cayman islands

Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures

Caribbean And Atlantic, Central America, Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures, Partners, Rebreathers, Schools And Camps, Scuba_News, standards, Teach First Aid/CPR, Tec, Tec Diving, Technology, TecRec, TecRec IT Crossover, UW Photography, World's Best Diving, Wrecks / Scuba Admin

Kids Sea Camp

2015 Kids Sea Camp event dates:
Spring Break:
(SOLD OUT!) Grand Cayman; March 28 – April 4th
(Only four rooms available) April 4th-11th
Spring break mini-camps with Tom and Margo, limited space available for a great week at Cobalt Coast in Grand Cayman. 7 nights, 5 days of diving, Sasy, Seal Team, Jr. Open Water) Guided scooter dives, Kittiwake wreck dive, Stingray City, Breakfast and lunch daily at Cobalt Coast Resort, Round trip transfers, Trip to Rum Cake factory, trip to Caymana Bay, Trip to 7 mile beach, sunset cruise, shore diving, Free Nitrox course (E:learning not included) Free T-shirt, 1- dinner at the Wharf Restaurant, 1- Dinner at My-bar Sunset House, 1-dinner at Cobalt Coast Resort, 1- Dinner at Caymana Bay and 2 dinners on your own.

June 20th to 27th: Bonaire, Buddy Dive, Rescue and Coral Restoration week. Courses include Sasy, Seal Team, PADI Open water and Advanced Open water (AOW)

July 4th to July 11th: St. Lucia, Anse Chastanet: Rated as one of the best dive resorts in the Caribbean. Amazing views, lush accommodations and wonderful diving. Jungle biking, paddle boarding, hiking, Culinary classes, spa, farm to table dining, and chocolate tasting. Diving includes Seal Team, Jr. Open Water, Digital photography and the newest SeaLife cameras to use all week. (SeaLife photo week)

July 11th to 18th: Grand Cayman, Divetech & Cobalt Coast (Sasy, Seal Team, JOW, DPV-Sea scooter, Kittiwake wreck dive.) Rum cakes and rum tasting, sward fighting, pirate party, Stingray City, free dive computers and rental gear included. Seal Team Ocean dives and family dives. Unlimited shore diving with your family every afternoon.

July 11-18th: Palau, Palau Royal & Sam’s Tours: A true bucket list diving destination, German and Olong channel, Jelly fish lake, Giant clams and the stunning Rock Islands. Hosted by Margo Peyton Palau Royal Resort. Non diver activity, tour and spa packages available. Diver courses include: Nitrox, Deep, AOW, SASY, Seal Team, Open Water and Underwater Naturalist. (Nitrox, AOW and JOW courses require E:learning)

July 18-25th: Yap, Manta Ray Bay Hotel & Yap Divers, Mantas experience, Stone Money, a bucket list destination. Hosted by Margo Peyton. Non Diver activity spa and tour packages available. Diving includes Manta diver certification, Shark Diver certification, Nitrox, AOW and Underwater Naturalist.

July 25 to August 1st: Bonaire, Buddy Dive, Zombie, Rescue and Coral Restoration week. Courses include Sasy, Seal Team, PADI Open water and Advanced Open water(AOW)

(SOLD OUT!) July 25-August 1 and August 1-8: Fiji, Beqa Lagoon

(ONLY TWO ROOMS LEFT! ) August 9th to 16th: Utila: Laguna Beach Resort: Zombies! SASY, Seal, JOW and maybe a whale shark or two. Hosted by Tom, Jennifer & Margo Peyton & Woody Tinsley.

August 15th to 22nd: Roatan/Utila: Caribbean Pearl II: Zombies!, Rescue/ Dive Master; Teen leadership week kids age 17+ can come without parents! Not to say parents aren’t welcome, but this week will be teaching leadership skills, standards, responsibility, search and recovery, Advanced open water, deep diver and boat. Hosted by Woody Tinsley, Jennifer & Margo Peyton.

August 22nd to 29th: Utila: Laguna Beach Resort: The Women’s Divers Hall of Fame week! Come dive with some of the greatest women divers in the world during this special fundraising week sponsored by Laguna Beach Resort and Family Dive Adventures. Hosted by our Women divers Hall of Fame inductee Margo Peyton.

Thanksgiving 2015: St. Lucia, Anse Chastanet, November 21-28th Hosted with Tom and Margo (this week fills up quickly please book ahead.)

2016 Kids Sea Camp event dates:
July 9th-16th: Grenada, True Blue and Aquanauts
July 23rd-July 30th: Fiji, Beqa Lagoon
July 30th-August 6th: Fiji, Beqa Lagoon
Thanksgiving: November 19th to the 26th: Fiji, Beqa Lagoon

About Family Dive Adventures
We provide vacation packages on a year round basis for all our family friendly resorts around the world that have met our high quality standards for training, safety and service. If you’re looking for an individual family vacation or planning a customized small or large group dive trip and would like to work with an experienced family friendly staff that understands your needs and has 25 years of providing the best the world has to offer in diving, then give us a call. 1-803-419-2556

Family Dive Adventures

Kids Sea Camp

Do you have young children who are interested in scuba diving? Check out Robbie Peyton’s experience with Kids Sea Camp.

Details

Information: P.O. Box 291030Columbia, SC 33325United States
Phone: 803.419.2556
Email: kids@kidssecamp.com
Website: http://www.familydivers.com

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World’s Best Destinations for Diving with Macro Critters

Australia and Pacific, Caribbean And Atlantic, Central America, Exotic Destinations, Rebreathers, Scuba_News, South America, standards, Teach First Aid/CPR, Tec, Tec Diving, Technology, TecRec, TecRec IT Crossover, Top 100, United States And Canada, UW Photography, Wrecks / Scuba Admin

Why do the Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, now in their 23rd year, still matter to divers? Because these are your picks, based on thousands of votes from the most experienced dive travelers on the planet. Why do they matter to us? Because every month you hear from our editors on what we think matters in the world of dive travel. For the January/February issue of Scuba Diving we get to listen to you, and we’re taking notes.

Here, we proudly present the No. 1 ranking destinations in the Best Macro Diving category of the awards. The full list of winning destinations is below.

Terrence Ross/Tom Stack & Associates

Bonaire

Best Macro Diving in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Think you have to book a flight to Indo to see exotic nudis, seahorses and frogfish by the handful? That ticket might be considerably less expensive than you think, for North American divers, if you aim for the island of Bonaire instead. Decades of institutionalized protection and loving management of its pristine reefs have helped to preserve an environment where nearly 400 species have been documented, most of it the small stuff beloved by underwater photographers. Looking to capture a particular subject in a specific situation? Bonaire also offers the ultimate freedom to plan your own dives 24/7, instead of waiting for the dive boat or competing with other photographers looking for the same stuff you are. Many of its resorts’ house reefs are literally alive with critters, so you don’t even have to crank up your rental truck — just fall off the dock and start shooting. — Mary Frances Emmons

Best Overall Diving in the Caribbean and Atlantic

1. Bonaire

2. Cayman Islands

3. Bay Islands

4. Mexico

5. Curacao

Terrence Ross/Tom Stack and Associates

Bonaire

Macro finds include teardrop craps in this Caribbean Island.

Jennifer Penner

Bonaire

Tiny squat shrimp are often found by sharp-eyed divers in Bonaire.

Wayne MacWilliams

Bonaire

Macro photographers love Bonaire’s critters like this spotted eel.

Barry Brown

Bonaire

These crazy critters are not glow sticks, but bearded fireworms shot under blue light at night.

TimsImagesUnderwater/Alamy

Bonaire

Gobies find shelter in colorful tube sponges.

Eric Madeja

Indonesia

Best Macro Diving in the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Sure, Lembeh Strait is the world’s epicenter of macro div- ing, with enough crazy critters — hirsute frogfish, microscopic seahorses, kaleidoscopic nudibranchs and more — to fill a logbook, but don’t overlook the enchanted islands of Komodo, Bali and Wakatobi. With their eagle-eyed guides, you might not need a magnifying glass to find it all, but you will need more logbooks. — David Espinosa

Best Macro Diving in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

Jeff Rotman/NPL/Minden Pictures

British Columbia

Best Macro Diving in North America

Decorated warbonnets, grunt sculpins and candystripe shrimp are just a few highlights to spotlight while shooting in Canada’s westernmost province. Browning Passage, a legendary site near Port Hardy, hides so many macro treasures the challenge is not finding cool subjects but deciding which ones to skip and save for the next tank. So many pictures to make, not enough bottom time. — Brandon Cole

Best Macro Diving in North America

1. British Columbia

2. Washington

3. California

4. Florida

5. North Carolina

David Hall

British Columbia

Nudibranchs are a favorite of macro photographers; this Hermissenda is praying on stinging hydroids.

How We Got the Numbers Thousands of Scuba Diving subscribers and online users rated their experiences at dive destinations in a variety of categories on a scale from one to five. Final scores are an average of the numerical scores awarded. A minimum number of responses was required for a destination to be included in these ratings.

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World’s Best Underwater Photography Sites

Australia and Pacific, Bay Islands, Caribbean And Atlantic, Central America, Exotic Destinations, Marine Life, Rebreathers, Scuba_News, standards, Teach First Aid/CPR, Tec, Tec Diving, Technology, TecRec, TecRec IT Crossover, Top 100, United States And Canada, UW Photography, Wrecks / Scuba Admin

Why do the Top 100 Readers Choice Awards, now in their 23rd year, still matter to divers? Because these are your picks, based on thousands of votes from the most experienced dive travelers on the planet. Why do they matter to us? Because every month you hear from our editors on what we think matters in the world of dive travel. For the January/February issue of Scuba Diving we get to listen to you, and we’re taking notes.

Here, we proudly present the No. 1 ranking destinations in the Best Underwater Photography category of the awards. The full list of winning destinations is below.

Shutterstock

Best Underwater Photography in Caribbean and Atlantic

It’s no coincidence that Grand Cayman is home to several photo pros, and is a favorite classroom for a handful of shutter-snapping instructors. Clear skies with consistent sunlight, plus the Caribbean’s famous visibility, grant a reliable baseline, letting you focus on the good stuff — adjusting settings to capture a tarpon just as the silversides all turn, sparkling. — Brooke Morton

Caribbean and Atlantic

Shutterstock

British Columbia

Best Underwater Photography in North America

Photographers can improve their portfolios in BC’s cool, marine-populated waters. There’s a wealth of colorful photo subjects, and many animals grow to epic proportions: giant plumose anemones, playful Steller sea lions, and the eight-tentacled crowd favorite, Enteroctopus dofleini, aka the giant Pacific octopus. Don a drysuit to ignore the cold, and focus instead on creating award-winning images. — Brandon Cole

North America

Shutterstock

Indonesia

Best Underwater Photography in Pacific and Indian Oceans

The problem isn’t deciding what lenses to pack for your trip to Indo, but which one to bring on each dive. If you take a macro down to shoot pygmy seahorses, you’ll regret not having the fisheye for the massive mantas. You don’t just need a second camera system — you need a buddy/porter to carry a third and fourth. — David Espinosa

Pacific and Indian Oceans

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Worldâ€™s Best Destinations for Wall Diving

Asia and Indian Ocean, Australia and Pacific, Bay Islands, Caribbean And Atlantic, Featured Travel, Marine Life, Rebreathers, Scuba_News, standards, Teach First Aid/CPR, Tec, Tec Diving, Technology, TecRec, TecRec IT Crossover, Top 100, United States And Canada, UW Photography, Wrecks / Scuba Admin

Here, we proudly present the No. 1 ranking destinations in the Best Wall Dives category of the awards. The full list of winning destinations is below.

Shutterstock

Palau

Best Wall Dives in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

Palau’s world-class wall dives, with sites such as Blue Corner, Siaes Wall and Peleliu Wall, attract more species to its Pacific waters than just divers. Sharks — whitetip, gray reef, silky, bull, whale and tiger — cruise the Micronesian archipelago’s plunging, current-swept cliffs by the hundreds, along with other exciting marine life, including Napoleon wrasse, dogtooth tuna and spotted eagle rays. — Eric Michael

Best Wall Dives in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

1. Palau
2. Red Sea
3. Hawaii
4. Fiji
5. Indonesia

Shutterstock

Cayman Islands

Best Wall Dives in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean

Careful: That vertiginous feeling is addictive. That killer Cayman combo of sheer walls — especially at places like Mixing Bowl on Little Cayman — and unparalleled viz creates an environment where anything feels possible. Good news, it is. Encountering wall regulars like Nassau grouper and green sea turtles is a divers’ high in itself, but when factors align for magic in the form of a passing dolphin or hammerhead, it’s another high all together. — Brooke Morton

Best Wall Dives in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean

Shutterstock

Washington

Best Wall Dives in North America

Walls have it all — abundant marine life, drama and challenging profiles. And Washington has walls. Two stellar sites are Day Island Wall near Tacoma, which hosts wolf eels and octopus at depths between 25 and 100 feet, and Long Island in the San Juan Islands. Spanning depths between 70 and 120 feet, the Long Island wall is famous for its stunning strawberry anemones and is best dived during slack before ebb. — Brandon Cole

Best Wall Dives in North America

1. Washington
2. British Columbia

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World’s Best Destinations for Diving with Big Animals

Australia and Pacific, Caribbean And Atlantic, Central America, Exotic Destinations, Featured Travel, Rebreathers, Scuba_News, South America, standards, Teach First Aid/CPR, Tec, Tec Diving, Technology, TecRec, TecRec IT Crossover, Top 100, Turks And Caicos, United States And Canada, UW Photography, Wrecks / Scuba Admin

Underwater Photo Atlantic Spotted Dolphins in the Bahamas

Jon Cornforth

Atlantic spotted dolphins are one of the many big animals beloved by divers in the Bahamas

Here, we proudly present the No. 1 ranking destinations in the Best Big Animal Encounters category of the awards. The full list of winning destinations is below.

Bill Fisher

Bahamas

Best Big Animal Encounters in the Caribbean and Atlantic

Everyone likes a sure thing. Thus the Bahamas continues to rate so highly for big animals. Unlike ultra-remote locales requiring liveaboards and overnight motors before day one begins, here, hammerheads or Caribbean reef sharks mug for your lens just as soon as you unpack and assemble gear. Plus, the variety of species calling these islands home or waypoint is incredible. The hammerheads of Bimini. Oceanic whitetips of Cat Island. Tigers off Grand Bahama. And the place that helped the nation become synonymous for sharks: Nassau. Hopscotch between a few spots and you’ll quickly amass a portfolio of species — plus learn the behavior not only of the sharks but of the goliath grouper that serve as shark-feed second acts. One more perk: Although not as reliably seen, wild Atlantic spotted dolphins regularly cruise Bimini and the Little Bahama Bank, creating an ideal opportunity for those who’ve been wowed by the main attraction but want the show to continue. — Brooke Morton

Caribbean and Atlantic

1. Bahamas

2. Turks and Caicos

3. Belize

4. Cayman Islands

5. Mexico

Scott Johnson

North Carolina

Best Big Animal Encounters in North America

They’re big, and they’re slow. Sand tigers, the predominant shark species off North Carolina, lack a swim bladder but manage near-perfect neutral buoyancy thanks to an ability to gulp air at the surface. It explains why they’re among the least hurried big animals, good news for photographers or any diver who simply wants to prolong face time with these snaggletoothed scavengers. — Brooke Morton

North America

1. North Carolina

2. Florida

3. California

4. Washington

5. British Columbia

Doug Perrine

Galapagos

Best Big Animal Encounters in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

You could go to Galapagos just to see table-size black-blotched rays, quizzical sea lions, tornadoes of barracuda and jacks, turtles and manta rays galore. But really, you’re deluding your- self if you go for any other reason than sharks — clouds of hammerheads and whitetips, solitary tigers and packs of burly Galapagos. — David Espinosa

Pacific and Indian Oceans

How We Got the Numbers Thousands of Scuba Diving subscribers and online users rated their experiences at dive destinations in a variety of categories on a scale from one to five. Final scores are an average of the numerical scores awarded. A minimum number of responses was required for a destination to be included in these ratings.

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