.  Home  Newsletter 17 - Summer 2006
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 Hurricane Divers News
We had a pretty busy summer, a lot busier than the last few summers, even though it seems that fewer nationals come to Huatulco during the school holidays each year. Obviously it helped that we have a charter flight directly from the UK for the first time this summer, as well as the charter flight from Chicago, which continued during the summer months for the first time too. Last year for example, we went out once or twice in June, July and August, this year we went out at least twice a week during these months. We also did an IDC with three candidates this summer, our fourth PADI Instructor Course since we started in 1999. Two of the candidates also did the Divemaster Course with us. It's now almost September and it has become a lot quieter by now. As usual we will close the dive shop for the month of September, we will open again Monday, October 2nd. If you would like to dive or snorkel with us while we're closed, contact us by phone or email and weather permitting we'll take you out. .
 Truck Make-over
It was high time and we finally did it. We had our good ol' pick-up truck repainted (see photo). We had various repairs done as well, to the truck bed for example, and we got four new tires for it. Hopefully she'll be good for another seven years! .
 Go Pro!
In the photo on the right you see Kathy, Martin and Yan, with their Instructors Natanael and Roberto. They did the PADI IDC (Instructor Development Course) with us in June and July. Martin and Yan also did the Divemaster Course with us. Yan passed his Instructor Exam in the UK in August and Martin & Kathy are doing their exams in September and October. Yan is coming back in October to work for us and get more experience. Annie and Gustavo, who helped us out last winter are back in Canada, but Gustavo is coming back in November and is planning to open his own dive shop here in Huatulco. For those of you who remember Brian, who did his Divemaster Internship with us in the beginning of 2005, did his Instructor Course in Honduras and stayed there last winter to work as an Instructor. He is now back in Canada and will probably visit us next winter. Ken, who did his Instructor Course with us last winter, is coming back this winter to work for us for the high season. If you are interested in making your hobby your living, check out GoPro!  . New in Our Website Following are some examples of recent additions to our website: Upon request by many of you, I have created an online Guest Book with a Guest Photo Gallery! You can now submit your own comments and photos online or send them in by email and we'll upload them in our Guest Book For the latest results of our customer survey, see Survey We have added a page with information on the referral process for diving courses. This is for people doing a part of a course with one dive center and another part with another dive center. See Course Referrals We have put more photos in our Photo Gallery again, see Photo Gallery Not many people seem to check our Frequently Asked Questions page. It has the answers to many questions divided into four categories: our website, our dive shop and services, the diving and snorkeling in Huatulco and questions about Huatulco en general. So, if you have any questions, why not check our FAQ ..
 "A Day Like Today": August 2002
Three years after our opening we became the first PADI Gold Palm IDC Center in the state of Oaxaca. We still are the only one! Two years earlier we became a PADI Resort Center. "IDC" stands for Instructor Development Course and we did our second IDC in 2002 with Ezequil, Jony and Paola, all from Argentina (see photo). With Jony we did the first Instructor Internship Program in the same year. By the way, in September we celebrate Hurricane Divers' 7th anniversary! .
 Diving & Snorkeling Huatulco
The ocean was pretty calm over the passed five months. Even the last three months, which is in the hurricane season, we had very few rough days. Diving in general was good with a lot of life around, as usual. It seems a "calm" summer with regards to jellyfish as well, we haven't seen them often this year. We did see Giant Manta Rays a few times and some big stingrays as well. The Eagle Rays are still around and we saw Pacific Manta Rays jumping again, although not as often as last winter. We saw lots of sea horses at various sites (see photos below). We saw some Nurse Sharks and White Tips at "La Blanca" and even at the relatively shallow "El Chelo". .
 
COME DIVING WITH US! The water temperature went up to around 28°C (83°F) in April and in May it went further up to 30°C (88°F). The summer months it has been 30°C to 32°C (88°F to 90°F) so far, and even deeper it is still 30°C. In the summer we don't get thermoclines. The visibility was generally around 10m to 15m (30 to 50 ft). Several weeks during the last five months we had days with up to 20m+ (approx. 70ft) and rarely did it go under 8m (25ft), although we did have some days with 3m to 5m (10ft to 15ft). As usual it tended to be clearer towards the West (towards San Augustin), however we did some dives with real nice visibility as well around La Montosa Island, which is in front of Tangolunda. In general, between April and December, the water is comfortably warm and it has been so far this year. Visibility seems better than last summer. For more detailed information about the water temperature, visibility and general diving conditions, check out our "Weekly Huatulco Weather Report" and our "Dry and Rainy Season Weather Reports". The latter include graphics and you'll find them under "Archives". See Weekly Huatulco Weather Report .
 
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HD News | Huatulco | Miscellaneous | Guest Comments & Photos | Previous Editions
 Huatulco News
After the last few, very quiet, summers it was nice to see Huatulco busier again this summer. I suppose this is mainly due to the amount of flights to Huatulco increasing. This summer we have a charter flight directly from Manchester, England for the first time. I think it's good to (finally) see Europeans here, hopefully we'll get more charters from Europe now that this one proved to be succesful. And the nice thing about the Europeans is that they normally go on a two week holiday instead of one week or just a long weekend. The charter flight from Chicago extended its service through the summer this year and Continental kept up their direct flights from Houston two times a week. Obviously all this makes it easier for people to get here, which has always been one of the problems for Huatulco. .
 New Restaurants
Luis and Elva, from "Los Portales" opened their new place upstairs, called "Onix" (see photo). We went for dinner there a few times and were pleasantly surprised by the ambience and the quality of the food. Another new restaurant, the "Agave", you'll also find on the central square of La Crucecita. Amongst other things, they have some very nice Asian and Italian specialties on the menu that I haven't seen anywhere else in Huatulco. Miguel, from the restaurant Gitan that used to be nextdoor to our dive shop, opened a new place close to Café Vienna in Chahue. A nice place to have a glass of wine with a choice of different cheeses and cold meats. There is also a little shop in which he sells delicatessen. It's not a new restaurant, but in the ice cream and coffee shop of the Mision de los Arcos they now sell delicious "tortas" and baquettes with arrachera, turkey ham and barbeque pork, just to give some examples. .
 Hurricane Season
Until today, 31 August 2006, we had twelve tropical storms in the Easter Pacific Region, of which six became hurricanes, of which two became major hurricanes (cat. 4 or 5). None of those were ever close to Huatulco, until Hurricane John. The photo on the left was taken the day before yesterday, 29 August, and shows Hurricane John and what today became Hurricane Kristy. The red dot is the center of Hurricane John, the star shows the position of Huatulco and the arrow shows the direction Hurricane John went in. The center was at that point about 250 km (approx. 160 miles) from us, the outer bands just covered us. The system brought us some rain and wind and rough seas for two days. The white area left of Hurricane John is now Hurricane Kristy. They both went in a Northwesterly direction and caused heavy rainfall and winds over Acapulco. Right now Hurricane John is a Mayor Hurricane, cat. 4, and is heading straight for Cabo San Lucas, Baja California.
For the official reports and statistics of the 2006 Pacific Hurricane Season by NOAA, go to National Hurricane Center .
 Victors Photos
Victor, the Irishman that started Café Dublin here in Huatulco has left, he returned to Ireland. Whether you're happy or not about that fact, nobody can deny that he left us with some beautiful photos of the Bays of Huatulco (and other places for that matter). In the Guest Photo Gallery of our new Guest Book, you'll find an album with a small "exposition" of some of his photos of the sunrise in Huatulco. Go to our Guest Photo Gallery .
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 Miscellaneous
"Crocodile Hunter" dies
This September the famous Australian "crocodile hunter" and television environmentalist Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb puncturing his chest during the filming of an underwater documentary on the famous Great Barrier Reef. Irwin, known for his enthusiastic handling of even the deadliest of wildlife was 44 years of age. Stingrays have several sharp and highly toxic barbs on their tails that they use to defend themselves when they feel threatened (see below). Apparently he was snorkeling over the stingray when the freak incident happened. Source: www.yahoo.com .  Stingrays
In general stingrays are very placid and non-aggresive, but when they feel threatened or are trodden on, they are capable of delivering horrific, agonising injuries by lashing out with the razor-sharp, barbed sting at the end of their tails. This is a defensive action driven by instinct, a stingray would never attack. Each barb is serrated and can be up to 20cm (8in) long, and is coated with a paralysing toxin which the ray secretes along two grooves in its tail. This toxin is extraodinary painful but not lethal, however the serrated barb can cause fatal injuries in rare occasions. Fatal incidents, such as the one which cost the life the "Crocodile Hunter", are however almost unheard of. What happened to him is like being stabbed in the heart with a knife. Only 17 fatal stingray incidents have ever been recorded worldwide. The majority of stingray injuries result from people stepping on them in shallow water and getting a stingray barb in the ankle. Source: www.timesonline.co.uk .
 Jellyfish Plague in Spain
In July this year, sweltering temperatures sweeping Europe have brought a plague of jellyfish to Spain's eastern seashores, forcing holidaymakers to stay out of the sea. The unwelcome visitors, which can reach the size of a dinner plate, have flourished thanks to a glut of plankton brought on by higher sea temperatures and a decline in natural predators like dolphins and turtles. The Red Cross has treated more than 10,000 jellyfish stings over just a few weeks this summer in the eastern region of Catalonia. Source: www.divenews.com .
 "Scuba for Kids"
When Cody Brown became Idaho's youngest-ever Master Scuba Diver last September, it was far from the end of his story. Today, Cody has literally written the book on the subject. In conjunction with Dive Magic, of Boise, Cody today announced the release of his new book, "Scuba For Kids". Twelve-year-old Cody's reasons for writing the book were twofold. He wanted to make other youth and children aware that scuba diving can be safe, fun, and even educational. And secondly, he wanted to inspire and excite other youth about diving by sharing his own adventures as he pursued his goal of becoming one of the youngest-ever Master-certified divers in the world. Part of the proceeds of his book go to Project Aware.
Source: www.divenews.com & www.scubaforkids.com .
 Worldwide Beach Cleanup
Saturday, 16 September 2006, more than 300,000 volunteers will help protect underwater environments around the globe by taking action on International Cleanup Day. This cleanup event, involving divers and shoreline participants of all ages, is the largest single-day event of its kind. Project AWARE Foundation organizes the underwater portion of International Cleanup Day in cooperation with dive professionals in more than 100 countries and territories around the world for many years now. The thousands of individual divers that volunteer as part of these events are a vital part of the effort to remove aquatic debris and help solve debris issues.
Source: www.projectaware.org .
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