If you didn’t already know one of our illustrious leaders is away diving/training at the moment …. Liam has been doing it tough diving in Florida & Mexico! The word on the street is that during his adventures Liam Allan won an award from GUE…. CONGRATULATION LIAM ON RECEIVING GUE INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!
These pictures were taken by David Rhea during Liam’s training in Florida. Liam also completed the GUE Re-breather course.
What a wonderful weekend it was to spend at Nelson Bay. The Sun was shinning, sea was calm, visibility was fantastic and great company, what more could you ask for! There was loads to see on all dives, such as Grey Nurse Sharks, Port Jackson’s, Wobbegongs, Gropers, Rays and even a Seal made an apperance during our wreck dive. Congratulations to Matthias on gaining the Advanced Open Water Certification.
On Sunday 26th of July we are going to do a Whale watching tour down the coast to Maroubra. On the boat we will have a Sydney Aquarium scientist who will give an indepth lecture/talk on the whales. We have a wide screen tv fitted and a pa system. Once we get to Maroubra we will be doing a single dive on the sharks then return.
Costs will be $195 for the whale commentary and single dive including equipment. We are taking bookings now with places limited to 6.
This video was shot with some friends from Okinawa Underwater Explorers, a group of GUE divers in Okinawa Japan. The islands, The Keramas, are about 1 hour boat ride from Okinawa, which is about 1000kms south from mainland Japan.
A recent GUE trip to The Solomon Islands saw 4 divers enjoy amazing wreck diving with huge WWII historical significance known as the Battle of Guadalcanal.
The Battle of Guadalcanal, was fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. Fiercely contested on the ground, at sea, and in the air, the campaign was the first major offensive launched by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
During our trip, limited by certification to Tech 1 diving we visited 6 wrecks in total over 10 dives:
“Hirokawa Maru” (Bonegi I), “Kinugawa Maru” (Bonegi II), Kyusyu Maru, Azumasan Maru, USS John Penn and the USS Kanawha. Although all of the wreck were outstanding we were amazed by the USS Kanawha which is a big American fleet oiler sitting upright near the entrance to Tulagi Harbour at about 60 metres (200 ft) with the decks at an average depth of 45m (160ft).As a warship, it was heavily armed with guns on the bow, bridge, midships and stern.
On 7 April a group of enemy Vals slipped through fighter defences and zeroed in on Kanawha as she awaited an escort in Tulagi harbor. At 1502, shortly after clearing the harbor, the slow and vulnerable oiler came under bomb attack. The first five planes hit an oil tank under the bridge, causing fires to spread rapidly along the deck. Lt. Comdr. Bock ordered the ship abandoned to minimize danger to his crew from burning oil on the surface. After rescue operations were underway, volunteers returned on board and extinguished fires amidst exploding ammunition. The tug Rail towed Kanawha to the west side of Tulagi where she was beached shortly before midnight. However, she slid off into deep water and sank before daybreak 8 April. Nineteen of her crew were lost.
In summary the Solomon Islands has some of the best wreck diving in the world. The water temperature is a balmy 30’C on average even at depth. Conditions are superb, great vis, calm seas and completely stress free. Although we were limited by certification there is diving for all levels – recreational through to exploration. Best time of year is May to August. We used Invader Charters as our operator and they catered for our every need, a big thank you to Chris, Stu, Grant and James for a fantastic trip.
