SS YONGALA

The SS YONGALA is a passenger ship build in England in 1903 and took up the busy passenger road from the gold mines of eastern Australia to the port of Adelaid , Melborne and Sydney.
The Ship sank in a Cyclone in  23 march 1923 and all 199 passenger on board died in what is known the worst marine tragedy in the history of Australia.

IT took 50 years for this Wreck to be found , In 1943 a minesweeper identified an object of around 90 meters (300 feet)  and was probably the wreck of a fair sized steamer vessel  but no further investigation has been done.
In 1958 two divers located the wreck and came up with a steel safe form one of its cabin, no identification from the safe other than the serial number, in 1961 the response from the safe manufacturer in London is received and confirmed that this safe is manufactured for the SS Yongala.

The SS Yongala lies on the bottom of a sandy seabed which makes of it an artificial reef and house of a large array of marine life , from gray nurse shark to rays to the huge number of reef fish , groupers and much more. Not to forget the famous grouper found on the bow of the ship nicknamed VW because of its enormous size.

The best time to dive the Yongala is from June to August where the water temperature are (21 to 25 C ) but the visibility is between (15 to 20 meters) or from September to December where the water temperature are higher (25 to 30 ) but the visibility is lower between (10 to 15 meters).
With a maximum depth of 30 meters, and the great historical and marine life , the SS Yongala is one of the best wreck dives in the world and has on average 10000 + divers each year.

McMURDO SOUND , ANTARCTICA

This is a dive that you can call STRANGE, Imagine yourself digging a hole in the Ice to dive ... Needless to say your dry suite should be on... This dive is not for beginners as it needs some special skills to return alive :)

 
Think about it twice, despite the temperature that usually drops below -40 Degree Celsius , and the strong winds that resulted in a LifeLess land; on the contrary to that the life thrives below the thick layer of ice which makes it a spectacular dives, for the lucky person that can experience it.

Diving can be done during summer, from september to February where the outside temparature is around -2 degree Celsius, the divers will have to dig a hole in the 1 to 3 meters (3 to 10 feet) thick ice using one of the following tools:

Diesel powered auger, ice saws, ice chippers or even high explosives, to make a hole of a diameter of around 1 meter (3 feet), a portable Hut is placed over the whole to prevent it from freezing again and makes a room for diver to wear the suite and prevent the diving equipment from beeing exposed to excess cold that may defect it.

 
Once in the water the diver will contemplate a visibility of 300+ meters (990 feet) ,once you have your eyes adjusted to the low sunlight that makes it through the ice, you experience of flying over a darkened landscape,

 

you will also encounter colorful sea life, including Cactus sponges,globe sponges, starfish, sea urchin, sea urchin, jellyfish and some brilliant soft coral., if you are lucky enough you may sometimes encounter an Emperor Penguin swimming to find a meal under the ice.

MS ZENOBIA

Check out our Post on the Recent Ban on Diving the Zenobia Here

MS Zenobia, is a Roll On Roll Out vessel (RORO) vessel that was carrying cargo from Sweeden to Syria, she never reached her final destination as a computer problem with the ballast system caused her to list, although an SOS message has been sent but the help has been delayed and the ship now lie on the sandy sea floor at a depth of 42 meters (138 feet) 1,5 Km offshore of Larnaca, Cyprus.

The Common name , known by divers is ZEN , MS Zenobia is listed among the top 25 Wreck dive around the world.

No matter if you are OW, advanced or technical diver Zenobia provides you with an ultimate diving experience with a depth varying from 18 meters (60 feet) to reach the bottom at 42 meters (138 feet).

 Diving outside the wreck their is plenty to see, the trucs that Zenobia used to carry are now scattered at depth varying from 25 meters (82 feet) to 42 meters (148 feet), and still 2 trucks are hanging on chains to the deck.

the propeller can be found at the stern of the wreck one at 28 meters (92 feet) and the other at 38 meters (125 feet).
 The cantene and the bridge are found on around 27 meters (122 feet) and are a nice dive with little penetration for all levels divers.
For advanced divers more advanced penetration can be done to the main lorry deck, which runs 72 meters (236 feet) and allows the divers to watch the truck wrecks that are located in the deck.
The technical divers their is another deck that runs 172 meters (565 feet) the long of the Ship , and there you can see Cars and JCB, you can also see the engine room.

 
Accessible to all divers and with plenty of historical value and variety of sea creature... no wonder why this wreck is on of the world best dive sites...

BARACUDA POINT

Located in the Malaisan waters , currently the island of Sipadan is not inhabited and it is used as a military base.

people willing to dive on this island will have to be on a ferry boat or stay at one of the surrounding islands (Kapalai, Mabul, Mataking).

Is it worth it???  

Absolutely yes... having several diving spots where Barracuda points is one of them , Diving the BARRACUDA POINT will give you the unique opportunity to encounter tons and tons of fish and Yes the Majestic Barracuda is one of them, where you will have the opportunity to watch the barracuda tornado which is endemic to this area; other than barracuda you will encounter sea turtles, black tip reef shark, white tip reef shark, trigger fish, tube sponges and tons of other sea creature.

With a depth Ranging from 10 to 53 meters (33 to 175 feet) and a visibility that ranges from 20 to 30 meters (66 to 100 feet)  and the currents that may sometimes be strong , this Dive is for advanced open water divers.

BLUE CORNER WALL

Since It discovery Blue Corner wall has become the best diving spot in Palau, Located near the Great Blue Hole the Corner as it names said it is a corner that starts from shallow waters and drops to more than 300 meters (1000 feet ), the plateau is at 18 meters (60 feet).

The current that can change in speed and direction with the tides bring to the corner all kinds of food for both Corals and Sea creatures.

While diving the corner you have the wall to your side , with the great visibility that is always higher than 30 meters (100 feet)  you can see the great landscapes that the corner offer; when you arrive to the plateau you just have to use your reef hook and remain stagnant watching the tons and tons of sea creatures while you are floating like a kite in the wind, surrounded sometimes by some white tips shark, school of jacks , unicorn fish and whatever happen to be passing by.
All this makes of it a great thrill dive.