Locations

The Raja Ampat Islands, located in Indonesia’s West Papua province, nestled between the Pacific Ocean, the Halmahera Sea and Seram Island, are at the crossroads of tremendous biodiversity and coral diversity—home to 75 percent of the world’s reef species. Pierre Constant returned to the region and shares his tales of diving and cultural experiences there.

Cyprus has unveiled a new underwater attraction: A museum of 93 underwater sculptures by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Andrey Bizyukin went to Cyprus to check it out. He shares his surreal experience in this underwater wonderland.

Scuba diving is a diverse and breathtaking activity where, upon submerging, one can find oneself drifting along the waves of history. Such an opportunity presented itself to me during my recent visit with fellow divers in Perm, who discovered an interesting object under the ice in the Sylva River.

As a cave diver, you do not come back from the Yucatán and say, “I have done Mexico,” boasting with pride and glory. It takes more than one visit to fully appreciate the enormous potential the peninsula has to offer underground. That means having not only the guts for it, but also the necessary training and experience to be able to do so. “Rome was not built in a day,” as the saying goes.

Tulum has changed a lot since I was here last, well over 45 years ago. Once a mere dusty village with beach huts, it is now a booming town with a main street full of bars, restaurants and tourist shops.

“WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG?” I repeatedly asked myself during a recent trip to the Red Sea. One of the globe’s most iconic dive destinations, its spectacular coral gardens, prolific fish life and legendary visibility is beloved by divers the world over. Yet, despite nearly 30 years of diving experience, I somehow had not gotten around to it—definitely on my radar, but inexplicably regulated to the “someday” file.

As our boat headed to the dive site, it was hard to imagine the previous year. With the island of Cozumel to my back, the 180-degree-view of water in front of me was filled with dive boats. While sometimes in the past I would be annoyed to see so many other divers, it was a relief to see all the boats, and it gave me a bit of hope for the future of the dive industry as the pandemic (hopefully) comes to an end.

Some 80km south of Copen­hagen, about one hour’s drive, in what appears to be just some ordinary and inconspicuous farm buildings surrounded by fields out in the countryside, we find JJ-CCR—manufacturer of world-renowned closed circuit rebreathers.

Trading and transport by sea goes back to prehistoric times. Stone Age settlements and canoes, Viking ships, medieval cogs, fluyts, tall ships, warships, defence systems, jetties, harbour installations and aircraft wrecks—Denmark has got it all.

Approximately right in the centre of Jutland, the western peninsular part of the realm, there is a region called Søhøjlandet, which translates to “The Lake Highland.” It is a sparsely populated and largely forested area with many lakes, a large part of which make up a reserve.