Ultimate Travel Experience

Spearfishing is a form of fishing which originates centuries ago. This form of fishing is practiced by early settlers by the rivers where fishes are caught by spearing them. These spears were made from bamboo or wood with sharpened end. In the early days, spearfishing was used to catch fish for food.

In the modern days, spearfishing has evolved into a sport for sea sports enthusiasts. In fact, it has become the ultimate underwater sports among divers. Modern days spearfishing equipments are more sophisticated with elastic or pneumatic-powered spearguns to strike at the hunted fish. These equipments can cost up to thousands of dollars.

Spearfishing is carried out in many different ways like walking along the coast or river banks, scuba diving, snorkeling or just free diving.

However, spearfishing is a controversial sport where there is a lot of discussion about its impact to the ecological environment i.e. fish. Today, spearfishing is highly regulated to protect certain species of fish from being over hunted.

As in every sport, there are many records being set by spearfishing enthusiasts like the largest of a particular fish, etc. To insure that these records are done in a ethical, sportmanlike and safe way, there are two organizations which provide rules and regulation to monitor any spearfishing game record. They are International Underwater Spearfishing Association (IUSA) and International Bluewater Spearfishing Records Committee (IBSRC).

Some countries have outlawed spearfishing to protect their underwater ecological environment and import of spearfishing equipments is totally prohibited.

Tags: Diving · Travel Tips

Bali, the Hindu island in Indonesia, has many dive sites. Bali is easily accessible with many international connecting flights to the island. The top dive sites are located at the Nusa Penida National Park. Nusa Penida is a cluster of three islands – Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan – about 20 km south east of Bali. It takes about 45 minutes by speedboat from Sanur to reach Nusa Penida. These islands are visible from Sanur.

Typically, divers will stay at villages at Nusa Lembongan. The accommodation ranges from simple motels to expensive hotels. There are many dive centers located along the beach at Nusa Lembongan. Prices are negotiable and it’s best to negotiate for package deal i.e. 10 dives for a fix price.

The ultimate diving experience is to see the mola mola (or Oceanic Sunfish), manta ray and do drift diving. Sightings of mola Mola and manta ray are seasonal.

Mola mola can be seen when they surface to have their mouth cleaned by bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes). Typically, they can be seen at around 40m. A mola mola has a height of about 3 meters from fin-to-fin and length of 2 meters. It weighs up to 3 tons. Strangely this fish has no tail. It uses its giant fins to balance itself. They only feed on jellyfish, salps and planktons.

The first encounter of mola mola is really astonishing. Mola mola is huge yet so tame and harmless. Seeing a mola mola and swimming around it to take pictures is really a fantastic experience. A truly ultimate diving experience.

Mola mola can be sighted at north coast, Toya Pakeh, Crystal Bay, Batu Abah and Blue Corner. Crystal Bay is the safest and easiest dive site to see Mola Mola. Crystal Bay is sheltered from the drift current. Just outside the bay, there is a drop and the current picks up. This is the boundary of Crystal Bay and this where mola mola can be seen at about 40 meter depth.

Manta ray, in layman’s term, is a giant sting ray. It can grow as big as 4 meters across and the tail can be as long as 3 meters long. A manta ray can live up to 25 years.

Seeing how graceful a manta ray flips it’s ‘wings’ to move in the water is simply amazing. A mature manta ray can weigh up to 3 tons.

At Nusa Penida, manta rays can be seen at Manta Point, Toya Pakeh and Batu Abah. Manta rays are easily found at Manta Point. However, Manta Point is among the furthest of all dive sites. Manta Point is located at south of Nusa Penida and its exposed location makes is a difficult to access due to the possible very rough sea conditions.

Besides manta rays, other type of sting rays can be seen at Manta Point. Sometimes, Nurse Sharks are seen as well.

Editor’s note: The editor isthe diver in both images

Tags: Asia · Diving

Mauritius has lots to offer for scuba diving. They are many top diving spots in Mauritius that is comparable among the world’s best. Diving in Mauritius is one of the ultimate dive experience for divers around the world. They have various types of dive sites ranging from coral reefs with abundant sea creatures, underwater sceneries with caves, tunnels and arches. Perhaps, underwater treasure hunting among shipwrecks is a possibility.

There are many dive shops around the country offering scuba diving trips. The prices range from $80 to $300 depending on the distance and number of dives per day. The price is negotiable and it fluctuates according to influx of visitors. Personally, I chose to dive with dive centers attached to major hotels for safety reasons. I want to be sure that the equipments I am using are properly maintained.

Dive sites in Mauritius are groups under three regions – South-West, North-West and East coast. Southern coast is not suitable for diving due to the sea condition.

The South-West is famous for its dive sites like Tamarin Bay and Flin-en-Flac. At Tamarin Bay, divers can see school of dolphins roaming in this area. Sometimes, divers can even find the dolphins playfully swimming among them.

At Flin-en-Flac, there are two remarkable dive sites – Cathedral and Rempart Serpent. At the Cathedral, there are remarkable underwater sceneries of caves, tunnels and arches. At Rempart Serpent, there are plenty of sea creatures for divers to see like stone fishes, moral eyes, lion fishes, scorpion fishes and clown fishes among the shipwrecks in this area.

Other dive sites in South-West region are Bottle Reef, St Jacques Pass, Deep Heaven, Heaven Pass and Anemone Pass.

In the North-West region, many underwater attractions can be found in various sites. Peter Holt’s Rock offers giant moral eels, Stenopus Reef offers giant gorgonias and corals and Roches Baleines with it’s drop which has plenty of sea fauna.

This region is a heaven for shipwreck diving. There are many shipwrecks like “Stella Maru”, “Amar” and “Star Hope” at Trou aux Biches, “Silver Star” at Grand Baie and “Hassen Mian” at Balaclava.

Round Island offers the best of the ‘big ones’ for divers. Diving around this island offers the possibility of seeing sharks, barracudas and marlins.

In the East region, the best dive site is the Belle Mare pass. Belle Mare pass is a drift dive site filled with lots of sea fauna like sharks, dolphins, barracudas and sting rays. Further south to Mahebourg, there are Roche Zozo and Colorado dive sites with their magnificent underwater landscape of caves, tunnels, arches, canyons, etc.

Even for a non-diver, snorkeling is sufficient to enjoy the beauty of the underwater wonders in Mauritius as the water is very clear and visibility is superb.

Tags: Africa · Diving

Hawaii offers many exciting and adventurous activities which cater for travelers of all ages can be a challenge if someone tries to figure out what is the best possible combination to get the best of Hawaii. Just to decide which island to start with is already a big challenge. One recommended way to visit Hawaii for the first time would be to sign-up on a Hawaii vacation package for your ultimate vacation.

One can try exploring the possibility of using the Hawaii trip planner to arrange best possible sights and sounds of Hawaii. This website can help propose a schedule for you based on the activities that you have chosen. What you need to do is just to choose what where you want to start your vacation, how many days, what you want to do and press ‘Next Step’ along the way. Then, you will get a very detail itinerary with map, ticket price, logistics information, etc. This is truly an ideal site for self-guided travel.

Tags: America

Every outdoor activity will require special gears. With the right equipment, outdoor activity can be fun, enjoyable and comfortable. Optimal performance can be achieved. Safety can be assured as well. Camping requires camps or tents that will suit different climate to provide comfort to campers. A good sleeping bag will go along way to give a camper a good night sleep. Hikers and mountaineers require proper hiking shoes, gloves and bags.

I would personally invest in the proper equipment like North Face backpacks whenever I go hiking. Besides backpacks, North Face does supply other outdoors equipments.

Tags: Travel Tips

Hawaii travel is one of my all time ultimate travel experience. Hawaii consists of a six main islands and two smaller ones in the vast Pacific Ocean. Hawaii offers plenty of interesting activities for visitors especially those who seek to explore nature wonders. Within these islands, one can experience wonders of tropical jungles, deserts and snow capped mountains plus withnessing live volcanic activities.

Hawaii is about 2500 miles away from Los Angeles or 3800 miles from Tokyo. One can only get there on a cruise ship or by plane.

Hawaii became a territory of United States of America in 1898 after a controversial coup which overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. In 1959, Hawaii officially became the 50th state of United States of America.

Hawaii has a very prominent place in history of World War II. The surprise Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in Oahu Island marked the entry of America into the World War II. In Pearl Harbor today, we can see the USS Battleship Missouri which rests there. The unconditional surrender by Japanese was signed on this battleship.

The six islands of Hawaii offer unique travel experience to every traveler. Each one of them has something special.

Kauai Island, the northern most of the six islands, offers Waimea Canyon which is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Oahu Island is the home of the state capital – Honolulu. On this island, the sea, sun and mountains are just minutes away from the city. One can surf at the Waikiki Beach and North Shore. Or just visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

Molokai Island is the island which stays true to its heritage. More than half of its population is native Hawaiians. One can go trekking in Halewa Valley, ride a mule through the Kalaupapa Historical Park or go out to the sea and see the world’s tallest sea cliff along the North Sea.

Lanai Island offers two great gold courses at Manele and Koele. One can take a drive to visit Keahiakawelo, also known as ‘Garden of the Gods’, which is an area filled with strange and mysterious looking rocks.

Maui Island has so much to offer from outdoor activities, entertainments and magnificent sights for every visitor. One can take a drive along the 53 mile scenic Hana highway, watch magnificent sunrise from the Haleakala Crater or go whale watching to look for a humpback whale.

Big Island is really the biggest island among the six islands. Big Island is so big that it offers so many different climate zones within itself. One can find rain forests, snow capped mountains and deserts within Big Island. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park offers visitors opportunity to view volcano lava flow, depending on the volcanic activity on that day. One may choose to visit Mauna Kea to play with snow at the mountain top. A visit to the ancient Hawaiian religious temple, Puukohola Heiau, is an interesting option for visitors wanting to learn more about local culture. The more adventurous ones can visit the sacred Waipio Valley, also known as ‘Valley of the Kings’, which was once the center of political and religious activities in Hawaii. Here one can see 1,300 feet high Hiilawe Falls.

Tags: America