Diving Norfolk Island with Bounty Divers

https://picasaweb.google.com/waterdragon62/NorfolkIsland2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCMO2w9yw95OhNg&feat=email#5573059193322249538

Have a look at this link guys, it is the web album of some very good friends of ours, Steve, Jenny and Joel Dreezer.

The Dreezer Family have visited us for the last 3 years in a row. This year young Joel even finished his Open Water Course and will from now on be joining Mum and Dad under the water not just on the boat.

Steve and Jenny are both avid photographers, as you can see from this wonderful album and the others that they have also.

Great photos, hope to see you guys here again in the not too distant future. And as we say on Norfolk, Thanks fe Ucklun

Whale Sharks on Norfolk Island

THIS IS AWESOME

 Whale shark

 Another one

 Big Boy next to the boat

 Troy and Gilbert having a swim with the Big Boys

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME

Gilbert and Troy Jackson of Jackson Fishing Charters kindly gave me these copies of their recent encounter with Whale Sharks off the coast of Norfolk Island.

This is the first time that Whale Sharks have been documented around Norfolk Island. There have been sightings in the past, however with digital cameras and water proofing technology, this is the first photos that have ever been taken of these majestic animals in our waters.

Even better than just seeing the Whale Sharks, the guys, both young local Norfolk Islanders,got to snorkel along side them and were lucky enough to see at least 10 of these beautiful beasts.

Bounty Divers as a whole is utterly and completely jealous as hell. But the guys have promised that when they see them again they will be sure to contact us here at the shop, so that we can join them with an arsenal of video and photography equipment.

Again more proof that Norfolk Island is right up there amongst the greatest destinations in the world for diving, fishing and all varieties of marine activities.

Now all we need is photos of the Mantas that the Jackson boys also saw in the same areas as the whale sharks and we will have the whole arsenal.

Thanks again to Gilbert and Troy at Jacksons Fishing Charters for the awesome pictures and the awesome news. For further information please contact Gilbert and Troy directly via their web site http://www.jacksonsfishingcharters.com/ or Jacksons Fishing Charters on Face Book

Bounty Divers Norfolk Island relocation

Bounty Divers relocates the shop

Smaller shop front but still in an awesome location

More products available

More products on display and our maniquin "Skanky"

Norfolk Island in winter is always quiet. This should not be the case as Norfolk can be stunning in the winter and so far we have had a great winter season. The water is still 18 degrees C, visibility is an awesome +40m and the sun has been shining most days. We have been cursed by a little bit of wind. But the rain has been mainly isolated to night time which is great.

But the facts are what they are and winter again this year has been a bit quiet. So what better time than for us to move the dive shop and get some much needed maintenance and repairs done.

The boat has been out and had its annual major service done. The motor and the hull are running like clockwork.

The Scubapro gear has been serviced and sorted. Some stuff has been replacedif necessary, we have some great new fins in.

But the big thing has been the move. Bounty Divers Norfolk Island has moved across to another building in the main street. We are still in a great location, however we have consolidated into a smaller shop front. The beauty of the move is that we own the new building so we can actually do any and all adjustments to the store that we want. And for the first time ever Bounty Divers Norfolk Island has a purpose built dive centre with room for expansion later as well.

Further to this Bounty Divers expects to have a fully licensed bar up and running for summer. What better way to end a day of diving on Norfolk Island is there than having a cold beer on the deck and watching a video of the days dives?

Cheers...

Bounty Divers diving Norfolk Island again

HOME SWEET HOME

We have been back on Norfolk Island for a week now and we were back in the Bounty Divers shop a couple of days after that. And we have been back in the beautiful Norfolk Island waters again already.

We started with a shore dive from Cascade pier, which is one of the two piers that we have on Norfolk. The peirs are used to launch all boats on Norfolk, however we have found that the areas surrounding the Cascade pier are phenominal underwater and make for a very nice shore dive.

Cascade did not dissapoint as the vis was an amazing +40m. And the coral! It really is good to be home and see amazingly healthy and hearty coral that is not effected by the global bleaching that is going on. I hope that the pollution free lifestyle that we lead here on Norfolk Island will continue to allow the marine environment to thrive and that the bad habits and bad practices from the larger nations do not come to haunt us.

Then straight into the boat yesterday for some more Advanced Open Water Course training dives. First stop was "the kings chair" which was amazing as usual, for some reason this dive site has coral that seems to be even more pristine than most of the other dives sites, if that is even possible. Then the second dive was at "little organ" with the huge arch and several small caves and swim throughs, this site never fails to impress visitors and locals alike. Huge schools of drummer congregate around the entrance to the main arch. We did not see the two resident boar fish today but I am sure that we will see them next time. And the ever faithfull banded shrimp stuck there head out for yet another photo shoot of them.

Our visitors to Norfolk Island were very impressed and praised the dives as some of the best they have ever had! They even thought the water was nice and warm in comparison to Melbourne diving!

So all in all a great day diving, but for me, just great to be back in the pristine Norfolk Island waters again and good to be back at the Bounty Divers shop.

Cant wait to get in again, bring on the weekend! 

Bounty Divers in Thailand

Bounty Divers in Thailand

Recently we took a trip to Thailand and the diving "Mecca's" of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.

Luckily for Norfolk Island and Bounty Divers, like most things that have been built up to be wonderous and beyond belief, the mythical diving in the Gulf of Thailand is just that,

a MYTH!!!

Dont get me wrong, the diving in the Gulf of Thailand is quite good. BUT it does not hold a candle to the diving here on Norfolk Island.

Norfolk Island really does have dive sites that are world class. Other features such as minimal divers and maximum sites, amazing visibility and some of the most healthy coral reefs in the world, are just bonuses. And Bounty Divers is very lucky to be able to offer diving services on Norfolk.

During my time in Koh Phangan I was able to dive a site called Sail Rock. This is a very good dive site. A little crowded with at least 9 large dive boats on the site when I was there. However Sail Rock was a very good yard stick when comparing the Gulf of Thailand's "best dive site" against diving on Norfolk Island.

Whilst I was in Koh Tao, an island that is responsible for a major percentage of the worlds annual dive certifications, I was able to complete a number of very good courses. These included Technical diving, Emergency First Responder and Underwater Videography filming techniques, editing and post production. All of which will become valuable tools for Bounty Divers and the services that we are able to offer on Norfolk lsland.

Diving in Koh Tao is not as good as the diving in Koh Phangan, even though they are very close and very similar. And as I have mentioned repeatedly neither of them is anywhere near as good as Norfolk Island anyway.

So we have returned home to Norfolk Island now and even though my wife and kids are glad to be home, I am sure they are not as happy as I am at the moment, as I am really really really looking forward to getting on the Bounty Divers boat and getting in the water as soon as possible.

It has been a great axperience to travel to one of the most famous dive areas in the world, and I hope to have many more experiences like it. However it has made me realise the following things

- Bounty Divers has come a long way in the past 3 1/2 years since we took over, but we can always find ways to improve

- Bounty Divers is becoming a world class dive centre in its own right and we are definately on the right track

- Norfolk Island has some of the best diving in the world

- Norfolk Island has an almost unlimited potential for the diving industry, a potential that we havent even begun to realise yet

I am looking forward to more dive adventures around the world in the future and visiting more and more of the worlds most famous dive sites. But I love the fact that when all is said and done, when I come home to Norfolk Island, I have worldclass diving right here anyway.

Hope to see you here on Norfolk Island sometime soon and in the Bounty Divers office so that we can show you how good it really is here.

Norfolk Island - Bounty Divers- Crashed Pel Air West Wind

Bounty Divers managed to dive on the crashed Pel Air West Wind a few months ago after the area ban was lifted.

We did not get all the way down to the aircraft as this dive was just a reco dive to see if we thought it was possible and/or safe.

As you can see from the footage the fuselage is in two pieces. The rear part is shown very clearly, but we could not see the front section at all. The rear section is the prt that we want to have a look at as is has all of the important parts in and on it ie. the wings, the engines etc.

We have some extremely good divers on Norfolk Island and Bounty Divers will be going down to have another look as soon as the weather permits.

The wreck is sitting at 54m. The video footage was taken from 40m initially and then we moved down to 45m. Before we go any deeper than that we have some serious planning and safety precautions toi take care of first.

In the footage we can see Doug Creek at the end of the footage. But if you have a good look as the camera is coming up to show Doug, in the top right corner you can see a quick glimpse of a fairly decent sized shark. We saw him once then he was gone.

Sharks on Norfolk Island are essentially harmless as our fish stocks are estimated to be 93% AT WORST... It does not stop them from being curious however.

Have a look at the footage on You Tube or follow this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2DkLXuyzoA

Hope you like it

Norfolk Island Dreezer Family holiday

Dreezer Family Diving on Norfolk Island

with Bounty Divers of course

As a tourism destination, Norfolk Island is not unaccustomed to having people come to the island and fall in love with the place, hence returning many times in a row.

Steve and Jenny Dreezer and there young son Joel have indeed fallen in love with Norfolk Island. Steve and Jenny in particular have fallen for the magnificent diving that we offer here on Norfolk Island. Not only is the diving to there liking, but the entire feel, pace and experience that is Norfolk Island.

Norfolk Island has long been recognised as a favourite for the older visitors. There are reasons for this, Norfolk Island is clean, no rubbish spread all over the roadsides. It's safe, walk where you like when you like for whatever reason you like, just remember to wave to the locals when they wave as they pass. etc

These are all great reasons for the younger visitor or young family to visit Norfolk.

You can do very little -

who can resist reading a book and dozing in the shade of a 300 year old giant of a norfolk pine? Or taking a relaxing dip in any of Norfolk Islands pristine swimming beaches.

Or you can do alot -

trek the National park of Phillip Island, do some fishing on the way back, snorkel in Emily Bay next to the jetty, join the tag along tour through the convict ruins, ride your mountain bike up to the winery for a exquisite late lunch and some of the islands local wine, make it back to your room just in time to be picked up for your evening show, dine on local produce at award winning restaurants, then maybe finish the night off with a taste of the local ale at the Brewery Bar. Just to give you an idea...

Getting back on track now, these are some of the reasons that the Dreezer family have just visited us for the second time, with a promise that it wont be long before they are back.

Young Joel hasnt learned to dive yet, nothing that a couple more years under his belt will not remedy. However Steve and Jenny are well and truely addicted to diving. And as you will see from the pics above have also become very accomplishhed underwater photographers also.

Now not to brag too much, BUT...

Bounty Divers was able to show Jenny her very first Turtle on the water initially (not bad) but then in the water (multiple times). A feat that the guys at UEPI were not able to accomplish. We were diving on a relatively new dive site for us called Liar Straight, that without a doubt rivals any dive site in the world, including the likes of the Red Sea, Sipidan and the Great Barrier. And through out the dive we were able to see at least 7 different Green turtles. Of course my video camera was sitting in the Bounty Divers shop on the charger...

Anyway, the final word is that it has beeh great having the Dreezer family here on Norfolk Island and diving with us again at Bounty Divers and we look forward to seeing them again soon. Other younger travellers and young families that visit Norfolk will also be overwhelmed by the amazing holiday that they will have and we look forward to meeting you all soon, diving or not.

If you would like to see more of Steve and Jenny's wonderful photos, please check out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/waterdragon62