Life Below The Surface: June 2006

Life Below The Surface

Scuba Diving provides a view to an entirely new world that few people (relatively) ever experience in their life. The posts in this blog will document my experiences as a Scuba Diver. I have 173 dives logged to this date - February 27th 2006. The rest are in the future, which I'll share in this blog. Cheers, Monty www.montychandler.com

About Me

Name: Monty Chandler

Location: Charlotte, NC, United States

Monty is a freelance photographer and avid music fan located in Charlotte, NC. He has been documenting the world through still photography for over 30 years. Monty's website is meant to both share online images and support the acquisition of prints/merchandise of those images by those whom desire to do so. Monty's travels have brought him to several corners of the world. "The ability to share these travels and my personal interests with friends and family has proven to be both an inspiration and a great source of personal satisfaction for me. Inspiration and satisfaction tend to sum up to balance which is something I treasure greatly."

Friday, June 30, 2006

Curacao - June 2006

Photo by: Monty Chandler

There are times in life when you are very pleasantly surprised - my first dive in Curacao was one of those experiences. While planning a family vacation my brother-in-law suggested that we may want to bring our dive gear and do a little shore diving in Curacao.

So with that little bit of background, upon arriving in Curacao we rented a car and drove about 45 minutes over to a little resort called Habitat Curacao. As walk-on shore divers we were treated wonderfully by the staff there. They have a great facility complete with showers, lockers, rinse tanks, an onsite restaraunt and very easy entry/exit into the water. They have a rope that goes out to the wall from the pier which makes navigation a breeze! And the beauty of the coral on that wall is spectacular! The marine life is abundant to say the least - as well as diverse. Imagine - two scorpianfish within minutes of each other! Eels, parrot fish, peacock flouder, schools of fish, etc.

The only down side was that we were only there long enough to do two shore dives. No problem though - we're heading back at the end of July to spend several days in Curacao diving the sites on the island. And yes, we were impressed enough with the Habitat facilities that we are going to stay with them as well. I'm looking forward to waking at 6 am and doing a wonderful dive before breakfast each day!

I'll let ya know how that trips goes in about a month. Stay tuned.

Cheers and safe diving to ya,

Monty

www.montychandler.com

Aruba - June 2006

Underwater Photo Gallery

The Antilles Wreck - Aruba

On a family vacation in June 2006 I had the opportunity to do a little diving in Aruba. Aruba is known for its wreck diving as there is not really a large reef system to draw divers. If not for the urge to blow a few bubbles I may have passed on this diving - but I'm sure glad I did not.

The Antilles is a very large cargo ship sitting in about 20 meters of water. It lies on its side and is very accessible. Passing through the cargo bays is very easy as they are not enclosed as is typical for other penetration diving in wrecks. This is certainly "the" wreck dive for Aruba diving.

Cheers,

Monty