The term divebase is used to indicate a location from where diving activities are coordinated and started. This is NOT the place where you actually submerge underwater. The divebase is the place where usually the dive operator is located with their filling station or where you have your stay. Typical names for divebases are the names of the town/village.

The term divesite is used to indicate a spot where you actually submerge underwater to do your dive. These are usually accessed by boat or directly from shore if possible. Divesites are usually named after the marinelife that can be seen underwater at that spot, or the shape, bottom composition/formation of the reef etc. Think of names like Shark rock, Manta reef, Coral garden etc.

We use the term dive center to indicate a dive operator that organizes dive trips and/or hires out gear and/or provides dive courses. The main thing is that they can help you get access to a dive site and get your stuff together to go diving. This also includes Live-a-board operators.

Underwater and surface creatures ranging from Plankton to whale sharks. We only listed sea creatures that are generally considered "special" (yes, we are biased) to encounter. Our definition does not include general reef-fish. Think of Manta Rays instead of Clown fish, Hammerhead sharks instead of Trevallis, etc. We also try to list special biological marine events like Coral spawning.

The chance that you might actually get to see the creature or event, be it from underwater or the surface. This is a tough one, since no guarantee can be given at any time, on an encounter. That is why we have one group for positively NO encounter (0%, think of whale sharks in your bathtub) and the rest is arbitrary. We do think that it should be possible to give an indication of the probability of encounter, but we (and you should) also realize that this highly depends on the accuracy of the information provided by other people. Anyway, we think that a little bit of information is better than no information at all, and every bit helps.

0% - There are positively no creatures of that kind in the area. You will not encounter them.

0 > 60% - They have been spotted, but there is no information on their whereabouts. You are lucky if you see them.

60 > 90% - They have been spotted regularly in the area, but the exact whereabouts are unknown. You might see them, but then again, you might not! Don't blame the skipper if you go home unsuccessful.

90 > 100% - Now this is what we like! There is a good chance of encounter, and their whereabouts are known! However, we are still talking about animals here, so there is no saying what they are up to. They might have decided to lay low for a while! No guarantee given, but consider yourself unlucky if you have no encounter.