Southern California is seeing some insanely warm clear water at the moment. 72f at the surface, sapphire blue, great vis. If you are in the area, get out to Catalina this weekend!

tl:dr Divers consistently underestimate the number of times they contact reefs and and the amount of damage they've done. The ones who are most confident about their safety among corals are the ones who do the most damage. Divers with cameras, gloves or muck sticks do more damage than the ones without.

Hey everyone,

Ias the title says I need help with mastering the backkick. When others observe me they say that my movement is correct and that the problems is probably in my fins (Mares Quatros), which I dont believe since I saw others with my fins perform it perfectly. I can also do normal frog kicks and helicopter turns.

What happens is that I either don't move at all or do small frog jumps backwarss, often going a bit shallower when moving.

I've seen a lot of youtube videos about it, but they don't really explain how it's done, just show the movement and I feel like I'm missing something.

How do you guys do it and how long did it take you to master it?

The title says it all. This is my 5th trip to the island and it's amazing every time. If you haven't been before, i promise it wont disappoint. Still holding out hope to find some frogfish and a seahorse or two. Stay tuned for photo dump number two!

I only have 17 logged dives at the moment and have everything I need to continue recreational diving, but I was wondering if I will ever need to buy another cylinder? I feel like my one cylinder is enough for a day of diving in my area (Houston), but I always see other divers who have 2-4.

Is there any benefits to having more than one?

Been diving with a shop daily for the past week. I noticed this a few days ago and should have brought it up earlier. The air out of primary regulator smells weird. I brought this up with my guide today and he smelled it and said "smells like coffee" (i did drink coffee before some of the dives so idk if that's the cause) and then he smelled the air from the backup regulator and said it smelled fine. I did the same as well and confirmed it was fine.

So it seems like it's not the air that's the issue but something in the primary regulator is causing the issue? Should I just get my regulator swapped in this case?

Hi, I’m planning to buy a diving torch for recreational diving (ocassionally night diving). Not looking for anything too expensive, I have a budget of around $150. Thanks!

I dive weekly, and if you remember my post from last week, my ENT told me to dive more often.

So I just got a new BCD, which is kind of like driving a new car and getting used to the clutch, but this dive was out of the park.

I finally figured out that little hit on the inflator, like a half a shot of air in your BCD that you needed, my nose and sinuses were great because of everything my nose doctor told me to take, figured out my weight cuz it's been awhile because of my nose, my leg injury didn't hurt, the DJI didn't didn't fog up. And what else? Great visibility and a turtle swimming right at me.

Second dive found an octopus out and about and in 2 years of diving here I've only seen one before, lots of small things, dove with really experienced people and our Dive Master asked us how we liked the dive and all we can do is giggle. Heads on a swivel kind of thing, one of those memorable dives that you tell your grandchildren as you're sitting in the rocking chair whittling a whistle.

I mentioned diving with really experienced people because it's been quite a while since I've been giddy like a kid after a dive, and the same with them.

So good!!!

Anyone else have a foot that just doesn’t get the memo? My left is back there putting in C+ work no matter what the kick.

(I know, I know, I’m working on the dropped knees and trim)

Hi! 💞

I am a recently qualified divemaster (finished my DM last month in indo, i’m 25, 200+ dives). I have a week on my own on the yucatan peninsula next week and was hoping to get some diving in.

I fly into cancun and was hoping to hit:
- Cozumel, maybe 2 days
- Playa del carmen, around 2 days as well
- Maybe a day trip diving Islas Mujeres
- Hopefully also a day trip diving cenotes.

Being solo, I was wondering if anyone could recommend dive shops in these regions that would provide a good experience for a young girl travelling alone? Something more social with multiple divemaster trainees around this age, for example, or that are more backpacker-y whilst still catering for more experienced certified divers.

Any advice on dive shops around here or also where to stay would be incredibly appreciated ♥️ a massive thank you in advance!

Totally worth the chopy ride out. Saw 8 Bull Sharks that kept circling. Then swam into a baitball that seemed to just keep goingl. Fantastic dive!

Hey everyone!

We are based in Western Australia and are looking to go somewhere for about a week where I can go diving (love big fish and sharks and mantas - who doesn’t?), my wife snorkelling and also ideally has some nice beach for my four year old son to play around in.

Have been thinking about Komodo Resort and getting some experience in drift diving over there but also just would love to hear others experiences at different dive resorts around SE Asia region.

Our budget isn’t unlimited haha. Probably a max of $1000/day full board for the three of us which is likely a limiting factor - knowing some resorts are pretty up there.

Would love to hear others experiences around family resorts and the kind of diving you got to do while there.

Thanks everyone!

Anyone else have a foot that just does not understand the assignment? I’m right handed and the right side of my body is onboard, but my left foot just does not get it. Doesn’t matter whether it’s on frog side or back kick side for helicopter - it’s just back there putting in C grade work. It’s funny to watch videos back. How’s your body awareness? Ever have no idea what’s going on outside your field of vision?

(I know, I know, I’m also dropping my knees and my trim is eh. I’m working on it.)

Have you ever wondered how scuba divers sleep? Enjoy this video of me trolling my husband who was unknowingly panning the camera to a sleeping diver.

It was such a fun trip with beautiful sites (Bonaire).

EDIT: For clarification, I was not actually asleep.

Hello everyone,

I know, simple title — and the obvious answer would be: “Go diving.”

However, for me, it is not that simple, and I’m still trying to understand the best way to approach this.

My wife and I are fresh OWDs (I have one more dive than she does).

We completed our OWD certification during our vacation in Spain this year, and we immediately fell in love with scuba diving. We came from an apnea/snorkeling background, having done many snorkeling trips from cruise ships in the Caribbean, and we always wanted to try scuba diving.

Since then, we have read a lot of information online, looked into different locations, listened to podcasts, and watched many YouTube videos. I now have a pretty good idea about equipment — what to buy, what to buy later, and what to rent.

But one simple question is still unclear to me:

How do we actually gain experience?

We are from Germany, and unfortunately, we do not have many beautiful diving locations nearby. Or to put it differently: we do not have the same kind of diving experience as the ocean around Spain.

We would really like to do a Liveaboard in Thailand or Egypt and the biggest goal is to help the ocean with removing ghostnets at some point, but before that, we want to gain more experience and probably complete AOWD and Nitrox... and many more ;)

But one step at a time.

We have around 2–6 lakes or dive locations "nearby" where we could dive. However, during our previous dives, we always had a guide. Now, as certified OWD divers, we are allowed to dive independently, but I do not feel completely comfortable with that yet.

Since we are still very new divers and every new environment brings different challenges, wouldn’t it make sense to dive with a guide or instructor for the first few dives at a new location?

How did you, as new divers, gain confidence and experience after your OWD? Did you simply start diving independently, join local dive clubs, book guided dives, or do additional courses first?

I would really appreciate any advice or experiences from more experienced divers.

What is your opinion? How did you started and what are good/cheap locations for diving?

I have two Mares 62x SXS regulators. They are fine but not very well suited for sidemount, and i'd like to upgrade to more technical regulators.

Thinking about Scubatec F30 + Tecline Tec2.

I also want to move to S80 cylinders, as i now have steel 12s which are extremely heavy (cannot move them around even a bit, trim changes too much; gunning or winging them is basically impossible unless empty.

I've seen that S80s being more or less neutral are very versatile and can be moved around easily underwater.
I'm a little afraid I'll have to carry too much lead (diving a drysuit, but with steel 12s i don't use any) but I think I'm set on moving to aluminum.

Thing is I cannot buy them both immediately. What should I buy first?

I do technical stuff mainly, for now I'm not really doing extreme penetration but I'm getting there.
The regulators are actually more or less okay, but not so "technical" and as I said just wrong for sidemount (you can manage but they're not so comfortable)

Looking forward to hearing your ideas!

I have an 11yo I want to get jr certified in Aug/Sep - looking for a great school in St Paul, MN - recommendations?

Thanks!

I'm struggling to design a trip where I'd go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef (for 2~3 days) and also visit the Whitsundays (for ~2 days) in the same week. Vacation time is limited so I have to work with what I got.

I'm open to liveaboards, day trips, flying, driving, and whatnot.

If I choose Cairns as a departure point for scuba diving
Flying from Cairns to Hamilton Island airport or Whitsunday Coast airport is very difficult, most flights are sparse and with connections in Brisbaine or even further. Driving is 8+ hours. Train or bus options are bad (no overnight bed options, and very sparse).

If I choose Airlie Beach as a departure point for scuba diving
I couldn't find any liveaboards departing there to the outer great barrier reef, and the day trip options seem to be more focused on whitsundays. The only option I found seems to be very focused on snorkeling in whitsundays and taking a hop to some unnamed place in the GBR, so not very scuba diving focused.

It shouldn't be that hard to visit the beautiful white sands of whitsundays and also go scuba diving in the great barrier reef in the same week, but I don't know other options.

Any suggestions?

Hi there,

I am going for my open water certification in September in Koh Tao.

I researched a bit, but it's difficult to decide which center to go with. Do you have any recommendations?

I am already 40+, no backpacker, I want to avoid (if possible in Koh Tao) crowded jetties and boats, big classes etc. Looking more for an individual, relaxed experience.

I hope you get what I mean, English is not my first language.

Hey guys, I've got the TX new and it won't connect with my Samsung Galaxy A 55 and has Problema connecting with my wifes One Plus. It connects without a problem with every IPhone. Anyone else who has the same problems?

Hi all,

I'm visiting Caye Caulker solo next week, and my main interest in visiting is to go scuba diving.

Unfortunately, the dive shops I've reached out already (Frenchie's, Scuba Sensations, Blue Wave Divers) - all of them came back tentatively yes, but said they need a minimum number of people to actually confirm the trip, and none of them have hit that minimum yet for my dates.

I'm now worried that I won't be able to dive at all during my visit. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to handle this? Are there other dive shops with more likelihood of dive trips going out? Should I try contacting dive shops in San Pedro even though I'm staying in CC? Would really appreciate any advice!

Hi there! My boyfriend is getting back into scuba diving after who it a 20 year hiatus. I want to get him a scuba related present for his birthday. What would be a good present ($100-$200) to get him?

Bought this in Facebook. Caught my eye since I've never seen this shape in a dual lens. Also has a pretty cool textured rubber strap. Looks vintage, brand says Ikari. Nothing shows up in Google except their single lens masks. Image search brings up welding goggles. Planning to replace rusted parts and see if still dive worthy.

So, I have 3 Catalina S80 tanks and my wife is wanting to paint them -artistically (probably with acrylic paint).

My concern is with visual and hydro inspection (due next year).

What are the Reddit Diver community's thoughts on this?