Scubafriends Network

Some things don’t change – Dive Atlas of the World is still number 1. But some newcomers made a surprisingly good showing, such as the Lonely Planet Sardinia (joining the list at #3). Read on for the whole list.

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So due to major knee surgery I’m forbidden from diving this year. (I’m going to appeal in the fall..) BUT.. all hope is not lost. We do have a trip planned. (And we won’t even have to fly there. Or spend 3 weeks driving.)

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Last year, only about 12% of the 1,533-ton quota was caught. The huge schools (between 80 and 200) of several-hundred-pound fish are gone. Suspected reasons range from overfishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to environmental stress, but the fact is that we don’t know enough about the bluefin tuna to make any real guesses.
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No, I’m not talking about those “dive adventure” helmet trips to the bottom of a 10′ snorkel site. And I’m not talking about super-discount trips on a submersible. I’m talking about Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii.
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Looking for a winter vacation? Consider one of the most remote islands in the world – Midway Atoll. As part of the new national marine monument in Hawaii, the island is being opened for ecotourism to help raise awareness as well as remove trash and foreign species.
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Back on July 24, Ecuador’s President Correa issued a decree legalizing the sale of shark fins from sharks caught as by-catch.
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One of the world’s largest recorded coral dieoffs is occurring right now. But its not our fault.
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Current GPS Mark: N24.68500°, W81.21698°, 160f – Seven Mile Bridge
Key West was great, and now we’re on our way to New Port Ritchie, up near Clearwater. We didn’t have the opportunity to do any real amount of diving in Key West due to the water conditions (really rough, heavy currents, <10ft viz), but that will change at our next stop – Crystal River, FL. (I was going to put our dive/tour info here, but I’m having trouble finding the website again. Doh! So I’ll regroup on it later.)
Update: I found the info – it was the one that was right in front of me the whole time (doh!). We’ll be doing a manatee snorkel in the morning and then a trip to the Devil’s Den cavern in the afternoon, with Bird’s.

Current GPS Mark: N25.79302°, W80.20560° – I-95 Miami)
Photo: A pelican with a big fish, in Key West

So yesterday was Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center and dinner at the
Ocean Grill. The only part of that that went well was dinner, which was excellent. At KSC we ended up spending all day in lines (line to get on the bus, then the bus waited in line, then a line for food. Line after line after line…) and it was a total waste. (Which is unfortunate, because I’m a huge space buff.) Didn’t even get to go to the rocket park. And the Vero Beach Holiday Inn “Hotel and Suites” Oceanside was just as bad – 4 star prices for a 2 star (at best) motel.

Moving along, we’re currently stuck in stop and go traffic in north Miami, on our way to the Hard Rock for lunch. I’ll update this post after lunch..

Update: Don’t go to the Hard Rock Miami. Just don’t.. sigh. We’re back on track for Key West although we might end up being late (B&B wants us in no later than 6pm. Its 2 and we’re still stuck in Miami. So we’ll see how that works out. Software says its possible, but we’re dubious.)

Current GPS Mark: N32° 00.462, W81° 16.559 – San’s Boutique Hotel
Picture info: From the 12th floor balcony of our room in Myrtle Beach at the Hampton Inn Oceanfront

We’re in Savannah this morning, and about to head out to do some siteseeing. Yesterday’s adventure through Myrtle Beach was fun, and the Hard Rock there is a must-see. Tomorrow we leave for Vero Beach and a lovely dinner at the Ocean Grill. Weather and location permitting, we’ll try to start diving in Vero Beach (nice morning trip before we go to Canaveral) and I’ll post lots of pics.

Site news: If my network access holds out on the drive to Vero, I’m going to switch software again. The current setup for the site just plain doesn’t work (nobody can post pics, news, etc) and I have one that does, its just not themed properly (so its somewhat ugly.) I’ll try to put it into place tomorrow during the drive. Usernames and passwords won’t change, so no worries there.