Scuba Diving Vanuatu
Diving Vanuatu articles, reviews, and reports from Undercurrent
Diving Vanuatu Overview
The world's largest air-accessible wreck, the President Coolidge,a 640-foot ocean liner converted into a troop ship, is a beach dive on Espiritu Santo. It's mainly for advanced divers, starting at 70 feet and going down to 250.... Check with DAN about your evacuation insurance before going; you may not be covered due to the number of divers getting bent on this site.... Some diving is available from the capital city of Port-Vila, but it's not spectacular.... Little reef diving is offered so far.... Water temperatures in February hit the mid 80s and in September may drop as low as 70.... Don't miss the side trip to Tanna Island to visit the active volcano, dugongs, and Melanesian villagers living according to ancient customs.... Other side trips include the island of Pentecost in April to early June to see the land divers leap head-first from 70-foot towers with nothing but vines tied around their ankles....
Vanuatu Seasonal Dive Planner
May to October is the dryer, cooler season, but trade winds can
be erratic and strong. Depending on your location in north or south Vanuatu, winter
air temperatures average from 63° to 68°. The summer months of November
to April are rainy with extremely high humidity and air temps in the mid-80s but
generally light winds. Water temperatures run from 83° in February down to
as low as 68° in September (the northern islands have slightly warmer temperatures
than the southern islands). Cyclones average about one per year, occurring generally
between December and March, with the peak month being January.
Diving Vanuatu Feature Articles and Reader Reports
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Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Vanuatu
The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the
world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com;
just follow the links. -- BD
If you're headed south out of San Diego, Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific
by Gerald R. Allen, D. Ross Robertson, is the fish guide you need.
With 324 photo-packed pages covering 680 species of sharks and sailfish,
wrasses and razorfish, pipefish and pearlfish, this is the ultimate ID book for
the Baja, Costa Rica, the Galapagos, and the Sea of Cortez. Sponsored by the Smithsonian
Institute Drs. Gerald Allen and Ross Robertson took years to produce this definitive
volume that describes and comments on the remarkable behavior of these critters.
Hardbound, $85.
Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific
by Terrence M. Gosliner, David W. Behrens, Gary C. Williams.
At last -- a just-published, complete guide to help you identify
the uncountable variety of weird critters you'll see on any Indo-Pacific dive,
complete with full-color photo of 1,100 species. About Coral Reef Animals of the
Indo-Pacific, Chris Newbert says, "This invaluable new book makes identification
easy and enjoyable." There are scores of flatworms, nudibranchs galore, bumblebee
shrimp, painted crayfish, pompom crabs, side-gilled sea slugs, and endless corals.
Marine biologists Terry Gosliner, David Behrens, and Gary Williams cover the reefs
from the Solomons to Sipadan, from the Maldives to Maui, from Palau to Papua New
Guinea. They provide good notes to help you find and identify each critter. Indispensable
for any Indo-Pacific trip. Paperback,
8x110, 314 pages, $45.00.
Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.
I was trying to pack
light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books
aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was
one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide,
by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem
was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had
to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from
fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and
more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it.
This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for
travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii,
it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages.
$39.95.
Sea of Cortez Marine Animals
by
Daniell W. Gotshall, Daniel Gotshal.
It's just the book
you'll need to identify critters anywhere along Mexico's Pacific Coast, all the
way to Panama. Any other ID book just doesn't cover the creatures here. Dan Gotshall,
a marine biologist with 34 years research experience, has more the 250 photos
of fish, corals, nudibranchs, lobsters, sea stars and other critters endemic to
these waters. For each animal there are tips how to identify and where to spot
it. Paper, 110 pages, $20.95.
You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's
Book Picks section.
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Nai'a