These top global resorts with house reefs were selected from over 450 locations by Snorkeling Report, Resort Snorkeller and the Herald Tribune Magazine. 

The selection process incorporated multiple criteria, which included the resort’s beachfront location, the initial visual impact, water clarity, the presence of remarkable habitats, as well as diversity and overall health of the marine life.

1. Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, Australia

Lady Elliot Island, known the world over as « the home of the manta ray », is a coral cay located at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. The shallow lagoon fringing the eastern side of the island and the house reef located at its western side provides two very different snorkeling experiences. It allows snorkelers to easily encounter extraordinary marine life, including blacktip sharks, manta rays, turtles, and even dolphins, above an unspoiled coral reef.

2. Wakatobi Resort, Indonesia

With its reef flat covered with seagrass and its stunning reef drop-off full of coral, Wakatobi Resort’s house reef is a top snorkeling spot. Here, at the heart of Wakatobi National Park, snorkelers will discover vibrant marine life, including angelfish, green sea turtles, Maori wrasse, anemonefish, sea snakes, and around 150 easy-to-spot colorful reef fish species. 

Dreaming of snorkeling Wakatobi’s reefs? Join Snorkeling Report’s Wakatobi trip, from 27 October to 4 November 2024. It includes 12 boat snorkeling sessions on remote coral reefs on our dedicated boat, unlimited snorkeling on the house reef, as well as a night snorkeling adventure.

3. Denis Private Island Hotel, Seychelles

Denis Island is a must for any travelers visiting Seychelles. This natural sanctuary, planted with coconut, takamaka and casuarina trees, and fringed by white sand beaches, have a taste of paradise. Surrounded by pristine waters and vibrant coral reefs, where it’s usual to come across hawksbill sea turtles, blacktip sharks, and eagle rays, Denis will bring you wonderful snorkeling adventures.

4. Raja Ampat Biodiversity Resort, Indonesia

Raja Ampat Biodiversity Resort’s house reef displays the extraordinary underwater life of the Coral Triangle. The reef flat and reef wall host vibrant marine life where hundreds of bright-colored fish swirl above the corals. Lucky snorkelers might also come across a sea turtle, a manta ray or a crocodile fish on the drop-off.

5. Grand Roatan Resort, Roatán, Honduras

A white sandy beach, palm trees, and colorful boats on a crystal sea – West Bay is an enchantment. But the show is at its finest underwater: multi-colored coral cascading in the deep blue water, parrotfish in abundance, shoals of tang and several species of angelfish, and all in exceptional visibility. West Bay is a must for snorkeling in Roatán, and certainly one of the most beautiful snorkeling locations in the Caribbean. The Grand Roatan Resort is just footsteps from this fantastic spot.

6. Siladen Resort & Spa, Indonesia

Siladen Island is part of Bunaken National Marine Park, one of the oldest protected areas in Indonesia. This tiny island located north of Sulawesi is entirely fringed by coral reefs offering fabulous coral drop-offs where soft corals, sea anemones, and sponges thrive. Siladen Island is in the heart of the Indonesian “Coral Triangle”, one of the world’s hotspots for biodiversity: the number of species inhabiting the reef is unparalleled and each snorkeling session will show you different wonders.

7. Velidhu Island Resort, Maldives

The small Velidhu Island is a concentrate of the more beautiful that the Maldives has to offer. His lavish reef has everything of a natural aquarium. Around this island paradise bathed by crystal clear waters, you will swim surrounded by rays, sharks, and hundreds of fishes, over a profusion of corals.

8- Sharm Plaza Hotel & Resort

Sharm Plaza Hotel & Resort stands out as one of the top resorts globally for snorkeling due to its breathtaking house reef and excellent visibility conditions in the Red Sea which lead to both relaxation and adventure. Guests seeking an unforgettable snorkeling experience will find everything they need at this remarkable destination.

9. Le Taha'a By Pearl Resorts, French Polynesia

Le Tahaa by Pearl Resorts is just footsteps from the Coral Garden, the most renowned snorkeling spot of Tahaa. This crystal clear water channel, which separates two motus (small coral islands), is located in an idyllic setting in the middle of one of the largest lagoons of French Polynesia. While let yourself drift over colorful and preserved corals, you will spot schools of butterflyfish, lionfish, brightly colored wrasse, clownfish huddled in their anemones and giant clams sunbathing right under the surface of the sea.

10. Las Casitas Akumal, Mexico

Looking to explore a single spot with a nice barrier reef that is well preserved and teeming with fish, and with seagrass beds full of green sea turtles and stingrays? Then head for Akumal Bay, the most famous and busiest spot in the Mayan Riviera. Facing a white sandy beach lined with coconut trees, the crystal-clear waters are the guarantee (despite the high visitor numbers and the restrictive turtles’ sighting rules) of great underwater sightings.

The Pronunciation of Sri Lanka

Old Ceylon By Gamini Meegalla, 2021

Tim Sullivan, a professor of physics at Kenyon College in the village of Gambier in Knox County, Ohio tells us how to properly say Sri Lanka as a strict answer from his own one-year experience in Sri Lanka.

"Despite having heard in the past that one can properly pronounce Sri Lanka as “Shree Lawn-ka” (with the last “ka” pronounced as if it were the word “cup” without the final “p”), I have never heard any Sri Lankan I’ve met say it that way. In my experience, everyone says “Sree Lawn-ka”, where “Sree” rhymes with “tree.”"

 

Ancient cave paintings of Sinhalese maidens performing various tasks, Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. The paintings are believed to be over 1,500 years old

 

"Tamraparni" is said to be the oldest recorded name of Sri Lanka, which the Greeks adopted as "Taprobana." This name remained in use in early modern Europe, alongside the Persianate/Turkic "Serendip." In 600 BC, it was called Silam and Sinhale; in 200 AD, Ptolemy called the inhabitants Salai and in 300 AD, Sihala and Sinhala were used. From 800 to 1500 AD, Sri Lanka was called Sailan with various writing variations and then from that date onward, Ceilão, Zeylan and Ceylon were new names. In 900-1100 AD, the name Lanka was used in parallel.

Princess Clotilde and Princess Victoire

 

Archduchess Clotilde of Austria

 

Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Bohemia and Hungary (1846–1927), Clotilde (Marie Adelheid Amalie Clotilde) became an Archduchess of Austria through her marriage to Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria, a member of the Hungarian part of Habsburg-Lorraine. The marriage was celebrated in Coburg in 1864. Her husband began his military career as a Major General and ended as a General of the Cavalry. He was deeply interested in the country and language of Hungary and published several books on the subject. The couple had seven children. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Princess Clémentine of Orléans.

Princess Victoire, Duchess of Nemours. Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1840

Princess Victoire was the daughter of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya. In 1840, she married Louis d’Orléans, the Duke of Nemours and second son of King Louis Philippe of France. She inherited the paternal estates in Slovakia and Hungary in 1851. The Duke and Duchess of Nemours had four children, all of them having issue except the last, Blanche, who never married.

No More Thirst In The Desert

 

A tool for condensing breathing water until it turns into drinking water  

 

Ships often crash onto barren shores, and sailors go out and find nothing but sand, salt water, or hard rocks. An American invented a very simple tool that anyone who wants to avoid thirst places on their mouth. When breath comes out with water vapor in it, this vapor condenses in the container and turns into water, just like what happens in the heat when the outside of a cup gets wet with water that has condensed. As the amount of vapor condenses, the thirsty person drinks it, and their thirst decreases. A Bedouin in the caravan can put this tool on his mouth at night, and in the morning he drinks what has condensed from his breath and would not feel thirsty.

Remembering Jean Provost

Born on November 28, 1887 under the name Jeanne Edmonde Guéneau, Jean Provost studied at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris in the class of Louis Leloir, and won a first prize for comedy in the Exit Exam. She began at the Comédie-Française in 1907 where she remained until 1912. among the films she starred in:

The Precious Ridiculous Ones by Georges Berr, 1909

The Dangerous Flirt by René Leprince, 1911
The the Queen's Necklace by Camille de Morlhon, 1912

The Jacobites (Art Films), 1912
Tartuffe (Art Films), 1912
The Guilty (Pathé), 1912
The Thief by Adrien Caillard, 1914
If Old Age Knew! by Fernand Rivers, 1916
Asmodée in Paris by Pierre Chaudy, 1921

Nène by Jacques de Baroncelli, 1923

After Love by Maurice Champreux, 1924

 

 

 

 

 

Emile Corsi: The Artist That Never Existed

 

By Thanvi Nimmala 

 

Recently, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across an image captioned "Bastet by Emile Corsi, 1877." At first glance, this appears to be a legitimate post displaying the work of a 19th century artist. However, it is in fact a product of generative AI.

I was curious to find how “Emile Corsi” came to be. Was it the name of the AI user? Could it be a persona or a pen-name? With a little searching, I found that the creation of the persona “Emile Corsi” traces to a tumblr account by the name Shuttered Gallery. By scrolling through their account, you can see many images credited to the name Emile Corsi followed by a year in the 19th century.

 

 

Despite the circulation of these images among art accounts, it is important to note that Shutter Gallery explicitly states that these images are products of AI generated technology and that the persona of “Emile Corsi” is fabricated. Even in their blog posts, the images are tagged with phrases such as "#fictional artist," "#fictional dates," "#ai generated!!," etc.

The name Emile Corsi is credited to many painterly-styled works that have been reposted on social media. Reposters do not credit the AI user but rather the persona, creating a layer of illusion to this mythical artist. Let’s say there is an individual who actively follows art pages who they believe to be a reliable source of content. They suddenly come across an “Emile Corsi” image presented in the way as traditional paintings.

 

A Romanian Beauty Called Diana Moldovan

Diana on the cover of Harper's Bazaar, Romania, Nov-Dec 2015's Issue. Photograph by Dan Beleiu

Diana Moldovan is one of the most distinguished models in the world. She's even given modeling more value and merit than she'd taken. Born in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania, on March 13th, 1987, the Romanian beauty represented fashion houses such as Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Dior, Chloé, Emilio Pucci, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Mugler, Guy Laroche, Kenzo, Anteprima and Vionnet. She posed for Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Amica, Numero, Glamour, Airfrance and Dahse and appeared in commercials for Hermes, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Cacharel, H&M, Trussardi Jeans, YSL Beauty, Emporio Armani, Emporio Armani Beauty, Clarins, Lacoste, Dior and Dior Eyewear. With blue eyes and dark brown hair, Diana's height is 177 CM; bust, waist and hips respectively are 84, 59 and 88 CM while she wears a 38 European or 7.5 U.S.A. shoe.

Diana Moldovan in a publicity photograph for Apostrophe clothing store in Paris, for autumn and winter of 2010-2011. The photograph was originally scanned by Miss Tekka in 2010.