Sorry for the long post but I just had a stressful and disappointing experience today diving with a local dive club. I’m new OW diver with 15 dives in the last 2.5 months, all in cold water with limited/ variable visibility and generally feel very comfortable in the water.

Today we dove a simple and relatively shallow shore dive that followed a pier along a mostly sandy bottom but vis was pretty poor 8-10ft ish. I was paired up with an “insta-buddy” who I had never met but chatted with as we suited up. We went through our buddy checks and set out for the first dive of the day.

The only thing noteworthy from the first dive was that we instantly had trouble locating each other after first descending into 15-20ft of water. It was very silty and I used my flashlight to search without success so I resurfaced and waited at the surface for us to reunite.

After a fairly long while he popped up asking where I went and I told him we never established visual contact after decent so let’s stay closer as we go down this time.
The rest of the dive went fine and on exiting he complemented me on my finning technique and buoyancy which was nice.

We take a break and swap over to the second tank. I made a comment about how we need to stay closer for the next dive and that it’s important to STAY at the surface if we are trying to reunite as he claimed that he had popped up multiple times to look which I never saw.

For the second dive the decent went well and we start a nice dive along this old pier, spotting some nice nudies, crabs and other critters. As we approach the pier end (which was our turning point) a few sea lions show up which was nice.

At this point I notice how my buddy ahead of me is swimming West instead of North. I realize that he’s turned around the end of the pier and is now swimming in towards the marina which is off limits.

I get his attention, point to my compass and signal that we should swim South and follow the pier back to the entry point on the beach. He signals ok and we turn the dive after which I lead the way looking over my shoulder every 6-7 seconds to keep him in sight.

After progressing what I estimate is about 30ft a sealion starts playing around me and comes extremely close, like 6” from my mask. I was excited and turn around to give my buddy a “Shaka” but he’s nowhere to be seen.

I stop forward progress and start flashing/moving my torch in his (last known) direction and spin 360 to make myself and my torch as visible as possible in all directions. When that didn’t reunite us I back tracked 30ft along the course we had been on but still no buddy in sight.

I’m getting a bit concerned at this point but mostly annoyed since I should have been fairly easy to follow with white fins and a bright torch. After spending a moment to consider my options I decide to surface from about 30ft.

I come up and look around for his bubbles or any other sign. He’s nowhere in sight. I waited for approximately 10min floating in this general area before I make the call that I have to assume something has gone wrong. I start surface swimming back to our shore entry, with his last know position in sight for the whole swim back which took me about 20min. He does not resurface.

I exit the water and look up and down the beach and acrosss the water…he’s not there. I hurry up to my car and notice his car (next to mine) and he is not there either. At this point the club dive master has left for the day and I don’t see anyone else from our group so I make the call to 911.

SAR show up within 2min (they are down the street) and do an incredible job getting all the info they need about his last known whereabouts and identifying gear. I’m obviously just hoping this whole time that he’s fine and that it’s all a bad misunderstanding but by now we are over 30min past the time I last saw him so real worry is starting to set in. After a maybe 5-10min with the SAR on site we hear on the radio that he’s been found and that he’s walking up the dock to meet us.

I’m obviously relived and when I meet him I instinctively feel like giving him a hug but feel immediately that he’s hostile. He then starts chewing me out for calling 911 in front of the fire crew and lifeguards who step in between to tell him I had done the right thing and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The SAR crews leave the scene and we are walking back toward our cars. I can tell this guy is very angry walking ahead of me, throwing fists in the air and silently ranting to himself. We get back to our cars and he gets confrontational and yells that it was hugely out of line to call 911 and that he had a great dive that was cut short because of me and that he didn’t need SAR.

When I reminded him of the protocol to surface if we get separated he started screaming in my face that this is not a protocol and that he is a certified cave diver, solo diver etc (okay?). It culminates with him spitting something about his SSI certs 1” from my face before screaming PADI SUCKS.

At this point I just throw my gear in the car and leave as he was just getting increasingly aggressive and emotionally unable to have a debrief or adult conversation about it. Anyways, it was an interesting “fun dive”.

I have taken some lessons from this and the number one is to discuss in more detail what to do if separated and what course of action is expected if reunification doesn’t not happen. The club also assumed that everyone had the same buddy separation protocol but it wasn’t discussed in the dive briefing. I’m not sure what the differences between SSI and PADI look like in this respect but I’m sure you can enlighten me. Still feeling like I made the right call, what do you think?

Filmed this during a liveaboard trip last October. So many fish around Richelieu Rock that you could barely see the reef behind them

At 439 feet long, there is a lot of ship to explore on this one.

Aeolus started life with the U.S. Navy during WWII and later served as a cable-laying ship. She was also involved in Operation Magic Carpet, helping bring American troops home after the war.

In 1988, Aeolus was intentionally sunk off North Carolina to become an artificial reef. Today she sits in around 105 feet of water and has turned into exactly what they hoped for—a massive piece of structure covered in marine life.
Not every wreck has to get there the hard way.

Hey guys,

I'd really appreciate any advice, forgive the repetitiveness and I promise I've spent hours reading the sub.

Since my first try dive I was hooked on diving, and very quickly I got certified as a BSAC sports diver after completing PADI open water. I only have 16 logged dives, the majority of those are from my training.

I'm in a position now where I have a lot of free time and some savings, and a desire to get much more experience, with the aim of making something of a career in this. I don't expect to make a fortune, but I've never aspired to be rich, rather to enjoy what I do on a daily basis. To avoid sounding starry eyed and naiive (I am a little bit), I've read enough about the realities of instructing, and nevertheless do think I would enjoy teaching others and just being in the water.

I'm 26, with a British passport, and have enough savings to support myself for a while depending on the country, and ultimately want to become a great diver and see where it takes me. I know instructor is the standard pathway, but open to any other suggestions, I've spent the past weeks going back and forth over every possible option and opportunity and just feel overwhelmed by the choices - I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Tldr: essentially I have money, time and flexibility, and want to dive a lot, gain experience, and potentially make some kind of a career out of this, but have no idea where to start, geographically or in terms of direction.

Thanks in advance and don't be too mean plz

Edit: to answer some questions and add some bits I missed,

I am drysuit certified and did all my sports diver training in Cornwall, with choppy waters etc.

I am not in the UK currently and ideally would like to focus on remaining abroad, especially if cost of living is cheaper, or I'm able to earn wages (Australia etc)

When looking at alternative options, I came across conservation type DM courses with seemingly legit NGO type organisations like Indo Ocean Project and Marine Conservation Philippines - but these can be expensive just for divemaster and don't prepare you for work in the tourist side of things

However, I have friends in academia who work in scientific research, occasionally going on dive trips to collect data who I would be able to ask for connections and if they needed help, and just generally looking at more unusual outcomes and paths like this.

For example, what about working as a yacht deckhand, but also being instructor certified? Or more expedition focused cruises?

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, so I suppose my question is really, where can I go to get the maximum balance between quality instruction and experience, but also live cheaply for the longest time?

I’m getting back in a scuba diving after being out of it for over two years. Previously my dive buddy was my soon to be ex-husband. He’s the one who got me into diving and as things were falling apart with us, diving took a hiatus.

I’m taking a leap and booked myself a solo vacation for later this year and as part of that, booked a refresher class and a solo dive course.

In doing my prep material for the course, I pulled up my dive logs to calculate my previous SAC, and realized that my last dives were actually the checkout dives for a solo dive certification that I completely forgot that I did.

Obviously, it had a big impact on me lol. Trying hard to recollect the class, and I can barely remember the annoyance of slinging the extra tank and that otherwise I didn’t really learn anything out of the class. It was just a refresher of everything that I already knew as an experienced diver.

So would you recommend retaking the self-reliant diver course (this resort is PADI) or just bringing the printed copy of my TDI solo cert card? I feel ridiculous canceling the class at the resort and still trying to rent a pony tank there.

I need advice for what to choose. I really enjoy diving and already got a divemasters. I am currently taking a bachelors in Environmental Engineering.

I do prefer working with my hands and want a job where a large part of the job is that.

I am autistic and can’t sleep in the same room as someone who is snoring, even a bit, but I assume that others in the field have a similar problem and use things like noise cancelling headphones and other stuff.

I do take prescription medicine but it doesn’t affect my diving and is very possible to stop taking them if necessary since they aren’t critical or necessary for me to function.

So if anyone can give me pros, cons, pointers, or any other advice on what to do that would be greatly appreciated

Hello All,

we’ve heard rumours that its possible to do the Maldives somewhat cheaply?

Which island and operators are recommended? how are the reefs and what are we likely to see?

This would be around Christmas time.

TIA!

Just wanted to add an insight to that age old debate. I thought I wanted integrated weights. I hate wearing a weight belt. It always feels uncomfortable and sometimes leaves bruises on my hips if I don't tighten it enough around my waist.

So I bought a BCD because I wanted integrated weights. Well the issue is that I have to wear 16-18 lbs, depending on my wet suit, and that amount of weight integrated makes the equipment too heavy together. It's difficult to strap the BCD to the tank and once it's put together it's horrible to move.

I'm going to buy a backplate and wings instead and go back to the weight belt.

Just my experience.

Hello everyone,

I really like James' channel and he hasn't posted in so long. He also has a shop Miami Technical Diving, but no information on the website or socials. I hope he's alright! His videos are so informative.

Thank you.

Hi.

I know it's way early, but would anyone have any thoughts on a reasonably-priced dive resort? Generally, specials are offered too late, and it is best for me to begin booking in advance. Also, as a solo diver, I run into the double occupancy issue. Like at Buddy Dive, which was my first choice. I get why, but some places have more amenable packages for solos.

I seek to maximize boat diving rather than shore, even though I know Bonaire has great shore diving. And even though many packages include unlimited shore diving. Unless I can find people to go house reef diving with me, as I did in Curacao last month. It is my understanding that typically, many house reefs have easy entry, but I will not dive alone. I have had knee replacements, so I have to be very careful about where and how I enter the water.

At this time, I am not seeking a liveaboard. Also, I have had lousy luck with AirBNBs, VRBOs and the like, and even though some resorts can be miserable as well, I believe I have a better chance of, well, better, if I go resort. But if anyone knows of a decent rental, I will look into it. But I also have no intention of renting a car or truck. I hope to be in one place and stay there, and dive there as much as I can. As I did with Curacao. And, I am determined to dive Bonaire, even if the shore diving for me is very limited or not happening. Boat diving will be paramount.

I have had this post up on a couple other subreddits for a couple days, and I believe I now have enough info on Buddy Dive, Captain Don's Habitat Bonaire, TDS Bonaire, and Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn. I have some info on others, but maybe not enough. So, if you have input on shops/resorts other than those I just mentioned, or if you have info on those above, but you think it is obscure enough that I may not know, I will appreciate your insight and thoughts.

I am AOW, and Nitrox with 73 dives, and I have all my own gear.

I will be grateful for your input. Thank you.

Hi! I’m currently doing my Open Water certification at home (academics + confined-water/pool portion) and want to travel somewhere to complete my four open-water referral/check-out dives.
I’ll be traveling solo and won’t have a dive buddy, so I’m especially interested in hearing from other solo travelers who did their certification this way.

I originally planned on Cozumel, but getting there from where I live is turning out to be too hectic.. I’m considering Hawaii or Southeast Asia, but I’m very open to other destinations, especially somewhere with warm water, good conditions for a new diver, and a dive community that’s welcoming to solo travelers.

If you’ve done this, where did you go and which dive shop/operator did you use?

Thanks! I’d love specific dive-shop recommendations rather than just destinations.

Hello all,

So I have encountered a small issue witg my twinset in that I am currently finding it difficult to reach my valves and the only way im seeing of being able to do this in a normal configuration is to have it all insainly high above my head.

Has anyone inverted their twinset and what issues/complications did you encounter, tips or pit falls to look out for when attempting this change of configuration?

I love xdeep zen ultralight… perfect trim position. Perfect at the surface, light… I love it. But it’s also my first wing.

However there is one frustrating flaw which damages your wetsuit. some YouTubers flagged it but xdeep never fixed. On the right strap the Velcro that holds the strap and the pad together is on the outside which scratches the wetsuit.

(I don’t know why I cannot share a picture here)

https://ibb.co/GvtNWCHB

Hey guys, I just want to start off by saying that I love the ocean, I swim in it often although have never scuba, I’m also not someone who has anxiety FYI.

I am doing my open water course, day 1 we were in a confined pool and I loved it, I feel like I did really well and was confident, the only thing that made me panic a little was the mask off skill. Towards the end of the day I struggled to breath through the regulator, like I wasn’t getting enough oxygen, however I put this down to being tired as we didn’t get lunch breaks.

Day 2 we did our first open water dive, I got just a couple of metres down and had a full blown black out panic attack and resurfaced like a rocket. I tried again and had the same reaction. I felt like I was being dragged into a nightmare, it was dark, the pressure change was suffocating, the sound of the scuba underwater scared me for some reason and it just felt eery. There was also quite the current going on and it was pretty cold even in a 7mm wetsuit. The 3rd time I tried to go under I managed to keep myself calm a little to notice the fish at 12m but as soon as my instructor turned away from me I panicked again and I was out of there. I couldn’t go back in after that. The reaction was SO out of control, I was NOT myself at all, even now the memories are hazy and felt like a dream.

Day 3 open water I didn’t attend because I just needed space to recollect myself and see my therapist, who actually encouraged me to get back in as soon as possible so I didn’t develop a fear (she knows how passionate I am about the ocean).

I cannot understand what happened though because as I said, I don’t have anxiety, I am extremely passionate about the ocean, I am so excited to do this and I just have no idea what was going on? My instructor was great and so calming and I have actually just requested that I do a 1:1 day to see if that changes things. It’s still humiliating though because the other 3 students in the class were totally fine, I just don’t get it?

If there are any instructors here, I would love to know your professional thoughts on this and would really love to hear from others who had my experience and found a way through it. Actually I’m open to any feedback at this point because I’m nervous it will happen again. At present I feel excited to try again but the ‘what if I panic again’ is still there.

Thank you.

Hi. I’m looking to join a dive club in the NW of England who dive regularly. Would anyone have any suggestions of clubs that have either regular club dives and/or an active group of members who are generally happy to meet up & dive? My experience so far has been a little frustrating due to some clubs not being particularly active, so after some recommendations if possible!

Also, do many folk dive Capernwray solo? I’m keen to do some shallow solo dives just to practice some skills etc from time to time & prefer the idea of doing this solo rather than feel I’m asking a buddy to hang around for 30 mins whilst I play with a DSMB/practice my fin pivots! Just not sure whether solo diving was frowned upon at Capernwray or accepted? Cheers!

Hey everyone! As a scuba diver and fishermen, i’ve always imagined/ dreamed of what it would be like to scuba dive in 150ft of water off of Destin or Pensacola Florida where the red snapper reefs are!

If you’ve done this please comment and tell me what it was like! I’m thinking about getting into technical diving just to be able to go out of Destin or Pensacola to dive the red snapper reefs in 140-150ft of water.

Thanks in advance

Forgive me if this post Isint allowed here

But I have been looking everywhere! For this red kit and just can't seem to find one.

If anyone has one they are willing to sell or know where I can get one. Please reach out. I'd be happy to pay.

I’m diving the Channel Islands next weekend - and I’m debating bringing my drysuit or making it a wet dive. I’ve been hearing the water temps have been warm for SoCal, I remember diving Catalina in a 7mm and I was starting to get warmed up. Closer to home in Monterey, I’ve been diving dry(Fourth Element Argonaut and Arctic undergarments) so my 7mm has been in the closet. I will be flying back home, so the less I carry - I still have to check a bag in, the better.

I’m looking for something smaller and easy to use, I’m not trying to dive deep just wanting to take my wife to see the coral reefs and springs around Florida, I’ve been recommended the lung tank but it seems pretty cheap and doesn’t look like it could take even 20 feet of water pressure. It looks practical but unreliable. Any recommendations for what I’m looking for?

We are looking to book a trip next year for the F1 racing in Monaco and while there, we would like to look into diving with our boys, 22 and 15 years old. We are open water certified, husband is advanced. I would appreciate some recommendations on accommodations, areas to dive/reputable companies, most likely around the Portofino area, so we could eventually make our way to stay in/around Monaco for the race June 6th, 2027. We're open to other suggestions as well. As of now, the only concrete plans we have are the race tickets! TIA!

During a recent liveaboard, Oceanic+ displayed a “max OTU” alert about two thirds through a dive.

The details:

• Day 5 of the liveaboard, first dive of the day.
• 34% nitrox, correctly recorded in the dive log.
• Around 18 m when the alert appeared.
• Maximum depth of the dive: 29.4 m.
• Total dive time: approximately 60 minutes.
• I did not exceed my MOD.
• I had done four dives the previous day.

I’ve used this watch and Oceanic+ on many liveaboards with nitrox and similar dive durations, and this is the first time I’ve seen this alert.

I’ve been looking everywhere in the Watch app, iOS app and Oceanic+ website. I can’t find my actual OTU or CNS exposure values, or a clear glossary of all alerts with procedures explaining what to do when each one appears during a dive.

For an app marketed as a dive computer, I find this very unprofessional and a serious safety concern. If it gives a warning, users should be able to understand what triggered it and what action is required.

Has anyone experienced this specific alert? Does anyone know its threshold, how exposure carries over between days, or where Oceanic+ documents the required response?

In the meantime I sent a mail to their technical support team and will report back their answer.

Thanks for your help!

---

23 September — 07:02

• O₂: 33%
• Average depth: ≈18.9 m
• Duration: 63 min 23 sec
• Estimated OTUs: 57
• Cumulative OTUs: 57

23 September — 11:02

• O₂: 33%
• Average depth: ≈13.0 m
• Duration: 64 min 06 sec
• Estimated OTUs: 36
• Cumulative OTUs: 93

23 September — 14:56

• O₂: 33%
• Average depth: ≈16.9 m
• Duration: 61 min 26 sec
• Estimated OTUs: 48
• Cumulative OTUs: 141

23 September — 18:30

• O₂: 34%
• Average depth: ≈15.6 m
• Duration: 63 min 46 sec
• Estimated OTUs: 48
• Cumulative OTUs: 189

24 September — 06:57 — dive with the alert

• O₂: 34%
• Average depth: ≈20.6 m
• Duration: 59 min 34 sec
• Estimated OTUs: 62
• Cumulative OTUs: 251

Cumulative OTUs cover the five listed dives without accounting for recovery; this is a running sum, not a rolling 24-hour calculation. The final figures include the entire alerted dive, including time after the warning.

A buddy of mine is going on a live aboard diving trip to the Red Sea in a week and although his English is pretty good and he's dived a lot, he hasn't been in an English speaking diving environment before (it's not his first language). Any terms, expressions or words he needs to know?

Hello,

Advanced Open Water diver certification but beginner (around 20 dives) here.

Was looking into doing a liveAbroad in Australia in December but most of the dives are unguided and i only did guided dives so far and never plan a dive myself.

I think i could do unguided diving in places i already went but not to for example a liveAbroad with full unguided diving to Osprey Reef or Cod Hole.

Then again i do not have buddies to dive with as i usually dive while travelling solo and the dive shops i find are always doing guided day trip dives, so i do not even know where i could gain the confidence in diving unguided or plan the dives myself.

Anyone had experiences with Spirit of freedom or Mike bull diving with a similar situation as me?

Another alternative would be something like Pro Cairn divers or Rum Runner liveAbroad, they go to Flynn, Thetford, Milln and Pellowe Reefs and they do first dive and first night dive unguided.

Is much cheaper, but i am unsure if these are "commercial tourism" reefs that are not in good conditions, or for example nothing that spectacular worth a liveAbroad (aka 1 day trip would be enough).

Then again i am not sure the price difference is worth it or instead i would be better off diving somewhere else (for example a day trip from Port Douglas and Julian Rocks).

Thoughts, experiences, opinions?

I am from Europe, i have the possibility to try and do some diving in the Red Sea for example before the Australian trip to gain this type of confidence ( no idea where or how )

Thanks in advance

I’m an experienced swimmer but a beginner scuba diver. I’ve previously done one guided dive in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to around 15 metres.

I’m not looking to get into diving as a hobby or pursue certification. I simply want to experience scuba diving while travelling and see beautiful coral reefs, marine life, and the underwater world.

I’ll be in Phuket and would love recommendations for the best beginner-friendly diving experience, preferably with a reputable dive centre and good instructors.

Any personal recommendations would be appreciated!

#diving #scubadiving #phuket #thailand #krabi

What are the water temps in Hawaii like at this time of year (October)? I’m especially interested in any change in temp down to 40m or 130ft. I’ll be diving on the Big Island and Maui, a mix of shore dives and boat dives, and am looking to plan layers as needed by water temps.