Scuba Diving Grenada: Carriacou the guide

Quick overview of diving in Carriacou

View Carriacou Scuba Diving in a larger map

Best time to go: Seasons in Grenada are split into two - dry and wet. Go any time between October/November and May. June is okay but depending on rainy weather elsewhere, viz could be impacted. Mid June saw viz down to between five and ten metres and green water. Some said it was down to the Orinoco Flow - water flooding up from Venezuala bringing with in all sorts of muck, others blamed an algae bloom. Go earlier to avoid.

.

Where to dive: Dive with Carriacou Silver Divers and go anywhere ScubaMax suggests, he is not going to take you to a bad dive site

Best Dive Sites: The Sisters was great for life and drift diving potential but anywhere

What to see: Sharks of the nurse variety, and lots of little stuff. Poke around and look for coral banded shrimp, crabs. Better viz may have revealed something larger just beyond the reef. If you fancy something different, try snorkelling in the mangroves.

Biggest gripe: The 90 minute ferry ride from Grenada to the island, take the small plane instead. Not much more expensive but much quicker. Oh, and the mossies. Take plenty of insect repellent.

What suit to take: Sea was like jumping into bath water, routinely had 27/28C so a 3mm will do, particularly if you are planning to do the wrecks.

Where to Stay: If there is a group of you and you are not too fussy, Ade's Dream is a great central location. Right on Main Street and a few minutes walk from the Carriacou Silver diving. The owner Chris also owns a bar across the road which overlooks the beach and he opened up for us. Serves great rum with a great view. Not to be missed. Also the hotel has a great balcony area and group of us gathered there as the sun went down to shoot the breeze and drink rum. Guy down the street had Marley on the decks. Doesn't get any more Caribbean than that. If you fancy something a little more European in feel try the Laurena or the Grand View Inn. For something that has more boutique feel the Green Roof Inn is perfect. Last two are bit more of a walk away from the dive centre.

Miscellaneous dive info: It is a short walk across the road to beach to boat. Dive centre has two good boats, is well equipped, has showers, gear hangers and multiple rinse tanks. Nice garden to relax in between dives. Important thing for my wife, they have all sizes of BCD, including XS and children's sizes.

Guidebook: Couldn't find one. The Caribbean really needs a good guidebook.

Other info: Food at Hope's Inn is great. Also try the breakfast at Sandisland Café , Brian Whyte
lobster fritters are tasty as are his eggs mixed with vegetables. Unusual but tasty brekkie

Worth going: Absolutely


If this is a help to you, click on the word 'comment' and leave me a message

World Cup Octopus predicts another Germany win

Paul the Psychic World Cup Octopus is at it again and Germany are hoping he will make it five out of five.
Octopus Paul has correctly predicted Germany's results with uncanny accuracy by plucking mussels with certain national flags out of his tank.

He has correctly predicted the winner in all four of Germany's games so far - and has now picked them to beat Argentina on Saturday.

Psychic Octopus predicts England World Cup exit

I didn't know how I was going to do this until I came across this story but I have finally managed to link scuba diving, marine life and the World Cup.

And it's all thanks to Paul the Psychic Octopus.

Apparently when consulted, Paul predicted that Germany would knock out England when they meet in Bloemfontein in the last 16 on Sunday.

And how did he do this? He chose a mussel from a jar with the German flag on it ahead of one in a similar jar bearing the cross of St George.

The container that Paul opens first is said to be his pick for who will win the impending match, keepers say.

The two-year-old cephalopod from the Tanja Munzig Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium, has a record of predicting past German results in this manner, his owners say.

Paul has so far correctly predicted all of Germany's results in South Africa, predicting Germany would beat Australia in their opening match, then lose to Serbia, and then beat Ghana. is keepers say he correctly predicted 80 per cent of Germany's results during the 2008 European Championship.

"Paul's prediction was phenomenal," said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.
"He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside."

Some might say that he is a bit of a traitor though - he was born in the UK before being moved to German aquarium.

Sea turtle finds lost camera and films himself

Now, it's not the best underwater footage you're ever going to see. But considering it was shot by a turtle, you will probably understand.

The footage has become a YouTube sensation after it helped reunite a diver with his lost camera following an epic 1,100 mile journey.

Royal Dutch Navy sergeant Dick de Bruin lost the camera while he was exploring a wreck off the tropical island of Aruba last year.

Amazingly, he was reunited with the camera more than six months later after a Florida coastguard Paul Shultz spotted it washed up in a Key West Marina and plucked it from the water on May 16.

Thanks to some impressive detective work he managed to track down the owner.

And what of the mysterious video clip? It seems the camera was mistaken for a meal by a hungry sea turtle who inadvertently switched it on trying to shake it off after becoming entangled in its strap and filmed a five-minute section of itself swimming with.

The video footage has now been viewed more than 490,000 times on YouTube.

Journalist scuba dives under Gulf of Mexico oil slick

AP journalist Rich Matthews has dived under the murky depths of the Gulf of Mexico to see the environmental devastation caused by the oil pumping from the broken undersea oil well.

Here is an edited version of his report.

Some 40 miles out into the Gulf Of Mexico, I jump off the boat into the thickest patch of red oil I've ever seen. I open my eyes and realize my mask is already smeared. I can't see anything and we're just five seconds into the dive.

Dropping beneath the surface the only thing I see is oil. To the left, right, up and down - it sits on top of the water in giant pools, and hangs suspended fifteen feet beneath the surface in softball sized blobs. There is nothing alive under the slick, although I see a dead jellyfish and handful of small bait fish.

It's quiet, and to be honest scary, extremely low visibility. I spend just 10 minutes swimming around taking pictures, taking video. I want people to see the spill in a new way, a way they

The oil is so thick and sticky, almost like a cake batter. It does not wipe off. You have to scrape it off, in layers until you finally get close to the skin. Then you pour on some Dawn dishwashing soap and scrub. I think to myself: No fish, no bird, no turtle would ever be able to clean this off of themselves. If any animal, any were to end up in this same puddle there is almost no way they could escape.

The full version and pics can be found here