Don't miss these great features in SportDiving Magazine.

Diving Izu - Japan

When Japanese people asked what I was doing in their country, incredulous, puzzled, amazed, were some of the facial expressions that greeted my reply. If I'd come to learn karate, join a sumo training camp, climb Mt. Fuji, or hang out at Coz-Play-Zoku in a snow white dress or Elvis cape and coiffeur, it would be instantly accepted. But to come all this way to dive?

Pacific Perfection

Liveaboards really are a great way to go. Food, accommodation and diving is included, you get up to four dives - sometimes five - a day and you decide which dives you want to do. Not only can you experience the best sites, travelling between them often happens while you sleep. Once anchored, it's just a big stride off the back of the boat!

Beyond The Barrier

In Queensland's far north there's a place where the waters remain largely uncharted, and diving still very much means exploration. Politically, the reefs here are part of the Great Barrier Reef, but the name is misleading. Situated outside the continental shelf, with dropoffs stretching into oceanic abysses, these reefs are really something else.

The Sapphire Coast

There's a spectacular piece of coastline between Narooma and Eden in southern New South Wales. It's always been a magnet for southern divers seeking warmer waters, but it seems divers from other states have also discovered these rich waters are well worth the trip!

Small Wonders

Indonesia's Sulawesi is a land of peninsulas interspersed with mountains, volcanoes and coastlines fringed with rich and flourishing coral reefs. But the diversity doesn't end there - between the North Sulawesi mainland and nearby Lembeh Island, the Lembeh Strait delivers some of the world's premier muck diving. These sites are studies in monochrome, distinguished by black volcanic sand, a by-product of the volcanic activity that shaped the island's rugged terrain. Divers and underwater photographers have long flocked to this 16 kilometre stretch of water for its dazzling array of bizarre creatures.

Sixty Days Down

After stuffing myself on Easter chocolate, what better way to work it all off than a couple of dives on Tasmania's newest dive site, the purpose-sunk wreck Troy D. As a passive observer of the entire artificial reef process, I thought it was time to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Early Easter Monday, I snuck out of the house and headed for Triabunna. With a return to work less than a week away, i wanted 'before' photos of the Troy D as a baseline to see how sea life grows on the wreck. It was almost 60 days since the scuttling and if I didn't get there soon, the chance would be lost.