Stein Castillo
Japan
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Nº53
Date: 2015-07-04 - 10:27
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Max Depth: 28.7m Duration: 22mins
Dive Location
- Temp: Surf 21°C Bottom 18°C
- Dive type : Wreck
- Visibility: Average Water: Salt
Specific gear used
- Weights: 2.7 kg
Dive reviews
| Overall review | ||
| Dive difficulty | ||
| Marine life quality |
Recent Divers in Atami
Recent Pictures in Atami
Dive Shop & Buddies
Dive with Jim from Discovery Divers Tokio
Dive buddies:
Vladislav Spiridonov
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Dive Profile
- 1. Air
- 12L Steel 207 → 19 bar
- Average depth: 16.7m
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
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First dive in Japan. took an early bullet train from Tokyo to Atami for the dive (40 min). Once there, Jim from DTT picked us up at the station.
After a short drive, we arrived to the dock (right under a bridge) were boats ferry divers to the dive sites around the area. Our first dive, a wreck named the Chinsen was located a short boat ride (7 min.) from the shore.
Jim had all the gear ready. Since I decided to take only the essential gear (wet-suit, computer and camera) I had to rent the rest. This was the first experience with back-plate wings. Very simple system, no bells and whistles, just the bare minimum. Not a bad rig but due to the added weight (3 kg from the back-plate) and the steel tank I couldn't calculate my required weight properly.
I added 3 additional kilos (6 lbs) and turned out to be too heavy. So achieving neutral buoyancy was a bit challenging at first.
The water was quite chilly and was cold throughout the dive (I was wearing my old 3mm that is now more like a 1.5 mm). This combined with the extra weight helped to significantly increase my SAC. So since I went through my air rapidly this turned out to be a rather short dive for me.
This was also the first time I used the new Olympus TG-4 camera underwater.
The dive is quite interesting and unique in Japan, this is one of only two wrecks that can be explored from Japan mainland. The wreck itself is an old barge that broke in half during a typhoon and sank alongside several tugboats that were tied to her.
Today the two distinct sections of the hull can be clearly identified and a large number of fish, coral and eels have made this place their home. The diving itself requires some skills due to strong currents that can be found at times, we did encounter this current during the dive.
Right after entry, the current pushed me away from the buoy line and had to swim back with much effort, had to wait a couple of minutes to catch my breath before descending.