“Diving? No. I’d be claustrophobic”. I hear this often, and I don’t understand. Scuba diving to me, is one of the most freeing sports I’ve ever attempted, short of horseback riding. Perhaps it is because I started in the “young and dumb” phase of my life, where fear couldn’t possibly overpower accomplishment. Or, perhaps it …
It’s important to identify your Caribbean reef lobsters if you want to be taken seriously as a snorkeler or a scuba diver. Let’s get down to business… 1. The Traffic Cop Lobster He sits and waves a hand carelessly, waving all scuba divers and snorkelers to pass with care. Nothing to see here, move along. …
There he is. The “camera guy”. It seems there is one on every boat. You can recognize him as he’ll be the one geared up like he’s going to battle, his camera bouncing around inside the rinse bucket as the boat sweeps divers off to the next site. Then later, the camera will be strapped …
Everyone says Hilma Hooker a “must dive”, but I managed to spend a week in Bonaire without visiting the wreck. I watched small groups of tech divers suiting up for the boat dive scheduled one day and thought “maybe it isn’t for me”. I didn’t have dual tanks, sidemounts, a rebreather or a camera system …
“You work hard, save money to go on vacation. Why would you spend your vacation restoring coral?” I’ve heard this dozens of times and my response is always the same: “because I love it”. This is usually followed by a several minute rant of reasons, a few of which I’ll share with you here: It’s …
Restoring coral is something that seems to be gaining a bit of popularity among the SCUBA diving communities. I first read about coral restoration as a form of voluntourism in the Florida Keys. Ironically, I read this article on my way to Bonaire for a dive vacation. Imagine my surprise when I had landed smack …
Reading is a favorite pastime for many, and vacation is an especially great time to break into a good story and escape reality. Here are some of my top adventure books to bring on any dive trip, beach getaway, snorkeling or island vacation. Island Vacation Books Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson A based-on-fact story about the …
If you’re a SCUBA diver, you are quite familiar with airline weight limits and the baggage fees. Most airlines limit your checked bag weight to 50lbs or they charge you extra. I hate baggage fees. Here are 10 tips to help you shove 50lbs of stuff into a 10lb sack and be sure it comes …
Read more “How To Pack: Shove 50lbs of Stuff Into a 10lb Sack”
December. Rainy season. Rain starting, pouring down as the seas picked up to 3′ swells and rising. We were in between dives when one of the other divers started feeling seasick. We were pretty close to a nearby dock and offered to drop the diver off. The captain asked if we minded diving the close …
Amateur videographer? By now you have bought a GoPro or a nice underwater video camera for your scuba diving adventures. Great. Here are a few things you’re probably going to figure out over time: Your videos are blue…or green Red is the first color of the spectrum to disappear underwater, and it seems to …
