Browsing: Scuba Features

Scuba Features Kelp
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Entangled in Kelp

On his first-ever night dive, Sam, an uncertified and inexperienced diver with fewer than 15 lifetime dives, descended to catch lobsters with two other uncertified divers (Dave and Tim). The three descended, while a fourth diver (Ron) planned to freedive and assist with hauling in the anticipated lobster catch. A fifth diver (Eric) remained on the boat. (Note: All names are fictitious.)

Scuba Features AJ
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A Powerful Weapon

In 2014 I left my home in London to start a new underwater chapter in my life. My aim was to become a SCUBA instructor and discover a way to help constructively conserve the ocean. So when a teacher approached me about the possibility of introducing 3, 4 and 5-year-olds to ocean conservation at an international school in Egypt I was thrilled. I could hardly believe such an exciting possibility had arisen and so unexpectedly.

Scuba Features Drysuit Diving
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The Wonders of Drysuit Diving

Drysuits are heavy, uncomfortable, expensive and difficult to operate… Said somebody at some stage but have you ever dived one? Yes they do cost more than Wetsuits but will out-perform any wetsuit on any given day in all temperate diving conditions. They are convenient in that you don’t need to dry off afterwards and don’t get the wind chill against your wet body. To most who have made the wise transition find they are a complete wonder and look back on their wetsuit diving days in complete disarray!

Scuba Features Rideau
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Rideau lakes transform from defence project to tourist attraction today

Canada’s Rideau waterway linking Ottawa (the nation’s capital) with Kingston Ontario was built for military purposes but its role evolved dramatically in the years to follow. So did Canada, which did not exist as a nation until 1867. That was more than five decades after the War of 1812 between the United States and British loyalists opposed joining Americans who had broken away from Britain to form their own country. The war was inconclusive with both sides declaring victory in what was mainly a series of skirmishes.

Scuba Features Sharktruth
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Sharktruth Part 3: Man’s REAL Best Friend and Five Ways You Can Be Theirs

They are my favourite thing to see in the water. If you’re coming from Part 2: Interview with a Shark Attack Survivor, you might ask why sharks are my favourite given the damage one inflicted to my friend Diego. My answer is because sharks are not the monsters people think they are. Check out Part 1: Dive With Sharks…It’s the Safest Thing You’ll Do All Day, where you’ll see that man’s other best friend, dogs, are more likely to kill you than sharks.

Scuba Features Canadiana
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Shooting Up the Canadiana

It is the early summer of 1943 and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan is well into its fourth year of existence. Potential air crews from across the Commonwealth are gathered and training is in high gear producing well-trained crews capable of contributing to the war effort. Across Canada the skies are filled with the droning sounds of training aircraft of many types.

Scuba Features Goni Boller
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Rhinopias: The Holy Grail of Diving

Rhinopias are a type of scorpionfish, known by many divers as the holy grail. They can only be encountered in certain areas in the Indian and Pacific oceans and dive sites get frequented by divers just because they are known to be there. Here are some fun facts about these amazing creatures, the best destinations for divers to find them and how divers can identify what they find.

Scuba Features Jo Hurford
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A Hole Full of Fish

When I first discovered swimming in the Top End seas was a rare activity, I was dismayed. I have spent the past five years living and diving from Indonesian and Mozambican beaches almost every day. I wondered how I’d cope without my daily dose of vitamin sea and sea life!

Scuba Features Klaus
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The Beauty of Dragonets

One of the highlights of observing fish as a diver is to find a dragonet. Dragonets are small bony fishes which live between corals or in the sand and are found in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate oceans. There are 191 species of dragonet currently listed on Fishbase, including the well-known mandarin fish.

Photo and Video News kimmi-david-barlič
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Capturing Memories with Care

The underwater world is such a beautiful place that we, as divers, would be crazy not to want to bring back memories of our secret explorations of paradise. It is part of human nature to capture moments of true beauty, to store them, to treasure them and show them to our loved ones with pride.

Scuba Features Charles Klingler
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Scientist Interview – Charles Klingler, Fisheries Observer

Charles Klingler, from Maryland, US, works as a fisheries observer in various locations around the USA. He’s spent four months interning with us at Oceans Research in South Africa, so we took the opportunity to interview him about fisheries observation and management. Charles also delivered a presentation on fisheries management at a public ocean conservation evening while he was in South Africa.

Scuba Features Sharktruth Part 2
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Sharktruth Part 2: Interview with a Shark Attack Survivor (Warning: Graphic Images)

Allow me to introduce Diego Intriago; a good friend of mine from the Galapagos, avid surfer, diver and ocean lover who survived a shark attack. I narrowly missed the chance to be with him during the incident because my surfboard suffered a fracture the day before the incident. I had to pass up on what would have been the surfing day of a lifetime. But this isn’t my story, it’s Diego’s. Here’s what happened and how Diego feels nearly four years after the incident.

Scuba Features Nathan Price
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Raja Ampat: 1000 paradise islands

The Raja Ampat Islands are located off the tip of the Bird’s Head Peninsula, on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesian’s West Papua Province. The four main islands are Batanta, Misool, Salawati and Waigeo, but this tropical archipelago is made up of more than 1000 paradise islands.

Scuba Features Kinghorn
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Kinghorn resting 400 feet off Rockport Ontario shore a popular dive site

The Kinghorn, a barge carrying a cargo of wheat to Montreal, sank on April 27, 1897 during a storm on the St. Lawrence River. While 120 years have passed since the sinking it remains an accessible dive site. It is resting in 90 feet of water in front of the Rockport, Ontario dock. The wreck is 400 feet from shore. The Kinghorn, along with six other barges, were being towed by a tug named the Hiram Walker.

Scuba Features Kim Molenaar
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A Day in The Life Of – Scuba Dive Instructing in Bali

I woke up and took a refreshingly cold shower. I got dressed: a bikini, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I put my long blond hair up into a high ponytail, grabbed my back-pack and headed out the door. The early morning air was already heating up with the fresh green smells of the jungle, yet the fresh salty winds blowing off the sea kept me cool as I walked along the sandy path to work. Mount Angun rose up out of the clouds in the east and the sky was an endless blue. I greeted the locals along the way as they prepared their Warungs and bungalows for the busy day ahead.

Scuba Features Mike Johnson
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Pelagic Black Water Diving: My First Impressions

With all the dive adventures available around the world, it’s hard to pin down one as the “ultimate dive”. Each offers something unique and fascinating. However, there is one that stands out above the rest with an unrivaled experience that can only be described as other worldly – the pelagic black water dive.

Scuba Features Fin
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Liveaboard diving in Ari Atoll, Maldives with “Ari Queen”

After my year living and working as Dive instructor in the Maldives, I was dead set on doing a liveaboard in the country. The main reason behind this being the fact I would be on the flipside of my usual situation – no longer would I be the guide, checking my guests as they geared up and then guiding them underwater, but instead I would be the guest. Goodbye the worry and pressure of ensuring everyone was having a good time – I could just focus on myself and blowing bubbles and enjoy feasting my eyes on the beautiful marine fauna of the Indian ocean. Not that I wanted to have someone watch me, clean my gear or guide me, I just really wanted the chance to dive stress free and purely for fun to see some other areas of the Maldives. I was lucky that the Divemaster (DM) who I’d worked with on the island had some great connections and we ended up going as buddies on a week long liveaboard called ‘Ari Queen’.

Scuba Features New Zealand
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Best of: New Zealand’s South Island

The South Island of New Zealand is known for its diverse and spectacular landscapes including remote national parks, golden beaches, World Heritage status rainforests, glaciers, and Mount Cook. Made famous by The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, it is a popular holiday destination for those seeking outdoor adventures and adrenaline highs.

Scuba Features Graeme Barber
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NitrOx Fun!

NitrOx, EANx, DNAx, Safe Air, OEA; many names and acronyms for the same thing, oxygen enriched air. Once maligned, now just largely misunderstood, NitrOx is a part of the modern diving experience for both recreational and commercial divers. This article is less fun than previous entries, but if you’re considering diving NitrOx, it’ll help dispel some of the myths and falsehoods about it for you!

Scuba Features Northern New Zealand
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Best Of: New Zealand’s North Island

New Zealand is known for its wilderness areas on land but it is also home to 36 marine reserves and a spectacular array of dive sites. With accessible coastlines and hundreds of offshore islands, there are opportunities to dive wrecks, subtropical reefs, explore arches and dive within kelp forests, to name but a few. It is also possible to dive with rays and sharks, given that 26 species of ray and 113 species of shark have been recorded in New Zealand waters. There is something suitable for all dive preferences and abilities and here are our top picks of diving the North Island.

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