This beautiful statue of a mermaid sits by the sea at Playa Esterillos, south of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. When the tide is high, she disappears under water.
Archive for the 'Destinations' Category Page 3 of 3
Gavin from intheboatshed.net was kind enough to send this shot of a teahouse[bigger, detail1, detail2] …
This one is from Sandwich in Kent, England. We visited the other day, and it was very good - and the locals say it’s a new addition to the town.
Sandwich is an interesting old place, with building so old there’s hardly a straight line to be seen.
http://www.open-sandwich.co.uk/
Gav
Thanks, Gavin, I’m always up for a mermaid…. if I’m ever out that way we’ll drop in a share a pint (of tea, at least).
[from Wikipedia] On April 28, 2006, a Norwegian team attempted to duplicate the Kon-Tiki voyage using a newly-built raft, the Tangaroa, named after the Māori sea-god Tangaroa. Again based on records of ancient vessels, this raft used relatively sophisticated square sails that allowed sailing into the wind, or tacking.[5] It was 16m long by 8m wide. It also included a set of modern navigation and communication equipment, including solar panels, portable computers, and desalination equipment. The crew posted to their web site, www.tangaroa.no. The crew of six was led by Torgeir Higraff, and included Olav Heyerdahl, grandson of Thor Heyerdahl. The voyage was completed successfully in July 2006 and a documentary film is forthcoming.
Ilha Trindade, at 20°31′30″S, 29°19′30″W , lies in the South Atlantic about 800nm from the coast of Brazil. It is largely an uninhabited, uninviting piece of volcanic rock in the ocean, with very poor anchorage.
In August 1889 English barrister and writer E. F. Knight left England in his cutter Alerte bound for the uninhabited island of Trinidad off the coast of Brazil. He was on a hunt for pirate treasure.
The existence of the treasure was well documented, according to Knight. A dying seaman had given a map to his captain.
There was an immense treasure buried, consisting principally of gold and silver plate, the plunder of Peruvian churches which certain pirates had concealed there in the year 1821. … He further stated that he was the only survivor of the pirates, as all the others had been captured by the Spaniards and executed in Cuba some years before…
The Alerte itself was an old but able craft, 64 feet long, with a 14.5 foot beam, built in 1864 of seasoned teak. As for crew and bankroll, Knight solved both problems in a single step: he advertised for volunteers who would pay their own way, work as sailors, and receive a share of the profits. His single ad drew 150 volunteers. He chose nine of these “gentlemen adventurers.” None of them had any practical knowledge of the sea.
Several months later they reached the island. They went ashore, climbed the peak at the center of the little island, and quickly realized that the land conformed to the pirate’s map.
The Cruise of the Alerte is a classic true-life treasure hunt. Arthur Ransome used the descriptions from Knight’s book as a basis for Crab Island in his book Peter Duck, except that he set the island further north in the Caribbean Sea.
I’ve wanted to go there for many, many years.
The Island
The Book
- Buy it: Amazon, or Narative Press
- Read it for free: Arthur’s Classic Novels
Poseidon Undersea Resort is in the planning/pre-construction phase off shore a privately owned island in Fiji. They are, however, already accepting reservation requests, so book early!
[Wiki]
The Ithaa Restaurant sits 15 feet below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a coral reef and encased in clear acrylic, offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views. The restaurant is reached by a wooden walkway from the nearby over-water Sunset Grill Restaurant, and seats just 14 people for exclusive dining with a real difference.
Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa’s unique undersea restaurant features 360° views of reef and marine life, and one can sip champagne cocktails and sample Maldivian-Western fusion cuisine at the world’s only all-glass, undersea eatery.
Advance reservations recommended.
Have you slept underwater lately?
When guests visit Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, they discover that the name is no marketing gimmick. Just to enter the Lodge, one must actually scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea. Jules’ really is underwater. Diving through the tropical mangrove habitat of the Emerald Lagoon and approaching the world’s only underwater hotel is quite an experience. Even from the outside, Jules’ big 42 inch round windows cast a warm invitation to come in and stay a while, relax and get to know the underwater world that so few of us have even visited.
Entering through an opening in the bottom of the habitat, the feeling is much like discovering a secret underwater clubhouse. The cottage sized building isn’t short on creature comforts: hot showers, a well stocked kitchen (complete with refrigerator and microwave), books, music, and video movies. And of course there are cozy beds, where guests snuggle up and watch the fish visit the windows of their favorite underwater “terrarium”. Jules’ Undersea Lodge manages to reach a perfect balance of relaxation and adventure.
Guests sometimes describe their visit to inner space as the most incredible experience of their lives. One couple decided on a career change after visiting Jules’ Undersea Lodge, and they now operate Aquanauts’ Dive Shop. Another couple named their baby after Jules’, when they later discovered their recently conceived child had accompanied them in their wonderful adventure in undersea living.
Teams from 10 countries have today been gathering in Stockholm, Sweden in preparation for the 7th Archipelago Raid that starts with a prologue race from Stockholm on Sunday, 29 July, and will take teams through the unique and spectacular Swedish, Åland and Finnish archipelago.
full story at Sail World, via Boing Boing
We need this kind of sailing in California!
[from Wikipedia]
The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off of the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 60 miles from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is almost perfectly circular, over 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last ice age when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise again the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.
This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971 he brought his ship, the Calypso to the hole to chart its depths.
[click for full size]
Maldives resort pics have been all over the InterWeb for months now, but I couldn’t resit this one, as it is nice and big.
There are many resorts with cottages built out over the water, I couldn’t hazard which one this is of.
Though I’d guess none of them are too much fun in a typhoon.
This tight fit is the Corinth Canal (I think).
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