Hey! Did anyone see the movie OPEN WATER yet? Honestly, I'm kind of scared to go snorkeling/scuba diving now b/c of seeing it. The last time I went snorkeling was at Turks this past march. The very first thing I saw when I looked in the water was a SHARK!!! The GOs tried to assure me that it was "only a nurse shark" & "don't worry...they won't harm you." I was still freaked out...I did however stay in the water...I just tried not to think about them being there (There was actually about 4 of them around where we were).

Does anyone else have any "shark tales" from Club Med? Just curious...

Hi alohachica,

I personally don't have any CM shark tales but I've been to dive sites in Australia where great whites are rampant and divers make it a point to dive at night just so they can see the sharks (which are attracted to the lights of the diving boat.) I think the important thing is (and as with many other sports such as surfing) to realise that there will always be a chance for a fatal accident, esp. with something like scuba! But what's the fun if there's no rush!!


-lioness

True that!

On a side note...I tried surfing in Maui once and absolutely loved it! It'd be cool if Club Med offered surfing as a sport! There must be a reason why they don't. Oh well...

when i was a kid,i was chased 3 times by a shark,in brasil,gulf of mexico....well,i got paranoid and stayed out of the sea...now,as a long time diver...sharks are no problem...i`ve seen lots,and they are really not interested in humans...all the horror stories you hear are becuase they were provoked by some thing us stupid humans do,threatening them..i took a while to overcome my fears as a child...conquered it and actually enjoy looking for them!!!beatiful creaturesenjoy the ocean,and all it has to offer...it is the barometer of a healthy planet

pinky

Alohachica
When there was a CM on Kauai, there was surfing. Being a NY person and never doing it, I had to try it. Never paddled so much in my life. That CM only listed about one year. Beautiful location, but terrible logistics to get to all the sports.
Jim

SOme years ago I played with this one diving off PhiPhi island in Thailand. It basically was too lame to do anything and I ended petting it like a dog. Was really a great experience.



Around Faru I had the opportunity to dive with three white tips feeding off the current. It was amazing because we had to literally hang on to the rocks to avoid being dragged away by the current while they were almost effortlessly staying in the same place.

Yup, we humans are pretty helpless under water.

Mike

There is a good surf spot close to CM les Almandies,
in Africa for those who like to travel far...
Missy

It would be great if CM opened up a resort in Hawaii again. Hawaii is soooo beautiful. Maybe a second go at it would be more successful than the 1st time around. I would soooo go! It would be so much fun to incorporate hawaiian music and hula dancing into Crazy Signs!

alohachica

As I was X scuba GO and also shark awearness speciality instructor, nurse shark won't harm you at all. In general if the animal (including a shark) start to attack something, that is mean they are trying to protect themselves. However I can also understand your point of view. especially new diver like you doesn't have any knowledge for fish and animal. So maybe your instructor could explain to you little bit better. Good luck and keep diving!

the most soppy sharks i`ve seen,other than nurse sharks,was in sonora...ok,ok, i know it was early,and they were just comming out of hibernation...but the guitar sharks were still really dopey,and they were all pilied on top of each other..you could pick them up,and even...gently...sit on them!!!!

pinky

I've never seen a shark when I was in the water, only when I was on a catamaran. It was at Molokini in Hawaii. I was leaning over the side, "feeding the fish" (as they call puking into the water) with 3 other people and a baby shark swam up, opened and closed it's mouth at me a few times. It was so cute, I saw it's little teeth trying to look fierce when it was only 12 inches long.
Since I almost drowned at Big Beach on Maui 3 yrs. ago I think I'm more terriflied of currents and waves than sharks, unless they are HUGE.
When I was snorkeling in Cancun I went pretty far out and I felt a cold current that started pulling me and I freakin' paniced for a minute. I immediately swan as hard as I could for the shore and felt like screaming. Same thing happened on St. John. I love animals, strong water terrifies me.

~~Ash

i saw a shark once in turks...it was a black tip reef shark...but when it saw us...it went away fast !!!

I was at the old Club Med Bora Bora about 15-20 years ago. Things were not as organized then. I was sitting in a chair after breakfast when one of the Tahitians came up and said, "What you want to do today? You want go feed shark?" I thought, sure, it would be neat to see them from the boat. Wrong. Two of us went with him in his piroque to the reef, he threw out the anchor, and then he told us to put on the snorkel and mask and hang on to the anchor line. Then he started throwing blood and fish parts into the water. Needless to say reef sharks arrived. What was between us and the sharks--an anchor line!

They say that there is nothing like the sight of the gallows to concentrate your thoughts. Being in the water with sharks works too. I forced myself to count them--there were 15. How close were they? Let's just say, I could look in their mouths and count the rows of teeth. Obviously one never forgets something like this. I'm not sure if I am a better man for it or not.

John

When I was at Moorea in 1996, sharkfeeding was a weekly practice. The dive instructors placed us in a circle on the sand bottom at a depth of about 15 meters and started feeding the sharks with carcasses of tunas. In no time we sere surrounded by black and white tip reefsharks and by lemon sharks. All the sharks are ignoring the divers and are only focussed on the food ! No fear to have !