Indonesia Under The Sea: A Film

Blake put together some of the video clips of us scuba diving and snorkeling in Bali and Komodo National Park. There was so much not caught on video or in pictures but this will give you a good idea of what it was like.

Indonesia: Under the sea from Blake Russ on Vimeo.

Diving in Tulamben Indonesia: USS Liberty Wreck

Wow, these pictures do not give justice to the scuba diving in Indonesia. At some points of the dive we were around 90 feet down, at these depths pictures become very difficult to show the true beauty of what we saw. Due to time and money we could only go on 2 dives in Bali. We decided to dive a famous Wreck on the north coast in Tulamben. The ship is huge, it was a US cargo ship that was sunk by Japan in WWII called the USS Liberty. 

We got picked up early in the morning from our hotel by the dive company. Then after some sizing of equipment and briefing about the dives, we made the 2 hour drive through the towering volcanic mountains and lush green rice fields to the north side of the island. Once we arrived to the coast, half a dozen Indonesian women quickly swarmed the back of the vehicle and hoisted our heavy tanks and scuba gear to the balanced position on their heads. It was impressive at how strong they were. It was very nice to have them carry our stuff from the parking lot to the beach where we suited up and entered the water. 

We loved the dives, it was absolutely beautiful. The ground and rocks were black because of past lava flows from the mountain that toured over the rocky shore. We saw fish and coral that only exists at the pet store back home. Everything was foreign and different to us, which made for constant excitement. Our 45-50 minute dives felt like we were only under for 10 minutes. Some of the highlights were the Garden Eels, dwarf sea horse, swim through in the ship, and sea turtles.  To say the least, it was the best dives of our lives. 

Diving for Shark Teeth

Blake and I got back to Miami early this morning. Blake is off at his first day with Coastal Construction, and I have spend most of the day in the laundry room. We have lots to share from our road trip, but first an adventure from spring semester.

One Wednesday afternoon I started thinking about the weekend and going over the things I would need to study. After finding I had nothing mandatory to prepare for I made a list of random things we could do over the weekend; camping, scuba dive, hunt for shark teeth in Venice. After talking to Blake we turned this list into a plan. So we left Thursday after school, and made the drive to Venice, Fl. We have been wanting to test out our idea of fitting a blowup mattress in the back of the Prius for some time now, this was the perfect opportunity. So we slept in a Walmart parking lot, and to be honest I slept like I was in my own bed. If I have not said it before I will say it now, the Prius ROCKS!!!

We woke up got our scuba stuff together and headed to the beach. When we arrived, there were two locals getting ready to dive as well. Because we had only read online about the place we were glad they said we could tag along. But once in the water we could tell these two were going to drag us down, not only were they calling the average water ruff, but they were having trouble making it past the wave brake. Blake and I cut cords with them quick and went our own way. After making the first decent we were a little discouraged because there was only about a foot of visibility  We had to crawl our way along the ocean floor and at one point I could not even tell which way was up or down. We had to hold hands so not to get lost. After Blake grabbed a crab we came back up and paddled out a little further in hope of better visibility  And how glad I am that we did. On our second decent we were blessed with about 5 foot of visibility and were able to start our hunt for shark teeth. After a few minutes we started to have lots of success, finding about one ever minute or so. Wanting to explore a little more before we committed ourselves to this spot we kept moving out to sea. I was surprised at the small patches of coral that we came across. But our real intent was to find a giant 5 inch megladon tooth. The water was cold, no the water was FREEZING! and even with 2 wetsuits I was beginning to shiver and was to the point where I had a constant brain freeze. We never found a better spot to find shark teeth, and where there are shark teeth there will be megladon teeth. So being low on air we came back in. I'm so glad we left the locals because by the time we got out of the water these guys had already packed up and gone home... wimps. Sure we were cold, and a little sea sick, but it was totally worth it. We came up with about 10 teeth, and 2 perfect sand dollars (there were millions down there). And now that we know the dive spot a little better I look forward to diving it again and collecting more. Next time in the middle of summer.

Friday we had arranged to camp at the local State park. So after filling our tanks we made our way to the site and set up camp. The temperature was perfect so we were able to just enjoy nature and relax. We had invited my family to come join us if they wanted and I’m so glad they did. Blake cooked up so amazing meat, Adam grilled corn, Mom made edemami’s and I got everything ready for waffle smors. It was really a better meal then we eat at home. Things just taste better when cooked outside sometimes.

Dad was not able to make it till Saturday morning, he showed up wearing an interesting outfit but nothing too crazy. After breakfast he started talking about survivor, then he asked Blake to film his audition tape (hence the interesting ourfit). I remember my Dad making a tape when I was little and I still think he would be a funny character on the show (have you seen Brandon's addition tape?). He now says he is going to send in a tape every year till he gets on… I hope me makes it hahaha. Saturday was spent on the beach, Adam and I tried to go diving but visibility was only about an inch. We ended the day with sushi, ice cream and a movie. We got home about 1 am with sun kissed faces, full bellies and a car to unpack. So glad we took this last minute getaway. 

Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

This is by far our most dived spot, 9 times just this summer. We have doven here on good days and bad. Either way you always see something. With two reefs running parallel to the beach the second of which runs for miles, how could you not? The best part about this site is the dive shop just 2 blocks from the beach. Park there and they can answer any question you may have. As we started this shore dive ocean safari it was comforting to have experts to consult. They can show you a map and explain the reef perfectly. I highly recommend stopping by.
We always start on the right side of the pier and descend at the first reef. There we almost always see a good size nurse shark, with a few juvenile fish. The second reef has a lot more growth and larger schools of fish. These pictures do not capture the true beauty of this dive.

Oh and burgerfi is just across the street.

Location: The address to the Dive Shop Deep Blue Divers. 4348 North Ocean Drive Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 33308

Parking: Park as close to the dive shop as possible.

Cost: $1.50 per hour, we get 2 hours.

Walking to the dive site: Just walk down the street to the beach and go to the right of the pier.

Snorkel/back paddle to the dive site: It is about 100 yards to the first reef, and the second reef is about 50 yards in front of the pier.

Depth: max no more than 20 feet.

Showers: Just walk back to the dive shop and they have a nice shower. Plus you can get your tanks refilled while you wait.

Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach County

This is not a photo of the sand, there is a flounder there.

This is another Dive I highly enjoy. The only thing is when you get to Blue Heron Bridge you will find lots of divers and snorkelers in very close quarters. Mostly because there is only about a 2 hour window during slack tide to dive this sight. Many of these divers do underwater photography because it is a consistently good dive. There are two bridges you are able to explore under and around, a smaller bridge to your left and the larger Blue Heron to the right. You are not confined to the bridges there are lots of sunken boats and rocks in between the two, so lots to see in what looks like a small area. When first entering the smaller bridge it can be freaky, at first it looks like it is going to be pitch black... but once under you are able to see pillars and loads of fish. People say there are lots of sea horses here, but we have yet to see any. As amazing as it would be to see little sea horses swaying with the sea grass, we have had fun watching lots of arrow crabs, banded shrimp, purple urchins, barracuda, sea stars larger then my head, baby octopus and tropical fish large and small. I wear a wet suit and gloves on this dive, not because of the water temperature, but because I don't want to rub up against anything while navigating through the bridge pillars.

Dive Information

location: East Blue Heron Blvd Fl. 33404 or Riviera Beach

Parking: When pulling in, park in the lot to the left. There really is not a bad parking spot. You can also follow the cars with dive flags there will most certainly be some. 

Cost: $0

Walk to the dive site: Your choice, you can dive the large bridge to your right or smaller bridge to your left. Walk accordingly.

Snorkel/back paddle to the dive site: No need just descend and enjoy. 

Depth: max around 20 feet. 

Bottom time: Lot of variables go along with this. We have gotten in the water a little to early, causing us to paddle harder fighting against the curent. We have also gotten in a little late and with the increase in current we got out before our air was up. Best advice get in at least 45-30 minutes before high tide. Here is a web site that gives a good chart to follow. 

Showers: Yes, there are about 4 along the parking lot, beach side. One ever few feet with nice benches too.