Wednesday 24 June 2015

Scuba at Karpaz in Cyprus

Thursday 18 June 2015

Avoiding Diving Burn Out.. the fun way!

We wrote an article earlier this year with regards to Burn Out and how to avoid it as Divers and Diving professionals.

So, not one to disregard our own advice, time and money came together a week ago to enable us to get in some fun dives that we haven't done before.

Where did we go Diving?

A rare opportunity emerged to allow us to head up to Northern Cyprus and dive the very tip of the Island around the Karpaz Peninsula.


For the first dive, we were heading for a deep cave but our guide changed her mind. With the lack of current around the tip (which is usually blasted as the whole Med turns around this point) we headed for the "Secret Rock" dive site. 


The maximum depth of this dive was 32metres with a huge rock nestled in between a couple others reaching up to a minimum depth of 14metres. There were a couple nice wall areas and a few grouper hanging around but the highlight of the dive was 2 big triggerfish that happy enough to swim around us until I produced the camera. At that point they promptly swam away! 

I'll be honest for the 6 hour round trip, we weren't convinced by this site. It was lovely to do something different but the second dive site certainly did not disappoint.

At the end of the Karpaz peninsula, there are about 5 little islands, which are protected areas for the birds. Humans are not allowed to set foot on them but from the sea, they look like lovely rocky outcrops.

We dived at the final island off the Cyprus coast and found the Karpaz wreck, which we are pretty sure is actually 2 or 3 wrecks all together.  There is no definitive history for these wrecks but we were informed that they sank around the time of the 1974 invasion and the circumstances are suspicious.

The first wreck we came across was pretty much intact with the distinctive hull expected of a wreck. there are a few openings that we were able to get inside and explore and the visibility was crystal clear with still no current in the area!

All along the seabed, you will find scattered debris and the depth is a paltry 16 metres giving plenty of ambient light to see everything by. We spent an hour roaming and investigating around pieces of metal and trying to work out what had happened (we still have no idea).




All in all we had a very long and tiring day but it was absolutely Epic. The whole team had a great time and that was thanks in part to some lovely egg butties.


Big thanks to our Dive Guide for the day though. Marion of Mephisto Diving, you helped keep our scuba passion alive with a great day out and about Scuba Diving in Cyprus.





Friday 5 June 2015

World Environment Day

The UN has declared that every year on the 5th June, we will celebrate World Environment Day.

Created in 1972, World Environment Day is a means to highlight the issues facing our environment and raise awareness amongst the general population. Like the Olympics, it is hosted by a different City in a different country and this year, it is Italy's turn to host the events.

Each year has a theme and this year that is Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care!




With our Mediterranean neighbours hosting along with this year's theme, it brings forward thoughts of the plights of our oceans. There is so much reliance on the Oceans, to both make money and for survival, that it is really unsustainable to keep so much pressure on its resources from so many different places.

Besides sustaining life and supporting a whole underwater ecosystem, our oceans provide food (around 90 billion kgs of fish and shellfish are caught every year) and a means of transport for goods and people travelling. We mine our oceans for minerals such as; salt, copper, iron and nickel and, of course, we drill them for oil.

So, it is important that we look after them!

We need to manage our fishing and make it sustainable. Know which fish species are at risk and don't eat them because a lack of demand means the supply is no longer viable. Trawling and Dredging, gill nets and drift nets not only damage and destroy underwater habitats, they are responsible for over 27 billion tonnes of wasted fish and by-catch a year.

Don't Litter!

Sounds easy enough but when you are out on your relaxing cruise boat or even lying on the beach, be sure to put your empty cans, food wrappers and cigarette ends in the bin or in a bag to be taken away and disposed of later. Many a time, we finish a dive with 4 or 5 beer cans in our pockets that have been blown off the day boats as they cruise by, so a little care can go a long way.


This one goes out in particular to the Scuba Divers out there. Get your buoyancy right and watch where you put your hands and your fins in the water. Although here in Cyprus, it is mostly rock and sand, you don't know what little creatures and critters are hiding nearby and you can do untold damage to the life underwater just by being careless.


In the last 50 years, the world population has more than doubled from 3.3 billion to over 7 billion in 2015 so the impact made per person adds up to devastating proportions. It isn't just the Oceans but our forests, woodlands and animal life too. We need to be a bit more discerning with our actions to try to limit the damage and make a conscious effort to give back where we can.


As Mahatma Gandhi said...

"The Earth Provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed."

HAPPY WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY EVERYBODY!