PADI Shark Aware
Distinctive Specialty |
| The True Shark Awareness Diver Specialty Course introduces divers to sharks and familiarizes them with the proper techniques for recreational diving amongst sharks with minimal impact on the sharks’ habitat and behavior. |
PADI Turtle Aware
Distinctive Specialty |
| The Sea turtle Aware Diver Specialty Course introduces divers to turtles and familiarizes them with the proper techniques for recreational diving amongst turtles with minimal impact on the turtles habitat and behavior. Students also contribute to the sea turtle data base. |
| PADI Underwater Naturalist |
| This course teaches you about the different major aquatic life groupings and how they interact so that you understand what you observe in the underwater environment. |
PADI AWARE
Fish ID Diver |
| This course teaches recreational divers about the families of fish that habitate a region, how to identify them and introduces species surveying techniques and the importance of marine conservation. |
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| Whale Sharks |
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From October to March Kenya has to be one of the very best places on earth to see these gentle giants.
We chance upon the majority of the whale sharks on our usual dives, we do swing the odds in our favour from time to time by putting up a small spotter plane, especially on our Vuma trips. The pilots that guide us to these giant sharks can easily see them from 1000 feet in the air!
Be sure to ask for a Vuma Caverns when you come out. |
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| Turtles |
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Severe penalties exist in Kenya for anyone found hunting or killing sea turtles or trading in sea turtle products. As a result turtles can be seen all year round at nearly all of our dive sites.
In the Western Indian Ocean we can find five of the seven existing species: Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olicacea), Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).
Turtles have become so common that they even have a dive site named after them: KASA which is Kiswahili for turtle).
At Buccaneer Diving we offer the PADI Sea Turtle Aware distinctive specialty for divers interested in learning more about these fascinating creatures. |
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| Reef Sharks |
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| These sharks are present at sites such as Shark Point 1 and Taa all year. They are less often seen at other sites except for some of the deeper ones.
At Buccaneer Diving we offer the PADI Shark Aware distinctive specialty for divers interested in learning more about these fascinating creatures. |
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| Rays |
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We are lucky to have many varieties of ray including the favorites: Manta Rays and Eagle Rays.
To see larger rays you must dive outside of the lagoon, sites such as Vuma Caverns are a good spot for seeing Manta Rays but if your luck is in you can see them at most sites. For those that want to see smaller rays such as Bluespotted Stingrays, kuhls rays or Torpedo Rays you can find them at almost all of our dive sites. |
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| Eels |
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We have many Moray Eel varieties as well as having Snake Eels, all you have to do is look for them.
Any site is a good site to see Moray Eels, , ranging from the tiny peppered morays in the lagoon to the giant and honeycomb morays.on the outer reef.
Snake Eels can be a little harder to find; try Angies Place, Bamburi, Coral Garden or Likoni. |
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| Nudibranchs & Flatworms |
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For those of you who are passionate about these creatures you will not be disappointed by the varieties offered in our waters.
What sites to find them? Anywhere, but as any dedicated fan of these small creatures knows, you must be dedicated enough to scour the reefs. |
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| Crustaceans |
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Lobsters, shrimp and crabs although not always easy to spot are present in good numbers along our reefs.
Lobsters are common in all the protected marine park areas, the most commonly sighted species is the Ornate spiny lobster. Shrimps of many varieties can be found by the keen sighted, good spots are: The Lighter, Angies Place and Shelley Corner. |
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| Mollusc's |
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Octopus, cuttlefish and squid are all fascinating to watch.
Octopus can be seen in many of the dive sites, however, Angies place and Ras Iwa Tine seem to have particularly curious ones that are often out of their holes. This is also the best place to see cuttlefish and squid. |
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| Small Coral Reef Fish |
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Too numerous to list but too spectacular to ignore.
Our reefs abound with reef fish, all our sites, especially our marine park sites have so many it would be impossible to know where to start.
If this is what you want to see then you are in the right place. |
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| Oceanic & Larger Reef Fish |
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Many larger fish are resident on our reefs, others pass through or can be seen at our deeper sites.
Groupers of all shapes and sizes can be seen at most of our sites. Oceanic fish such as Trevally can sometimes be spotted at the reef fringe.
Barracuda and other pelagic's are most easily found at the deeper sites such as Birthday Reef, Dania or Pinnacles.
Sightings of billfish, although very rare, have occurred at Vuma Caverns. |
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| Corals |
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The reef in the marine park area is protected so the coral here is in good condition with very little in the way of damage. Outside of the marine park occasional damage is noticed but this is rare.
Most sites have a mixture of soft and hard coral. The coral at Kasa is predominantly soft coral and Likoni and Lucky Chance are good sites to see large accumulations of hard coral.
"Professor Benayahu of the University of Tel Aviv, has recognised that Kenyan waters house amongst the largest and most diverse collection of soft corals in the world, a statistic attributable to the nutrient rich waters of East Africa."
Msafiri Issue 36 - New Species of Soft Corals Found |
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| The Truly Bizarre |
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Once in a while you see something that defies description, identification and explanation to all but the most knowledgeable.
To see something new that you may never have seen before visit Angies Place or Ras Iwa Tine.
(In photo is a sea wasp spotted at Angies Place) |
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