Thinking of a vacation to Mexico but want to go somewhere different off the beaten path? Here are some ideas for a vacation in mexico that will take you beyond Cancun or Puerto Vallarta.

Isla Mujeres, located only eight miles across the bay from Cancun, is a tiny island only five miles long and about a half mile wide. Translated, Isla Mujeres means the “Island of Women”. No, it is not a hidden commune filled with females but it is a charming and tranquil fishing village. It has shops, restaurants and about a dozen or so small hotels where you can rest your head.

With a downtown area consisting of only four or five blocks, this makes Isla Mujeres everything that the big tourist areas in Mexico are not. Surrounded by white sand beaches on all sides, snorkeling and scuba diving are popular in the crystal clear turquoise waters. Kayaks, snorkeling gear, and other water toys can be rented on the beach and fishing, sailing and even swimming with dolphins is available here. Isla Mujeres has something for every one of all ages and is a great place to explore the natural wonders of Mexico.

Another great vacation in mexico that is often overlooked is Cabo San Lucas. Its location at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula, gives it an ideal climate of about 78 degrees year round. Once a tranquil fishing village, Cabo has evolved into a wonderful spot for vacationers but remains small and charming. Small however does not mean boring, there are many things to do in Cabo.

Deserted beaches, on both the Pacific coast and along the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez, make Cabo San Lucas an awesome beach vacation. If you enjoy water sports, boating, marlin fishing, horseback riding and golf, you will enjoy Cabo. Golf has become very popular in the area and there are five championship golf courses already here and more on the way.

Cabo San Lucas is a perfect mexico vacation spots spot for those looking for something different. It can be quiet and relaxing for a romantic getaway or it can be a place where you will keep going till you drop with the whole family.

Another one of Mexico’s jewels is Tulum. You will find Tulum about an hours drive south of Playa Del Carmen on the Mayan Coast. Tulum is best known for its Mayan ruins. Small but impressive, the ruins are perched high on top of limestone cliffs that offer a breathtaking view below of the sparkling Caribbean and a romantic coastline.

The little town of Tulum is slowly expanding and there are several very good local restaurants and a few on the beach in the smattering of hotels in the area. Accommodations range from five star boutique hotels to rustic cabanas.

Tulum offers the perfect mixture of tranquility, relaxation and seclusion but still gives you the option of exciting nearby attractions. Day trips in the area are always a good choice and the Eco-tourism experiences are limitless.

It is a much slower paced vacation and a combination of 3-4 days in Playa Del Carmen and 2-3 days in Tulum is a great way to combine the best of both worlds in these treasured spots.

Once you and your family have decided to take a diving vacation, there are a few things you should do to make sure that your planning effectively. Learning the basics of scuba diving and getting your body prepared for diving are among the key things you’ll need to do before your vacation, but don’t forget to get ready to have fun! Here are some diving vacation tips:

Whenever you can, take a swim. Whether this is done in the backyard pool, at your local club, or training at school, you have to ensure that you have a lot of swimming practice so that you will be familiar with the water and know how to get around underwater with ease. Even though your vacation should be fun, you have to know how to react and get out of harms way in a natural way, hence swimming practice is an ideal activity. Being comfortable while moving around in water is an ideal step when you try to learn scuba. Another tip is to try wearing scuba gear while swimming so that you familiarize your body with the feeling of wearing the scuba gear in a larger body of water.

When you buy scuba gear, try to get the best. You should not wait for the last minute to buy scuba equipment. Shop around at your local scuba shop or sporting goods store for dry or wetsuits and even diving gear well before you even go on your diving vacation. By doing this you will be able to try on all your scuba gear ahead of time and find any defects. You can also go online and check for great deals on scuba gear through many online stores.

Taking diving lessons – as many times as you need to. While taking scuba diving lessons is necessary if you’re going to be taking a diving vacation, don’t be afraid to take lessons more than one time. You want to make sure that you’re enjoying yourself on your vacation, and you can’t do that if you’re constantly worried about how you’re doing while you’re swimming. It usually takes about two months for you to complete all the courses that are required in order to be a qualified scuba diver, so don’t be afraid to ask questions and practice until you feel comfortable.

Figure out what type of diving you want to do. Taking the basic scuba diving lessons is essential, but you may want to broaden your interests so you can find out just what you want to do on your diving vacation. For instance, if wreck diving interests you, then try to get enrolled in some courses that will teach you how to dive through wrecked ships and artifacts to find treasure. If you’re into technical diving, take a course or two that teaches you to hold your breath for long periods of time and swim with precision. And, if free diving is more your speed, learning how to play hockey or rugby underwater may be your idea of a great diving vacation.

If you’re planning on taking your kids with you on your scuba vacation, there are a few things you’ll want to pick up when it comes to scuba equipment. Whether your child is a beginner or advanced diver, you can be sure that he or she will be safe and confident during their diving experience if you know which gear to purchase.

Snorkeling and diving sets are a must for scuba diving, and there are set that are just the right size for kids as well. You can check out sites like www.scubaeverything.com to find varieties of diving sets in a number of fun, bright colors that your kids will enjoy. Checking out your local sporting goods store is also a good idea when you’re trying to find diving equipment for your little ones. You may want to test the snorkeling sets out a little with your kids at swimming lessons or scuba lessons (which the whole family will need to take before going on a diving vacation), to make sure that equipment is comfortable and the right size for your child.

Wet suits are also an important part of scuba diving, and you’ll want to make sure that you’re selecting scuba equipment that your children will enjoy wearing as well. Brands like O’Neil have been creating water sports gear for years, and you’re sure to find a wet suit that your son or daughter will love. Comfort is also an important part of finding the right wet suit, so be sure to choose suits with elastic material for easy wear. You should also be able to find children’s masks and swimming goggles from O’Neil (which you’ll also need for your trip), as well as other online stores, like Ebay or Nextag. Depending on when and where you shop, you should be able to get discounts pretty often.

Of course, safety will be one of your main concerns when you’re thinking about getting scuba equipment for your kids. Life jackets and rafts are definitely good to have when you’re diving, in case you want to spend time relaxing in the water–these devices also ensure that your children will be able to float and tread water if they are in deep bodies of water. When the family is taking diving classes, this is important, since it will give your kids a sense of comfort after practice diving, especially if they are still working on their swimming skills.

Want to know more about how you can get great scuba equipment for your kids, as well as the whole family? Visit sites like www.scubamart.com or Shopzilla to find some of the top brands of diving gear, as well as discounts on swimming equipment and even literature that will help you to learn more about scuba diving before going on a diving vacation. Happy diving!

Ever Scuba dived at night? Let me tell you that its an experience like no other. One call best describe it as Out-worldly or like having an inter-planetary experience and it gives the word ‘Night Life’ another whole new meaning.

Major Dive Organizations define a Night Scuba Dive as any dive that begins after the sun sets below the horizon. Many Scuba diving enthusiasts say that this is the best time to dive as the effect of some light trickling through the crystalline waters as you begin your decent is simply amazing. Even if you have dived in the location before during day will look totally eerie and unfamiliar at night. Like an aquatic light show, bioluminescent creatures, planktons and other microorganisms swim around you in an effortless grace. A favorite of night divers is to turn off all lights, remain motionless, wave their arms about, and you will see these tiny creatures light up, and dance about your arms.

In order to Scuba dive at night requires a specialized certification that comes with the Advanced Open Water Certification.

To Scuba dive at night, divers need to be familiar with the use of Dive lights for illumination as well as glo-sticks to mark the accent lines. Take note the temperatures above the waves can be cold too, especially after resurfacing, so bring along extra blankets, jackets or sweater.

If you think you are ready and want to experience the other side of Scuba diving, take up the necessary certifications and begin your journey into a whole new world.

Scuba diving gear used to be very bulky since a long time, but nowadays, the gear is very light and thin, which is a sign of relief to the scuba divers.

A scuba diving gear is required. There can be little dependence on luck in scuba diving, and safety norms require that a scuba diving gear similar to the task must be used. The mask is the first item of the gear. The mask has a small enclosure which allows holding of the air for breathing purpose. Besides, it accounts for proper vision and restricts the entrance of water into the eyes or the nose. A good mask must be tight-fitting and sealed on the face, which retains the air inside, and restricts the water from outside. For proper and a clear vision, the glass must be scratch-proof.

Fins are another part which is necessarily required in a scuba diving gear. They make movement under water much easier. Fins are available in several kinds. While some are made for the professional divers, others are made for the casual divers who dive for recreational purposes.
A weight belt is another item of the scuba diving gear. The buoyancy of the scuba divers tend to increase due to the wetsuit worn by them, and a weight belt can help the divers go to greater depths in the water easily.

A buoyancy jacket is generally used by some divers which throws out any water which has entered the wetsuit, and replaces it with air to increase the buoyancy in emergency purposes. The supply of the air comes from the tank generally fitted on their back or from an emergency air supply meant for this jacket. In case of an emergency, the weight belt can also help the diver to return back to the surface. For this, the diver can simply remove the belt.

However, an Aqualung is the most important item of the scuba diving gear. It has 3 parts. First, the air cylinder, which is made of aluminum/steel and about 200 bars of air is compressed into it. Second, the regulator which is a crucial item to make an adjustment of the air pressure with that of the water’s pressure to permit the air to enter the mask when required. Harness is the third item, which is used for fastening the air tank to the scuba diver.

Proper operation of the gear and its maintenance must be given due importance by the scuba diver. Prior to diving, the diver must be fully accustomed to the usage and operation of the gear. He must also make sure that the gear is in the fittest condition. Since the diver is “diving” into a hostile world, he will be at a big danger if the gear fails to work as expected.

More great information at this sports guide.

Although we have our trusty dive computers to guide us in this day and age it is still essential that you plan your dive and dive your plan.

This particularly important when you are on a scuba diving trip or holiday in unknown water where there could be strong currents or other hazards you may be unaware off but the dive leader has factored into the dive plan for you

There’s plenty of room for spontaneous exploring when you’re under the surface. You’ll find new, colourful species of fish, coral and dozens other interesting things to attract your attention. The excitement of exploring the unexpected is a large part of the fun. But the only way to do that safely and intelligently is to plan your dive well in advance.

Planning your dive requires taking a number of items into account.

When you pick a location, you’ll need to consider such obvious items as transportation time and costs, legal restrictions and so forth. Diving a lake 10 minutes from home obviously requires an entirely different set of criteria than taking a boat out in the Caribbean.

You’ll need to check out the expected weather conditions for the time of year at your proposed location. If you plan to recover lost items you need to investigate the laws regarding treasure hunting and export. You’ll need to research local support for tank refill, equipment repair and so forth.

But above all take advice from the local dive school or instructor if there is one in the area, you could also find out about some fantastic hidden gems.

Sharks are really fascinating creatures! Feared by mankind for their fierce eating habits and their vicious look, but still are we so intrigued by this majestic creature. Sharks have become a rather popular specie; constantly to be seen in news reports and in Hollywood movies, hunted by some, researched by the shark lovers and with shark cage diving increasing in popularity all around the world, especially in South Africa, people can’t seem to get enough about the king of the ocean. On that note, below are a couple of interesting things about sharks you didn’t know and would probably intrigued when reading it.

• There are more than 360 shark species, but only four of them present a threat to humankind and are known to attack humans: The Great White Shark, Bull Shark, Tiger Shark and the Oceanic Whitetip Shark. Most of the times these attacks are provoked and a lot of the times they are even mistaken. There are other shark species that have attacked, but has hardly ever been the cause of death.
• Sharks don’t always bite, just sometimes. Unlike humans sharks can not eat continuously in a row, so most often they bite to determine if the object is worth their digestive time. If they’ve bitten it and don’t think it is worth their while they will leave it and find something better. It is almost like us people inspecting a menu deciding what to eat. If we aren’t satisfy we’ll just look for something else or find another restaurant. Shark Cage Diving

• According to experiments it has been concluded that sharks may be afraid of dolphins. To top that there have been stories that dolphins have protected humans from sharks before. Mythbusters tested this theory by putting a mechanical, made-up dolphin where a great white shark was feeding near a seal cutout and raw bait. But instead of the shark going for the bait or dolphin he avoided both of them.

• It is possible for female sharks to reproduce and give birth without having any physical contact with a male shark. Not always, but sometimes. One particular case has been documented of a female shark not having had contact with a male shark in three years, but has given birth to a baby shark without any parental DNA present; resulting in the newborn almost being an exact replica of his mother. Shark cage diving

• In some cultures sharks are worshipped as gods. At some islands like Hawaii where there is a vast amount of sharks, it is no surprise that they model a shark as a god. The story has it that some of these models can transform from human to shark. Some stories even tell of the sharks first being of human nature. One particular story tells the fable that the shark in human form warned beach-goers about the sharks in the water. But the people on the beach ignored the human-shark, and was later eaten up by the same shark that originally warned them about the sharks.
• Sharks are said to have been living on earth for 400 million years. When a shark dies its cartilage dissolves and its teeth drop to the bottom of the ocean where it is covered with sandy sediment which prevents oxygen and destructive bacteria from reaching the tooth and that is why when you find a shark tooth fossil it is grey, black or brown and not white of colour.

Now whether you are fascinated by the shark specie, fear them or are just intrigued with them; above facts can certainly make us admire this incredible creature. Shark Cage Diving

Great White Sharks breaching! Don’t you mean whales breaching? Nope it’s true, and you have to see it with your eyes to believe that great white sharks can fly.
False Bay, Cape Town is home to the “flying” great white sharks. This is a term used for the great white sharks unique ability to breach out of the water. This behaviour can be seen nowhere else on earth on such a regular basis. This unique hunting behaviour has become world renowned and put False Bay on the map for any shark lover.
The breaching behaviour is seen mainly when hunting seals. The shark comes from the deep sea, aims it sights at its prey and then like a torpedo, it propels itself out the water, at the seal. The seal literally has no idea what has hit it. Then, with a big splash it’s gone. If the shark misses the seal, then the chase is on. And boy, what an exciting chase. It is a game of cat and mouse of epic proportions. Watching nature at it’s best, gets your heart pumping, and the adrenalin flowing.

The great white shark also breaches for the seal decoy. Rob and his crew tow a decoy, shaped like a seal from the back of his boat, to encourage the sharks to breach. This technique has become so popular, as it is allows the idea opportunity for photographers to try catch the flying sharks on film/camera and to find what areas are good sharks spots around the island.
As part of a larger study instigated by Rob Lawrence of African Shark Eco-Charters and Chris Fallows Apex Predators, predator-prey interactions between Great White Sharks and Cape Fur Seals at Seal Island, False Bay, South Africa, were investigated by direct observations of ad libidem encounters between these two species at the surface during August and September 2000. Shark Cage Diving

Observations were made from the platform of an 8-metre Butt-Cat boat equipped with paired Johnson 150 HP outboard engines, Garmin GPSMAP 235 with chronometer and sounder; a [brand an model?] ‘fish finder’, and a [brand and model?] VHS marine radio. Water temperature was measured with a [brand and model] electronic thermometer and water clarity was measured using a standard Secci disc. Shark Cage Diving

Predatory events were usually first detected at the surface by one or more of the following indicators;
1. Incoming seals abruptly changing course,
2. Seals suddenly switching from porpoising to rapid zig-zag leaping,
3. A group of travelling seals suddenly exploding from the water in multiple directions,
4. A Great White Shark breaching, with or without a seal in its mouth,
5. A bloody splash, often accompanied by a spreading oily slick, or
6. Kelp Gulls or other seabirds wheeling over or plunging repeatedly toward a discrete region of sea surface.
Upon detection, the research vessel was piloted toward the one or more indicator(s), approaching as closely as possible without manifestly altering the behaviour of either shark or seals. During a predatory event, every effort was made to avoid blocking a seal’s escape path to the Island.
To facilitate analysis, the waters surrounding Seal Island were divided into Inshore (within 100 metres of the island) and Offshore (beyond 100 metres of the island) regions. The Inshore waters of Seal Island were further subdivided into six sectors. For purposes of codification, Cape Fur Seals were divided into four broad categories:

1. pup (neonates with black fur),
2. first year (young of the year up to 1 metre in length),
3. cow and immature bulls (brown-furred individuals 1 to 1.5 metres in length), and
4. adult bulls (mature males with prominent sagital crest and greater than 1.5 metres in length).
Shark length was estimated by reference to the width of the research vessel, which measures 2.5 metres from gunnel to gunnel. Outcome of each attack was categorized as either an unsuccessful Attempted Predation (AP), in which the seal escaped, or a Kill (K), in which the seal did not.

To the extent that direct observation permitted, date, time of attack, seal category, region, island sector, water depth, estimated shark length, and attack outcome were recorded for each predator-prey interaction. Shark Cage Diving