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Misc. Article
Shark Week 20th Anniversary Celebration
We were invited, and attendended the Shark Week 20th Anniversary Celebration in New York City on July 18th. It was supposed to be a sneak peek of the upcoming shark week on the Discovery Channel. This was my first time to N.Y...
It seemed to take FOREVER to catch a cab to get to the Shark Week Event - finally a Town Car stopped and took us over. As it turns out there was an explosion a few blocks away just a few minutes before we tried getting a cab (turned out to be a steam pipe) and so everything was crazy.
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Resort Review
The Pearl Resort - Pacific Harbour, Fiji
We were booked into The Pearl resort in Pacific Harbour, Fiji by Aquatrek. The Aquatrek Dive shop is located on the grounds of the Pearl resort.
After viewing the resort online we were excited to be able to stay there for the second week of our Fiji trip. As it turns out, this resort was not that great.
To start off with, we were supposed to have a ride waiting for us at the airport to take us to the resort. That ride was not there, and the airport pretty much closed before we finally got the cab to take us to the resort an hour after we arrived. A nice man at the airport helped us by contacting the Pearl to see where our ride was, and it seemed like they didn't have a record of us - it was kind of scary, not knowing what was going on.
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Photo & Video
Seatool SVH-HC7 - Topside Review and Pictures
I recently purchased a Sony HDR-HC7 to make the upgrade to High Definition video. After looking around, I really liked the Seatool SVH-HC7, at least from what I could see of it on the internet. Considering I don't live on the east or west coast, I bought it based on the small amount of reviews and pictures.
I am writing this to give a quick topside first impression and to provide more pictures then are available on the internet so far.
Some of the main things to note:
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Dive Op Review
Aquatrek Fiji (Taveuni)
Aquatrek is who we called and booked our entire trip through. This made things very easy - and we got a great deal, but there were also a couple of hiccups.
When we arrived at the Nadi airport, we found that Air Pacific had failed to get our luggage to Fiji - we then had to hop on a small prop plane run by Fiji Air to get to Taveuni, which has to have the absolute worst customer service I have ever seen for an airline (story for another time).
Our scuba vacation started on the island of Taveuni at the Garden Island Resort (that review is here). Aquatrek dive shop is located on the resort grounds, and very convenient. We were very happy to find that the dive shop would provide us rental gear at no charge until our luggage made it over from the States.
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Photo & Video
High Definition vs. Standard Definition, Side-by-Side
I recently upgraded from a standard definition to high-definition handicam. I had always wondered about just how much clearer a high definition camcorder really is.
My first camera was the Sony DCR-PC330. I had the Ocean Images housing, wide-angle lens and color filter. That setup really turned out some pretty impressive video. I used Sony Vegas and DVD architect to capture the video and make the DVD - which was super easy for the beginner, and advanced enough to allow me to get more technical as I wanted. I pretty much stayed at the easy-beginner level.
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Site News
ScubaAddict.com is Back!
We had some major events a while back that forced us to stop working on our beloved Scuba Addict. As a result we lost some loyal visitors and contributors. Well, we are hoping to regain their patronage, and gain more as we re-open and focus our time and efforts on providing a super-useful site for the scuba diving community.
If you saw us in the past, you can see that we have had a major redesign, well 5 major redesigns:
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Resort Review
Garden Island Resort, Taveuni, Fiji
Garden Island Resort is a small resort with about 30 rooms, located on the island of Taveuni. They have an onsite diveshop (Aquatrek), beach volleyball, beautiful swimming pool, bar and resturant. It is located oceanfront, with all rooms having an ocean view. There is no sand beach at the resort.
The staff here was great! They were extremely nice, as were all of the people of Taveuni. If one thing really stands out about the people of this island, it would be how nice they are.
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Addict Giveaway
FREE - 6 Issues of Sport Diver Magazine
I occassionally go out looking for free stuff for scuba divers. Today I found that you can get 6 FREE issues of Sport Diver(R) Magazine:
As the official publication of the PADI Diving Society, Sport Diver is the scuba diving magazine divers turn to to find out what's going on in their world. Scuba gear, scuba diving trips, scuba training, and scuba lifestyle - Sport Diver is the ultimate source for scuba divers. Whether you're a scuba pro or just starting scuba diving lessons, Sport Diver has something for you. We have a full line of scuba diving equipment reviews, including dive computers, and dive travel specials for scuba diving trips to Aruba, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, the Florida Keys & Key West, Australia and more! Your PADI certification is just the first step towards a lifetime of scuba diving adventure. -SportDiver.com
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Misc. Article
Innovative Scuba Concepts Regulator Component Recall
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of product: Swivel for a Scuba Regulator
Units: About 170
Importer: Innovative Scuba Concepts Inc., of Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Trip Report
Fiji Shark Dive - Aquatrek
I am writing this review to be mostly separate from the Dive Op review for Aquatrek, Fiji that can be found in our Dive Op Reviews Section.
First and foremost - this dive is a MUST DO!! The videos were shot by me, and my wife took the stills (she is the one with the red accented camera housing in my videos).
We dove with the dive operation that runs the shark dive in Beqa Lagoon (Aquatrek). The 'Shark Dive' actually consists of 2 tanks, and we went 2 separate days for a total of 4 tanks - well worth the extra few bucks you pay for 'park fees'. It is a straight shot to the dive spot (about 10 minutes). Once you get there, the Dive Master's drop a huge trashcan of fish parts into the water. Ramora city! You get your dive briefing, then into the water...
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