You might be surprised.

Read on for five top tips on squeezing out a diving adventure in the next 12 months without putting yourself — or your wallet — in harm’s way.

Tip 1: Adventure need not be far away

As travel restrictions remain in place for many of us, there’s no better time to discover the beauty of local diving. Even if you don’t live anywhere near the ocean, there will still be some aqua-options, as proved by Jennifer Idol, the first woman to dive in all 50 states. Hop online or download the PADI Adventures App to see what’s available in your area. The best part? You’ll meet your local diving community, save big on international travel and kiss jetlag goodbye.

Tip 2: You’re not alone

If your heart craves international adventure and there are no restrictions preventing you from jetting off, then head to the COVID-19 Diving Status Map. Discover where diving is happening and to what degree so you can plan and execute that dive adventure you’ve been dreaming about for months. The map is populated by real divers in real dive centers around the world, so you can trust that the information is based on first-hand experience.

Tip 3: Travel wisely

By now we’re all familiar with wisely social distancing and wearing a mask. Of course, those things are crucial, but there are a few other smart tricks you can implement to not only get a good deal, but also reduce your impact on the ocean. Did you know the majority of emissions attributed to flights occur during take-off and landing? To reduce the carbon footprint of your adventure and save big, sign up for a flight club membership. You’ll receive super-cheap deals on direct flights in your inbox. Once you book, head over to a seagrass or tree-planting organization site and off-set your flights.

Tip 4: Location, location, location

You may have clocked this already, but where you dive has a massive impact on how much your diving adventure costs. Generally, any European, Russian or Middle Eastern diver can expect great diving, warm weather and incredible deals in the Red Sea. American counterparts on a tight budget may want to skip more expensive Caribbean islands in favor of the charming Honduran Bay Islands. You can also find some great deals on self-service diving in the coral-reef haven of Bonaire.

Those based in Asia have a loads to choose from when it comes to budget dive travel. Take your pick from whale sharks in the Philippines, turtles in Thailand or miles of coral reef and shimmering shallows in Indonesia. With many operators keen to bounce back, great deals and flexible booking policies are everywhere. 

Tip 5: Team up

It’s no secret that the biggest discounts appear when you book as a group. Often, dive centers and liveaboards will offer a final space for free (known as FOC, for free of charge) when you book a certain number of spaces. If you can pull together the requisite number of friends and split the free space between yourselves, this can lead to some quite juicy deals. Operators don’t often advertise this, but in the current climate it is always worth emailing your favorite operator, letting them know how many of you are interested, and politely enquiring about group discounts.

If you can’t pull together a large group, you may still save by booking as a smaller group. A self-catering apartment split between four or six divers (with each person taking turns to prepare dinner throughout the week), can often be up 50 percent cheaper than booking two or three traditional rooms in a resort and dining out every evening.

The post Affordable Post-COVID Dive Adventures appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Goiran, a marine biologist at the University of New Caledonia, initially a coral specialist, switched her studies to sea snakes after meeting Rick Shine from Sydney University, who came to New Caledonia to study sea snakes in 2002.

“Lemon Bay is a very good place for studying sea snakes because there are lots here and it helps us understand how they react to the urbanization of the reef,” she says. “You see, it’s in town, so it’s a reef that is transformed by human influence, by pollution, by every action we take. So, it’s interesting for us to understand how the snakes have responded to the changing environment.”

Is there a particularly interesting species?

“There are eight different species of sea snakes in this bay, but we study only two,” says Goiran. “The first one is the turtle-headed sea snake, which is a little black one you would see while diving here. This one is not venomous, and we have been studying it for 15 years. This is the longest study of any sea snake population because it’s very convenient, very easy to access.

“And then, we started studying another, much larger venomous species, Hydrophis major or ‘greater sea snake.’ Initially thought to live here in very small numbers, the study’s first objective was to determine the population size. These snakes have unique markings on the side of the body, so we take photos of each one for photo identification. For this we need lots of information, lots of people in the water taking photos.”

New Caledonia grannies offer help

And this is where the grannies come in — many hands make lighter work of the project. With their help, Goiran has discovered that there are a lot more snakes in this small bay than researchers originally thought.

The team quickly learned how to identify each of Noumea’s 14 species and can also identify (and have named) individual snakes, using the unique markings on the sides of their bodies just behind the head.

“When I was shooting the turtle-headed sea snake on my own, I used to see one greater sea snake a month,” says Goiran. “Now with the grannies’ help, we’ve identified 257 different individuals, so the population was completely underestimated. The snakes are very discreet — you can swim by them and if they are maybe 10 feet (3 m) away you won’t notice they are there. It’s wonderful to have volunteers help us and to now know that the population of snakes is doing so well.”

So, how did this group of ‘Fantastic Grannies’ get together? The group grew organically, with little to no recruitment, just a shared love of the local marine environment.

The first to join the project, a friend of Goiran’s, was snorkeling and taking photos for the sheer love of it. She knew her friend was interested in sea snakes, so started emailing her photos whenever she spotted one.

Another volunteer was swimming on her own and she saw this group of ladies having fun so asked if she could join the group. Not all of them knew each other before but have become friends while working on this project.

The team started surveying sea snakes in 2017 and plans to keep going as long as they are useful. At first, the volunteers were afraid of the sea snakes, but have come to understand that they are not dangerous and eager to let others know this.

The post The Fantastic Grandmothers of New Caledonia appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Expect the extraordinary

From the moment you cross the border, expect a dazzling landscape. While you cruise over the turquoise waters between the lush jungle-covered limestone islands dotting the horizon, scan the seas for a glimpse of the Mokens, a tribe of nomadic sea gypsies. If you are into birding, you should also survey the island’s green canopies, as 228 species of birds inhabit in the area.

Myanmar’s best dive sites are quite a way from the coasts, which means they’re usually private. It’s very rare to cross paths with other dive boats, which is a treat most divers never experience. And, not only will you appreciate the exclusivity of the Mergui Archipelago, but you will also experience some of the most beautiful and diverse sites in the Andaman Sea. Night dives are not to be missed either, as the seas are alive with crustaceans and invertebrates.

Mergui Archipelago dive sites

Western Rocky

Western Rocky is by far the most famous site in the southern area of the Archipelago. This minuscule landmass has a large swim-through, flooded in sunlight, running from one side of the island to the other. The underwater landscape here, and at the four sister islets, is covered in a wide variety of coral and sponges and supports a wide spectrum of creatures. The cherry on top? Whale sharks often visit Western Rocky.

Black Rock

Considered the pinnacle (pun intended) of diving in Myanmar, Black Rock is one of the furthest sites north that you can visit on a liveaboard. The rock pops out of the ocean far from any other islands, and its walls are covered in soft coral and impressive rock formations. The visibility is usually great, which allows divers to peep at barracuda, trevally, and tuna. But Black Rock is mostly known as a great spot to see oceanic manta rays, as it is one of their favorite spots in the Andaman Sea to find a mate and breed. The rich coral reef is also home to many species of tropical fish and macro life. 

Shark Cave

Shark Cave is a topographical playground for divers who love nooks, crannies, and swim-throughs. There are small caves as well, and a lot of flat rocks where critters hide. The site provides shelter for a host of creatures from crustaceans to blotched stingrays, pineapplefish, pipefish and schooling squid. There is also a vast garden of coral and sponges where you can spot moray eels, cowries, mantis shrimp and many colorful nudibranchs.

Burma Banks

Arguably one of the most mysterious diving areas in Myanmar is the Burma Banks. This vast area has numerous unexplored dive sites as it is one of the furthest from land, sitting roughly 100 nautical miles (180 km) west of Kawthaung. The underwater seamounts are enormous, starting at 1150 feet (350 m) and rising up to about 50 feet (15 m). The visibility is often close to 130 feet (40 m). Since sites are quite exposed there are often strong currents, which makes for great drift dives. This is also a hotspot for nurse sharks and other rarer sharks and rays coming up from the depths, such as silvertip or tiger sharks and huge blotched rays. Aside from the sharks, the Burma Banks are also home to beautiful tropical creatures such as honeycomb moray eels, and clown triggerfish, which you curiously seldom encounter in the rest of Mergui Archipelago.

Planning your adventure

When to go

The best time to dive the Mergui Archipelago is between late October and mid-May, when the skies are blue, and the sea is calm. Monsoon rains mostly characterize the off-season, when tourism in the area basically stops. The water temperature is pretty consistently 81 F (27 C) throughout the season, but adequate exposure protection is still necessary when diving four times a day. 

How to get there

A few years ago, the Mergui Archipelago was mostly unknown, and few people could locate it on a map. A few boats have occasional cruises departing from Khao Lak in Thailand, but the best departure point is from the border itself. Ranong is on the Thai side of the border and Kawthaung on the Myanmar side, and cruises can pick up guests on either side of the border, but you must arrange permits and visas in advance. Most visitors join their cruise in Ranong (about 186 miles/300 km north of Phuket). You can typically fly from Bangkok to Ranong on one of three daily flights with domestic low-cost airlines Nok Air and Air Asia. You can also fly into Phuket and take a taxi or bus along the scenic coastal route to Ranong. 

Currency

Myanmar uses Burmese kyat, but you probably won’t need any if you’re going to explore via liveaboard, as cruise operators and resorts in the area use either Thai baht or USD. If you do intend to explore Myanmar make sure your dollar bills are pristine — to be worth something here, your bills mustn’t have a scratch or tear.

Author Camille Fogarolo and her husband Franck own the MV Smiling Seahorse liveaboard, the newest dive boat in the area. All images courtesy Franck Fogarolo.

The post The Best Diving in the Mergui Archipelago appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

What exactly is scientific diving?

Scientific diving is the use of diving techniques by scientists working underwater in the direct pursuit of scientific knowledge. Marine biologists often apply the scientific method while searching for new species, through their efforts to protect marine life, and in their quest to further expand our knowledge of the underwater world. Scientific divers also help train astronauts before they go into space.

From Boy Scout to marine biologist and diving instructor 

Joseph Bosquez has been diving for the past 20 years, with much of that time spent as a marine biologist. He’s participated in multiple diving operations, from identifying and cataloging fish species with NOAA in the Gulf of Mexico to six months with the Boy Scouts of America on Catalina Island, collecting fish and invertebrate species for the Emerald Bay Aquarium. It was his experience working as a university faculty member, teaching diving and scientific diving, that laid the foundation Bosquez to become an instructor for Divesoft. He says his “overarching vision is to become a high-impact teacher and advocate for the underwater environment.”

Training astronauts for NASA

Perhaps Bosquez’s most notable diving project was his time spent training astronauts at NASA. He spent most of his time at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where he instructed astronauts-in-training on maneuverability in microgravity spaces. “We focused on underwater operations, known as “dress rehearsals,” where the astronauts could practice moving in space and preparing for a number of jobs they would be tasked with aboard the International Space Station,” said Bosquez.

Bosquez also spent some time in the mission control back room during spacewalks. From there he could watch his trainees successfully complete the missions that they had worked on together in the pool months before.

Parting words

Bosquez currently works as the dive operations manager for Czech dive company Divesoft. When asked about his ambitions as a dive instructor, Bosquez addressed the importance of growth and progress. “Scuba diving and marine science have so many avenues in which someone can experience continual growth,” he said. “Over the past few years, I have focused on becoming proficient with Divesoft equipment and my next focus is to utilize the equipment for more advanced diving.”

Scientific diving opens the door to many specialized careers. Whether you’re interested in marine biology, wildlife conservation, working hand-in-hand with astronauts, or discovering a new lifeform, scientific diving can help you get there. Even though such tasks may seem daunting at first, Bosquez reminds new divers to stay motivated.

“Struggle is important, but it isn’t about finding yourself or finding your passion,” he says. “It’s about turning yourself into the kind of person you would have looked up to growing up.”

By guest author NikolaValtošová

The post What is Scientific Diving? appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Skills training vs. course work

Gaining experience as a tech diver means spending a lot of time underwater, yes, but building skills is not as simple as racking up bottom time — it’s about making those hours count.

As an example: to progress between rebreather diving levels, divers must log 50 hours underwater as well as 50 dives. Why? Because, generally speaking, cruising at a set depth is fairly easy, whereas descents and ascents are the potentially trickier parts of the dive. To progress beyond what you need for certification and to keep up that skill level, you must not only spend time at depth, but also safely negotiate your down and back to the surface.

So, how do you make the underwater hours count? There are plenty of ways to gain meaningful experience and to work on skills while having fun. Choose dive buddies or teammates that are more experienced than you are and — crucially — are happy to share their knowledge. Ask them for feedback. How does your trim look? Do they have any thoughts on your gear configuration? What about your movement underwater?

This is not to suggest that everyone knows better than you do. After all, if you learned from a reputable tech instructor you will, at the very least, have a solid foundation to build upon. However, four eyes see more than two, and it is worth hearing out other points of view. Leading technical divers will tell you that they never stop learning and are always keen to improve something.

Why not take more courses?

So, if you are learning from others, why not simply take more courses? In technical diving, taking another course often means adding complexity to your diving. For example, when you move from TDI’s advanced nitrox and decompression procedures combination to normoxic trimix, you are not only gaining depth, you are also learning to handle a different bottom gas and two deco gases rather than one.

That’s a lot of new material to take in — especially if you are still cementing all the skills you learned during the previous course. There may not be a minimum number of dives between completing the two levels – although the pre-requisite dive numbers are very different – but it’s worth consolidating skills and knowledge of one level before signing up for the next course.

This consolidation is even more important if you haven’t tech dived for a while. Muscle memory fades. Motor skills deteriorate over time. However, the more dialled in they were before your diving break, the easier it is to ‘dust them off’.

Ideally, you hone these skills to avoid losing them. If you are keen for instructor-led diving or professional feedback as part of this process, look for workshops. You don’t need to jump to the next level of tech diving to have professional feedback. In fact, technical fun dives involve planning a full-on dive, reviewing procedures as a team and they often allow for skills practice and review to some degree. These dives, whilst not part of a certification course, still require the same level of preparation and planning as course dives would.

Workshops are another good option offered by many tech instructors or shops. They tread the line between certification course and fun tech dive by providing more of a structure to the review or training process and often building up to more complex dives. Depending on how many people there are in your workshop, you will have the chance to focus on areas you want to improve on or progress further.

Which way is right for you depends a lot and when, where and how you dive. For those tech divers who tech dive regularly where they live, becoming part of a team of divers or even building that team of divers is realistic. With a regular group of techies it becomes easier to make those dives count and improve whilst you dive.

For those tech divers, who are ‘restricted’ to diving a few times or even only once a year, building time to review skills into their tech diving schedule is key to dive safely.

Simply racking up hours underwater without feedback or structure will lead to experience on paper, but it’s unlikely to help keep skills sharp – and that’s what they need to be in case of an emergency. At the same time, taking course after course without consolidation leads to a high number of certification cards, but not necessarily true, applicable experience.

As is often the case, there is a middle ground – enjoying time tech diving whilst adding skills practice and asking for feedback; improving and perfecting skills before moving to the next certification level will go a long way towards becoming a safe, experienced technical diver.

The post Gain Experience or Take More Courses: Progressing as a Tech Diver appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the diving and snorkeling industry. One of many changes now being considered across the sector is how operators should disinfect surfaces and equipment to protect against the virus — and, what’s more, how they can do this in an environmentally friendly way. That’s why The Reef-World Foundation — the international coordinator of the UN Environment Program’s Green Fins initiative — has launched new guidelines addressing responsible management and disposal of chemical cleaning agents. 

Proper disinfectant usage

Chemical cleaning agents are widely regarded as the safest option when disinfecting equipment, surfaces and laundry in today’s climate. However, many cleaning and cosmetic products contain substances that are hazardous to the marine environment. As such, Reef-World has launched the Green Fins Guidelines for Environmental Best Practice for Chemical Cleaning Agents to help dive and snorkel operators deal with chemical cleaning agents in an environmentally friendly way. These recommendations consolidate known best practices when it comes to management and disposal of hazardous waste and chemicals for minimal environmental impact.

The Green Fins guidance — which should be used in addition to, not instead of, health and safety recommendations from DAN and the WHO on preventing viral spread — explains how to deal with any hazardous waste that may pose a significant threat to the marine environment.

“We appreciate that this is an incredibly tough time for the diving and snorkeling industry,” says Chloe Harvey, Reef-World’s Director. “The coronavirus pandemic has many negative consequences for many people but there are silver linings including the potential to ‘redefine’ the tourism industry and use this downtime to put better environmental policies in place, especially since more and more tourists are demanding sustainable practices from their providers. 

“As a collaborative network we need to work together to weather this storm as best we can. That’s why Reef-World has developed new resources — and waived the usual fee for its popular Operational Handbook — to help the industry keep an environmental strategy high on their agenda, even during this difficult time. While we appreciate this is a stressful time for the travel industry, putting better environmental measures in place now will help businesses come out stronger— and with a more sustainable business — when travel restrictions are lifted. 

“While we are confident that the scuba diving industry will bounce back, there is likely to be a ‘new normal’ and level of expectation in sanitization not previously witnessed by the sector. For this reason, we have developed new guidelines to help dive and snorkel operators manage and dispose of chemical cleaning agents in an environmentally friendly way. These new guidelines are available for free to Green Fins members and non-members alike.

“We realize it might not be possible for everyone, but we’d like to thank everyone who is continuing to find ways of reducing their impact on the coral reefs and related ecosystems: together, we can make both the environment and our tourism businesses more resilient.”

The guidelines are available free of charge for Green Fins members and non-members alike. They can be downloaded here.

In addition to the newly launched Chemical Cleaning Agent guidelines, Reef-World is waiving its usual  $25 (£20) fee for operators to access the Green Fins Operational Handbook. Instead, to help the charity continue its ongoing work to protect coral reefs, operators who access the handbook are asked to contribute what they can. 

Dive professionals are also being reminded they can continue their environmental learning from home by taking the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course.

By Melissa Hobson, The Reef-World Foundation

The post Reef-World Launches New Green Fins Cleaning Guidelines appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Check for fit

The first step when selecting a mask is to check for fit. Consequently, it’s best to go into your local dive shop to try them on, rather than ordering online. To check if a mask fits well, sweep any hair off your face and gently hold the mask on your face in its proper position. There’s no need to put the strap around the back of your head. If the mask fits well, it will stay on your face when you breathe in through your nose.

Slowly and gently inhale through your nose with the mask in place. You will feel a slight suction as the air volume in the mask decreases. If the mask fits, there will be a complete seal all the way around the silicone skirt (the part of the mask that rests on your face).

The mask should feel comfortable and there should be no pressure at the top of your nose in the area between your eyebrows.

Does brand matter?

Yes and no. What matters most is that the mask fits you well and is comfortable. That said, certain manufacturers have a reputation for quality products that last for years and years. Buying a cheap scuba diving mask because the price appeals is often a false economy because the mask may not last as long.

Some of the most popular and reliable scuba equipment brands include Cressi, Scubapro, Aqua Lung, Atomic Aquatics and Mares, among others. This list is not exhaustive and there are other quality brands. These, however, are some of the major manufacturers you’ll encounter.

Know your terminology

It’s important to know what terms mean as you select your mask, for example, you may see or hear the terms “low-volume,” or “low-profile.” Low-volume means that the mask has a lower air volume than a ‘normal’ mask, and low-profile means that the mask sits closer to your face.  As you can imagine, masks that are closer to your face also have a lower air volume, so these terms are essentially interchangeable.

The idea behind a low-volume mask is that it’s easier for the wearer to clear the water — less air volume means less room for water and so less displacement is needed. However, some people find it makes no difference. Either way, your clearing technique is more important than your masks’ construction.

Purge valve

Some scuba masks have a purge valve on the nose. We recommend you avoid these masks as they are not suitable for scuba diving — the purge valve really just means an added vulnerability. These masks are fine for snorkeling, but many snorkelers prefer a regular scuba diving mask.

Skirt

A mask’s skirt is the soft silicone that runs around the whole mask and allows it to comfortably seal on your face. Look for soft, supple silicone when making a purchase. You’ll notice that the skirt has a double seal at the top of the mask and a single seal at the bottom so you can easily clear it of water.

Color is not important but plenty of people have a preference between clear and black silicone. These days, many masks feature brightly colored silicone.

Anti-fog

This is little more than a marketing ploy, unfortunately. All masks fog when they’re new unless you have properly treated them. You have a couple of options for treating your new mask: scrub the interior glass several times with toothpaste and an old toothbrush or use a lighter to carefully burn away the thin protective film covering the glass.

Tempered glass

Any scuba diving mask worth its salt(water) has tempered-glass lenses or windows (these terms are used interchangeably). Plastic lenses are not reliable in a scuba diving context and should only be used for snorkeling.

What kind of mask should you get?

There are several types of masks on the market; these are the ones you’ll likely encounter.

Panoramic and wide-view masks

These masks have additional lenses or windows on the side, with the idea that your field of vision increases. Despite these claims, you’re more likely to see divers with regular masks than panoramic options.

Single-lens or dual-lens masks

Some masks have two separate lenses or windows (separated at the nose) while others have one continuous lens. Single-lens masks may help with depth perception. This is really a matter of personal preference and you will see divers with both types.

Prescription dive masks

As the name suggests, prescription dive masks include optical lenses to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness, exactly like a pair of glasses. Some divers prefer contact lenses and a regular mask while others choose to use a dedicated prescription mask.

How much do scuba diving masks cost?

It completely depends on the brand and the specifications and/or features. A basic quality mask from Cressi, for example, can go for around $45. Top of the range masks can cost up to $150 or even more.

For your first ever scuba mask, it’s probably best to choose a basic model so you can get a feel for what you like and don’t like — you can always upgrade later.

We hope this guide to buying your first scuba diving mask was helpful and the terminology explanations cleared up some of your questions. Happy diving and mask shopping!

The post Buying Your First Scuba Diving Mask appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Dear Paralenz users,

Back in February, we announced our upcoming Paralenz Vaquita dive camera. Afterward, we have been met with a lot of curiosity and excitement. Your positive responses and constructive feedback have always kept us pushing forward to provide you with the quality and innovation that you expect from us. Thank you for that.

Let’s cut to the chase: we are pushing the release date from Spring to Summer 2020. To our best knowledge, the Vaquita will be out in late July.

How come?

We received a lot of messages asking about the release date of the Vaquita. The truth is: we didn’t know for sure either. Like every other company and individual, we have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis — it pushed our production schedule.

In addition, it’s not only the production of the hardware that plays an essential role when defining a release date. We also want to ensure proper testing of the camera, its firmware, and the Paralenz App to provide you with the best possible experience right from the start.

The good news is: thanks to the most recent developments in our production, we have a much better understanding of the situation and can make more accurate predictions. Today we have very good indications that the final release date will fall in Summer 2020, most likely in late July 2020.

We are on a great track to produce the best underwater experience possible with our upcoming Vaquita, and we can’t wait to see all of you capturing stunning underwater footage and joining us on our mission to help sustain our oceans.

We hope that you stay excited — we definitely are.

Your Paralenz Team

The post Paralenz Vaquita Launch Rescheduled appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

I caught up with PADI Elite Instructor and underwater photographer Florian Allgauer, one of the lucky few residing in this beautiful Indonesian archipelago and still diving regularly. He shared a handful of his best shots from the past few weeks so we could all live vicariously through him.

All images courtesy Florian Allgauer.

The post Diving the Gili Islands During COVID-19 appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

About Dive into the Pink

Dive into the Pink was founded in 2016 by Allison Vitsky Sallmon, a breast cancer survivor, veteran scuba diver, and underwater photographer, who wanted to raise money to fight cancer by mobilizing the scuba community through dive charters and dive-related activities. Dive into the Pink is a 501c3 organization, and 100 percent of the proceeds are redistributed. Beneficiaries include the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), an international organization dedicated to the critical issues of young women with breast cancer, and the Guise Laboratory at Indiana University, who are investigating whether certain characteristics of the bone marrow microenvironment can alter/promote the spread of cancer to the bone. 

The post Dive into the Pink Announces “Sharing Our Air” Photo Competition appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Take an inventory

Your answers to the questions above will depend on where you are in your tech-diving life, and on your budget. Independently of either of these, a good starting point is to make an inventory of your existing equipment. Even if you are just looking at entry-level tech diving courses, you’ve likely been a diver for a while. That usually means you have bought some gear: mask, fins, booties, a wetsuit or a drysuit and most likely your own dive computer.

Most of those should transfer to your tech-diving life, with two potential exceptions: fins and your dive computer. Short, stubby fins are ideal for the propulsion techniques a tech diver needs to master. That doesn’t mean that no other fin will do — it will simply make mastering those propulsion techniques harder. Split fins can make it impossible to master some of those techniques as they are simply not designed for the job.

Your existing gear

Is your dive computer tech ready? There are a number of things to consider, which is why we devoted a separate post to the topic, but two things stand out. First, you need the ability to pre-program and switch between different gases on the dive. Many entry-level computers offer that. Second, and more importantly, your computer must have an algorithm designed for intentional decompression diving. This includes letting you plan decompression dives on the computer itself. If you’re not sure, ask your (prospective) tech instructor. They can either advise you what to buy or help you rent a computer for the course. Worst case, your current computer can become a back-up bottom timer and gauge and still be an integral part of your tech-diving starter equipment.

Looking at the chunkier parts of your equipment, like regulators and BCs, you may be able to reconfigure some of these. Let’s start with regulators. If you currently own a high-performance, balanced first stage and second stage, you can reconfigure and fit them with a long hose. If you already dive a wing, harness, and backplate recreational setup, you can use the harness and backplate with a bigger wing to accommodate a twinset/doubles. You only need to add a larger wing to provide sufficient lift for the kind of diving you’d like to do.

When to start buying

But when do you start shopping? Before you join a course? After you’ve graduated? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Buying equipment before you start or continue your training means that your instructor can help set up and fine tune that equipment correctly. Especially in sidemount diving, correct configuration and equipment setup are a huge game changer. If that’s your plan, let your instructor know before the class so they set aside additional time for equipment workshops. The risk here is that you’re purchasing gear for something you may not want to continue doing. You may, quite simply, find out during the class that tech diving is not for you. The gear you purchased also might not suit you after all. 

That’s one of the main reasons to delay purchases. Instead, take the class and try out the shop equipment. Your tech instructor will explain the difference between types of wings, backplates, regulators etc. Then, when you start shopping for gear, you can make a more informed decision. Taking this a step further, if you are tech diving with a shop that sells gear, you may even be able to try out some gear before committing to a purchase. The same goes for different kinds of rental gear.

Why buy at all?

So why buy at all? Because tech diving gear, even more so than recreational diving gear, is very personal. Assuming you begin training using a rental harness, sidemount or doubles, you will find that setting up and adjusting that harness is a process. It takes expertise to get it even 90 percent right. Then it takes time and a bit of dedication to finesse the remaining 10 percent. Most tech divers enjoy the process, but not enough to repeat it every single time they dive in a new location, which you will have to do with rental gear.

Owning your gear also gives you better control over its servicing. You’ll know for sure that your regulators are up to the dive you’re planning and that your inflator button moves freely, just to name two examples.

Another question is where to buy — online or at your local shop? Online is the obvious choice for window shopping. Online dive retailers also offer a great way to compare products and prices, as you have access to a wider variety of products.

However, consider the advantages of your local dive shop, too. There, you can actually look at the physical product. Trying on a wetsuit beats looking at a size chart any day. And you can get advice from someone who has actually tried the product, as this is what dive shop employees and owners do — dive the equipment they sell. 

One last consideration is whether to buy all your equipment at once or step by step. Most divers answer that question through budgetary restrictions, and they simply add to their dive gear bit by bit. If your budget can stretch to a package — for example a wing, backplate and regulator set — you may be able to negotiate a better rate for the lot. On the other hand, especially if your budget is tight, second-hand gear may be another option.

At the end of the day, there is no one correct answer when it comes to buying tech gear. Two good places to start, however, are within your own existing dive gear collection and the instructor you intend to train with.

The post Buying Tech Diving Gear: When Should You Invest? appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

There are dozens of piers scattered around the shore of the Port Phillip Bay, which means plenty of dive sites to choose from. But you’ll find some of the best pier dives on the Mornington Peninsula, about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne proper.

Mornington Pier

The closest pier to Melbourne is Mornington Pier. Although it can be an average day dive, it comes alive at night when the cephalopods emerge. Depths under this pier get no deeper than 20 feet (7 m), allowing for a long bottom times to admire all the critters.

Divers typically encounter big-belly seahorses, shrimp, globefish, goatfish, cardinalfish, scorpionfish and dragonets. Also expect to see countless sea stars, which are a feature of Melbourne diving, especially huge 11-arm sea stars.

A special highlight of Mornington Pier, and all Melbourne piers, are the resident cephalopods. Many people head to muck sites in Southeast Asia to see cephalopods when, in fact, the world’s largest variety of octopus, squid and cuttlefish live in Australia’s southern waters, and most are found nowhere else in the world. At night, divers commonly see giant cuttlefish, southern calamari squid, southern keeled octopus and highly venomous southern blue-ringed octopus. But divers might also see giant Maori octopus, southern sand octopus, southern dumpling squid and strange southern white-spot octopus.

Rye Pier

Heading south, the next worthwhile stop is Rye Pier. The clean, sandy bottom around Rye Pier is often a good place to see small stingarees, huge smooth stingrays and angel sharks. With a maximum depth of 15 feet (5 m), Rye Pier is also a good location to see big-belly seahorses, the largest seahorse species in Australia.

Abundant fish reside under the pier, including flatheads, leatherjackets, morwongs and wrasse, which in turn attracts the attention of hungry shags. It is quite a sight watching these sea birds swimming underwater between the pylons looking for a meal. Fur seals and the occasional dolphin also visit Rye Pier.

Portsea Pier

The most distant pier from Melbourne is at Portsea and its star attraction is the weedy seadragon. A nearby kelp-covered reef is the best place to look for the dragons, but they are also common under the pier. Going no deeper than 18 feet (6 m) divers will encounter magpie morwong, stingrays, leatherjackets, sea stars, crabs, hermit crabs, nudibranchs, brittle stars and pretty weedfish. Portsea Pier is also the best place to see one of Australia’s most bizarre fish, the goblinfish.

Blairgowrie Pier

Halfway between Portsea and Rye is Melbourne’s newest pier and hottest dive site — Blairgowrie Pier. This pier is a favorite of underwater photographers as it plays host to a wonderful range of marine life. The pylons of this pier are completely covered in colorful sponges, ascidians, algae and kelp, and home to shrimp, crabs, sea stars, tube worms, scallops and a large variety of nudibranchs.

Exploring the pier, divers will find big-belly seahorses, short-head seahorses, octopus, spider crabs, stingarees, cuttlefish, pipefish, dragonets, southern fiddler rays, smooth stingrays, flatheads and numerous reef fish. A photographers’ favorite is the cute Shaw’s cowfish that have their lips permanently puckered like they are looking for a kiss. The pier is also a great night dive, and under torch light divers will see numerous squid and octopus, and sometimes stargazers and skates.

One of the attractions at Blairgowrie Pier is a weird endemic fish, the tasseled frogfish. Only in southern Australia, a number of tasseled frogfish reside on the pylons at Blairgowrie, but with their elaborate camouflage they are very difficult to find.

Of course, Rye Pier and Blairgowrie Pier have also attracted attention recently as the best places to witness the annual giant spider crab migration. Every year from late May through mid-June one of the world’s most interesting congregations of marine life happens as these large crustaceans come together in the shallow waters off of the piers and beaches of Port Phillip.

Visiting Melbourne’s piers

You can dive Melbourne’s piers year-round. However, summer and autumn are generally the best times to visit, as the warmer water sees an influx of marine life. Water temperatures in Port Phillip Bay vary from a chilly 46 F to 68 F (8 to 20 C), while the visibility averages 18 feet (6 m) to 30 feet (10 m) but can be over 45 feet (15 m) at times.

The post Diving Melbourne’s Piers appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Stay in touch with your local dive center

This is a stressful time for everyone, but those operating dive centers must also try to care for staff members and maintain a business when basically no one can dive. Of course, we’re all anxious to get back in the water as soon as this is over, but the unavoidable uncertainty of our current reality is likely to have caused some dive center owners a few sleepless nights. Get in touch with your local shop and that let them know you’ll be back as soon as this is all over — it’s just a small gesture, but it’s likely to mean a lot.

Maintain your gear

While you can’t actually use it, take this time to assess your gear’s quality. Do you need to replace anything? Could you add any new accessories to your underwater set up? Beyond your actual equipment, consider purchasing eco-friendly products that will help protect ocean health in the long run. By this, we mean sustainable swimwear, reusable water bottles, reef-safe sunscreen and more.

Go diving through your laptop

Watch the ocean on Explore.org with a non-diving friend or family member. Who knows, they might end up becoming a diver thanks to you. This awesome site offers an impressive selection of live in-ocean webcams dotted all over the world, complete with audio so you can hear the relaxing clicking and bubbling sounds that you usually only get to experience firsthand.

Register for a free webinar

A quick Google search will bring up an impressive number of free ocean-themed workshops arranged specifically to tide us over in this unprecedented time. Show your support by signing up for “Gardening Corals for Reef Restoration” hosted by the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Katie Lohr, a Conservation Science Fellow. This webinar will give you the 411 on cutting-edge techniques for propagating and restoring corals, direct to your living room. You may be so impressed that you want to put your newfound knowledge into practice when you are able to. To register, click here.

Sign up for e-learning

Just because we can’t get in the ocean right now doesn’t mean we can’t prepare ourselves for our next dive trip. This is a good time to sign up for theory-only courses (such as your nitrox qualification), or get the knowledge component of your next course out of the way in advance so you don’t need to waste a moment getting wet after the lockdown is lifted.

Email your favorite dive resort or liveaboard

Just as your local dive center is anxiously waiting for this storm to pass, so too is your favorite dive resort or liveaboard. With most of the world literally grounded, many businesses in the travel sector are worrying whether they’ll be able to make it through to the other side, and if they do, if their loyal customer base will still be there. Reach out and let them know that you love them and once you’re able to, you’ll be heading out to dive with them again.

Get social

Post pictures of your favorite diving memories on social media and comment on others. This is all about keeping the conversation alive and staying connected to the wider dive community at a time when we can’t be physically close to one another. Cruise Facebook for your local dive center, dive resort or liveaboard’s page, or tag them on other channels like Twitter and Instagram.

Sign up for dive-related email lists and publications

There’s a huge array of traditional print material and online sources to choose from. (You probably already know that as you’re reading this on one of the best sources for dive content). Make the most of these services by singing up to as many email lists as you can and consider getting a subscription for one or more of the high-quality diver publications out there. That way, the ocean will literally arrive at your door.

Review your diving bucket list

Now’s a great time to review your dream dive destinations. Ask your dive buddies for theirs, and spend hours trawling through the dive travel sites on the internet, watching YouTube videos and reading reviews. This’ll help you prepare for your next adventure, so you don’t waste any time once travel is possible again.

Donate to seagrass and mangrove planting initiatives

Spend some time reading up on the magical qualities of seagrass meadows and mangrove swamps. In case you weren’t already aware, these fantastic ecosystems support millions of marine species, acting as a safe refuge for numerous juvenile fish. From sharks to seahorses, you’ll be surprised by how empty the ocean would be without these habitats. What’s more, they’re also incredible at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere — 35 times more effective than the Amazon rainforest — making them a powerful tool in tackling climate change.

The post Ten Ways to Positively Impact the Dive Community … By Staying Home appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

BBC’s Blue Planet and Blue Planet II

You won’t be surprised to see us kicking off this roundup with the legend that is David Attenborough. Despite the ocean covering two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, we know very little about it. Yet, the spectacular Blue Planet series will give you fascinating insight into the mysteries of the deep we do know. Prepare to be transported to a range of magical and mysterious underwater ecosystems — and witness some events never before seen by human eyes — through the documentary’s magnificent footage

Mission Blue

“No ocean, no life. No ocean, no us.” — Sylvia Earle 

From one legend to another, we couldn’t do an ocean-movie roundup without mentioning “Her Deepness” — the inimitable marine biologist, oceanographer, diver and explorer Sylvia Earle. Mission Blue is a Netflix original documentary that follows Earle’s journey in trying to raise awareness of the dire threats our oceans face. Learn how and why she’s made it her life’s purpose to speak for the ocean, calling for us to protect the ocean through a global network of marine protected areas.

Chasing Coral

Directed by Jeff Orlowski, this Netflix documentary details a global campaign to research and record the disappearance of coral reefs around the world. It was an ambitious production: with more than 500 hours spent underwater, footage captured in over 30 different countries and over 500 people, including scientists, divers and photographers, coming together to support this film and capture the state of coral reefs and the threats they face.

This documentary, which recorded how some corals glow in vibrant colors in a last, desperate effort to survive increasing ocean heat waves, inspired the UN Environment Programme’s Glowing campaign. Glowing aims to make the world take notice of glowing corals and the warning they represent. 

Shark

Love sharks? Want to watch footage of more than 30 different species? Then you’ll love BBC One’s Shark series (only available in the UK). This wildlife series introduces scientists from around the world who are studying the ocean’s apex predators to find out more about their social interactions, courtships, hunting behaviors (they even use analysis of hunting behavior to predict the most likely time of day for a shark attack) and the things that threaten their survival.

A Plastic Ocean

Today, most people are well aware of the problem plastic poses for our ocean. But back in 2016, when this documentary was made, we knew less about the threat of plastic pollution. What started out as a mission to film blue whales — the world’s largest living animal — changed course when the documentary-maker found plastic waste choking the oceans. Plastic Ocean investigates the scale of the plastic problem and tries to find solutions to save our polluted seas.

Sharkwater

Sharkwater (2006) from Team Sharkwater – Rob Stewart on Vimeo. 

“The animal we fear the most is the one we can’t live without.” — Rob Stewart

Humans are killing up to 150 million sharks a year. As a result, shark populations have decreased a staggering 90 percent. Join the late filmmaker Rob Stewart in Sharkwater, his thrilling quest to find out why people are killing the ocean’s top predator and what he can do to stop them before it’s too late.

Racing Extinction  

The illegal wildlife trade is believed to be one of the world’s most profitable forms of trafficking, after drugs, guns and humans. In Racing Extinction, a team of undercover documentary-makers go on a daring mission to raise awareness of mankind’s role in the extinction of many species and prevent the world’s sixth major extinction.

Queen of Mantas

BBC Natural World (2009); Andrea, Queen of Mantas from Marine Megafauna Foundation on Vimeo. 

If you love manta rays and want to find out more about conservation efforts for this enigmatic species, check out Queen of Mantas. Travel to the stunning Mozambican coastline to learn how marine biologist Dr. Andrea Marshall — aka the “Queen of Mantas” — came to the country to study them. Dr. Marshall was the first person in the world to complete a PhD on manta rays; she now works tirelessly to spearhead conservation efforts for the species. The documentary’s breathtaking underwater footage will transport you to another world. There, you’ll learn about these huge, intelligent and graceful animals through incredible close-up encounters.

Finding Nemo

OK so this Disney flick isn’t technically an ocean conservation movie — but its depiction of a bustling coral reefs is pretty perfect. AND it’s a great way to teach children (and, perhaps, some adults) never to take marine life, dead or alive.

Guest post by Melissa Hobson, Communications Manager, Reef-World Foundation

The post Nine Ocean Conservation Movies and TV Shows We Love appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Training agencies

In athletics, there is a saying that athletes are made in the off-season. While you can’t quite learn to dive on land, there are plenty of things you can learn about diving, even if you are currently self-isolating due to the coronavirus.

An obvious place to start looking is the training agency of your choice. Many offer eLearning options and, over the past week or so, many have also made these options either cheaper to access or even free of charge. Why is it a good idea to sign up for the eLearning portion of a course now, even if you’re not yet a diver? First of all and quite simply: because you have time.

Under normal circumstances, many of us would try to cram an hour of eLearning into an evening. That gets you through the course, but you are unlikely to retain much of the information. Taking time to concentrate fully on the subject will result in you learning or retaining more.

Second, it uses some of the time you have in the day. Be honest: after a few days of Netflix, the novelty is about to wear off. Having an eLearning course to complete is a great way to add structure to your day, which has been identified as one of the main ways to look after your mental health.

Finally, this is an investment in your diving future. The knowledge you pick up now will not go to waste. You will apply it either to complete the course you started or to become a better diver.

So, where to start? Training agencies are the obvious place to look for online learning, but don’t forget your local dive center. With social distancing or even lockdowns, these small businesses will be hurting, especially as their ways of generating income are limited. However, as members of training agencies, they often buy eLearning access at a lower price than you can directly. Why not ask if you can pay a deposit locally that not only gives you access to a course now, but also secures a space in the course as soon as the center is up and running again? For the dive center, this means some income now and something to look forward to.

Diving resources

If you are already a certified diver, look beyond training agencies. There is a whole world of diving-related knowledge and information out there, including courses, instructional videos and more.

For many this is a time for self-reflection, creating an opportunity to look at the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your diving. The Human Diver, for example, offers online micro-classes and webinars that look at how and why errors occur. While the initial concept comes from high-risk industries such as aviation, the idea is not to simply talk about mistakes, but to look at what created the circumstances that led to the diver’s specific decision. The concepts explained here may not lead to another certification card, but they are applicable to many other aspects of our daily lives where we need to make decisions or work together in teams.

Speaking of difficult decisions, many new divers use a lot of air compared to their more seasoned buddies or even instructors. And while introductory courses do cover breathing, scubapsyche is offering a free online course that not only covers what deep breathing really is, but also explains how breathing helps you stay calm in stressful situations — something everyone can benefit from at the moment.

If you want to explore the subject further, scubapsyche’s PADI Psychological Diver distinctive specialty course has just been approved for online-only learning, meaning you can actually pick up a certification card for it.

Inspirational viewing and listening

These past days or weeks may have been a great opportunity to catch up with recent movies and binge watch your favorite drama to distract yourself, but what about watching or listening to something truly inspiring?

The selection is endless, and you could spend entire days bookmarking YouTube videos before even starting to watch anything. Personally, I enjoy sidemount diving and while nothing beats a course with an experienced instructor, there are both free and for-purchase videos. Sidemounting.com offers a renowned, comprehensive series of videos to buy, covering sidemount as well as backmount diving. On the more extreme end of sidemount diving, Sidemount Silesia shows Thomasz Michura diving up to 10 tanks using multiple BCDs.

For those looking for some inspiring (and free) listening while you are sorting through your diving equipment, for example, check out diving-related podcasts on your phone or tablet. One of our favorites is Speaking Sidemount, which is so much more than the title would suggest. You’ll hear some proper diving legends, as well as passionate sidemount instructors and explorers. There is some great inspiration there for those looking to try a different kind of diving, as well as anyone interested in hearing about some of the latest exploration projects.

Speaking of exploration, cave diver and explorer Jill Heinerth runs her own podcast, Into the Planet. One of her most recent episodes covers being an explorer stuck at home. A contradiction of terms maybe but fascinating, nonetheless. And what better excuse than social distancing to indulge your interest in finding out about caves, how to become an explorer and so much more. So while we may not be able to get in the water right now, we can still scratch that diving itch digitally.

The post How to Get Your Diving Fix While on Lockdown appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Fourth Element OceanPositive

This popular dive gear company from the U.K. produces a broad range of sustainable swimwear and is well-known for a commitment to ocean conservation.

Products tested:

• Light coverage: Thresher bikini
• Medium coverage: Mako bikini & Harlequin swimsuit
• Full coverage: Long-sleeve Hydroskin and Hydro Leggings

What makes OceanPositive swimwear great for divers?

• Broad range of swimwear styles for all shapes, sizes and preferences
• Wrist loops prevent Hydroskin sleeves from bunching up when donning your wetsuit
• Lightweight, quick drying materials
• Affordable options for all budgets

What are the products made from?

• ECONYL, a recycled nylon made from recovered ghost nets and other ocean wastes.

 Sun protection and degradation resistance

• Chlorine, heat and sunscreen resistant
• UPF50+ sun protection 

How did the products perform?

All of the products were true to size and didn’t pinch anywhere despite not having adjustable straps/sizes.

Of all the swimwear brands tested, the OceanPositive products were the quickest to dry between dives, even in the shade, making them ideal for multi-dive days.

While the Thresher bikini offers a sleek and minimal design, the removable padded cups and racer-back straps were still supportive.For fuller coverage, I recommend the Mako bikini and swimsuit. The Mako bikini top clasp and the swimsuit straps were a bit fussy, but they have one big advantage — you can tie the swimwear onto a liveaboard rail for drying without worrying they’ll blow away.

How is Fourth Element supporting ocean conservation?

• Constantly reviewing old products to add more sustainable fabrics
• Working closely with Reef World International and Global Ghost Gear Initiative
• Regularly helping with beach clean ups and retrieving ghost fishing nets
• Working to environmental standards that minimize the use of harmful chemicals
• Using biodegradable packaging 

SlipIns 

Robin Chesnie and Rick Rickman created SlipIns because of Chesnie’s struggles getting in and out of thick wetsuits. Seeing many other women struggling in the same way, she came up with products that make it easy to get in and out of our wetsuits.

Products tested

• AquaMermaid Swimsuit
• Whale Shark DiveSkin

What makes SlipIns swimwear great for divers?

• Material has plenty of stretch for comfort and easy movement in the water
• Foot stirrups and thumb holes keep the suit in place when putting your wetsuit on
• The one-piece DiveSkins provide protection against abrasions and stinging ocean critters

What are the products made from?

• Nylon, polyester and Spandex

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• UPF 60+ rating and full-body sun protection

How did the products perform?

Admittedly, I was self-conscious about being dressed as a whale shark on a boat full of guys but I felt fabulous from the moment I put the DiveSkin on.

The material is unbelievably silky and lightweight. Both the DiveSkin and swimsuit are also extremely flattering and stretchy. As well as being perfect under a wetsuit, the products were great for snorkeling and for covering up in the sun.

How is SlipIns supporting ocean conservation?

• SlipIns eliminate the need for sunscreen during water sports, thanks to a full range of high-coverage swimwear for men and women
• Helping to minimize harmful chemicals entering the ocean by decreasing our use of sunscreens

Gemma Lee

Founded by ocean-loving Kiwi and fashion graduate Gemma Lee, this eco-conscious surf and dive label really stands out from the crowd with its vibrant swimwear and wetsuits.

Products tested

• Retro Tides 2mm Springsuit

What makes Gemma Lee wetsuits great for divers?

• Vibrant colors and limited-edition designs
• Ideal for underwater photography subjects
• Flat-locked stitched seams for extra comfort in the water
• Lightweight suits offer flexible layering for warm- and cool-water dives
• Front zippers make it easy to wear and remove the suits

What are the products made from?

• Eco-conscious 2mm limestone-based neoprene
• All nylon features are made from recycled PET bottles.

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• High sun protection from neoprene wetsuit coverage

How did the product perform?

The vibrant patterns on Gemma Lee suits add a great pop of color to your dive kit. At 2mm, the Springsuit is thin enough to easily wear under a wetsuit but is also suitable for and tropical diving on its own.

Personally, I loved the suit for extra warmth when snorkeling. It didn’t restrict my movements in any way, even when going up and down dive platform ladders.

The fit was true to size and the low rise cut on the hips is ideal for coverage over a bikini. It’s a great lightweight suit for travel when you’re tight on luggage allowance but want a warm layer that fits like a glove.

How is Gemma Lee supporting ocean conservation?

Gemma Lee has taken numerous steps to ensure her products are sustainable, ethical and eco-conscious, including:

• Yarn made of PET bottles
• Using limestone-based neoprene instead of petroleum-based neoprene
• Gemma Lee’s textile supplier does not use hazardous chemicals in the dyes
• The dyeing process uses 80 percent less water than standard dyeing techniques

Ocean Mimic 

Ocean Mimic is a charity and global movement empowering individuals to reduce the amount of plastic entering the oceans. As part of their mission, Ocean Mimic has created recycled swimwear inspired by the creatures they aim to protect.

Products tested

• Parrotfish bodysuit

What makes Ocean Mimic bodysuits great for divers?

• Variety of ocean-themed designs, from parrotfish and clownfish to whale sharks
• Soft and breathable fabric with two-way stretch and unrestricted movement
• Lightweight and versatile for dive travel
• Thicker panels front and back for coverage without need for a swimsuit underneath

What are the products made from?

• Made from 100 percent recycled material: 78 percent recycled ECONYL yarn; 22 percent Elastane

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• UPF 50 sun protection
• Chlorine, sunscreen and saltwater resistant

How did the product perform?

The high neck and low-rise hip design provided great sun protection and the suit was very comfortable (and warm) under a wetsuit.

I really liked the thicker fabric panels at the front and back of the suit for modesty. You could easily wear this suit without a bikini underneath. The suit sizes are quite small and less stretchy than other suits I tried, so go up a size for comfort.

The sleeves stayed in place perfectly under my wetsuit, despite having no thumb loops, and the zipper is built to last.

How is Ocean Mimic supporting ocean conservation?

• Organizing beach clean-ups
• Educating local children about why plastic is a problem and providing solutions to plastic pollution
• For every $10 you spend with Ocean Mimic, the charity pledges to pick up 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of waste
• Product packaging is entirely recyclable and plastic-free

Waterlust

Waterlust began as an experimental project by ocean science graduates and has evolved into a popular dive-clothing brand supporting ocean science and conservation initiatives.

Products tested

• Whale Shark Warrior leggings and reversible top

What makes Waterlust leggings and tops great for divers?

• Seamless, reversible top with no tags
• Good mid-level support and moisture wicking: ideal for diving, yoga, swimming, etc.
• Resilient 4-way stretch and shape retention
• Customizable legging lengths
• Internal front waistband leggings pocket
• Deep side pockets for other essentials

What are the products made from?

• Repreve, a material made from post-consumer plastic bottles

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• 100 percent chlorine, sun, saltwater and sunscreen resistant
• UPF 50+ sun protection

How did the products perform?

Waterlust leggings are thicker than other dive leggings and add plenty of warmth when diving and snorkeling. I found the fabric took a while to dry because of its thickness but the product versatility made up for that.

Designed for use in numerous sports, the leggings and top fit closely and the high waist was secure and comfortable. It was easy to fold the waistband over for a lower waist if preferred.

The deep pockets on the leggings are great for safely storing essentials. You can wear the leggings long or easily pull them up just under the knees.

Top tip: Keep the legs long for wearing comfortably over your feet with closed-heel fins.

How is Waterlust supporting ocean conservation?

• 100 percent recycled and recyclable packaging
• Mailer bags are made from 100 percent post-consumer material and dual-adhesive strips mean you can reuse the bags
• Partnering with researchers and educators on ocean conservation work and sharing their findings online
• Donating 10 percent of profits to support ocean conservation and research initiatives

Batoko

Batoko, a small, fun swimwear brand in the U.k. creates swimsuits that are bold, flattering and eye-catching.

Products tested

• Orca swimsuit

What makes Batoko swimwear great for divers?

• Classic shape and great coverage
• They’re fully lined, so no see-through swimwear when diving
• Great bust support without cups or wiring
• Work for a variety of body heights and shapes, making them ideal for active pursuits
• Batoko produces matching adult and kids swimwear for the whole dive family

What are the products made from?

• 100 percent recycled plastic (polyester)
• Vegan-friendly products

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• Not tested for sun protection, but polyester has a high resistance to UV radiation and the fabric is tightly woven
• Polyester is very resistant to chlorine

How did the products perform?

I couldn’t stop smiling when wearing the orca swimsuit. The suits are great fun and offer unique designs. The material was very soft and yet thick, with support that withstood multiple dives.

I recommend buying a smaller size than usual for these suits if you’re petite, as I found the straps tended to slip off my shoulders.

How is Batoko supporting ocean conservation?

• Recycling the equivalent weight of 300,000 plastic bottles into swimwear so far
• Workplace powered by renewable energy
• Vegan supply chain
• Donating a proportion of their annual profits to the Marine Conservation Society UK
• Participating in reforestation projects to offset their carbon
• Plastic-free packaging and eco-conscious swimwear printing processes

Shapes in the Sand

Born from a desire to help restore the environment and represent the diversity of women, Shapes in the Sand produces a broad range of sustainable on-trend swimwear for all.

Products tested

• Mystic Wrap Over crop
• Mystic mid-rise V-Pant
• Mystic cropped rash guard

What makes Shapes in the Sand swimwear great for divers?

• Broad range of mix-and-match swimwear separates are ideal for dive holidays
• Variety of coverage and support options for all body shapes
• Seasonal collections support ocean conservationists
• Made of EVO, which dries 50 percent faster than standard polyamide
• Thermal-isolation fabric protects you from temperature variations

What are the products made from?

• ECONYL yarn
• EVO, a yarn made from castor bean oil

Sun protection and degradation resistance

• UPF 50+
• Chlorine resistant

How did the products perform?

The patterned fabric and embellishments on the ties made Shapes in the Sand fashionable and yet functional when diving.

The black Mystic cropped rash guard is an eye-catching change from standard length rash guards and offered plenty of warmth despite being cropped. The rash guard looked great with the bikini bottoms and didn’t ride up at all

Despite being a wrap-over design with a low-cut front, the Mystic crop provided plenty of support and kept everything in place in the water. If you have a large bust, try a different style, however, as the cup size is relatively small.

Ties at the back of the bikini top made it easy to dry on a rail when liveaboard diving.

How is Shapes in the Sand supporting ocean conservation?

• Using EVO, which is a totally renewable resource that requires little water and has no food-chain impacts
• Local printing method does not use water or any harsh chemicals
• Fabric remnants become accessories such as head wraps
• Packaging and labels are recycled and sustainably sourced, down to the swimwear tags and care labels
• Partnering with ocean conservation initiatives

Kathryn Curzon, a shark conservationist and dive travel writer wrote this article. Follow her adventures at www.kathryncurzon.com

 All images courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.

The post Seven Sustainable Swimwear Brands for Divers appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

Diving is expensive

Many people view money as a barrier to entering the sport. Is diving expensive? Of course, at its extremes, diving can be expensive. To take a diving trip on a luxury liveaboard vessel touring the Galapagos Islands may cost thousands of dollars. To train and invest in a full closed-circuit rebreather set-up may cost thousands of dollars. However, to hold these up as examples of diving being expensive would be inaccurate. Passing your driving test doesn’t mean buying a new Ferrari and, similarly, you can participate in diving relatively inexpensively.

For example, a simple try-dive experience with the local dive shop in their pool may only cost $30-40. An introductory open water (OW) certification — depending on agency and location — may cost $300-400. This means that, for less than the cost of a new TV, you can earn a certification that allows you to dive globally for life. Even within the confines of an OW course, many dive shops will allow you to begin with a small deposit to cover training materials. Then you can budget to pay the course balance over the weeks you’re completing your training.

Already certified? While having your own scuba diving equipment is always best, most divers begin by simply buying the essentials: mask, fins and snorkel. Then, as you progress, you can buy equipment to suit your needs as time and financial constraints allow. In the meantime, rental equipment is always available relatively inexpensively to fill the gap.

To simply dive doesn’t need to break the bank. In some areas, there are training lakes with facilities to support divers that you can visit for as little as $20. Or, if you’re lucky enough to live by the coast, free diving may be available off the local coastline — you’ll only need a buddy and $5 for a cylinder fill.

Diving can be expensive, but it needn’t be. You can enjoy diving whatever your financial circumstances.

Diving is dangerous

Diving is statistically a very safe sport. Certainly, in comparison to other outdoor leisure activities such as snowboarding, bowling, horse riding or even fishing, there are fewer reported accidents, incidents and medical issues each year, according to the NCIB.

Interestingly, the most-reported medical problems associated with diving usually relate to sunburn, seasickness and dehydration. By definition, diving cannot be without some form of risk — divers get to explore the world underwater and with that, of course, is some inherent risk. However, it is a risk you can easily manage and diving fatalities are thankfully very low.

In terms of pure statistics, in the Diver Alert Network’s 2016 report, there was a fatality rate of approximately two people per 100,000 participants. To give this figure some context, the fatality rate for jogging is 13 per 100,000 participants and for horse riding is a much more significant 128 per 100,000 participants.

Drilling down further into the figures reveals a not insignificant proportion of these fatalities are linked to a pre-existing medical condition or lack of fitness; the majority occurred in divers older than 50. Some accidents can be chalked up to poor judgment or diver error, and may have been avoided.

While scuba as a sport will never eradicate accidents and injuries completely, diving is one of the safest adventurous leisure activities to pursue.

Divers commonly run out of air or suffer from ‘the bends’

Training with all the major dive agencies, such as PADI, SSI, SDI and NAUI, is standardized and common standards are in place, overseen by the WRSTC.

Foundational dive training focuses on core safety skills, gas management, the buddy system and dive planning. Unless there is some form of diver error or — even more unlikely — equipment malfunction, there would be no reason for a diver to run out of air. However, at the foundational level, each diver learns to deal with out-of-air emergencies, air sharing and the various methods of ascending in the event of a problem.

Similarly, decompression sickness — known as the bends — is extremely rare when divers plan and execute dives correctly. During initial OW diver training, divers learn how to determine safe depth limits, bottom times and nitrogen exposure with no-decompression limits through the use of dive tables and dive computers. While it’s not impossible to suffer decompression sickness on a standard scuba dive, the chances are remote if the diver has followed their training and dived within safe parameters.

Instructors emphasize from the very first moments of training that divers must “plan the dive, dive the plan.” Incidents of air depletion or decompression sickness are extremely rare and divers learn how to mitigate possible risks.

Sharks are out to kill you

Sharks are apex predators. However, they’re simply not interested in attacking divers. In a long list of ‘world’s most dangerous animals,’ sharks are nowhere close to the top. The pure statistics of shark fatalities help to dispel the myth that they are bloodthirsty killers. Sharks are responsible for approximately 10 deaths per year, globally. This compares with nine people killed per day in the United States alone by texting while driving. And, staggeringly, snakes kill 50,000 people per year.

For a diver, to see a shark is an increasingly rare privilege, not something to fear. And, provided that divers interact within a safe and responsible manner, they present an amazing opportunity to see beautiful creatures in their natural habitat.

You can only dive in the tropics

Scuba diving is a rich and varied activity. While undoubtedly there is an appeal to diving in warm, tropical waters, you can dive anywhere where there is water. You don’t even, necessarily, need to be in a coastal area. There is some great diving in cooler waters, inland lakes, rivers and caves. Many divers enjoy diving in Canada, exploring the wrecks of Scapa Flow, the other waters of Great Britain or the water around Vancouver, British Columbia, for example.

Possibly the most famous cold-water dive site is the Silfra Fissure in Iceland, an area with crystalline waters where two continents meet. The water comes from melted ice via nearby Langjokull Glacier, and the water temperature fluctuates between 36 and 39 F (2 to 4 C) during the year. Aside from the sheer novelty of the experience, the topography and visibility of greater than 325 feet (100 m) makes this a truly remarkable dive.

With the correct training in drysuit diving, low water temperatures or even living far from the ocean aren’t a barrier. There is always diving nearby. 

Diving is a male-dominated sport

The image of the macho male diver is something of an anachronism, a throwback to diving’s roots in the military and the days of Jacques Cousteau. While the 2017 statistics from PADI do show entry-level and continuing-education diving certifications have an approximate gender split of 37 percent female versus 63 percent male, the female ratio is increasing steadily with each passing year. Some of the greatest divers and dive instructors in the world are female. The sport has evolved over the decades; heroes of the sport are now the likes of legendary cave diver Jill Heinerth. A diver’s gender has become irrelevant to most modern divers.

Misinformation, misconceptions and diving myths needn’t be barriers to friends and family learning to dive. Help them overcome their fears with information and education and, usually, by the time they’ve completed their first try-dive, you’ll have a potential new dive buddy.

The post Barriers to Diving and Diving Myths appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

1. Pondicherry shark

Pondicherry sharks are critically endangered and possibly extinct. They were last seen in 1979 and are only known due to specimens in museums. Scientist think that these sharks were native to China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman and Pakistan. The IUCN has suggested that surveys should be held in an attempt to locate the species. The largest threat to these sharks, if they still exist, are fishing and harvesting aquatic resources.

2. Ganges shark

The main threats to the Ganges shark are residential and commercial development, fishing and harvesting aquatic resources, and natural-system modifications, such as dams and water management. Ganges sharks live around the Ganges and its tributary the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India and scientists think they may also live in Pakistan. Conservation sites have been put in place, as has a harvest-management plan. The Ganges sharks are protected in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.

3. Largetooth sawfish

The largetooth sawfish is concentrated mostly in four subpopulations scattered throughout the Eastern and Western Atlantic, Eastern and Indo-West Pacific. While a few may remain in the Amazon River basin, the Rio Colorado/Rio San Juan area in Nicaragua, and possibly some remote areas of French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana and Australia, scientists think they are extinct in all other areas where they previously lived.

Threats to this species include fishing and entanglement in nets and fishing gear and the decline of their natural breeding grounds like estuaries and mangroves. Trade in sawfish is banned under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and yet they are still caught and traded in some areas, especially for the use of their fins for shark fin soup and in the aquarium trade. Sawfish are protected in some areas of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Brazil, Mexico and Australia.

4. Hidden angelshark

Hidden angelsharks are found from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Buenos Aires Province, Argentina and possibly further south to the northern Patagonia-Argentine region. They generally live on the continental shelf between depths of 33 to 492 feet (10 to 150 m). In Brazil, this species has declined by 85 percent between 1988 and 2002, and in Argentina there was a 58 percent drop in the species between 1992 and 1998. Although catch and trade of hidden angelsharks has been banned in Brazil since 2004, it is still illegally done.

The main threats to these animals are bottom trawls and bottom-set gillnets. Hidden angelsharks are often caught as by-catch and females have been seen aborting embryos upon capture, reducing the reproductive capability of the species. Angelshark meat is popular and valuable in Brazil where imports of shark meat have increased eight times since 2000.

5. Natal shyshark

The Natal shyshark is only known from three adult specimens located in less than 38 square miles (100 km²) around Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Natal shyshark is usually found in rocky and coral reefs and sandy areas at depths between intertidal and 100 feet (30 m).

The main threat to the Natal shyshark is habitat degradation. The area is also experiencing high fishing pressure, especially prawn fishing. To date no conservation measures are in place for the Natal shyshark.

6. Angelshark

The largest population of angelsharks is in the Canary Islands, with some individuals sighted

33 and 492 feet (10 to 150 m) deep

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean has adopted a measure to ban retention, landings, tran-shipment, storage, display, and sale of angelsharks. Spain has listed them under ‘Special Protection,’ while Israel listed them under domestic regulations and Turkey has them on their Prohibited Species lists. They are also legally protected in the EU, and English and Welsh waters and included in the Angelshark Action Plan in the Canary Islands that focuses on protecting the species and its habitat.

7. Whitefin swellshark

Whitefin swellsharks are mostly found around southeastern Australia, including Tasmania, on the outer continental shelf at depths between 413 and 1817 feet (126 to 554 m). Scientists think populations have declined by between 80 and 99 percent in the past three generations (around 45 years).

The main threat to whitefin swellsharks is intensive fishing in the area. About 10 percent of the catch in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery is kept and likely sold for its meat. There are no specific conservation practices in place for whitefin swellsharks.

8. Smalltooth sawfish

Numbers of smalltooth sawfish are very small, with encounters most often occurring in the Bahamas and between Georgia and Louisiana in the U.S. Rare sightings occur in Honduras, Belize, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. They generally live in water less than 3 feet (1 m) deep down to about 289 feet (88 m), and over 86 F (30 C).

The population size of smalltooth sawfish in the U.S. is around 5 percent of its size during the time of European settlement. It has recently stabilized and is expected to increase by 90 percent over the next 100 years.

The largest threats to smalltooth sawfish are entanglement in net gear, gillnets and trawl nets. While they are not purposefully caught, they do end up as bycatch, which leads to high mortality rates for the species. There is a possibility that smalltooth sawfish are targeted for their fins, especially in West Africa. Sawfish liver is often used to make liver oil and they are often caught for aquariums as well. Furthermore, habitat degradation poses a risk for the species.

Smalltooth Sawfish are protected in the United States, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau.

9. Green sawfish

Young green sawfish often live in shallow waters close to shore (and sometimes mangroves), while older individuals can inhabit water 230 feet (70 m) and deeper. Green sawfish are especially prevalent in Australian waters, but even there they have declined in population by about 80 percent in the last 45 years. They may also live in Bahrain, Eritrea, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Sudan, Timor-Leste and the United Arab Emirates.

Gillnets and demersal trawl nets pose a threat to green sawfish and they often become bycatch. The species is protected and falls under a no-take status in areas including Australia, Bahrain and India. Habitat loss also poses a threat to remaining populations. Green sawfish are fully protected in Australia, India, Bahrain and Qatar.

10. Argentine angelshark

Argentine angelsharks inhabit sandy areas around 167 to 1049 feet (51 to 320 m) deep in the Southwest Atlantic from Santa Catarina, Brazil to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Population decline in Uruguay and Argentina is between 70 and 90 percent.

The largest threat to Argentine angelsharks is ending up as bycatch. They are also sold for their meat even though they are protected in Brazil and covered in the Total Allowable Catch quotas in Argentina and Uruguay.

11. Common skate

Common skate have been seen (and caught) in Albania, Algeria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal (Madeira), Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. While they were once abundant, sightings are now rare and mostly near the edge of the continental shelf.

Traditionally, common skate were targeted for their large size and they also end up as bycatch. The largest threat to the species is commercial fishing and trawl nets. There is a Total Allowable Catch limit on skates in the North Sea and adjacent waters with fishermen required to release common skates upon catch.

12. Sawback angelshark

Scientists think sawback angelsharks have declined by about 80 percent in the past 45 years. They are generally found in Cyprus, Gambia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Turkey and Tunisia. They live near the seabed at depths between 98 to 1640 feet (30 to 500 m).

Sawback angelsharks are vulnerable to becoming bycatch in trawls and dredges. They are also threatened by human disturbances of their habitats. Sawback angelsharks are protected in the Mediterranean, Balearic Island, Spain, Malta, Israel and Turkey.

13. Smoothback angelshark

The Smoothback Angelshark is extremely rare, even in areas where they once were abundant. An estimated decline of more than 80 percent occurred in the past 45 years. Of those that remain, scientists believe they inhabit waters in Tunisia, Cyprus, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Italy, Libya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Turkey and possibly Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt.

The highest threat to smoothback angelsharks is bycatch from trawling, trammel nets, bottom longlines and dredges. They are often used for their liver oil and fins (especially in Senegal). They are protected in the Mediterranean, Spain, Turkey and Israel.

14. Longnose skate

Longnose skates are endemic to southeastern Australia and Tasmania. They live on the continental shelf between 65 and 1968 feet (20 to 600 m), most commonly between 65 and 393 feet (20 and 120 m). Population declines of between 93 and 99 percent have been recorded over three generations (about 28.5 years).

The largest threat to longnose is bycatch, with most catches (over 90 percent) occurring in water less than 653 feet (199 m) deep. Trawl nets and deep-water long lines especially threaten the species. There are no species-specific conservation measures in place for longnose skate, although they may be included in some marine protected areas.

15. Pakistan whipray

The Pakistan whipray lives in waters near eastern Pakistan and the west coast of India. Scientists think the species has declined by more than 80 percent in the past three generations. They usually live in shallow, muddy areas up to a depth of 120 feet (37 m).

Pakistan whipray are caught as bycatch, and are specifically targeted for their pectoral fins (exported to Thailand and Malaysia), their skin (to be made into leather) and meat. There are no species-specific conservation actions in place, although India has a seasonal ban on trawling each year between June 15 and July 1.

16. Stripenose guitarfish

Stripenose guitarfish mostly live in waters between 33 and 133 feet (10 to 40 m) off southern India and Sri Lanka, with a preference for coral reefs. Scientists have observed a decline of more than 97 percent of the species in the past three generations (15 years).

The species faces threats from trawling and decline of coral habitats due to destructive fishing practices, coastal development and climate change. Ray meat is becoming more and more popular in India, leading fishermen to target stripenose guitarfish for their meat. There are no species-specific conservation actions in place although India and Sri Lanka do have finning bans in place.

17. Ornate sleeper ray

The ornate sleeper ray has only been identified based on a handful of individuals recorded off the eastern coast of South Africa over a two-decade period. The ornate sleeper ray favors sandy areas of less than 165 feet (50 m) in depth and the area of occupancy is less than 3.86 square miles (10 km²).

Ornate sleeper rays are vulnerable to harassment and disturbance by divers and fisheries, pollutants and habitat degradation. There are currently no species-specific conservation actions in place for these animals.

18. Brazilian guitarfish

Brazilian guitarfish inhabit waters from Brazil to Argentina, with most individuals concentrated near southern Brazil. A decline of more than 80 percent has been observed in the species since 1986. Adults can be found in shallower coastal water of less than 66 feet (20 m) between November to March. Breeding takes place in March, after which they return to depths of between 141 to 192 feet (40 to 150 m).

Brazilian guitarfish are often caught as bycatch by trawlers. They are listed as critically endangered in Brazil. Accidental catches of these fish should be discarded at sea and no permits to catch them are being issued. A prohibition of trawl fishing within three nautical miles of the coast of southern Brazil is enforced.

19. Maltese skate

Maltese Skate are found in a small area in the Sicilian channel around Malta Island at a depth of between 197 to 2624 feet (60 to 800 m). Scientists think that the population will decline by about 80 percent over the next 3 generations.

Maltese skate populations are concentrated in areas that also experience high levels of trawling, making them vulnerable to bycatch. No specific conservation actions are active at present, although a number of recommendations are being evaluated.

20. Caribbean numbfish

Carribbean numbfish live in shallow water up to 115 feet (35 m) in the Western Atlantic from North Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Lesser and Greater Antilles and the north coast of South America to at least Maranhão in northern Brazil.

Surf areas near barrier beaches and offshore sand bars are favorite habitats for these fish in the summer months, while they move offshore in the winter. The largest threat to Caribbean numbfish is trawling and although they are usually not utilized, but rather released, their survival rates are very low.

Currently there are no species-specific conservation actions in place for the Caribbean numbfish.

We’ve focused here only on the red-listed shark and ray species that appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. While shark finning is still a large threat to these species, trawler fishing is creating massive destruction and decline among these populations. One way to help them is to stop eating fish — period — but at the very least, do your research and make sure the fish you’re eating did not come from a trawler.

The post Sharks and Rays on the IUCN Red List appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.