......!

This week I am in Miami training to become a certified Mercury Technician which will save us down time on the boats next season and of course save alot of money... its very simple stuff, just basic mechanical skills and some PLC programming.

Sally is still in St.Martin and Christian has flown to France to see his Parents. Sally is working really hard, painting the shop, sealing the decking outside and preparing for Snuba.

Snuba is all set to go live on November 1st 2009 and everything is in place for it to start as scheduled - can't wait !
We are starting really easy and working out of a Bar on Orient Beach to start with and then hopefully we can progress to something more permanent next year, the management of the Hotel are very excited and we are flying in a Snuba trainer to train me as a Snuba Course Director where I can train Snuba guides and also become part of the Snuba university which you can find by following this link http://www.snubau.com/
Also we are now listed on the Snuba blog which is cool.... http://snubagirl.wordpress.com/ take a look at the guy in the banner at the top - its me in my younger slimmer days!!


Our new boat Octopussy is the name for the new Power Catamaran as you may know and she is taking shape, 250HP Pro XS racing engines are on, sit down tank rack is made and ready to be installed, so is the custom designed ladder which will be the same design and easier to climb than Arvor.
I spent the last 2 - 3 weeks completely re-wiring the whole boat and modifying its existing structure - as soon as she is ready we will post photo's of before and after.

After Miami Sally and I meet up in New York for two weeks where we will eventually have some down time - can't wait!! Visiting Jenn and Marc au Marc - could be interesting - lots of Saki and red hats !


That's about it, thanks for reading and look forward to seeing some of you again in the near future.

Chris Davies.