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A local postal worker collects the mail every two weeks. Divers seal their mail inside a plastic bag and get it postmarked with a special stamp before their dive. When the local Reef Dive Resort on Mataking Island in Sabah sank a cargo ship to create an artificial reef for divers, they had the foresight to fit an underwater mailbox, the first of its kind in Malaysia. The area has been declared a 'no fishing' zone, so you know your mail is safe. Part of the Jemeluk Bay Underwater Gallery, this post box sits amongst a collection of underwater art including a mermaid (sponsored by Bodyshop) and a huge baby's head. The local tourism board and local businesses sprang into action and offered their support, so it's still open today. The world's first 'dry' underwater post office, the Risør Underwater Post Office in southern Norway came close to being shut down in 2011, when very few letters were being sent using it. More importantly, it won't get wet either. Located inside the Coral World Marine Park’s Underwater Observatory, this is one of a handful of underwater postboxes in the world where you won't get wet posting your letter. Adjacent to a spiralling 100-foot tower, the post box was recently commemorated with a set of its very own stamps. The Bahamas can claim to be the birthplace of 'wet' mail: in 1939, a photosphere used for filming a silent version of Jules Verne‘s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was converted into an underwater post office and renamed 'Sea Floor Bahamas'. The post office is open to visiting snorkellers as well as guests, and local postal workers are on hand to help if you can't duckdive the three metres to post your letter. It is one of the most popular dive sites in the area, since the blocks attract a lot of life, mainly local reef fish and macro critters, but also seasonal migratory fish.Situated within a marine sanctuary off Hideaway Island, this underwater post office even has its own Tripadvisor entry (it's got a 4 star average, in case you're wondering). In Owase (Mie Pref.), a site called Gyosho features an artificial reef made of concrete blocks placed on the sandy bottom.
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In Hyōgo Prefecture, the Takeno dive site offers the chance to dive a 25m wide and 15m high cave, with a 40m tunnel, that is only 5m wide at a point.
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Topographical highlights include the Black Tunnel, an arch between two large rock formations, starting at 32 metres, also in Kushimoto (Advanced Open Water or equivalent certification / deep training required). Still in Wakayama Prefecture, Tanabe is well known for its deep-water colonies of bright yellow anemones, the Halcurias levis Uchida, 2004 Many sites also offer beautiful soft coral colonies, such as Alcyonaceas, notably in Wakayama and Mie Prefectures. Wakayama Prefecture’s Kushimoto is famous for having one of the largest colonies of hard coral tables ( Acroporidae) in Japan. The Kansai area offers the possibility to dive healthy hard and soft coral reefs, with large sponges, anemones, and interesting topography. The Kansai area also includes Hyōgo Prefecture, which faces three different seas: the Seto Inland Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Manta rays and the occasional hammerhead sharks are also sometimes spotted in the summer months on this section of the Pacific coast. The arrival of a stronger flow of the Kuroshio in the spring to summer months leads to a general increase of underwater visibility (especially good in places like Wakayama Prefecture’s Susami) and of sightings of warm water/subtropical species around the entire Kii Peninsula area. Wakayama Prefecture’s Kushimoto area, located at the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula, is under direct influence of the warm Kuroshio current, which brings warmer water to the area, and to the point of affecting the area’s climate, which is largely subtropical, and the warmest in Honshū.īecause of this, one can spot both temperate to cold water marine life and also species more commonly found in warmer, subtropical to tropical waters, including giant sponges and coral reefs formed by over 120 species of coral. The Kansai region (also known as Kinki) is Japan’s cultural heartland, but also offers some solid diving options, especially around the Kii Peninsula, on the Pacific coast.