Tokyo Scuba Diving Adventure | OGASAWARA ★ ONLY in JAPAN

[Music] welcome to the Pacific Ocean this is Olga Sawada called the Bonin Islands this island in particular is chichi Jima and all around me surrounded around this boat is the Pacific Ocean the sea we have so much beautiful marine life underneath the ocean here this is called the Galapagos of the east for a reason there's so many unique species just indigenous to this area I'm really excited to see what's underneath the sea here I've never done an episode like this so I'm pretty excited to start let's go dive in Olga Sawada is a scuba diving jewel in the Pacific it's a 24 hour ferry ride 1,000 kilometers from central Tokyo ferry is the only way to get there no flights so you have to be committed to staying for a week it makes all trips to Olga's Alana very special there are dozens of dive sites around chichi Jima the main island almost all dives depart from Olga Solana village the main town the island history is international tied with whaling but since it was returned to Japan in 1968 it's become a sanctuary for wildlife and it shows with the incredible diving under the Pacific I left with dive company fish I in the morning they have a pension available for stay and die packages prices are typically high in Japan operators often overly conservative in practice but all have a passion for exploring the Seas below and that makes it easy to connect with that there are 78 known dive sites on the map here some are world war ii wrecks like a first dive in Futami Bay our dive master gives us an overview of our first dive the dive site floor depth is 33 meters or 108 feet it's a Japanese submarine chaser number 50 kou Sante was built by Hitachi zosyn in November 1943 sunk by Allied forces less than a year later in July 20th 1944 the number 50 sub chaser has been residing on the bottom of Futami Bay ever since [Music] safety check mask regulator let's dive [Music] descend slowly and equalize the pressure by swallowing or pinching your nose visibility is good but it gets a little tougher to see near the bottom where the wreck rests an old world war ii helmet the ship has been taken over by the sea I believe this metal object used to lower rescue boats into the sea the ship funnel is now home to a lot of marine life the bomb seriously destroyed the deck penetration diving is impossible here it's mostly twisted metal and thrown cables now at peace the 76.2 millimeter gun is the most notable feature standing tall like a did one was built more than 75 years ago wreck diving is one of the most fascinating reasons to explore under the seas beyond the funnel I could see something rather large circling towards the bow it looked three metres long almost ten feet it's a sand tiger shark shit'll juanny in japanese now they say they're harmless the divers but I see a shark I try to get out of the way but I've lost sight of them they could be anywhere down here 25 metres below the surface do you see them they're nowhere near that side of the boat nor on deck [Music] never panic when scuba-diving eventually they'll reappear [Music] close call too close sand tiger sharks are often here in late summer you know hanging around the REC yard seems like a place you'd find a shark [Music] they move slow in and out of the silt between the metal and the rack [Music] maybe it's time to surface their shirts down there that was a grand waffle we were down there for omoide Savoy day Java no kanay I mean I could a was it dangerous at all we saw they were not one not two but three sharks down there very big ones and they're gonna be here for just a couple more weeks they're here and none day it's not Michael gonna eat or no yeah so the Sharks are gonna be here for just another couple weeks they're actually pregnant so they've come here to give birth which makes me think that they might want to protect our baby so there was a little bit of freaking out down there because it's not every day that you get within I think it was like 15 centimeters or like six inches of it just came right by me I was somewhat nervous they had big teeth did you see the big teeth but as I reflect back on my own life there's still a lot that I want to do so maybe let's just not do that again but it was still pretty cool ten minutes later I was still pretty impressed that was just awesome the beauty of this island is not just below the sea the deep blue color of the Pacific year is called bone-in blue it's so clear in the shallow parts [Music] it's a blue that we see in our dreams with white sandy beaches [Music] it's very easy to fall in love with the Olga Sawada Islands Nature has expressed its love with the hard rock on the south side of chichi Jima do you see it [Music] the captain was taking us around to an island sanctuary accessible only with a licensed guide this southern island is called Minami Jima it's where sea turtles go to lay their eggs and a wildlife preserve for birds [Music] the weigh-in is under the rock arch the water here is a warm 27 degrees Celsius 80 degrees Fahrenheit so we build Indy here this is Minami Jima and it's famous for that and it's also famous because this beach in front of me is where a lot of the turtles will lay their eggs and when they hatch there'll be a lot of these little baby turtles making their way into the protected sea through the tunnel over there and it's just an amazing sight to see we won't get to see that today but with our guide we can scout around the island for about thirty minutes [Applause] [Music] the center of the island is sandy like a little desert perfect for laying eggs if I were a sea turtle we didn't see one little guy make his way into the sea it's important not to disturb the wildlife in any way so we cheered him on it's not easy to swim through the waves to the open sea with those little arms but with a lot of effort he made it and we saw him leave us heading north happy travels little guy the captain knows a spot to see one of Olga's Iwata's friendliest visitors we travel 30 minutes to the north [Music] do you see their fins above the water one jump so high that I thought she was trying to fly the Dolphins here enjoy their stopover around the yoga Sawada islands playing in the delightful bone-in blue waters a few came right up to us that seemed like an invitation to join them for the party down below I jumped in most ungracefully the trio not impressed fled to other parts if you want to make friends with our seafaring mammal brother ins making I content and swimming gracefully is recommended just like that [Music] they know you'll never be able to swim as nice or as fast but are happy to circle you a couple of times a little dance before heading off on their journey and we were off to daring necessary surface intervals while diving it's possible to find a cove eat lunch then snorkel the waters so clear it looks like an aquarium the safe shallow waters here have a beautiful Society of fish you don't mind swimming with human visitors [Music] the residents of chichi Jima are quite protective of nature and wildlife and some have made close friendships with them like the Stingray that come to the docks in town at night they will come up to be hand-fed by friendly hands and faces who have welcomed them for years it's a funny sight to see one look you back in the eye I enjoy coming here every night to see who came to visit us this is sekai o de beach a few minutes by motorbike from town and in the center is rec Hinkle motto sunk by a torpedo during the Pacific War in 1944 it's rusted frame slowly disintegrating into an outline on the shallow sea floor [Music] driving the Olga so Anna's is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most formally known as the boning Islands the animals and marine life are very friendly not scared of humans like in the Galapagos which is why this place is called the Galapagos of the East under water you can see so many familiar faces from around the Pacific Rim as well as some unique breeds this Moray Eel is a giant let's not disturb him or he'll just cruise away like that this small white tip reef shark is patrolling the neighborhood ah look at that beautiful sea turtle swimming majestically in the waters above [Music] the beauty of scuba diving is that you can feel like you're flying around just like the marine life most parts of the sea here have incredible visibility even at deeper recreational diving depths on one dive we encountered a school of manta rays on their way somewhere else [Music] here's one we often see a sushi maggara but this time he's the one looking for a meal the trumpet fish shadows another fish looking for a good meal it's an odd couple we have to remember that we're just visitors in the fish world down here once we encountered a mature tiger shark the non friendly kind it's rare to see such large ones in the area and he took off when he saw the odd-looking scuba divers good news for us advanced divers here often explore the caves [Music] you can find a lot of unique marine life like lobsters hanging out in the cracks these lobsters came out to welcome us or shoo us away it's a fun peaceful world 25 meters under the sea shall we call it a day let's do a safety stop three minutes at five meters before ascending Japan and some of the world's most amazing dive spots Olga so on up being my favorite anytime you see water this beautiful you know there's going to be an adventure in the seas below to me it's worth the 24 hour ferry ride and one week's day if you ask me one week isn't enough if you'd like to know more about Olga Sawada for an on land view check out my Tokyo's Paradise Island far in the Pacific episode and see you there [Music] if you liked it hit that subscribe button and check out another one of our shows don't miss my second live streaming Channel only in Japan go and check out location photos on Instagram matinee [Music]

Channel: ONLY in JAPAN

Views: 88,752

Rating: 4.9582849 out of 5

Keywords: Only in Japan, Japan, Tokyo, Scuba Diving, PADI, sharks, Pacific, Ogasawara, island, tropical, paradise, resort, boat, dolphins, wreck, ww2, sunken, map, chichijima, okinawa, japan diving, dive, accident, attack, safe, is japan safe, wreck diving, risks, english, japanese, dive master, course, costs, japan best dive, spots, sites, breeding, eggs, sea turtle, baby, bonin, 父島, スクーバダイビング, 小笠原, イルカ, shark week, discovery, japan best dive sites, story, ocean

Id: gRLNsPwQD38

Length: 18min 25sec (1105 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 20 2019