Best Thing You Have Ever Seen Diving/snorkelling..

[JasandJules]

:) For me it has to be a whale shark, a baby one, 6m long..

[Lemans]

15 minutes off the Brothers (Red Sea) with a Manta :D

[keith hellyar]

Most thrilling - A large School of Dolphins whilst snorkelling in the Maldives

Most frightening - 1. Snorkelling over a reef in about 4 feet of water and a 5 foot Moray Eel swam up from behind and underneath me.

2. Being attacked by a large territorial Titan Trigger fish

Most satisfying - finding a turtle and waiting for it to surface for air.

Most painful - Being stung on the belly by a jelly fish. Very small and looked liked a transparent pasta spiral in the water. Bloody hurt

Keith

[JasandJules]

Lemans, very nice indeed.

I spent a month in Tobago purely to go looking for Manta (they are called Tobago Taxis) but they knew I was there and didn't show !

I guess the only thing I have been attacked by is a Picasso Trigger, he bit my mask..

[MrFish]

Several experiences I will never forget

1 - A large shoal of approx 100 Dolphins :D

2 - A shoal of 5 Manta Rays that kept coming back to see what we were :D

3 - Turning around and seeing a shark following a couple of feet behind me B)

All in the Maldives :wub:

[spottydog]

Abroad it's got to be playing with a pod of wild dolphins that our boat came accross on the way from Hurghada to Abu Nuhas but the basking shark off Lundy and the seals around the british waters are amazing too.

[Jevs]

In my limited diving experiences (Barbados and key Largo) the most frightening was going inside a huge wreck in Barbados and seeing a moray eel in there. I kept thinking that the door opening was going to slam shut and trap us.
Best things....well, just being under water is the most thrilling thing for me but did see quite a few pairs of large angels (queens, french's, rock beauties), held a couple of tiny sea horses, seeing a massive chimney sponge 3' accross and finding it was full of boxer shrimps and loads of jawfish.
Also saw a huge shoal of flying fish which came out of the water like a huge wave whilst I was on the boat.
Got attacked by a very large either dwarf angel or damsel when I went too close to its eggs.....prolly a damsel as I didn't think angels showed any parental care.

Andy

[JasandJules]

Mr Fish, a nice Brown Wet suit moment..

I know nurse sharks are safe, but when a 3m shark appeared and swam right past my head I wondered just HOW safe they are...

Also saw the worlds largest brain coral (12ft across) once....

It is all good fun isn't it.

[Darryl]

Snorkelling in St Lucia, just on a reef drop off zone, when I saw a massive shoal of Barracuda, not to far away in open water, made me realise how vulnerable and helpless we could be, especially when you see the speed they move at. B)

[Haydn]

Seeing the face of a guy called Andy when we surfaced after his first open water dive (in Stoney cove). He was the first person I had ever trained to dive from scratch.

Exploring the Moldovia in the English Channel (my first real Trimix dive) and seeing it through the murk.

Watching pike hunting roach in Stony cove.

Haydn

[keith hellyar]

And another

Coming face to face with a Stonefish in the Maldives in about 3 feet of water. It was just fascinating to watch one of the ugliest and dangerous fish up close.

Keith

[Fiddlercrab1]

Snorkelling with a humpback and her calf and then a minke whale off the southern coast of Tanzania! Absolutely incredible! A basking shark off the Isle of Man and a great snorkel with an eagle ray in Fiji. All my best have been snorkelling not diving - Zanzibar saw a small Tiger shark whilst diving which is probably the most exciting!

Most painful (including fire coral and jellyfish) was an anemone stinc whilst snorkelling off greece - brushed across it and I still have the scar to show - burned for a week and itched for a month! - Quite a cool anemone shaped scar now though!

[JasandJules]

Originally posted by keith hellyar@Jul 24 2003, 13:31
And another

Coming face to face with a Stonefish in the Maldives in about 3 feet of water. It was just fascinating to watch one of the ugliest and dangerous fish up close.

Keith
I met one on the Maldives too, the instructor was pointing it out for about 2 minutes before I could actually see it ! Damn they are well camoflaged !
What a Grumpy fish !! We also met a huge Napolean Fish on a dive, and seeing it's eye rolling around to watch us was amazing, it had no fear of us at all.

[kenneth_halley]

Best thing I have ever seen while diving is the surface :o - after a rather hard Advanced Nitrox exam dive on the Kintyre in the Clyde at about 40mtrs in a very stiff current- I got such a headache I blew chunks as soon as I surfaced. better than blowing chunks at 40mtrs though!

Best dives though- Best ever for me Night Dive on the Thistlegorm, unbeleiveable dive- turtles asleep in the cabins, and all sorts of fish you don't see in daytime- plus really different as its so quiet as a dive site at night and the night life is about. Will never forget it.

The arch on Thomas reef, Red Sea- utterly spectacular.

The caves in Yucatan, Mexico- not for the claustrophobic!

[keith hellyar]

My best sightings have also been whilsdt snorkelling. I guess its because overall you are likely to spend more time snorkelling than diving.

I've also just remembered my Diving instructors party piece in the Maldives. He had a pet Grouper. When I was training, the first few dives were from the beach. He'd take us to a coral outcrop where the Grouper would appear and nestle in his arms. It was about 2 feet long and would allow us to smooth him. He wouldn't go into the arms of anyone else, just the instructor. Maybe he looked like a large cleaner wrasse.

When I returned to the Maldives the folowing year I asked the instructor whether the grouper was still around. Guess what, some b*****d Japanese tourist had speared it!!!!!

Keith

[JonHolly]

Being hit in the face by a 6ft plus Potato Cod on the GBR.

Seeing 5 manatas together off Burma Banks

and being in a cave with a hugh agitated Blackspot Stingray in the mergui archepeligo.

Most anticipated moment. Getting back to Burma in January........ ;)

[Andy Hipkiss]

Bit of a ditto of Haydn ...

The most amazing thing I've seen is the face of a 12 year old last weekend having achieved his PADI OW cert ... damn, being an OWSI must be rewarding sometimes ... this kid's smile stretched beyond ear to ear. (and he deserved to pass .. excellent diver).

Beyond that, the kelp forests of Monterrey Bay , CA, were prolly the most rewarding dive I've ever had. Although then there was the time with the whale shark, or the huge turtle or the bonnet rays or ... oh I dunno, I just love diving fullstop.