Dive Gizo
Dive Gizo offers exciting diving just minutes from Gizo. Opened in 1985 by Danny and Kerrie Kennedy, Dive Gizo maintains the standards of excellence in diving, while making every trip exciting and relaxing. Dive Gizo is the only PADI Dive Facility in Gizo, and has on staff a full time PADI Instructor. So whether you are ready to try diving for the first time, or a seasoned veteran, Dive Gizo will cater to your needs.
Dive Service
Gizo has some of the best and most exciting diving in the world from WWII wrecks to reefs that have some of the highest fish counts in the world, you will surely find something new and exciting under the surface.
All dives are boat dives. Water temperature averages 28C. Visibility is usually upwards of 20 metres. Troublesome currents are rare. Each dive is led by a local trained and experienced guide, and in small groups of 4-6 people, no crowded boats, no tight time schedules! Nitrox is not available. INT & DIN connections are available.
A typical day of diving starts at 9.00am at the dive shop where the staff will set up your gear and load it on the boat. Set off on a short trip to your morning dive then a lunch break on one of the gorgeous islands, where the staff makes a picnic lunch of fish, fresh fruits and basic salads. After an hour or two of snorkeling, relaxing or exploring the islands, divers set off on their second dive, and return to town around 3.00pm.
The waters around Gizo are sheltered from the sea, and generally calm. For this reason Dive Gizo operates three 7.5m "Ray" boats and one 7m utility boat. They are powered by twin 50HP engines and have covers to protect you from the tropical sun. The boats are equipped with radios and O2 is provided on all dive boats.
Dive area
Gizo is renowned for having the most diverse and exciting diving to be found anywhere in the world: from World War II wrecks to numerous offshore reefs, spectacular coral formations, plummeting walls, manta rays and abundant marine life. Here a only a small selection of dive sites:
Toa Maru
A twenty minute boat ride from Gizo is one of the South Pacific's most popular diveable WWII shipwrecks. This reasonably intact Japanese transport ship of some 140m (450') length is lying on its starboard site. It was run aground after suffering damage from an American attack. The dive starts at an easy 7 metres and slants to 37 metres. Interesting artefacts adorn this vessel that sunk before it could be unloaded. Some of the trinkets include saki bottles, medical supplies, office equipment and rounds of ammunition. The larger objects include bombs, a motorbike, a type 21 tank. For the more experienced divers a guided tour inside the wreck to many rooms still easily accesible, including the work shop, crew quarters, and dining area. The wreck also recieves visits from marine life such as turtles and rays, and has an extensive coral garden along the top that is great place to spend a safety stop after you are finished exploring.
Joe's Wall
Named after its self proclaimed builder, Joe Bruno, Joe claims to have built this reef prior to starting work with Dive Gizo in 1985. He truly out did himself here, with a spectacular wall dive starting in the sandy shallows of a small bay, the wall starts in just 1 M of water, but continues as a steep wall running around the island with depths over 60 M. This dive has a gentle current allowing novice and experinced divers to enjoy a gentle drift dive along the wall. Joe's Wall is known for having large numbers of nudibranch some reaching sizes of over 12 CM. This is definatly a Macro dive, and a good one to take it slow and enjoy all of the small things hidden among the fan corals and nooks in the wall.
Secret Spot
Named for a hidden ridge at about 40M, divers head out over this and can catch a glimpse of large sharks, rays, and other fish swimming up from the ocean's depths. Continue on a nice drift dive along a reef covered with sea whips, fans, and nudibranchs. Divers here always have a good chance of seeing some spotted eagle rays who swim along the passage here.
Grand Central Station
If its underwater action you need then this is the place. The most north-western tip of the Gizo islands is the merge point for oceanic currents and it's here where the fishlife, big and small, is at it's best. In the big currents the waters are patrolled by sharks, trevally and batfish. A relatively easy dive for all levels of experience and there is no need to go deep to see all the activity. This site is known for having the second highest fish count in the world, with over 270 different species of fish identified in a single tank dive! The dive starts after lunch on Njari Island, starting just 20 M off the shore, making it easy access for both snorklers and divers.
The Manta Dive
An Adventure Sports Gizo exclusive, this site is visited on request and if the time is right then it's one show you wouldn't want to miss. With two different sites that are frequently visited by Mantas generally between November and April. Groups of up to twelve Mantas can be seen at once, and they are never too shy to come and check out a new dive group.
One Tree Island
This dive site would have to be one of the most beautiful reefs in the Gizo area. Multitudes of hard and soft corals, large gorgonian sea fans and multitudes of reef fish. What you might not have seen at the Gap my be waiting for you inside Gizo Lagoon here at One Tree.
The Gap
The ultimate drift dive. Drop down on the outside of Naru Wall and drift through the schools of fish that welcome you into the Gizo lagoon.Well Know for its fish action! Commonly seen here are large schools of barracuda, big eyed trevally, reef sharks, and large schools of fish all together to feed in the currents. The Gap is covered with large sea fans and gorgonians, and starts off at 30 M, but divers still average one hour bottom times, as they glide along the wall and slowly ascend, ending the dive with a safety stop in the reef shallows.
