r/diving

I wanted to share a beautiful thought that I had recently with the community: we all start out as divers

This past year I birthed my first child. It was unexpected. During the labor - my obgyn explicitly compared the baby during labor to a scuba diver with tanks. The tanks have different levels of oxygen and so some babies can handle longer labors than others and other babies have to be rescued via c-section (like navy seals)

But our beginning as divers goes beyond this labor metaphor. We do not breathe air until we are born. We are circulating fluids like fish. In the history of evolution - you can see our beginnings and shared ancestors - what connects us to all other life forms - what we have in common with moneys and cats and fish and, yes, even octopi

We are all from the same shared seed of life

The umbilical cord - natures scuba tanks - feeds us while we grow and thrash and swim. I think this is why diving is so relaxing. It is a returning to the womb

The birthing experience allowed me to reconnect to this sacred cosmological energy and made me realize that we can become anything because it is already within us

I have a larger than average nose, long not wide, which is awesome almost all the time except when I do any diving. I was recommended the Scubapro Gorilla Frameless and just wanted to ask if anyone has any input or suggestions before I buy one, thank you.

Sorry, I know the title is confusing.

I (28F) recently went to Koh Tao for a day to do a one day "discover scuba" course. In a classic fashion, I ended up staying several weeks and pushing back all my other travels. I left with my advanced and enriched air cert, having done a little over 30 dives.

I'm back in my home country now and want to do my divemaster, and eventually to get my search and rescue cert. I want to start planning now so I can start saving and have a set goal.

Here's where I need help. I love diving, and I liked Koh Tao, but much like Bali the costs are rocketing and it is filled with families, children, tourists with rolling suitcases, and new developments of luxury hotels and brunch spots. It was very hard to make friends because everyone around me spent all their time on their phones looking at Instagram, or drinking expensive cocktails in nearby beachfront bars with western food. Even at hostels most people didn't want to socialize and the ones who did just asked for my social media accounts (which I don't have, much to the shock of everyone around me; one girl even asked me "how I survive without social media," and those comments were really common). I even saw someone getting upset at the hostel staff when there was no hot water for less than one day, on an island with a clean water shortage. I went to three dive centers until I found one that was safe and competent and all the dive centers on the island are more factory-like than community-based, which I guess is to be expected. It all just felt so .... commercialized, mass-tourism oriented, and, ... soulless, maybe? I can't find the word I'm looking for, but hopefully someone understands what I mean.

I'm looking for somewhere that's more for backpackers and adventurers, and has a good community feel. I'm okay with places that are less developed and have less western amenities. I have solo traveled over 30 countries as a woman in my 20s, including India and Ghana, so I'm familiar with roughing it a bit. Safety is important, but I just really want to be somewhere calm and beautiful where I can get my divemaster cheap, look at a beach, dive all day without breaking the bank, and meet other people who want to socialize, that has more of an identity and a real community feel.

Costs and sense of community are important to me, but I'm not sure the place I'm looking for exists, so I wanted to reach out to other divers and ask if anyone has any recommendations.

Thanks for reading, everyone.

My review of Amed and Tulamben shore dive in August 2026. Second visit.

Tropical temp 30 celcius, calm seas.

1.Jemeluk - first dive, the dive itself was average but the vibe of jukung boat and seeing Mount Agung on surface after was priceless. It was not shore but the jukung took us out in 5 mins.

2.Amed Pyramid walls - while the sea floor was void of living creatures, the man made reef was filled with spectacular life. I know most people would choose UAST as highlight but pyramid walls was really good if u want to explore mini sea creatures.

3.Tulamben Coral Garden (actually in 2024) - average with stupa as articulate reefs.

4.Tulamben drop off - also average but awesome jackfish crowd if u can catch it.

5.USAT Liberty - The highlight and though 2024 had more fish than 2026. the ship was initially by the shore but was carried into the sea after a volcano eruption 63 years ago.

The fishes were sweet lip fish, puffer, box fish, giant clam, big blue octopus, giant gravelly (jack fish), lion fish, scorpion fish, electric file clam, barracuda, trumpet fish, stone fish, leaf fish, hawksbill turtle, curry sea cucumber (biggest I’ve seen!), garden sand eel (many), parrot fish, trigger fish, butterfly fish and obviously Nemo. Either Tulamben drop off or pyramid walls had lots blue spotted sting rays.

Instructor said that on very rare occasions there were whale sharks and mola mola, wow!

Thank you Amed and Tulamben 😊

Hey team,

Sort of a new diver here, I did my PADI OWD cert last summer and I've done 4 out of the 6 dives to get AWO+Nitrox certified, I'll finish up next weekend.

In total, I've done 12 dives so far, so I'd call myself a pre-teen diver 😂 !

My 12yo son is also now taking is OWD (4 out of the 5 dives also done).

This week, I decided to buy my own equipment instead of renting every single time, and hopefully it'll have a decent ROI: Suit, Boots, Mask, Fins, BCD, Regulator and computer. So I think I have all the major items checked out.

On the small gear stuff, what would you call absolute musts and never go out diving without them?

What has gone wrong on a dive that you said to yourself "I'll never forget that again!!" ?

All advice is highly appreciated!

As above but also wanted to know if Sipadan is worth it? Thanks so much for advice 🙏🏻

Hey there!
I just returned from Palau from a diving trip. And it has been amazing. Although it is off season now, I have never seen such a rich underwater. It is apparently one of those spots that keeps amusing with every single dive!
The summary was corals, more corals, loads more corals; and fishes, schools of fishes, tornado of fishes, with its beautiful weather and atmosphere. I highly recommend every diver to go and explore there!
Cheers!

We will be visiting roatan and would like to visit at least one of the wildlife sanctuaries. It sounds like the main options I’m looking at are Gumbalina, maya eden, Daniel Johnson’s and AJs. We were also curious if arch’s is worth visiting?

Which one (or two places) would you recommend going to for an overall best experience, less people/less rushed experience?

We will be on the island for a week so if going two two is worth it because the experiences are different enough we are open to that. Right now leaning towards visiting both Gumbalina and Maya Eden and/or arch’s. How much time should we estimate for a visit to these parks?

Thank you,

Recently, somebody complained that there was no interesting stories so here’s my 2nd installment: working in a fleet of 5 live-aboard boats w a lot of pranks going on. We had the Hash House Harriers that week & ran out of beer. One of the boats pranked us pretty bad so, one night we swam over on Scuba with no lights, quietly boarded the other boat. We were making our escape when a late night pax raised the alarm: “WE’RE BEING BOARDED BY PIRATES!!” (Pax are always asking about pirates ;-)

We got away with 2 kegs and the rubber chicken mascot as the crew came on deck. The full keg sank & was easy but the 1/2 full keg was a nightmare! It would Not sink! There was a mixture of hurt feelings and pride. Good times ;-)

Hello. I want to thank everyone for how kind and supportive this community has been and to share an update in my life.

It is something that I have been struggling with a lot - not feeling like I quit fit in with people. But when diving, I feel so connected to the sea. For this reason, I have always been jealous of the octopus. Why do they get to live in the sea? Why do they get to swim in all of the shipwrecks safely? Why do they get to have tentacles? I felt so much envy and even anger.

But then I realized that we do have a choice. The Great Liberation by Hearing tells what happens when we die. It used to be secret but now it is translated. Part of what happens is that if you are trained in meditation and not afraid, you see colors. And the different colors indicate the different worlds in which you can be reborn. This information can be used to avoid rebirth, or to come back as a human again and continue to improve your meditations.

However, I realized recently there is another use: You can choose to come back as animal. Typically this is not done by choice since you are unable to go from being an animal to becoming a buddha and for many that is the goal. However, for me, I am not afraid of rebirths. I realized that I could go towards the green light of the animal world and choose to come back as an octopus. I realized that you can choose the animal you come back as because you will see animals mating (your parents) and so I will wait until there are octopi and then I will jump in the portal.

I plan to come back as a blue-ringed octopus and wanted to thank you all for the community suggestion. There were so many species I felt overwhelmed choosing. I have been meditating everyday to gain this ability and studying the ancient works. I am sure that it will work as I have been studying and practicing the transfer of consciousness for a while and my dog is now on his third body (after his 49 days of experience in the underworld are over I guide his soul back to a new puppy body).

I plan to continue improving my meditation abilities and learning more about different octopus species until I become very very old. However, I wanted to thank this community for the peace and tranquility that it has lead me to as I now know that my next life will be perfect. Blessings and peace to all.

[France, but answers from anywhere are welcome]

Hi everyone! I’m in my early 20s and I recently graduated with a Master’s degree in biology. I’d like to eventually work in marine biology and having a good level of scuba diving is highly recommended for many jobs in the field. I’ve been snorkeling since I was a kid but I’ve never actually scuba dived and it’s something I’d really like to get into.

I’m considering moving to the south of France, somewhere near the coast (possibly Marseille) so I can work on getting my scuba certifications. However, I have one major concern: I have some savings, but I would still need to cover rent, food, and everyday expenses while also paying for diving courses. I also don’t know anyone in the area, which makes things a bit more complicated. For those of you who have gone through something similar: How did you manage it???

Do diving courses usually need to be done on consecutive days or is it possible to do them mainly on weekends while working during the week to support yourself? How many hours/days per week would I need to dedicate to diving while working a regular job?

I’d also be interested in hearing about your experiences and advices to get into diving or progress through your certifications. It doesn’t have to be in France, experiences from anywhere in the world are very welcome!