Bill Passmore - Blog

The Diving is GREAT

3/6/2017

Hello from Sosua, the capitol of diving here on the North coast of the beautiful Dominican Republic.

After some wild storms that shifted a LOT of sand, the diving and the conditions are once again super here in our warm waters. We've been lucky enough to have great friends from Canada and Germany join us - and help with the coral restoration project - and looking forward to more good friends joining us in a few weeks from the USA!

Finally got the website updated so be sure and check out the new gallery in my store! Some great new photos form 2017! On that note, a huge shout out to Ikelite for the excellent customer service and warranty on my camera housing. Much appreciated.

Have to also extend a huge Thank-You to Divecenter Merlin Sosua for their on-going support of the Sosua Bay Rejuvenation Project, as well as to all our sponsors for your help. The corals are looking good and the nursery is thriving.

Off to Las Vegas in a couple days to take in the NASCAR race and then back to the diving.

Please leave a comment, say Hi, and THANKS, for helping to save our reefs

Bill

Curacao 2016

10/23/2016

Well, it's off on vacation!

Enough of this diving diving in the morning, relaxing in the afternoon, and visiting my favorite watering hole in the evening! Time to get on vacation for a week, dive in the morning, relax in the afternoon, and visit a watering hole in the evening!

It's off to Curacao :)

After the bus ride, and the taxi, we had a great flight on PAWA Dominicana. What other airline will the stewardesses give you a breast massage demonstration and they serve complimentary Rum and Cokes! Gotta love it!

Day 1 in Curacao at Sunscape Resort was pretty laid back. A sleep in and then did my check in at the dive shop. All good. Walked on down the beach quite a ways and did a little shopping, back to the resort for beverages and an excellent Italian dinner.

Day 2 started bright and early at Ocean Encounters dive shop! Great people, great facility and a super dive boat! 2 excellent dives here today and then some relaxing on the beach! Maybe some photos to follow! Off to shower and have dinner soon!

Going to be an excellent vacation!

Dive safe and save our reefs!

Bill

Centro Leon, Eyes, Jeff , Cousins, and Kids

9/19/2016

Wow - been a while since a blog post and there has been a lot going on, so - here we go!

First, I had the wonderful experience of having my photos displayed in Centro Leon in Santiago, a major gallery and museum in the Caribbean. The turnout was fantastic and I want to say a HUGE thank-you to everyone especially the people from Centro Leon, Adolfo Faringthon from Casa de Arte Sosua, and Andres Pastoriza from ADSS.

In early June a suffered a torn and detached retina. From the start of the symptoms to being completely blind in my left eye was less then 24 hours. Pretty wild. Fortunately, thanks to great friends and an amazing doctor, I was able to be operated on quickly and although the healing process was close to 11 weeks (no flying, no diving) my vision has been restored and all is back to normal. A huge thank-you to all who offed support and help through the process. Muchly appreciated.

Late August gave our group (The Sosua Bay Rejuvenation Project", the opportunity to dive and film a documentary with Jeff Corwin. Jeff is a noted environmentalist and TV personality who has hosted shows on Animal Planet and other networks. Jeff and his film crew joined us in Sosua Bay to document the coral regeneration project we have operating. Watch for the TV show coming later this fall.

Early September gave me the chance to dive with my favorite cousin I had never met - Bill Kaltenbach! Bill, his family and friends were on a cruise that stopped in Amber Cove for the day and we took the opportunity to meet and enjoy two dives in our warm waters. GREAT to meet him, dive with him and looking forward to having him come back for more underwater fun!

September also had us doing presentations to the children of the grade two class at The International School of Sosua. AMAZING! They are studying corals and were VERY attentive and asked GREAT questions! Super to see the ocean will be in great hands in the future.

Sitting in Canada right now as I type this. A quick trip to the Great White North for a wedding and also had the chance to stop in at Northwest Scuba in Edmonton and visit with Ken Holliday. WOW - the shop looks great and the staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. Be sue and stop by if you are in Edmonton and Ken and his staff will take care of all your needs.

Looking forward to getting back to the warmth in the Dominican Republic and back into the water to get busy on coral domes for our sponsors.

Have a great day, appreciate each and every day, and please help save our reefs.

Bill

Lots of Good Stuff - and one challenge

6/13/2016

This past month has been a very busy and very interesting one here in Sousa!

Thanks to the generous donation by the Pastoriza - Taveres family, the cannons are in the water and have created an amazing new multi-level dive here in out bay. Be sure and check out the great photo opportunities.

When you end this dive, you will be at the Staghorn Coral dome project, where we are repopulating the reef with corals from our nurseries. Follow this project on the Sosua Bay Rejuvenation Project facebook page and on my blog page here on my website.

Thank-you to the Pastoriza family for donating 5 new domes, one for each of their grandchildren. It will be pretty cool to be able to watch the corals grow over their lifetime. Nice to see the ocean will be in good hands for years to come.

June 6 marked the one year anniversary of our monthly beach and divesite clean-up. Thanks to everyone who has come out to help, to all our sponsors, and to all the dive shops for your involvement. We ARE making a difference.

June 9 to 23, Centro Leon - a major gallery in Santiago, is holding an exhibition of my underwater photos to raise awareness of our environment, of the beautiful diving we have here on the north coast, and of the benefits that diving can bring to the Dominican Republic. Thank-you to everyone involved for making this project a reality.

And the challenge: well I was diagnosed with a detached retina and had to undergo emergency surgery to repair it. Although it means no diving and no flying for 3 months or so, the operation seemed to go well and it is healing!

Thanks for reading, please explore my website, and dive safely and help save our reefs.

Bill

Sosua Bay Cannon Project

5/18/2016

With HUGE thanks to the Pastoriza - Tavares family, we have created a new dive site here in Sosua. A multi level dive for the more advanced divers and an easier dive for the less experienced. In fact, on a clear day you can see the cannons from a glass bottom boat! Watch the video to see the story of history being restored to the bay. Thanks to everyone who helped with this project.

Divesite Cleanup April

4/4/2016

Wow - an amazing day today. A massive thanks to Los Gringos Sosua for your sponsorship of the beach and divesite cleanup. The meal was amazing and the service was awesome! We all will be back.

Have to say thanks to all our other sponsors: Dive Cabarete, Aqua Adventures, Northern Coast Diving, Divecenter Merlin, The Dollar Shop, Playero, North Coast Design, The Checkpoint Bar and Snackshop, ADSS Sosua

Thank-you for helping to save our reefs and take care of our environment

Bill

Underwater Sosua

3/15/2016

Join me in a 3 1/2 minute photographic journey through the underwater world here in Sosua on the North coast of the Dominican Republic.

Antigua - Diving - Las Vegas

3/11/2016

Wow, been a busy few weeks!

First, had the opportunity to visit the Island of Antigua to meet the team "Yorkshire Rows". These ladies set the world record as the oldest female team to row ACROSS the Atlantic ocean. Amazing people, truly humble and an incredible inspiration.

"GLIDECOAT" sponsored the boat. They have a product that protects against UV damage and inhibits marine growth. It was AMAZING. Zero salt residue on the boat and the underside was incredibly clean. Amazing product and great people. Thanks Paul Westhorpe and the team from Glidecoat and HUGE congrats to "YORKSHIRE ROWS"

The diving was great - the vis was a bit bad for photos but hey, always good to get into the ocean! Check out the hi-lites in the "February2016 Diving" album in the photo section in the store herein my website

And finally - Las Vegas. Did the yearly trip to meet my son for the NASCAR races in Las Vegas. Always a good time. Looking forward to next year!

An interesting month coming up. More work on the coral restoration program and a new sponsor for the monthly beach and dive site cleanup - Los Gringos Restaurant! Thanks for coming on board! As well, will be working on some new projects to improve the diving here in Sosua! Stay tuned!

Dive safe and preserve our reefs

Bill

Sosua Coral Restoration

2/8/2016

Over the past few days we have started a coral restoration program here in Sosua, Dominican Republic. Using proven processes, we are attempting to grow new staghorn corals to populate our reefs. These processes have been used to great success in a number of locations across the globe !!

Please have a look at the video, share it, and let everyone know not only of the efforts here in the DR, but of the need to preserve our reefs and our oceans!

Thank-you

Bill

January Diving Highlights

1/31/2016

Wow, it was a great month here in Sosua in the Dominican Republic. Lots of variation in weather and ocean conditions and over the past 2 weeks the diving has been fantastic. Literally the best visibility I have seen here on the North Coast!

Been trying a lot of different camera settings, some worked good, some not exactly great :) Overall though, lots of fun experimenting and getting some unique effects!

Big Blue Dive Lights - I can't say enough about them. Excellent service on my main light and picked up a couple of AL1000N torches! Narrow beam, perfect for looking deep into cracks, and cool to use for some interesting lighting in photos.

Check out the photos of some of the hi-lites from the month! All are also available here on my website in the January Diving Highlights section of my store! The perfect gift for the diver you know, or to decorate your walls !!

Looking forward to an interesting February with lots of possibilities and good friends coming down from The Great North to enjoy the sun, the culture and of course, the diving!

Dive safely and Save Our Reefs

Bill