The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 22. 08. 2010
Jacob gets his Tattoo - our Logo !!!!!!!

This might sound a bit strange but this is a true story!!!

A couple of weeks ago Jacob send us an email to enquire about our dive courses because he wanted to get his certification. He decided to book with us - and that was the beginning.

He started his course on Friday the 13.08.10 (some people wouldn't have done that :-) but for him it was pure luck) and a couple of days later he was certified.

The plan was to do 2 more dives after his course, but in the end he did 6 more dives. This 6 dives are quite hard to top - he saw lots of turtles, sharks, barracudas, and he had the luck to see a whale during his dive. The whale aproached our divers when they were already down and accompanied them for a while. This is quite rare and a really special experience.

The Cook Islands are a whale sanctuary and the rule is to keep distance to a whale. If the whale decides to approach the divers under water - than it's the whales decision.

Apart from diving his general plan was to get a tattoo while on the island, but once he decided to go with us he kept thinking about our Big Fish Logo and the idea was formed to get the fish as a tattoo. I didn't take him serious in the beginning but i learned soon that he was very serious about it.

After his last day of diving he had his appointment with Boye Nicholas from Polynesian Tattoo for getting his new tattoo.
Click trough the photos to have a look at them - the fish looks really great (all done by free hand!!!)

I know we will see Jacob and Lisa again and we are looking forward to it and i am sure he will never forget us!!!!

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 04. 08. 2010
Russ Malkin from Big Earth Productions is looking for the 100 most adventurous tours and came to Rarotonga

We met Russ yesterday evening with his family Victoria and Emily. They are on a short trip to Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Russ is the producer / director from Big Earth Production. He spent 20-years successfully putting together international events and expeditions, including award-winning television programmes such as The Long Way Round.

Now he is traveling around the world to search for the 100 most adventurous activities.

We had the pleasure to take him on a night dive here in Rarotonga yesterday. HIghlight was a massive 2 meter long free swimming giant moray eel. I you wish to get some more information about their work follow this link please.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 13. 07. 2010
Great day for diving: 4 hammer heads, 6 grey reefsharks and turtles

What a beautiful day of diving, we went out on the south side of the island. First dive was Avaavaroa Passage where we had at least 6 grey reef sharks on the next dive, at Papua drop off we saw 4 hammer heads and a couple turtles. How cool is this.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 02. 07. 2010
Is this the same Moray Eel? Nathalie Bernard (visited Raro for a swim clinic) says YES.

Did you ever had the feeling, when you see a picture, that you know this person? The same happened to me today when i saw the picture of a moray eel, made by Nathalie Bernard (olympic swimmer for team New Zealand in 2004 at the summer games). She visited Rarotonga to help out at the Raro Swim Clinic with her boyfriend Craig Stewart (you will find some photos from the class here). Today she had a day without swimming and decided to join us for an Introductory Dive. Sascha took her in the lagoon and they came back with a bunch of great photos (have a look at our Gallery - Inside the lagoon).

But what caught my attention was the mosaic moray eel. I had an exsessive foto session 4 years ago with, i think, is the same one she saw today.

For sure they grow a lot during the time, but we are really happy that the animals have the time and protection of our Marine Reserve to grow.

So I will ask all of you: Do you think this is the same Moray Eel i saw 4 years ago. Please send me an email to this address.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 01. 07. 2010
The Whales are back in Rarotonga!

Last week we dived the west side of the island when we heard for the first time this year a whale singing. After Sascha had seen already 3 beaked whales 7 weeks ago we were exited and couldn't wait for the whale season to start.

Two days ago finally we had our first experience with a humbpack whale this year. The Cook Island are a whale sanctuary and our strickt policy is: when we see a whale on the surface, we stop our boat and let them pass by. If they don't go, we will choose another dive site to go to. We don't enter the water knowing that whales are around. If a whale shows up when we are already under water - we are lucky but we keep our distance.

On Tuesday we dived the south side of the island and during our second dive Sascha and Rosie were sitting on the boat (Rosie didn't want to do the second dive so she joined Sascha for the boat watch) and talking about making up a story that they have seen a turtle on the surface to make fun out of Andrew (Rosies husband - who was doing the second dive). At this moment Sascha saw the whale 20 meters away from the boat but he went down so quickly but only for a few seconds before he breached out of the water.

Unfortunately they didn't have a camera with them so we have to wait for the first whale picture for this year.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 30. 06. 2010
Picture of the month June 2010

Another month but again best picture is a moray eel. These creatures are facinating. Thanks George for this great shot. It was taken inside the reef in the Aroa Marine Reserve.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 31. 05. 2010
Picture of the month May 2010

Stefan took this photo in the lagoon, it is special if you see this moray eel free swimming.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 04. 05. 2010
Prize winners from 'Find the Cook Island - 2009 Contest' took their first breaths under water

Lauren and Mikael the winner of last years online game 'Find the Cook Islands', sponsored by the Cook Islands Tourism, visited Rarotonga in may. Out of many activieties they won a dive trip with The Big Fish.

Lauren said:"I had a great time, the people defenetly made the experience."
We are very proud to be one of the hosts who were sponsoring the activities for the winning couple in the last years challenge and also for the upcoming ones for this year.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 28. 04. 2010
New dive site discovered - Ooga Chugga is the latest addition to our dive sites.

After we had a couple of days with heavy rain we went out on a moring dive trip with Candice and Peter, two highly experieced divers.
The Dive site we were planning to dive unfortunately offered us not really good conditions regarding the visibility.

Candice was already in her second week of diving with us (3 dives a day) so she was really keen to try something new so we decided to change plans and looked for better conditions and viz.

The result was - a brand new dive site called Ooga Chugga.

Candice:'The site has everything a diver could want, big fish, big corals and a treasure hiding in every nook and crany.'

Peter:'A new dive site found has it all, swim throughs, variety of tropicals has to be seen to be believed. A great site that should be attempted if possible. Vizability was 30mtrs plus. Awesome!'

We decided that our guests have the honour to name the new site so candice came up with Ooga Chugga. Maybe not the first choice everyone could think of, but there is a very nice story behind it - you will see.

info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com (The Big Fish - Dive Centre Rarotonga)

Date: 18. 04. 2010
USP students interested in Marine Environment

Gael Howell: 'American students studying at The University of Auckland through the IES Abroad programme took part in a week long field trip of cultural immersion in Rarotonga.

Through a mix of academic sessions and experiential activities, students learnt about history and migration, geography and environment, culture and the structure of society, political and education systems and the economy of a small island state. The highlight was the Dive Centre afternoon during which students learnt about the importance of the reef to the safety of the island and about the marine life within the lagoon.

All students, including non swimmers, learnt to snorkel and were fascinated by everything they saw in the lagoon. They appreciated the expertise of the Dive Centre staff who generously shared their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm. Thanks particularly to Sascha and Sabine for their patience and for their commitment to educating young people about the importance of preserving the reef and lagoon.'