• Tagged Austria, diving, Green Lake, lake, lakes, phenomenon, scuba diving

Green Lake has been called the “diamond gem” in Austria’s crown due to the natural phenomenon that occurs every spring when the snow melts off the surrounding rugged mountains and park benches, flowers, footbridges, trees and walking paths disappear under water. The very cold but crystal clear water becomes a hot spot for divers who want to experience the exquisite and otherworldly scene. [32 Photos, 3 Videos]

• Tagged art, artificial reef, artificial reefs, Cancun, diving, environment, Grenada, Jason deCaires Taylor, Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, MUSA, nature, The Silent Evolution, underwater, underwater photography, underwater sculptures, Vicissitudes

Our coral reefs are dying, but forward-thinking eco-minded artists are helping nature by creating stunning life-sized sculptures . . . and then sinking them. Man has been creating artificial reefs for thousands of years, starting with the Ancient Persians who wanted a military advantage by blocking off an area of the sea. As mankind has evolved, so too have our artificial reefs. The most amazing consist not of our trash or out-dated ships, but of incredibly detailed sculptures created to be placed underwater and slowly but surely undergo a metamorphosis under the sea. While it may look like abandoned statues starting to decay, it is actually art being rebirthed into living, breathing reefs. If you haven’t had a chance to dive or snorkel such locations, then you are missing out. So here is a look at the eerily beautiful process of spectacular art, underwater sculptures, transforming into artificial reefs. [52 Photos]

• Tagged adrenaline rush, animals, aquarium, bull shark, diving, diving with sharks, enivronment, gray nurse shark, Great White Shark, hammerhead shark, jaws, Lemon Shark, Megalodon Shark, nature, predators, scuba diving, Selachimorpha, shark week, sharks, Tiger shark, underwater, underwater monsters, whale shark

For 25 years, the Discovery Channel has been showing Shark Week, a week’s worth of shark-orientated programming meant to educate but with plenty of fear factor. For some people, divers, scientists and people who hang out at the beach, sharks are a reality every day of the year. Like big, bad, beautiful wolves, people have long feared the predators prowling the deep and some shark species were hunted until their numbers were threatened. Sharks both fascinate us and fill us with fear, so here’s an up-close look at great whites, hammerheads, tiger sharks, bull sharks, whale sharks, lemon sharks, gray nurse sharks, and other sharks . . . all sprinkled with shark facts. We think sharks are jawesome and swimming with sharks is a pure adrenaline rush! [60 Photos, 10 Videos]

• Tagged abandoned, archaeological, architecture, coastal fortress, coral reefs, diving, DRTO, Dry Tortugas, Dry Tortugas National Park, ecosystem, environment, Florida, fort, Fort Jefferson, Garden Key, ghost town, island, islands, Key West, lighthouse, Loggerhead Key, marine life, National Park, nature, sea, shipwreck, shipwreck diving, snorkel, sunken treasure, treasure hunting, wreck diving

About 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, lies Dry Tortugas National Park which is world-renowned for picturesque blue sea waters, white sands, brightly colorful coral reefs, abundant marine life, and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. There are seven small islands in the 100-square mile park, but it is mostly open water that is accessible only by boat or seaplane. Dry Tortugas is also famous as the home of magnificent and historic Fort Jefferson, the largest masonry building in the Western Hemisphere. Though it was not finished, the fort has more than 16 million bricks that make up the massive 45-foot-high, three-level hexagon, coastal fortress that has 2,000 architecturally beautiful arches. [44 Fabulous Photos]

• Tagged adrenaline rush, adventure, cave divers, cave diving, caverneers, dive, divers, diving, eels, extreme sport, fish, Florida, freshwater diving, nature, people, travel, Vortex Springs

Vortex Spring produces 28 million gallons of crystal clear freshwater, not saltwater, and holds at a steady year-round temperature of 68 degrees. It’s located right outside Ponce de Leon, Florida. Yet instead of the famed Fountain of Youth, the commercial dive location is famous for teaching people how to cave dive . . . and a bit infamous for all the cave divers who have died there. We had not heard of this unusual yet beautiful piece of paradise, but we hope you find it as fascinating and mysterious as we do. From professional cave divers to curious adrenaline junkies, adventurers travel far and wide to dive the Vortex. There are more than 1,600 feet of underwater passageways. At 310 feet down, there is a locked steel gate that bars the way into the cave so the inexperienced and uncertified will not risk the underwater grim reaper. Sometimes even qualified divers get lost; sometimes they dive into the Vortex but they don’t come out. [32 Photos, 5 Videos]

• Tagged archaeological, China, dive, diving, lake, Lion City, lost city, photography, Qiandao Lake, Shi Cheng, Thousand Island Lake, underwater

Once upon a time, an ancient city in China was named Lion City because Five Lion Mountain loomed large behind it. The city, also known as Shi Cheng, has been buried beneath the water for 53 years. Like the lost Incan City of Machu Picchu was ‘rediscovered,’ so was this lost underwater city that had been founded about 1,300 years ago. Lion City is now located about 85 – 131 feet (26-40 meters) beneath the gorgeous Thousand Island Lake (Qiandao Lake). This valley was submerged when a dam was constructed and a lake was needed. The lake and thousands of islands were man-made. Shi Cheng ‘defied’ the Chinese norm since 5 gates and 5 towers were built into the city instead of 4. Lion City is about the size of 62 football fields. International archaeologists and a film crew recorded the amazing perservation of the lost ‘ruins.’ [23 Photos, 2 Videos]

• Tagged adrenaline rush, bizarre, Chuuk, diving, Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon, haunted, island, Micronesia, nature, photos, pics, pictures, scuba diving, shipwreck, shipwreck diving, Truk, Truk Lagoon, undersea wonder of the world, underwater, wreck diving

Truk Lagoon, known as Chuuk – a group of tropical paradise islands in the Federal States of Micronesia – offers adrenaline-junky scuba divers a cool yet creepy underwater adventure in shark-infested Pacific waters while wreck diving the mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. More than 50 major shipwrecks from WWII litter the seabed, making the undersea wonder of the world the best shipwreck diving destination on the globe. In 1944, Americans launched Operation Hailstone, which has been called the Japanese Pearl Harbor, and the bombardment lasted for three days. The attack wiped out 60 ships and 275 airplanes, sinking them to the bottom of the lagoon, so that now it is the biggest ship graveyard in the world. Most of the wrecks were left untouched for nearly 25 years since people feared setting off the thousands of sunken bombs. Many of the shipwrecks in the scuba diving paradise have full cargo holds full of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, thousands of various weapons, human remains, and other artifacts. More than 3,000 people were thought to have been killed and some divers swear that the wrecks in Truk Lagoon are haunted. Destination Truth conducted an underwater ghost hunting expedition in Truk Lagoon. While diving at the Hoki Maru, the divers recorded sounds of running engines in the cargo hold full of trucks. Here’s a virtual adventure with wreck divers who explored and photographed the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. This is underwater awesomeness! We love these pics! [33 Photos]