National Geographic’s: Bermuda’s Depths those who dared dive - Join Ocean Pioneers William Beebe and Otis Barton as they brave a dark abyss and become the first men in history to dive more than 3000 feet down into perilous seas. Exciting reenactments let you share the explorers daring descents inside a small, steel bathydsphere specially designed to sustain human life at extreme depths. Feel the tension mount as the two men push human and techlogical limits on each new dive, venturing deeper than any humans before them, to explore new realms where strange bioluminsecent creatures live in eternal darkness. Witness Beebe’s and Barton’s nerves of steel in actual footage of their dangerous and dramatic descents, and share the excitement when they reach a record depth of 3,028 feet. Nonstop adventure in unknown seas awaits you!
“A Hungarian claims to have set a world scuba record for a diver completing the dive carrying all the gas required.
Gusztav Riczler claims to have dived to 270m at the Blue Hole off Dahab, in Egypt.
He carried eight cylinders and, with lengthy decompression, was under water for nearly seven hours.”
Via Divernet
The Andrea Doria Ocean Liner in it’s final moments.
“Fifty years ago today, on July 25, 1956, two large passenger liners off Massachusetts were steaming toward each other through the night at a combined speed of 40 knots. In spite of ample room to maneuver, in spite of the radar that let them spot each other from a distance, and in spite of clear rules intended to avoid collisions, the Stockholm crashed into the Andrea Doria and ripped the luxurious ship open amidships. It was to be the last great drama of the age of transatlantic passenger liners.”
The Andrea Doria still rests on the sea floor. Because the ship lies well below the maximum safe scuba-diving depth, she has taken on the role of the Everest of diving. Hundreds of souvenir hunters have explored her wreck; a dozen have died trying.
The sinking of the Andrea Doria did not mark the end of the ocean liner. It simply sounded a melancholy note in the dirge of an industry already doomed. In 1958, two years after the collision, airlines began offering nonstop jet travel between the United States and Europe. The leisurely five-day crossing on a well-appointed passenger ship became a relic of a bygone era.
Read the full story of the Andrea Doria here.
Divester is hosting it’s first Photo Contest.
“In an effort to celebrate the joys of scuba diving, Divester is sponsoring its first-ever underwater photo contest.”
The rules are pretty plain and simple:
- The photo has to be your photo.
- The photo has to have been taken underwater.
What are you waiting for. Scoot!
The SeaLife ReefMaster is our camera of choice when we go diving. We’ve used it on a number of dives and love it - and it’s not leaked once! The farthest I think we’ve taken it was to 120ft. We’ll even take the camera out of it’s casing and use it for above water shots that turn out very nice.
The specs:
- 3.3-megapixel resolution for photo-quality 10 x 14-sized enlargements
- Includes macro set with 8x and 16x lenses; 2x digital zoom
- Rated to a depth of 200 feet; camera removable from housing for pictures out of the water
- Store images in 8 MB of internal memory or Secure Digital (SD) memory card (128 MB SD card included)
Product Description:
SeaLife DC310 Digital MAXX includes everything you need to take professional quality, underwater digital images. The MAXX inner digital camera is SeaLife’s 3.3 Mp DC310 that includes three exposure programs - Land, Sea and Sea with External Flash mode. The instant delete function practically guarantees great pictures even for a first time user. Shoot; review; keep or delete all with the push of a button. The MAXX is equipped with two external flashes that will light up the deep and capture spectacular underwater images with the brightest colors you ever imagined. The advanced dive housing is rubber armored and includes a full access control system, allowing users to manipulate resolution, light sensitivity, exposure modes and much more. The MAXX is depth tested to 200 ft. If you have been looking for the ultimate digital underwater system, the new SeaLife Digital MAXX is for you.
Is PADI an organization that looks out for it’s members - or is it just another business out for a quick buck, at the expense of their member safety?
When I went through my PADI Open Water dive certification course - I had a wonderful instructor. She was very thorough and extremely cautions - very, very scrupulous about the safety rules. However, she was also very negative towards PADI, telling me that PADI stands for “Put Another Dollar In”. For the final exam - she told me I didn’t have to read the last few pages in the chapter, or answer the last few questions on the test because those pages and questions were nothing more than PADI’s marketing team trying to coerce the new diver into taking more and more classes that were, what she called, unnecessary.
The night dive course, for example. My instructor informed me that all I needed to do was grab a dive light and take a long stride off the pier at dusk. I didn’t need a course. I didn’t need to hire a divemaster to do it - - just do it.
I did it. She was right, I was fine.
A controversy that I’ve heard some buzzing about is PADI’s Scuba Diver certification course. It’s the level below the 4-day Open Water certification and only takes 2 days. It was developed by PADI for those folks on vacation who didn’t have the time to take the 4 day Open Water course. A recent CDNN editorial calls this grossly irresponsible - the article quotes:
No PADI program has ignited more controversy and criticism than the PADI “Scuba Diver” course. In that case, at least, the critics are right. While the course will certainly help PADI to maintain market share based on overall number of certifications, it will put certified divers in the water who are inadequately trained and further increase the burden on dive professionals who must supervise divers uncomfortable with even the most basic diving skills.
The points of controversy:
- PADI has ‘dumbed down’ the entry level requirements - sacrificing safety for efficiency, getting new divers out there quickly so they can enjoy the rest of their vacations
- The notion that divers should be certified who are unwilling to make even that minimal commitment to learning to safely use underwater life support equipment is grossly irresponsible.
- Unlike Discover Scuba which involves supervision of divers who ARE, in fact, pre-entry level, there is NO required or recommended diver to divemaster ratio for supervision of divers who have a PADI “Scuba Diver” certification
70% of certified divers don’t go on for further certification - so should the accepted standard for entry level divers be more stringent? Does the burden lie with PADI - or with the diver, to seek out further training and education?
We vacationed for 2 full weeks in Bonaire in July 2006 - we love diving there! I have many photos to share from our diving adventures in Bonair - but this one is my favorite. I have a soft spot for sea turtles!
This photo was taken at the “Andrea I” dive site in Bonaire. I could’ve followed this guy around all day long, if only my air tank would’ve allowed for it!
Product Description
Diversitea contains herbs which help your body detoxify Nitrogen waste (and other toxins). The Cran-Max assists in Urinary Tract support, and Ginger helps settle the stomach - great for those who suffer seasickness.
Journey with scuba instructor Michael Zinsley as he dives his way through 16 countries, rubbing shoulders with the locals and mixing underwater adventure with after-hours escapades.
The Rapture of the Deep is fast paced and rich in content, consisting of humorous anecdotes, insightful histories, underwater descriptions, and terrifying close calls. The diving stories relate events seen once in a thousand dives. Native cultures are revealed with an awareness that only someone who has lived in those lands can describe. The book’s lighter side is the combination of underwater adventure mixed with after-hours escapades (imagine Cousteau extending his documentaries to include closing time in the local bars). The descriptions of coral reef life are written in a way that non-diving readers will be as intrigued as the experts.
Featuring stories from:
Antigua, Australia, Bermuda, Bonaire, California, Fiji, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Palau, Philippines, Ponape, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Truk, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, and Yap. Includes over 20 color photos and maps.
From the Author
When the economic recession hit California in 1991, I lost my “real” job and headed off to the South Pacific to become a scuba instructor. Seven years later, I was still doing it, after venturing through the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. I first put pen to paper on this project when I was managing a dive shop on the tiny island of Gili Air, located off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. Most of the book was written there and in Thailand over the next year. Since then, I’ve managed to wrestle the monster into what you see here - an adventure travelogue based on scuba diving. Readers have described it as a “fast-paced page-turner.” Hopefully you will enjoy it this much also.
Saudi Arabia seems an unlikely destination for fun in the sun. Yet, recently, a Saudi Prince showed up at a tourism conference to sell Saudi Arabia as a diving vacation spot. Make sure you make a checklist of your social behaviours before you go:
- Don’t expect alcohol to be served anywhere
- Women must come robed head to toe
- You must refrain from eating from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan.
- No swinging singles allowed
- Women younger then 40 must be accompanied by their brother or father
- Only single issue visas are allowed
Saudi Arabia wants to show the country is more than just the former home of Osama Bin Laden and a breeding ground for terrorism.
Sounds sticky - but with more than 1,600 kilometers of coast along the Red Sea and just under 800 kilometers of beach along the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia is home to some of the world’s most spectacular dive sites.
I’m left to wonder if a steamer (full wet suit covering from neck to ankle) with a hood would be considered complete enough ‘head to toe’ robing for us women divers?
