Aqualander Mergulho, Brazil

Gustavo

12/10/12 at 14:35

First dive on Arraial do Cabo. Unfortunately the weather was not kind, the afternoon on the eve of the holiday was already cold and rainy. The waters of Cabo Frio are reputedly cold, and with the wind and the cold and moist weather made things worse. Even in my full wetsuit it was hard to get by. But the opportunity to dive on a place I never had been before more than compensate the aggravation of the weather. The place is beautiful, both below and above the water. On the first dives we saw lots of very big turtles, and in one of the dives a penguin "flew" by me, what a fast and gracious thing it is below the waves. We made our dive trips with By Fish, headed by Márcia, and what an experience, we got a lot of support both from her and her crew. They reminded me of an earlier trip we made to Ilha Vitória (Ubatuba-SP) with Omnimare, every one knew their places and where they should be to provide a great experience for everyone. But the choices of dive spots was much less stellar. The place is very rich in life both in quantity and variety,although I'm yet to see as much fish as we saw in Laje de Santos on august. The first dives on Friday and Saturday were made on the inside of Ilha do Farol, and had a greater overall quality, the visibility, waves current and temperature were better than the second ones, made near and around Ilha dos Porcos, where the visibility were much worse and also much colder. Nevertheless it is a place I long to return, this time for a greater period and, hopefully, with a fairer weather and with better visibility. The variety of life is stunning, with lots of coiós, baiacus, peixes porco e cofre, moreias, taratarugas, gorgônias, corais and other wonders I am yet to discover there. The city is small and somewhat managed to keep the caiçara ambiance, although the favelas are beginning to dominate the place. Still, the town square has at least to places of note to eat, Saint Tropez and Garrafa de Nansen, both restaurants have similar menus, but Garrafa de Nansen has an allure due to it's suggestive name, and an actual nansen bottle adorns the back wall. But the pirão at Saint Tropez was far better than that of Garrafa de Nansen. It is a great place to return,and would be nice to go back there with my parents.

Gustavo

25/08/12 at 10:22

My first dive after the accident. Donning and removing my old two-piece wetsuit were a challenge but I managed (with help). The lost elasticity made things harder, not to mention the rocking of the boat (high waves). During the dive the pressure of the sleeve against may elbow´s screws made things unconfortable. On the plus side I was able to equip on the water and to climb up the boat fully equipped without problems, except for the fact that I´m unable to reach my left fin with my left arm, at least for now. All of this made me (finally) decide to buy a semi-dry suit, hope it makes things easier. The dive was very pleasent. Aside the strong currents comming from the ocean and the high waves, an out of season thermocline at 7 m forced most fishes to shalower waters, making the surface waters teem with them. Of not we found rays, a turtle and a lobster. No morey eels heads, only a tail. The visibility was average for the site, but was able to take some good pictures.