We explored the Titanic

It’s been almost a century since the massive ship sunk after the encounter with an iceberg. Since its discovery in 1984, a number of expeditions have been sent to the icy depths to explore the remains and recover artefacts. So we wanted to do it too.

Last night we explore the famous ship,  at home, eating a slice of pizza. 

It was great, the website www.expeditiontitanic.com takes everybody at 3,280 metres below sea level to explore the ship´s remains. There are tons of information, pictures and videos.

There's also a lot of information about the ships used to dive down to the Titanic. Life on board the ill-fated liner and the fate of the passengers is also covered. 

Enjoy  this particular wreck dive, totally recommended.

Happy Holidays

Hello

We wish your holidays are full of happinness, delicious food, nice people, special presents and  lots of love.


We also want to send our best wishes for 2011 and we hope next year you have many free days to go diving.

Big hugs from Taganga

Johan, Yolima, Alejo, Ali, Benjamin, Cesar, Chopper, Desi, Liset, Marjorie, Niko y Tirso.

Families diving together

Diving is an activity that can be learned and enjoyed as a family is a plan that the children rarely say "no thanks dad, another day! Diving creates strong bonds within the family, they share different experiences in each and every dive trip that they remember forever.

But dont assume that every member of the family is going to like it, sometimes we see people put under strong emotional pressure to dive by husbands, wives, parents or siblings, they cannot relax and its very difficult for them to learn and performance the skills. Our recommendation is that parents can create the oportunity for the children to go diving, support and encourage them but always take into account that diving has to be their own decision.

The younger members of the family can begin to try diving from 8 years through the program "Bubblemaker" and from the age of 10 they can be certified as open water divers Jr and 15 years automatically become open water divers. Children should always get written permission from their parents or guardians before diving. In Aquantis, families dive with one or more instructors depending on the number of children, privately so they can move at their own pace.

For us it is always wonderful to welcome the families, some are a little nervous at first, but then they can’t stop talking and looking for what they saw in the ID  books, they reviewed the theory together before the test, see photos taken, and yes! Teens post pictures on Facebook with their parents diving.

In recent days, father and children came from Bogota to Taganga on holiday and they were certified open water divers, it was 3 very busy days for the three of them, but full of emotions and good memories. Congratulations to Gabriel, Nikolas and Manuel Felipe.

Thanks Garzon Family for diving with us and thanks to the families Pinzon-Caicedo, Gonzalez, Bayona, Martinez, Villas, Durán, Hernandez, Hurtado, Miller y Robledo.

Listen

Read phonetically

Dictionary - View detailed dictionary

1. preposition
1. in
2. on
3. at
4. into
5. to
6. by
7. for
8. about

Scuba Diving app for iphone

With more than 12500 dive sites and 8400 dive shops. Divetime.com hosts the largest database of scuba diving resources on the internet. This application brings all that information directly to your iPhone!

The Divetime iPhone App Version 2 includes some great features:

• 12,500 dive sites and 8,500 dive shops  around the world can be searched.   
• Search the global database of scuba dive sites and scuba dive shops using nearby location search, map-based search, or text-based search.
• Get detailed information and data about dive sites, including the GPS coordinates, type of dive, experience level required, maximum depth, average visibility, currents, access method, marine life, photos and user reviews.
• Find information about dive shops including the address, contact information, specialties, photos and user reviews.
• Save and manage your search locations to quickly and easily revisit and search them again the future.
• Bookmark specific dive sites and shops for offline browsing and future reference.
• Interactive maps allow you to switch between Road, Satellite or Hybrid views at any time.
• Custom user settings, including measuring system preferences(Metric or Imperial), search options etc.
• User reviews can now be viewed on dive site and dive shops.

Download the application and start enjoying, you also can upload info about your favourite dive sites or review the experience with the dive shops, we already add Salidero!!

You can get the app in www.divetime.com/iphone/

10 Facts about nurse sharks

During the past weeks we have been very lucky to see nurse sharks in Tayrona Park, so lets talk about them.

1. The scientific name for the nurse shark is Ginglymostoma cirratum which means “curled, hinged mouth.”
2. They are nocturnal, hunting alone at night, and resting during the day in large groups up to 40 sharks, sometimes piled on top of each other.
3. Nurse sharks can be huge - up to 14 feet and a weight up to 330 pounds.
4. They are often observed at depths of a meter or less within the intertidal zone, though they are known to range down to depths of at least 12 meters. This species is often found along reef sites, within mangrove channels, and on sand or seagrass flats.
5. Nurse sharks re carnivorous, primarily feed on benthic invertebrates (i.e. spiny lobsters, shrimps, crabs, sea urchins, squids, octopuses, marine snails and bivalves) and benthic fish (i.e. sea catfishes, mullets, puffers and stingrays). The smallish mouth and large bellows-like pharynx of the nurse shark allow this species to inhale prey items with tremendous force and speed.
6. They are also known as cat sharks, due to their barbells - fleshy appendages which hang below their nostrils and, in part, provide a sense of touch which assists in the location of prey along the bottom
7. Unlike most sharks, which require constant motion to move water over their gills and maintain a sufficient internal blood pressure, the nurse shark often remains motionless along the bottom - actively pumping water over its gills through the continual opening and closing of its mouth.
8. They are gray-brown in color and their distinctive tail fins can account for up to a quarter of their length. Unlike other sharks, nurse sharks are smooth to the touch.
9. Nurse sharks are ovoviviparious, meaning their eggs develop and hatch inside the female’s body, where the hatchlings continue to grow until live birth occurs. Gestation is six months, and a typical litter size is 21 to 28 pups.  Nurse sharks reach maturity at about 15 to 20 years of age. Their average life span is 25 years.
10. Nurse sharks are found in the warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. 

 And another video of a nurse shark trapped by a ring.

Good bye Carlos

We want to say good bye to Carlos, one of the best instructors we ever had.

Carlos has left to prepare his trip to Australia, so if you are planning to go diving in Australia next year maybe you run into him.

We wish Carlos tons of good moments and a very succesful dive career.

Now we are looking for his replacement.. hmmm very hard.