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Ends of the Earth: Diving in Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina (Watch Video)
Just occasionally you find yourself given the opportunity to do something you never thought you would get to do in your lifetime. For me, that was diving in the Beagle Channel, Ushuaia in the Tierra Del Fuego province of Argentina.
Ushuaia is the most southerly city in the world, El Fin del Mundo, the “End of the World”, flanked by mountains to the north and the Beagle Channel to the south. Mike and I had spent the last few months travelling South America, from backpacking Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, we had travelled by campervan down through Chile and into Argentina. We hadn’t originally planned on going so far south, but we had read about a dive center offering tours out of Ushuaia and couldn’t resist the draw of Tierra Del Fuego, where the Andes meet the ocean.
Leaving our trusty camper behind we boarded a flight to Ushuaia. It is an interesting city, with good accomodation, great restaurants and quite a lot of tourist shops. It also feels like the last stopping point before the wilds. Ushuaia is the stepping-off port for most of the commercial expeditions to Antarctica. There is a grittiness to it that I have experienced in other working port towns and this combined with the backdrop of snow capped mountains and ‘end of the earth’ feel really added to the experience. The nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park also offers some really nice hiking paths and wildlife viewing.
As near as we could find out there was really only one option for local dives: Ushuaia Divers. The day before our dives, we headed down to the harbour to meet with the dive shop owner/operator Carlos to sort out paperwork and finalise timings for the following day. It was a very small small operation (really just Carlos along with an occasional assistant or DM), but we could tell he really knew all of the dive sites in the Beagle Channel. As an added bonus, his rental drysuits were a stunning bright orange … great for photographs! Carlos was very pleasant and enthusiastic about the forecast for the next days diving. It gets very windy here, very often, so you take the dive days when they come!
After a good nights sleep, despite the excitement, we returned to the dive center the next day to get kitted up into our wonderfully Orange drysuits. Really very Orange and importantly very warm, due to the thick neoprene. Surrounded by that much neoprene, moving was less of a walk and more of a waddle after that, but I figured we were in penguin territory, so it was ok.
Boarding a fast RIB, we set off out of the harbour and into the Beagle Channel, with great views of the lighthouse as we whizzed by to our first dive site Iturrieta.
We descended into the cold (around 3ºC) water and found ourselves in a mini kelp forest. After a few moments acclimatising, we headed off exploring round the rocks and through the kelp. There were sea stars, urchins and nudibranchs everywhere. I have seldom seen so many nudibranchs in such a small area! It was a fabulous dive, but not a very long one, as we were both getting pretty chilled by the 45 minute mark and struggled to undo our gear with numbed fingers to pass it up onto the boat. The staff soon had us back on board and a hot drink in everyone’s hands.
After a fairly short surface interval (the dives were both shallow and the breeze does nothing to warm you up) we headed to our second site of the day, Islas Bridges. Thick kelp patches and huge king crabs were the star attractions. Plenty of smaller crab species, nudibranchs and other mollusks call the kelp home and we were amazed by the numbers of huge sea urchins. Our visit in November was in a shoulder season so the weather and sea conditions were not the best. Nonetheless we enjoyed our taste of southern hemisphere diving and could tell that the area had great potential. At other times of the year you can dive with fur seals, see whales, penguins and orcas from the boat, or even get a lucky glimpse of a cormorant hunting small fish underwater.
It was a short but very worthwhile trip for us and though Mike had to stop me trying to stowaway on an Antarctica trip, we can happily say we travelled as far as we could to explore the underwater world at the “End of the World”. If you are planning a trip along the Andes, the flight to Ushuaia is an affordable and really unique experience that we highly recommend. It is also possible to drive there, but it is a long drive on small roads and so a great deal more time and planning would be required.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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