In this post we would like to show you a few of our diving videos which we have created over the years of diving, at that time, not yet living on a sailboat.
How we used to dive before?
We used to dive with diving centers and go diving safaris. Now, as we live independently on our sailboat, our diving is a little bit different. We do everything by ourselves – from finding dive spots, getting permits, reaching the place, filling our dive tanks, preparing the equipment and finally – diving, without the local guides. But we wouldn’t be able to do it if we didn’t gather experience diving with organized trips. Also, we are aware that there are places in the world where we won’t be able to dive on our own due to local restrictions or diving conditions (like strong currents). So we do not rule out joining the diving centers in the future!
Because many of you ask about our past diving trips, we’ve decided to create this post, so everything is in one place. It’s also an extremely nice flashback for us, because we really enjoyed these trips, saw amazing sea creatures and met tons of people!
What equipment do we use for filming?
Apart from diving itself, we do underwater photography and record some videos. For our underwater footage we use GoPro Hero 9, but in the past we used to film with the regular Canon camera. As it was a few years back, the quality of the video from that camera is not the best, but I still think it’s worth watching, as it was our top diving destination so far – Sudan. Two other videos are shot with GoPro Hero 9, so the quality is very good! Remember to set the highest available quality when watching videos!
Sudan 2019 – best diving trip so far
But let’s start with Sudan. We went there in 2019 to join Diving Safari with the Red Sea Explorers on MV Tala. At that time Sudan political situation was relatively calm. Well, not really – we were leaving the country with the very last flight before the airspace closure due to another military coup. Now, unfortunately, due to the civil war, diving safaris are not coming there. Writing this post I’ve checked a few operators which used to organize diving in Sudan – all trips are suspended. But if you are into diving, Sudan is the place to go when it reopens.
Why? Because there is no plastic floating in the sea, and there are no novice divers from nearby hotels on the reef. Basically, there are no resort holiday divers at all – there is practically no tourist infrastructure in Sudan, and one option to dive here is to choose the liveaboard dive safari. There are not many places in the world like this anymore! In Sudan, the Red Sea offers us some of the best diving sites in the world, with a healthy coral reef, pelagic animals, warm water and great visibility.
Diving Continental Shelf Station Two in Sudan
To make it even more interesting, we dove on the Continental Shelf Station Two, an underwater base of the famous explorer Jacques Cousteau. It was an attempt at creating an environment in which people could live and work on the seafloor. Lots of research about human bodies underwater was conducted there.
Diving Umbria wreck
We’ve also visited the wreck of Umbria – considered one of the best and safest diving wrecks in the world. Safest despite the fact, that in its cargo compartments there are still 36 000 bombs! History of its sinking in 1940 is so amazing that I will write a separate post about this dive as well as about diving in Sudan in general.
So, without further talking, I invite you to watch our first diving video we’ve made, from the best diving we’ve had so far. Please remember that at that time our film making equipment was not that great, so apologize for the quality of the video.
Maldives diving trip – diving with mantas and whale sharks
Now the time has come for the Maldives. This place was on our bucket list for very long. But the reason we wanted to visit the Maldives wasn’t the sandy beaches or the water bungalows, but one of the best diving in the world. We’ve chosen an atoll, with the best diving sites and a reputable dive center. Throughout our stay we used to dive two times a day, sometimes the third dive was done at night. Objective? See the whale shark and manta rays! Outcome? See the video 🙂
Praslin, Seychelles 2021 diving
When we were planning our dive trip to Seychelles, we heard a lot of discouraging stories about diving there. Between 1997 and 1998, Seychelles suffered a lot from a ‘super’ El Nino. Seawater temperatures rose by 2° to 3°C for a period of a few months, and the sensitive island ecosystems of the Seychelles islands in the Western Indian Ocean were badly affected, with up to 90 percent of the coral reefs bleached as a result of this temperature rise. It doesn’t sound promising when you plan diving. But digging deeper, we found information that coral reefs there are recovering quickly. We also managed to choose the Island (Praslin), where the damage was less. What we found on site? Check the video below 🙂
Summary
Hope that you’ve enjoyed watching our past diving videos! Let us know in the comments which one you liked the best.
As I mentioned above, I am planning to write a separate post about Sudan diving and Umbria wreck. Its story is very interesting, not only for divers, but also for history fans.
I have also mentioned that I am doing some underwater photography. I am planning to share with you my best shots on the blog as well.
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