Bat ray, carpet ray, flying tortillas, mobs… With their strange appearance and quirky behaviour, mobula rays have many nicknames. Thanks to two horn-shaped fins protruding from the front of their head, they're also commonly known as devil rays. But despite their devilish looks, mobulas are…
Groupers are a giant juxtaposition. They're the largest fish on the reef, yet the masters of camouflage. They prefer solitude, but will gather en masse during a full moon, and, despite being introverted, are privy to social climbing. They also love divers, and with their cartoonishly big…
Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin as you step off the plane is one of life's great pleasures. There's something truly wonderful about venturing to a sun-drenched tropical paradise, and the further away, the better. It's also no coincidence that these distant destinations have some…
Seaweed is found throughout the world's coastal regions, but what exactly is it? The name is misleading as it's not a 'weed,' but a prolific form of sea vegetation that is vital to life. Collectively, seaweed supplies a large proportion of the world's oxygen and plays a vital role in…
For DiCaprio, it was Titanic. For Scarlett Johansson, it was Lost in Translation. Since 2003, when Pixar cast a clownfish in the lead role of one of its blockbuster animated films, dive guides and instructors the world over have been inundated with requests to 'find Nemo.' Luckily, these…
We regularly hop aboard our soapbox in support of diving. There's nothing quite like floating in an alternate universe of technicolour reef cities and marvellous marine life. That being said, not all trips can be spent entirely underwater. There are surface intervals, after all. Whether…
From the bright red Spanish dancer to Hopkins's rose nudibranch, neon green leaf sheep nudibranch - otherwise known as 'Shawn the Sheep' -, and the orange-peel Doris nudibranch, fabulously coloured nudibranchs have amassed a cult-like following among divers. Hailed as the 'Jewels of the…
From Alaska to the Amazon Rainforest, Costa Rica to the Serengeti, the world's topside treasures are regularly touted for their extraordinary biodiversity. Yet despite covering a whopping 70% of the planet, the ocean rarely gets a shoutout. In fact, 80% of the world's life is found in the…
From hairy to warty, psychedelic to shaggy, few fish are stranger in appearance than the frogfish. But make no mistake, these camouflaged critters are dressed to kill. From masquerading as coral to boasting the fastest strike in the ocean, frogfish are the masters of aggressive mimicry. So…
There's no finer way of starting a 'discussion' on a dive boat than proclaiming one destination or another to be the home of the 'best diving in the world.' Not to be the ones who shy away from controversial topics, we're going to try to tackle this hot topic in a very general way. Each of…