Bob,

You should dive at Easter Island.  I did it in late January after a meeting
in Chile.  It won't be your best dive ever, but it is beautiful and you
should enjoy the statues.  Besides, it may be the best notch ever on your
belt. :-)

John K. Luedeman
Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences and Teacher Education
Clemson University
864 882-6735 (H)
864 656-5129 (O)


-----Original Message-----
From: SCUBA or ELSE! Diver's forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Reef Fish
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 3:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SCUBA-SE] Diving Easter Island, Anyone?

On Fri, 3 Sep 2004 17:45:21 -0400, Reef Fish
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>>On Thu, 2 Sep 2004 21:00:19 -0500, John Nitrox <[log in to unmask]>
>>wrote:


>>>(and at 2000 miles from the nearest land, they must be pristine)
>>>just for the joy of it.


>>> If you don't dive Easter Island now, when will you.  Bon chance!

>>I still have several days to explore the myths and reality of
>>Easter Island before arriving there on September 7.
>
>Well, I learned several more pieces of factoid that clearly
>indicated that the moals (those huge stone statues no one knows
>why or how they got there) are against my chances of diving there.


But as 'old Yogi said, "It ain't over till it's over", or "it ain't
over till the Fat Lady sings."


>The good news:
>
>There are TWO scuba shops (at nearly the same location) and one of
>them had been there since Jacques Cousteau was diving there.

I've been goaded by senor Nitrox to scuttle my plans to gawk at
the moals in favor of taking a CHANCE of diving with the ORCA dive
shop, with only one other diver, Trixie, the cruiseship on shore
activities director.  :-)

The ONLY remaining obstacle is to find an XL 1/4-inch (or 3-mil)
wetsuit that'll fit da Feeesh, because Trixie had learned from the
shop that the water temp is 20-21C, which translates to 70F, and
I've done 32F in a 1/4-inch wetsuit before.  :-)


>The bad news:
>
>1.  The shops are on the OPPOSITE site of the island from where
>    the cruiseship will be docked.

That turned out to be inaccurate.  The latest info is that I could
take a 10 minute cab ride to see ONE of the locations for the moals
en route to the ORCA dive shop.

>
>2.  Time will be a major factor since the cruiseship stops at
>    Easter Island from only 8 am to 2 pm.

Since Trixie will be on the dive, I don't think I have to worry
about not making it back to the ship.  She'll be directing all the
tour traffic when the ship weighs anchor at 8 am.  We'll meet at
the dive shop at 10:30 am, after all the tours had left.


>3.  The AIR temp will be between 60F and 70F, and the water temp
>    will be such that a FULL 6-mil wetsuit with farmer john will
>    be needed, according to Trixie who had dived there before.

The dive shop revised the estimate to 70F, reduced the vis from
200 ft to 100 ft, and didn't give anything spectacular to expect
UW other than small coral formations and 140 species of tiny fish.

I guess I can still say, "Been there.  Done that." if the shop can
come up with a suitable wetsuit.


>But Trixie is e-mailing the ORCA dive shop to find out more about
>the exact temperature range and exposure suit requirements, time
>and other constraints, before I write off this possible adventure. :-)

The info above was what she found.  I have already turned in my
sightseeing tour ticket for Easter Island culture and moals, and
leave that part for Sue, while I brace myself for some COLD wintery
water of Easter Island.


>Ile Gambier, en route to Pitcairn.
>Ile Gambier, 8131 miles from London, UK.

-- Bob.

Left Pitcairn a day ago.  Two more days at sea till Easter Island.