Home 
Newsletter 7 - November 2000
HD News Guest Comments & Photos Previous Editions
Hurricane Divers News
The party for our first anniversary was a succes! We had a lot of people coming by and we collected $660,- for Project AWARE! We gave away a set of mask,snorkel & fins in a donators raffle and the lucky winner was Andy, the one in the picture on the left. Andy, a long time diver, was very happy with his equipment: "this is great, the first time I really ever won something and guess what, my own mask recently broke so this couldn't have come at a better time!" Following some pictures for those of you who missed the party:
.
.
Worldwide Beach Clean-Up
Another thing worth mentioning is that we participated in the Worldwide Beach Clean-Up organized by PADI's Project Aware September 16th. Despite the fact that this day is the Mexican Independance Day and one of the biggest "fiestas" in Mexico, we managed to get a little group of people out of bed on time to help us clean the beach of "El Violin" as well as the underwater area of our Dive Site "El Chelo" off the same beach. Although it looked clean when we arrived, we collected 4 bags full of garbage! All the participants received a Project Aware wall certificate and agreed we should organize clean-ups more often. Thanks very much everybody, for your support!
.
.
Dive Safety
SCUBA DIVING.... IS REALLY SAFE?
When we think of diving we imagen concepts like: extreme, difícult, complicated, not for everybody and ......... danger. The truth is that more and more diving is within reach of anybody in a simple and safe way without losing the fun and excitement this activity offers. We are the first to admit that like any "extreme" sport, certain risks exist but we can learn to calculate and control these risks and enjoy diving in a safe way, being prepared to deal with any situation that may arise or, even better, prevent those situations from ever happening.
If you are a novice in this sport it is of vital importance that you receive professional instruction and the best way to do that is look for a Dive Center recognized by one of the Training Agencies for Recreational Diving. In the world of scuba diving there are a huge amount of organizations, some more serious and professional then others and with various levels of international recognition. Some of the international ones are PADI, NAUI, SSI & CMAS to give you a few examples. Then there are a variety of national training organizations like FMAS & CIMAS here in Mexico, VDTL & VIT in Germany, BSAC in the UK, etc. Often these are affiliated with CMAS and therefore also internationally recognized. Please note that the organizations mentioned are just a few examples, there are hundreds worldwide!
PADI
The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, with its headquarters in California, USA is by far the biggest and is highly recognized worldwide. With PADI Dive Centers in more then 100 countries, a membership of more then 100.000 Diving Professionals (Divemasters, Assistant Instructors, Instructors and Course Directors) and teaching materials in more then 25 languages PADI Instructors worldwide certified close to 1.000.000 divers last year, roughly 70% of all diver certifications by all agencies together! For more info on PADI go to: www.padi.com
In Mexico the most important national organization is FMAS, the Mexican Federation of Subaquatic Activities, which is affilated with CMAS, the Worldwide Federation of Subaquatic Activities with its headquarters in France. For more info on FMAS send them an e-mail at: presidenciafmas@org.mx
DAN
Divers Alert Network based in the USA is another very important international organization in the world of scuba diving. They are a non-profit organization dedicated to Dive Safety and in membership actually the biggest organization related with diving. They do a lot of research, operate a medical emergency hotline for divers, offer courses to divers like Oxygen Provider, Medic First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life Injuries, assistance and courses for Hyperbaric Chamber Operators and they offer Dive Accident Insurance. They also have a worldwide recognition program for Dive Centers which excel in managing dive safety called DAN Partners in Dive Safety. For more info on DAN go to: www.diversalertnetwork.org
No matter what organization you choose to get certified with, make sure that the Dive Center and/or Instructor you receive your training from is a current and up-to-date member of the organization in question. You can check that by verifying the dates on wall certificates or certification cards, just a sticker on the door with the name or logo of the diving organization does not mean anything! If you have any doubt, contact the concerning organization to verify the status of the Dive Center and/or Instructor. Only then you can be reasonably sure you will receive the proper training, with the proper materials and equipment by an up-to-date professional who fullfills the requirements set forth by the organization with respect to insurance, qualifications, equipment, safety standards, etc., and that you will receive a valid scuba diver certification. Besides that, you can be reasonably sure that your dive training will be conducted in a safe and professional way. Where safety is concerned, the most fireproof way of selecting a Dive Center that puts safety before everything else is selecting a DAN Partner in Dive Safety (see logo below), in their website you can find a list of Dive Centers that have earned that important recognition. Another point to consider is if you plan to dive on trips abroad, on your vacation for example, you are best off with an internationally recognized organization so your certification card will be accepted wherever you go.
.
Partner in Dive Safety
.
Next month we will have a look at the national and international rules and safety standards of Scuba Diving and Training.
.
Website
First of all we have to apologize; due to the amount of work we were not able to bring out the Newsletter for October on time. Instead we decided to bring out one for October and November combined, the one you are reading now.
Currently we are working on a separate page with links to other interesting websites. Another addition that we will have soon is a page with descriptions of some of the (adventure) excursions we offer to give you a better idea of the possibilities we have here in Huatulco. A temporary page we put up in the Picture Gallery (RETO 2000) is one with a report on the Mexican Championship of Extreme Sports that took place in Huatulco (see "The Bays of Huatulco" below). You will find mainly pictures and some short descriptions. It will give you a good impression of the nature in the Huatulco area as well as the different activities you can do here. For the official website of the RETO 2000 go to www.camdex.com.mx
.
e-mail us
Please keep on sending us your reactions, suggestions and pictures!
.
Diving Huatulco:
September was still very much like August, great visibility, nice warm water and lots of aquatic life to look at. We saw 2 little Nurse Sharks under an overhang of the coral plate diving from "La India" beach. We saw many turtles again and in October it seems that there were a lot more dolphins around.
This is probably due to the arrival of colder (let's say "less warm") water with the currents from the north-west which is probably also the reason the first Orcas of the season were seen in the second week of October. For sure the transition into the winter period has begun, our dive site we call "El Chelo" near the beach of "El Violin" begins to fill up with stingrays again, they seem to gather here over the winter to mate. It is really an impressive sight, hundreds, maybe thousands of stingrays in all sizes, sometimes as small as a few centimeters.
The temperature at the moment is more or less 26ºC and still pleasant. Because of the transition period we are in, the visibility tends to vary from bay to bay depending on the depth and the level of protection from the open ocean, so far we have been able to find places with a reasonable to good visibility in October. Once we reach the middle of November things should have settled a bit more and we should have our clear "wintertime" ocean again. I can't wait to see the Manta Rays coming in again! We'll keep you informed.
.
The Bays of Huatulco:
The big thing in Huatulco for the last 2 months was the 2nd Mexican Championship of Extreme Sports that took place October 12th - 14th. With 17 teams signing up and over 500 people organizing the event and helping out, we had Huatulco buzzing for several weeks.
Roberto participated in this kind of "Eco-Challenge" (no, not as a competitor but as one of the judges) and had the chance to live this event from the inside because he had to be everywhere the action was. The competitors had to follow a course set up in and around the Huatulco area for 3 days involving a variety of activities like crossing a part of the ocean swimming and by kayak, hiking through rivers & mountains and over the beach, mountain climbing & rappel, mountain biking, canyoning and rafting.
.
Hard & Hot
Even the professional teams that participated said it was extremely hard especially the first day with the heat, 5 teams didn't make it through the first day complete! We had 2 local teams competing, one from Oaxaca "Kong Hoy" with Gerardo who did his PADI Instructor Course with us last June and his girlfriend and one team from Huatulco representing ASHTA (Huatulcan Association of Adventure Tourism) of which, Hurricane Divers is also a member.
Our ASHTA Team actually finished in 8th place with 11 teams completing the event and the team from Oaxaca had to give up on the second day which made them 12th out of the total of 17 teams. A very good result for both teams in my opinion! Winner was the "Nokia Adventure" team from Finland, second place was the team "Red Bull" from Spain, the winners from last year and third was "Subaru Outback" from Canada. The best Mexican team was "Extremo Monterrey" from the same city, finnishing 5th. For a complete (picture) report go to: RETO 2000 in the Picture Gallery.
.
Turtles Toghether with the Mexican Turtle Center from Mazunte, the organizing company and sponsors also arranged an event for the local community and environment. At sunset on October the 10th, 500 young sea turtles were released into the ocean from the beach of Chahué. All the competitors as well as the school children from Huatulco had the chance to release their own turtle.
The organizers as well as the competitors are all very impressed with the natural beauty in and around the Bays of Huatulco, from the ocean & beaches to the rivers & mountains, which makes it an ideal place not only for such events but for everybody interested in outdoor activities. In my opinion this makes Huatulco a perfect tourist destination, whether you are looking for a quiet romantic place with unspoiled beaches for your honeymoon or for a place where you can have a more active vacation with a huge variey of possibilities!
.
For a complete report on this event RETO 2000
For the offical website of the championship go to: camdex.com
.
Calendar for November:
November is the month for another Preparation Program (preparation for the PADI Instructor Development Course - IDC that is) and an IDC/IOC as well as an Assistant Instructor Course. We also have Medic First Aid Courses and DAN Courses planned. For more info, check our page on Courses
.
For anybody interested: we have all the Old Newsletters on file!
.
Back to the top
HD News Guest Comments & Photos Previous Editions
Guest Comments & Photos
The pictures you see above were sent to us by Elizabeth who did a full-day excursion with a group of collegues. She did a Discover Scuba Diving with Roberto and despite being nervous at the beginning she did it and enjoyed it!
Below are 2 pictures (taken with a disposable camera) of Juan and Lorena during their Open Water Diver Course and receiving their diploma's after completing the same course. Congratulations!
.
e-mail us
Please send us your: Suggestions, Comments, Questions, Pictures, etc.
.
Following some comments out of our Guest Comment Book in the Dive Center:
"Hurricane Divers is for me the equivalent of professionalisme, service and excellence. Congratulations for doing such a great job, for having so much patience with Lorena and for making the diving such a pleasant experience. To you, Roberto and to you, Natanael and to you, Paola an "abrazo" and my eternal gratitude".
"Thank you very much for your patience and the motivation that you have and gave me because, although I wanted to learn how to dive, in the beginning I was afraid and very nervous. Thanks to you I could complete the excercises and get certified and that way get to know this wonderfull (underwater) world that few people have the chance to get to know. I always liked the sea very much but now I know it better it has turned into a "passion"! God bless you!"
(translated by Roberto)
Juan & Lorena (yes, the ones from the pictures), Mexico, October 2000.
"Two days of great diving. Everyone was very helpful and nice. I would whole-heartedly recommend Hurricane Divers. It was fun!"
Karen & Andy, USA, October 2000
"Very good equipment. The visibility was a bit poor. Coral, ravines & sea urchins were beautiful!"
Dan & Larissa, USA, October 2000.
"Thanks for the great company and the excellent service which helped to discover the underwater beauty of the Bays of Huatulco. Serious with the technical details, combined with personal quality and a sense of humor makes this team of guides perfect. Everything was very enjoyable. I hope to come back soon."
Elke, Mexico/Germany, October 2000.
"This was my second dive and I am already thinking of changing my sport from mountain climbing to diving, they are opposites of each other. I congratulate you for the service you give, it sure is a whole lot better then the service you get in Cancun, meaning that it is very personalized and just like being with friends. Thanks to: Natanael, Roberto & Paola, you make a great team."
"P.S. Thanks for looking after my wife and my child."
(note from HD: his wife was pregnant went snorkeling with us)
Aldo, Mexico, September 2000.
.
HD News Guest Comments & Photos Previous Editions
e-mail us
© 2000 - 2009 by Hurricane Divers S.A. de C.V.
All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, copied, stored, altered, transmitted or otherwise used without written permission from Hurricane Divers.
Any page may be printed to use as a personal information source.