Diving in Saipan

You can't stay on Sipadan anymore, Government has stopped it apparently to
help the breading turtles. You will need to stay at Mabul or Kapali, both
about 20mins away. On Mabul you have Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and Borneo
Divers, I stayed at SWV and loved it. SWV built on stilts on the water and
Borneo is on the beach. Have pics on my web site.

Regards
Gary
www.marinedomaindiving.com


<unita@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:1127942481.203928.208960@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
>I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
> the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
> since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
> list who might still be in business and worth using?
>
> TIA,
>
>
> Allen
>

"john smith" <john@jdsfkjshf.com> wrote in message
news:QLu0f.7138$U51.6695@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> You can't stay on Sipadan anymore, Government has stopped it apparently to
> help the breading turtles. You will need to stay at Mabul or Kapali, both
> about 20mins away. On Mabul you have Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and
Borneo
> Divers, I stayed at SWV and loved it. SWV built on stilts on the water and
> Borneo is on the beach. Have pics on my web site.
>
> Regards
> Gary
> www.marinedomaindiving.com

He said "Saipan" not "Sipadan".

> <unita@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> news:1127942481.203928.208960@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> >I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
> > the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
> > since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
> > list who might still be in business and worth using?
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> >
> > Allen
> >
>
>

This is it exactly, we have a stop over on our way back from Chuuk as
this was the only we could make the a loop using a frequent flier
miles. Figured it was worth a few days especially because of the WWII
history. From my research Tinian and Rota are also possible. The
grottos on Saipan and Tinian seem interesting. And yes, we know about
it being very popular with Japaneese tourists. Which is why I was
looking for American oriented dive operations.

Cheers,

Allen

I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
list who might still be in business and worth using?

TIA,


Allen

You can't stay on Sipadan anymore, Government has stopped it apparently to
help the breading turtles. You will need to stay at Mabul or Kapali, both
about 20mins away. On Mabul you have Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and Borneo
Divers, I stayed at SWV and loved it. SWV built on stilts on the water and
Borneo is on the beach. Have pics on my web site.

Regards
Gary
www.marinedomaindiving.com


<unita@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:1127942481.203928.208960@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
>I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
> the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
> since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
> list who might still be in business and worth using?
>
> TIA,
>
>
> Allen
>

"john smith" <john@jdsfkjshf.com> wrote in message
news:QLu0f.7138$U51.6695@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> You can't stay on Sipadan anymore, Government has stopped it apparently to
> help the breading turtles. You will need to stay at Mabul or Kapali, both
> about 20mins away. On Mabul you have Sipadan Water Village (SWV) and
Borneo
> Divers, I stayed at SWV and loved it. SWV built on stilts on the water and
> Borneo is on the beach. Have pics on my web site.
>
> Regards
> Gary
> www.marinedomaindiving.com

He said "Saipan" not "Sipadan".

> <unita@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> news:1127942481.203928.208960@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> >I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
> > the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
> > since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
> > list who might still be in business and worth using?
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> >
> > Allen
> >
>
>

>
> <unita@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> news:1127942481.203928.208960@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> >I have been trying to find some info on diving in Saipan. Seems that
> > the two reccomended shops All American Divers web site has not updated
> > since 2000 and Abracadabra's no longer exists. Anyone been lately and
> > list who might still be in business and worth using?
> >


Saipan has been hit by so many devastating typhoons during the past
several years, with many businesses literally being blown down that many
dive operations have closed their doors, but others have sprung up.

Saipan is a major tourist venue for Japanese vacations, so most of the
shops specifically cater to the Japanese divers and have Japanese DM's
and Instructors. You might not care for their ridged structure or
profiles.

It's a good place for the Japanese tourists as it's not quite as
expensive as Guam, but offers better golf. There are more shore dives
that can be made from Saipan than from Guam as well. If you go there,
you WILL be able to find some shops that are worth diving with. It's
certainly worth a few days, especially if you are on your way to other
Micronesian dive (Palau, Yap, Chuuk, etc.,) sites and want a couple of
days of pre-dive warm-ups.

Steve Kramer
"PhotoEnvisions" Freelance Photography
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com



--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing
with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

This is it exactly, we have a stop over on our way back from Chuuk as
this was the only we could make the a loop using a frequent flier
miles. Figured it was worth a few days especially because of the WWII
history. From my research Tinian and Rota are also possible. The
grottos on Saipan and Tinian seem interesting. And yes, we know about
it being very popular with Japaneese tourists. Which is why I was
looking for American oriented dive operations.

Cheers,

Allen

unita@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> This is it exactly, we have a stop over on our way back from Chuuk as
> this was the only we could make the a loop using a frequent flier
> miles. Figured it was worth a few days especially because of the WWII
> history. From my research Tinian and Rota are also possible. The
> grottos on Saipan and Tinian seem interesting. And yes, we know about
> it being very popular with Japaneese tourists. Which is why I was
> looking for American oriented dive operations.


The grottos are/were beautiful. (I haven't dived Saipan in three years.)
The coral was colorful, plentiful, and varied, as was the free swimming
marine life. With the number of shops there and the variety of shore
dives, given you're an experienced diver, why not just rent some tanks
and not worry about the shop's dive boats? If you are only there for a
few days; lets say 4-5 dives, you'll find enough variety on your own.
Personally, although I love Rota and Tinian for their history and
'earthiness,' I don't think I'd spend the time traveling over just to
make a dive or two. Saipan is pretty enough. Everyone speaks English,
restaurant menus are in English and Japanese, and of course most
everyone speaks Chamorro, but watch out for those little peppers.....

Steve Kramer
"PhotoEnvisions" Freelance Photography
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com

--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing
with new eyes." - Marcel Proust