Fun Dive Guam

Mix with nature and enjoy the beauty of diving on Guam

Fun Dive Guam is a scuba divers paradise. Every dive on Guam welcomes you with warm seas, tropical breezes and a stunning variety of sealife make Guam one of life's relaxing getaways. Ok, so we are not the most "In Demand" destination for scuba diving but for the average diver we offer some of the best all around dives in the Pacific. Yes, I've dove in better locations but never had it as easy as Guam offers. The ocean is at everyone's doorstep no matter where your doorstep is on the island. Photography is unlimited with millions of "Nemo" like creatures willing to give you their best pose. No bulky wetsuits needed, this is pure diving "lite". So what are you waiting for? Let's go diving!

Boat or Beach?

Despite the classic impression that boat diving is the ultimate best wherever you dive in the world, Guam's waters offers the ability to dive at the same spot both from the beach or boat. Of course not every site is like this but there are some very good and beautiful locations.

Note: Swimming out to some of the points could be dangerous due to currents and boats zooming by at high speed. Even with a dive float and dive flag above you it is still a risk.

July 24 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

But wait, does Guam have problems?

Guam's dive facilities: A real embarrassment to all local divers. The dive ignorant government does not have any idea how to create a world class dive location. No money or effort is put forth in helping the dive facilities look their best. Instead we have dirty toilets and marina piers that are falling apart and are unsafe do to rusting World War II metal pier parts waiting to gouge a divers legs. The harbor passages are filling in with sand and the heavy dive boats almost ground during low tide. Garbage is everywhere and even underwater. You can see rusting auto parts, tampons, beer cans and other trash just standing on the dock. Much of the trash was there even before the dive shops but the government does nothing to help improve this situation. No government money is spent on helping improve diving tourism. Both GVB (Guam Visitors Bureau) and JTB (Japan Travel Bureau) do very little or nothing to enhance the diver's realm. In the 30 years I've been working in the dive industry on Guam there is nothing to be proud of. Only Real World Diving has spent it's own money on a nice looking concrete docking pier. Otherwise you're looking at stepping in puddles of mud, crushed coral and water to get to your boat or walking down a very long and narrow pier with no cover while hauling your heavy gear bag in the rain.

Environment: Guam's diving resembles diving in a war torn zone of underwater destruction. Nothing has ever been done to prevent boats from dropping anchor in the beautiful corals. Even today, large dive vessels in excess of 45 feet continue to drop heavy anchor and chain on the coral beds. This not only destroys the coral but tears up anemones, sponges and kills many small critters. The Government of Guam while professing an interest in tourism and preserving Guam's beauty, actually does nothing to deter, prevent or enforce any actual protection for the reef. The dive shops talk but demonstrate no concern.

July 24 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

MCV Broadband's Japanese channels a rip-off!

Screwing Japanese viewers on Guam: Recently MCV Broadband (Guam's only cable TV company) added a new channel to their lineup of Japanese language broadcast programming. Instead of giving us something worthwhile, they added a Japanese movie channel that plays the same damn movies over and over again throughout the day. The movies are so old that 80% of the actors and actresses are already dead. To further infuriate the viewers who have already subscribed to NHK they added this channel to be mandatory and jacked up the price to $24.95 from $9.95 for NHK only. So now you've got to get them both or none. This is the worst service of any cable company in the world for a foreign language program. Hopefully GTA will provide better programming for Japanese language viewers with their new digital TV service to begin operation soon. MCV Broadband is taking advantage of a foreign viewing audience and doing a disservice to the community and visiting tourists.
Please vote with your wallet and discontinue MCV. Their cold service department, lousy programming and high cost are not worth keeping once GTA starts operation. I will write a letter to GTA's President/General Manager informing them the status of Japanese programming on Guam as it is now and what a better offering would be should GTA offer foreign language programming.
For some of you that were here during Guam Cable TV's operation prior to being bought out by MCV Broadband, the Japanese language service included 2 channels, NHK and Fuji TV and there was no extra charge.
At the very least for $24.95 I would expect MCV Broadband to provide NHK, a modern TV channel showing popular and recent dramas/series, a sports channel and a variety/music channel.

Jun 05 2008 | Posted by Rick | No comments

I was skinny at one time

During the Vietnam war I was a gunner on a small river patrol boat. We patroled the Long Tau River from Saigon to Vung Tau. Our home base was at Nah Be. I spent almost a year there. We lived in tents and went on dangerous patrols both night and day. Finally one day my boat was blown up by a mine planted on the bottom of the river. After that we waited more than a month at the shipyards for repair. I enjoyed getting out of the jungle for a while. The shipyard was in Saigon and we could go downtown sometimes.

June 10 2007 | Posted by Rick | No comments

996 dives! I think that's a lot of diving for 2 years

My Scubapro dive computer : I've got 996 dives logged in the last 2 years. I think I will retire my computer before it goes over 999 because it will revert to 000 after that. The Scubapro Extender has been a great and safe computer with most of my dives very deep (35 meters plus). Also many of my dives have been over 1 hour with no problems. With 823 hours underwater do you think I'll grow gills?

Jun 21 2007 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Rescue a long time ago of Navy Hospital staff!

More than 20 years ago: In 1986 I along with my friend risked my life to save 4 U.S. Naval Hospital Guam staff (2 physicians and 2 nurses) from dying inside a shipwreck 80 feet below the surface.
We found the 4 military members in a dark compartment 2 decks below the main deck on the West facing bulkhead, all were out of air and breathing the 10 inches of stale air at the very top of the compartment. One nurse was unconscious and the other was crying while the 2 men were in a panic mode. My teammate in the rescue ran out of air and dropped the unconscious nurse (last to be rescued) in the dark room prior to handing her to me, not knowing where he dropped her I took off my gear, gave it to him taking my last breath of air and made a free accent from 2 decks below (80 ft.) to the surface.

May 01 2007 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Next year will be the big one! (CLICK on a Photo!)

Fishing for Blue Marlin: This is a 110 kilogram (220 pound) Blue Marlin that I caught by myself. It took me 2 long hours of fighting. There were many times when I thought I lost it. I was a long way out, about 16 miles at Galvaz Banks which is South of Guam. After fishing for an hour or so I was going to give up and go home. I already had 2 Mahi Mahi, 1 Yellowfin Tuna and a few Katsuo in my fish hold. Also it was getting late in the afternoon and I really wanted to go home. That's when it hit. It took out about 500 meters of line, about half a spool. At first there was nothing I could do except watch the line run out and hope it would stop. After it died I rushed to get it in the boat so it did not sink. A dead fish this size will sink and without a flying gaff I would have lost it.
So I tied a line to my small gaff and pulled the fish around to my dive ladder. It was so heavy and I was so tired. I pulled a little bit at a time and finally got it in my fish box. Next was the big problem of how in the hell will I get it out. Being even later in the day and no one at the marina, I put my boat on it's trailer and drove from the Naval Station to the fish market where the employees helped me with a small winch. I sold it and the other fish for a few hundred dollars. But now, I'm thinking of buying a smaller boat. This will be an even bigger problem with a big fish. Perhaps I'll have to give up fishing for big ones or I'll have to tie the fish along side my smaller boat. But then the problem of sharks appears. Some people think there are no big sharks on Guam. HA!!! I've seen some big ones more than 15 feet (5meters) long attacking the remains of a dead pilot whale. No thanks, I don't want to play "Old Man of the Sea" even though I may look the part!

But I did keep a little for some sashimi...........

Oct 16 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Queen of the Night!

Epiphyllum Oxypetalum : The other night in my garden, one of the plant's flowers started to open. It's nickname is "Queen of the Night". Wow what a beautiful flower. But it's sad in a way. It only opens one night and then dies. The flower is so beautiful when it opens. Basically 3 colors. Outside a kind of purple, the flower's pedals are white and inside the "anther" are yellow. If you click on the picture to the left you can see on the left side of the plant, one flower has already opened and died the previous night. It's a member of the cactus family.

I'm not a flower genius or a garden expert and never realized it was actually a cactus and needs very little water. I try to keep it out of the open area due to the heavy rain we have had for the last month. It's typhoon season and soon the big ones will be approaching Guam so I'll have to find a safe place to keep the plants. Most likely I'll bring them inside my house if they don't get too big.

This cactus grows so easily. Just cut off any part of the plant and it starts growing. I've got 2 plants just now and this is the second bloom this year. The last bloom was about 2 months ago. It is really exciting to grab a beer and sit outside watching the flowers opening. The scent is so strong. You can smell this flower from 20 feet away. It's like a woman that wears too much perfume. If you want more information on this plant, there is lots of info on the internet. Just do a search on "Epiphyllum Oxypetalum". I've got other cactus but this is my favorite.

Oct 30 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Bananas!

Monkey bananas : My monkey bananas are growing like crazy. In the back of my house I have about 20 or 30 banana plants. Some of them are more than 4 meters high. Here on Guam there is plenty of sun and rain so the plants grow up fast. Only sometimes I feed them with chicken manure or 16-16-16 fertalizer.

Lately I've begun to thin out the smaller plants. I've found if you let too many banana plants grow too close to each other the bananas will be small. Also I pull out the plants that do not grow straight. To keep the ones that are not straight I use belts and ropes to hold them up. Although the plants grow tall real fast, the bananas take a long time to mature. When the top bananas start to turn yellow I cut the whole bunch and let them ripen in a box. After that it's eating time or peel them and freeze them for later use in making banana bread

Oct 31 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Back of my house, flowers and more flowers!

The North side: This is the North side of my house. On the South side I have the bananas and lime trees with a few calamansi trees. But the North side gets more sun and is good for flowers and a garden. I try to put most of the fragile plants in pots. That way I can move them inside or in the garage in the event of a typhoon. Wow, It's already almost December and no typhoons yet. Well, I'm sure there will be a big one before Christmas. They always come when we are not expecting the storms. I got some new orchids at the flea market yesterday. Orchids are nice because you don't have to worry about watering them. But they are a little fragile and I put them in a protected area. Don't ask me the names of the orchids. I don't have any idea. I just like looking at them and taking photos. It's hard not to pick up a few where there are so many different varieties and colors. I planted some Korean hot peppers last week and they just started coming up. Maybe I can make some kimchee before the new year.

Nov 27 2006 | Posted by Rick | No comments

Next Diving Schedule July 7th and 8th 2008

July is here already and it's 1 month into typhoon season: Weather has been so good it's frightening to think what may be coming very soon. Anyway, I ran my emergency generator for a few hours this week just to be sure I'll be okay if all power is lost. Stocked up on some food and water. Got some more batteries and enough other supplies to last at least a few months with no shopping. Although I don't really want a storm to hit, Guam needs a big hit to clean up the island's trash all over the place. You can't see it now because the jungle covers up the trash but after the typhoon Guam will look like an even bigger dump.

Shot of the month!

Jul 04 2008 | Posted by Rick | No comments