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WONDERS OF NATURE
NIGEL EATON, EDITOR
IN THIS ISSUE OF DIVER, OUR GLOBE-TROTTING CONTRIBUTORS remind us of what there is to discover in the ocean world aside from its animals and plants, and the wrecks and other relics of human activity that garnish the floors of its highways and harbours.
Subsea caverns, tunnels, canyons and other such underwater spaces are often likened to cathedrals or monumental buildings. But in their ability to play with light, shadow, distance - and our imaginations - they are beyond comparison with even the most breathtaking creations of Gaudi, Gehry or Richard Rogers.
"I drop into darkness, edging my way between the close, uneven surfaces of the rock... A dramatic crack runs the length of the canyon, throwing a visually stunning shaft of sunlight into the cavern." So writes Louise Trewavas of her visit to the Canyon dive site at the Red Sea resort of Dahab, where suitably equipped divers can follow a partially broken chimney to a depth of 55m before exiting into the blueness of the reef.
She shares her impressions of the bell-shaped cavern, sheer drop-off, saddle, arch and seemingly bottomless lagoon of the Blue Hole.
Meanwhile, the identically named and no less well-known Blue Hole in Gozo is one of several cavern and tunnel sites around the Mediterranean island described by Marjolein Thrower. Ranging from fissures, chimneys and natural arches to miniature mountain ranges, the underwater landforms are rich and compelling, says Marjolein.
Elsewhere in our 2004 holiday round-up, John Liddiard recalls a dive in the gin-clear waters of a cenote cavern, above which a bright blue sky and the Mexican jungle can be glimpsed through cracks in the rock canopy. And seasoned cave-diver Martyn Farr finds something to fire his passion on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, when he swims from sea water to fresh water in spectacular tunnels and sea caves running back beneath the land.
Back in the UK, Mike Clark reports on diving around Eyemouth in the Scottish borders. At sites such as Weasel Loch, Fort Point and the Hurkurs, he dives a maze of gullies - some winding among towering boulders, others ending in caves or through windows in the outer reef wall.
And Steffi Schwabe describes her adventures in one of the weirdest of all underwater environments - the mysterious and menacing Black Holes of Andros in the Bahamas.
The appeal of these places for us divers is simple. They give us something to wonder at and to explore - and something against whichto measure ourselves.
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