Barbados Dive Guide E-Book

Lucy Agace

• Herausgeber: Dolman Scott Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 145

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Barbados is the renowned jewel of the Caribbean, famous for white sandy beaches decorated with palm trees and surrounded by clear warm water, but below the waves the thriving coral reefs are teeming with marine life, from tiny seahorses to giant whale sharks. The Barbados Dive Guide 2nd edition book depicts the natural beauty of this underwater world with over 150 stunning photos, so any level of diver can experience these wonders for themselves, either on location, or from the comfort of their armchair.
Lucy Agace designed this updated book so scuba divers and snorkelers alike are forearmed with all the information they will need to plan their trip. Lucy describes in depth each of the dive centres and 39 dive sites around the island and includes handy details about the location, dive type, depth, skill level and photo tip. All the dive locations are marked on an island map and included are specific dive and wreck illustrations, all designed to help you get the best out of your diving. Lucy shares her experiences with some of the many exciting and unusual marine creatures she finds, book onto one of her guided tours and see for yourself. This high quality book is a ‘must have’ for expert to novice divers, snorkelers and also greatly appreciated by non-divers who can enjoy the captivating beauty of the island’s fascinating marine life.

Leseprobe

First published in 2005 in Barbados by Miller Publishing Company

This second edition published in 2015 in the UK by Scuba Channels Ltd

Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK

W: www.scubachannels.com

E: [email protected]

Copyright © Lucy Agace 2015

All text by Lucy Agace • All rights reserved

All photographs by Lucy Agace unless otherwise stated

Marketed and distributed by Scuba Channels Ltd

Designed by Patricia Hopkins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and publishers.

ISBN: 978-0-9933912-0-0

Printed in China

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to Henrietta Passos, whose energy and determination knows no bounds and her love of underwater photography and appreciation for marine lifeis clearly measured by her wonderful photographs in this book.

Thank you to Gay Taaffe, Niki Farmer and Sam Greening for their proof reading andgeneral angelic support.

Thank you to the staff at all the dive centres and to all the friends and companies who have supported this edition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR

BARBADOS OVERVIEW

WHAT’S NEW

CLIMATE/CONDITIONS

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

RECREATION

BARBADOS DIVING

HYPERBARIC CHAMBER

BARBADOS DIVE CENTRES

DIVE SITE MAP

SHARKS HOLE

MAYCOCKS

CEMENT PLANT PIER

BRIGHT LEDGE

PAMIR

GREAT LEDGE

THE FARM

SPAWNEE

WHITEGATES

TROPICANA

LONESTAR

MERLIN BAY

CHURCH POINT

DOTTINS REEF

SANDY LANE

BOMBAS REEF

FISHERMANS

CRYSTAL COVE

VICTOR’S REEF

SS STAVRONIKITA

BELL BUOY

CLARKES BANK

CARLISLE BAY WRECKS

OLD FORT

CASTLE BANK

FRIARS CRAIG & RUM BARREL & ASTA REEF

CARLEYNE

PIECES OF EIGHT

CARIBEE

THE BOOT

THE MUFF

ST LAWRENCE REEF

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS/DOVER

HIGHWIRE

MOUNT CHARLIE

THE FINGER

GRAEME HALL SHALLOWS

THE STUDY

RAGGED POINT

BARBADOS UNDERWATER

PHOTOGRAPHY ACADEMY

SEAHORSES

INDEX

Lucy Agace’s Story

Publishing this 2nd edition Barbados dive guide has been a great pleasure, especially diving new sites and discovering amazing new critters. Perhaps the real beauty of the underwater world is the fact that it is ever changing, we never know what we are going to see or find on a dive. For me, every dive is an adventure armed with my camera a photo or video opportunity. What could be better?

Being a diver for over thirty years, and having visited all of the major oceans as well as eighty percent of the Caribbean islands, I believe I am well placed to say that the quality of diving in Barbados rivals any other found in the Lesser Antilles. I still get excited about diving in Barbados, even though I have dived all over the world, such is the richness and variety of marine life here.

Since the arrival of good quality compact digital cameras and affordable housings almost every diver now has a camera. Underwater photography and videography have become both a reason to dive and something else to do whilst diving. Are you diving to photograph or photographing dives? This is one of the reasons I built a new website www.scubachannels.com to provide a copyright free platform for people to post their work, free of charge, so why not become a member too? For information see back cover.

My love of the world beneath the waves began in the 1970’s watching the ground breaking underwater documentaries of Jacques Cousteau. Cousteau, inspired the world and left me with no doubt as to where I wanted to go. I learnt to dive in the mid 80’s in Jamaica, my first dive filled me with awe and wonder. My husband and I then spent the next three years diving the Caribbean and the Red Sea. During this time I attempted to master the art of underwater photography, which had become my passion and the focus of my diving.

Then in 1987 we set off on a voyage around the world that would take six years, a once in a lifetime trip. We dived some of the most inaccessible islands, the largest atolls and survived cyclones and sharks. We dived famous dive destinations like: Truk, Palau, Tonga, Thailand, the Maldives and Galapagos Islands, as well as little known areas like: the Tuamotus, Cocos, Chagos, Solomons and many islands in Indonesia. We were our own guides and explored little known areas in the middle of no-where, using just our knowledge and nautical maps for guidance.

Cocos Island, a relatively unknown destination at the time is now considered a top dive spot in the world and the best place to see schooling hammerhead sharks. I was so amazed by the experience of the whole island I decided to write a book about it: ’Dive Guide to Cocos Island’ is now only available on ebay or here at www.barbadosdivebooks.com.

Lastly, we travelled up the entire length of the Red Sea in one fabulous seven-week trip, the highlight of which was diving off Port Sudan with dolphins. What a privilege this trip was, because I’m not even sure this kind of journey would be possible in the world today.

A few years ago I decided to change my camera from a DSLR system to a compact digital one and now use a Lumix LX5 and an Olympus XZ-2 with two INON D2000 strobes. I have found both systems to be very portable and user friendly. I am an INON Level 1 instructor and formed the (BUPA) Barbados Underwater Photography Academy in 2014. I spend over half the year on the island and can provide both private and group tuition. For more details please visit http://scubachannels.com/bupa and page 139 of this guide book.

l am often asked which are my favourite Barbados dive sites. It’s very hard to choose but I recommend you dive west and south coast sites. My favourites are: Cement Plant Pier (wide angle and critters), the Stavronikita wreck (wide angle with fish and corals), Carlisle Bay Marine Park (wrecks, marine life variety) and Bell Buoy (hard corals).

The intention of this dive guide is to ensure that scuba divers get the very best out of their diving experiences whilst here. You will be fore-armed with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions and it also serves as a handy tourist guide to the many other activities.

I hope you enjoy this book and most importantly I hope you visit Barbados and have many wonderful diving experiences.

My very best wishes,

Lucy Agace

RECREATION

Barbados is more than just another luxurious island paradise. Besides diving, there is a wide range of activities which include golf, sailing regattas, paddle boarding, polo, tennis, horse racing, cycling, surfing, cricket, off-road rallying, big game fishing, kayaking, hiking, visits to wildlife reserves, and of course, shopping.